New conroe 2 build. Need a second opinion

[Freddie]

I've built computers before including the one I using to post this message with so I know most ins and outs of building a new computer, however over the years technology changes and even the most tech savvy need a little help or guidance from time to time.

Here’s the list of components that I’m buying.

Intel Core 2 E6400

Gigabyte DS3 775

Crucial 2x512MB DDR2 6400 CAS4

Sapphire AMD Radeon X1900 GT 256MB

Samsung DVD+-R/R/RAM 18x Dual Layer

Seagate Barracuda 320GB S300

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Seasonic 600 Watt


This is costing me about £750 which makes me very insecure, So I had a bright idea and thought ‘I know I’ll just ask a bunch of guys on the internet whom I’ve never met before in my life and implicitly entrust with my money to.’

It's alright in other threads when your spending over peoples money but it's a different ball game when it's your own cash. Have I made any clangers in my choices? All the Hardware should be compatible, and I'm stripping out my Creative X-FI sound card and using my existing case (it's padded out with noise absorbing materials, cost me a lot of money).

The other question I have is installing Windows XP. I've read you can't install Windows XP onto a SATA hard drive unless you install drivers first? I have different version of XP pro, I have student, corporate and regular, will that make any difference?

BTW anyone else who is buying bits for their computer I highly recommend Dabs.com. For some reason they have become competitive all of the sudden, plus I’ve about £80 worth of vouchers to use up with them!

[Custor]

If you are going to buy a additional cpu cooler then may as well get an OEM CPU and save a few quid. The 6300 OEM is £36 cheaper. I wouldn't of though that OC'd performance would be any different between the two.
The CPU cooler is to cut noise mainly? You could maybe spend the cash on a bigger but as quiet CPU cooler such as the Scyth Ninja plus as I see you've gone for an uber OCing mobo.

What the ++++ has happened to DDR2 prices this month?!

600W PSU required for running 1 DVDRom, 1 HD and a low power CPU?

On SATA I think I remember having to stick SATA drivers in using a floppy drive borrowed from my other PC prior to installing windows ala a RAID. Whether they've gone 21st century now and stuck them on a CD I've no idea.

[Freddie]

If you are going to buy a additional cpu cooler then may as well get an OEM CPU and save a few quid. The 6300 OEM is £36 cheaper. I wouldn't of though that OC'd performance would be any different between the two.
The CPU cooler is to cut noise mainly? You could maybe spend the cash on a bigger but as quiet CPU cooler such as the Scyth Ninja plus as I see you've gone for an uber OCing mobo.

What the ++++ has happened to DDR2 prices this month?!

600W PSU required for running 1 DVDRom, 1 HD and a low power CPU?

On SATA I think I remember having to stick SATA drivers in using a floppy drive borrowed from my other PC prior to installing windows ala a RAID. Whether they've gone 21st century now and stuck them on a CD I've no idea.

Thank you for your comments. Yeah maybe the PSU is over doing it, a 500 Watt Seasonic should be more the adequate even though I adding in a second HD from my old rig. I choose a 600 Watt really for future proving, the graphics card although fast and can handle every game out there I’m was holding back for DirectX 10 cards.

As far as the cooler is concerned I might get the Zalman 9550, but the Artic Freezer Pro 7 has a good write up’s plus it low noise. And yeah DDR2 prices have shot up recently, comes on the back of increased numbers of computer sales, system vendors like Dell and HP must be buying all the stock of DDR2, add to that AMD chips now use DDR2 with the release of AM2. Remember if Demand is greater then supply prices will increase.



Duke, from all of the review the Core 2 “Conroe” from Intel is a fantastic processor, the E6600 (the one up from mine) is faster then anything AMD can produce including the mighty FX chips, plus it’s a mainstream chip so you don’t have to pay £££ for premium performance.

[VALIS]

i did not know the conroe had come out.

is it any good and should i invest?

also when is DX10 coming out along with the DX10 supported graphic cards?

also when is Vista coming out properly?

[Incinerate_IV]

Wattage don't mean anything in powersupplies, its all about the Amps, especially on the 12v rail. Make sure you have a dual rail powersupply and a combined 12v amp of at least 30amps. Seasonic is a good company, but it's known mostly for its quietness, not for its performance.

[Freddie]

Wattage don't mean anything in powersupplies, its all about the Amps, especially on the 12v rail. Make sure you have a dual rail powersupply and a combined 12v amp of at least 30amps. Seasonic is a good company, but it's known mostly for its quietness, not for its performance.

Custom PC done a marthon test on power supplies and Seasonic was the one of the most effeicent out of all the top brands with an 82% rating. It also has 2 12V rails both with 18 amps each so know worries there, and yes I'm looking for quietness but the fanless PSU's are really poor and expensive.

Custom Pc (search for power supplies)

Externally, the S12-600 is almost identical to the S12-500 (see p83).

As the name suggests, the S12-600 is rated at 600W, spread over four primary rails. The 3.3V and 5V rails are each rated at 30A each, and the pair of all-important 12V rails at 18A each. This is arguably a better design than the FSP FX600-80GLN, which has four weaker 12V rails. Six Molex, two FDD, two S-ATA and two PCI-E connectors are supplied, and, unlike many dual PCI-E power supplies, the S12-600 is Nvidia SLI certified. It's also compatible with 20- and 24-pin motherboards; dual-CPU and dual-core CPU motherboards are also supported, thanks to the additional 8-pin EPS12V connector. The interior is cooled by a temperature-controlled 120mm fan.

Even when the full 36A was drawn from the two 12V rails, the S12-600 proved remarkably stable, outputting 12.03V and 11.6V respectively. What's more, the 120mm fan didn't spin up too much, so it's very quiet. The S12-600 is also incredibly efficient, averaging 82 per cent at full load, which means it only requires 726W from the mains to produce 593W.

With dual PCI-E outputs and dual-core CPU support, the S12-600 is remarkably well connected. But that's not all; it also has rock-solid outputs, a well-behaved 120mm fan and is amazingly efficient. So what are you waiting for? Go and buy one now.

Thanks for your comments.

[Custor]

Wattage don't mean anything in powersupplies, its all about the Amps, especially on the 12v rail. Make sure you have a dual rail powersupply and a combined 12v amp of at least 30amps. Seasonic is a good company, but it's known mostly for its quietness, not for its performance.

Not to derail thread but why does anyone need 30amps? My 240W PSU powers a AMD3500, RAID and a 6800GT. It has about 16A on the 12V rail if I remember correctly.
Not long ago 300W was enough with 400W being ample 'just in case' and thats when everyone had a CDROM and a DVD plus RAID plus 5 case fans deafening them.
Lets have a breakdown of that requirement for 30amp please?

[Freddie]

Not to derail thread but why does anyone need 30amps? My 240W PSU powers a AMD3500, RAID and a 6800GT. It has about 16A on the 12V rail if I remember correctly.
Not long ago 300W was enough with 400W being ample 'just in case' and thats when everyone had a CDROM and a DVD plus RAID plus 5 case fans deafening them.
Lets have a breakdown of that requirement for 30amp please?

Hope this helps you Mr Custor sir.



and

[Lee1026]

Of course, watts = amps*volts, so it really is important.

[Incinerate_IV]

Of course, watts = amps*volts, so it really is important.

Most of the PSU put all their amps on the 5v rail, not on the 12v rail where it's needed the most.

Not to derail thread but why does anyone need 30amps? My 240W PSU powers a AMD3500, RAID and a 6800GT. It has about 16A on the 12V rail if I remember correctly.
Not long ago 300W was enough with 400W being ample 'just in case' and thats when everyone had a CDROM and a DVD plus RAID plus 5 case fans deafening them.
Lets have a breakdown of that requirement for 30amp please?

System Requirements

* PCI Express® based PC is required with one x16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
* Connection to the system power supply is required
* 400-Watt power supply or greater, 25 Amps, 12 volt rail recommended (assumes fully loaded system)
* For CrossFire™: 550 watt power supply or greater, 38 Amps, 12 volt rail
* 512MB of system memory
* Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
* DVD playback requires DVD drive and decoder software (not included)

This is straight from ATI's website.

http://www.ati.com/products/radeonx1...0gt/specs.html

[Lee1026]

Well, 30 amps gives you a bigger E-penis....

[Lee1026]

Which is why even really energy use heavy systems only takes up 269 watts at the wall

[Lee1026]

Well, the ATi web site is going to be overstating it, because they are assuming a junk brand supplier and a very heavily loaded PC.

[Incinerate_IV]

Well, the ATi web site is going to be overstating it, because they are assuming a junk brand supplier and a very heavily loaded PC.

Yes, it might run on a cheapo 300watt powersupply for a while, but then the powersupply will always be stressed when you try to play games, and thats how it overheats and burn out. I learned that lesson a while ago when I built this PC, I was forced to use my extremely slow laptop for a week while waiting for Newegg to ship me a new PS.

[Lee1026]

Well, it would most certainly run well on a high quality 300W PSU, however.

[Incinerate_IV]

Yep, a high quality 300watt PSU with high 12v amps. Skimping on PSUs isn't a good idea.

I think we are right back to where we started...

[Lee1026]

But 30 amps on 12 volts is at least 360 watts. Which means that you won't need 30 amps.

[Incinerate_IV]

Yes, 30 amps isn't required. But, the more the better right? 30+ amps PSUs are so cheap these days, there is no reason not to get one.

For example, this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104901

34 total amps for $30.

[Lee1026]

Well, 30 amps on the 12 volt line would be 360 watts, and that one is 350 watts. Which makes for some interesting math.

[Incinerate_IV]

Maby its underated, like all the PC P&C PSUS, but FPS group is a pretty trustworthy company.