Arctic
12-18-2007, 12:34 PM
Hey folks, it's me again. I was here some months ago looking to build a new PC, but I never got around to it because of exams and so on. Now I'm looking to get into it again, and I've revised my component list a little (thanks to Jamie Nixx for helping me out last time). Any advice on it? Keep in mind that while I have a bit of experience fiddling around with computer innards, this is my first real from-scratch build.
Motherboard: One of the Intel P35 boards. I'd be angling for the Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048) if not for the RMA epidemic. I'm using DDR2 at the moment but I could potentially see upgrading it in a year or so, which is why the dual DDR2/DDR3 support is appealing. If I stick with DDR2, the Abit IP35 Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030&Tpk=Abit%2bIP35%2bPro) and ASUS P5K Deluxe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182) are some other options. I should mention, one thing I've been hearing a lot about in Newegg reviews is trouble getting 4GB of memory (my intended amount of memory) working with various P35 boards, including, I think, all three of the ones I just mentioned.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, G-0 stepping (http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1938452).
Video card: Either the eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Superclocked PCI-E (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038) or the eVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB Superclocked PCI-Express 2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303).
RAM: Aiming for 4GB, so Crucial 4GB kit (2GBx2) DDR2 800 (PC2-6400) (http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT25664AC800) or, more likely, Corsair XMS2 4GB(2x2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176). Or something thereabouts, it depends on my final choice of motherboard. I was aiming for Crucial instead of Corsair because these Crucial sticks apparently use D9 chips, which overclock better, but I'm not sure how much if any overclocking I'll actually be doing, and Corsair is MUCH less expensive. By the way, does Crucial Ballistix even exist in groups over 2GB? Because I can't find them anywhere. And, what's with the difference between these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176) two (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184) items? I don't quite get it.
Hard drive: I can't decide whether to go for a nice and easy WDC 320GB 7200RPM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074) or the faster WD Raptor X 10000RPM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011&Tpk=wd%2braptor%2bx) , mostly because I heard the Raptor X is quite noisy. Some noise I can tolerate, but it really depends on whether it's worth it.
Power supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002&Tpk=OCZ%2bGameXStream%2b700W).
Case: Antec 900 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec%2b900).
I'll also be using Vista, though probably not at first. That means that while I can still physically put in 4GB of RAM, XP (32-bit) won't use all of it, right?
Thanks!
Motherboard: One of the Intel P35 boards. I'd be angling for the Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048) if not for the RMA epidemic. I'm using DDR2 at the moment but I could potentially see upgrading it in a year or so, which is why the dual DDR2/DDR3 support is appealing. If I stick with DDR2, the Abit IP35 Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030&Tpk=Abit%2bIP35%2bPro) and ASUS P5K Deluxe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182) are some other options. I should mention, one thing I've been hearing a lot about in Newegg reviews is trouble getting 4GB of memory (my intended amount of memory) working with various P35 boards, including, I think, all three of the ones I just mentioned.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, G-0 stepping (http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1938452).
Video card: Either the eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Superclocked PCI-E (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038) or the eVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB Superclocked PCI-Express 2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303).
RAM: Aiming for 4GB, so Crucial 4GB kit (2GBx2) DDR2 800 (PC2-6400) (http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT25664AC800) or, more likely, Corsair XMS2 4GB(2x2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176). Or something thereabouts, it depends on my final choice of motherboard. I was aiming for Crucial instead of Corsair because these Crucial sticks apparently use D9 chips, which overclock better, but I'm not sure how much if any overclocking I'll actually be doing, and Corsair is MUCH less expensive. By the way, does Crucial Ballistix even exist in groups over 2GB? Because I can't find them anywhere. And, what's with the difference between these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176) two (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184) items? I don't quite get it.
Hard drive: I can't decide whether to go for a nice and easy WDC 320GB 7200RPM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074) or the faster WD Raptor X 10000RPM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011&Tpk=wd%2braptor%2bx) , mostly because I heard the Raptor X is quite noisy. Some noise I can tolerate, but it really depends on whether it's worth it.
Power supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002&Tpk=OCZ%2bGameXStream%2b700W).
Case: Antec 900 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec%2b900).
I'll also be using Vista, though probably not at first. That means that while I can still physically put in 4GB of RAM, XP (32-bit) won't use all of it, right?
Thanks!