Computer Rebuild

Computer Build

This is what I plan on building:

Motherboard:
-ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX

Processor:
-Intel Core 2 Exteme Processor QX6700

RAM:
-Not sure, I know 4 1 GB DDR2 800 is what I am looking for. Suggestions?

Hard Drive:
-Western Digital Raptor X 150 GB, 1.5 Gb/s, 16 MB Cache, 10,000 RPM
-Maxtor SATA 150 GB (From old computer, probably will get another Raptor later on)

Graphics: (From old computer, I'll wait for dx10 cards later this year)
-Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX SLI

Audio: (From old computer)
-Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi

Basically these are the questions that I would appreciate being answered:
-Is the quad core (Intel Core 2 Exteme Processor QX6700) the best out there right now? If not, what is?
-What is the best motherboard to go with this chipset if the Striker isn't? I've heard the 860i has some sound crackling issues.
-What is the best case to go with to maximize ventilation and cooling since this is a high end machine? I would like to stay away from water cooling and things of that nature since that can get complicated.
-What is the best power supply?
-Any other things that I need that I may have forgotten?

I know I may seem uninformed, but I am trying my best to be educated on the latest. I understand how all of this works, as I am computer science major. That might be the software engineering end, but I get how all of this works. I appreciate your time and effort and I will provide any information if needed. Price is not an issue either.

 

no, i think it is the best[ot]correct me if i'm wrong guys[/ot]

opinions differ with mobo's[ot]personally i have a Gigabyte but ASUS have a good rep

Thermaltake are good

Antec, Enermax, Sparcle[ot]a quality PSU is more important than you think, Wattage of a PSU means nothing[/ot]

with this spec, i would recommend at least 2Gb of RAM

BTW: what will you be usig the system for ?[ot]

lucky :swear:[/ot][ot]LOL[/ot]

 

what dx10 cards do you expect to get because the 8800gtx is looking mighty fine!!!

I have always liked the look of the mobo you chose, but i dont know if its the best

Make sure you get ram from a decent brand eg Corsiar, OCZ, Kingstone.....ther are lots of good ram companies. 4gb is a lot but if price was not an issue for me id also get 4gb, so go for it.

that conroe chip is vey nice. The best. im sure of it, if you are building a gamers, or normal pc.

 

If price is not an issue than PC Power and Cooling is probably the company you want to look up for their powersupplies. They're pretty much make the PSU's for Gods own PC.
4 gigs don't really offer and distinct advantage in almost any app right now but I guess if you can afford it it's not a bad idea for the future.
As far as the best processors go, there's the newest core 2 quad out:
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail
not really sure how much good that would do you, I'd assume that in games a Core 2 duo extreme would do better: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail

 

Wow! I didn't expect this much feedback! Since I already have a hard drive, video card, optical drives, and a sound card I'm bringing over to the new system, price is not a huge issue because these upgrades are not going to total like $4,000.

I was going to keep my 7800 because I read that ATI will be releasing a card and that Nvidia will be releasing better cards later on in the year. I figured I would then pick one up actually when the dx10 games (Age of Conan, Crysis) do come out. I will consider the 8800 though if I do have money here at the end.

In terms of the motherboard though. It seems that no is arguing that the processor is not top of the line, so basically what are some other good alternatives when it comes to the motherboard? I Now I do not mind spending more in order to get what is considered the best. I am putting a decent amount out so I do not want to cut corners. If the Striker is fine, then that is okay too.

I will look into the cases and power supply suggestions.

 

I did some more research and decided to go with this:

Case:
-Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

Power Supply:
-PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black)

I was going to add the Zalman 9700 to cool the processor instead of the stock that comes with it.

 

Are you dead set on that Asus board? At $400 a pop, it's nearly double the price of other 680i motherboards from eVGA, Foxconn, MSI, and ECS, which all use the nVidia reference design...yes, they all have the same motherboard with their name on it. The eVGA board is probably the most popular unit and all these reference design motherboards overclock better than the Striker Extreme---if you're interested in that.

Basically, unless you've got a wad of cash that's burning a hole in your pocket, there's no good reason to get the Striker. Even then, I'd hold on to the extra cash for a DX10 card down the road.

RAM: Corsair XMS 2 or Dominator, OCZ XTC, Patriot, Crucial Ballistix...I haven't gotten up to speed on the DDR2 stuff yet.

 

sorry my bad there, the best conroe cpu is the QX6800. Thanx for correcting my mistake exfoliate

 

Why is the Asus Striker board more money then? Is Asus just trying to rip people off or is there something better about it?

Should I go with this one then?

Newegg.com - EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

It seems like you are right though. I put the Newegg specs side by side on the screen and I really did not see a difference. I just want to make sure that if I am buy a cheaper board that is not worse. That is why I came here in the first place. I really do appreciate the feedback so far.

The other question is about the processor. Matt said that the best chip is the QX6800 and he referred to Exfoliate's link.

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail

Does X6800 and QX6800 mean the same thing? When we are dealing with pricey items I want to make sure there was not a communication issue. I was looking on Intel's site and this is the benchmark they had.

Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor Overview

Now I'm not sure really which one is the best. is it the X6800, QX6700, or the Q6600? I think from research the Q6660 is the 3rd best, but I was under the impression the QX6700 was the best chip on the market. How is the X6800 better? I'd like to just see benchmarks or whatever. The ones I looked at had them being fairly close, but the QX6700 in general would be the best performer.

 

I think part of the cost is that they use a little different layout, custom cooling, loads of accessories, the Asus name, and some of the gimmicky stuff they throw in. If you compare every other 680i motherboard you'll notice that they are exactly alike save for the company name stamped on the motherboard. I'm not sure if one company is making it or the companies just use nVidia's schematics and build boards off of that, but either way, you're getting the same motherboard from everybody but Asus.

Secondly, the Striker has been a little scarce, which adversely affects the price.

The X6800 is the top-end Core 2 Duo chip, while the QX6800 is the quad-version of that. Q=Quad, X=Extreme (as in the Extreme Edition of the Pentium D/4's that had extra helpings of L2 cache).

For gaming, while the CPU is important, you're not necessarily going to see the benefit as games typically lean more on the graphics card. A faster CPU can make a difference, but the big question is if you'll notice it. I understand money isn't really an object, but unless you're doing some major developing work that needs all the processing power you can put in one package without jumping to workstation or server hardware, the quad-core chips are more for bragging rights. (But, then, you could run Folding @ Home for our F@H team. )

 

No prob man, I was only aware of this one recently myself.

As far as performance difference goes, the X6800 is going to win out just out of sheer brute clockspeed force, 2.93GHz is the highest for the Core 2 line. The quad core 6600 is probably the best in a select few more scientific oriented apps but as far as general apps or gaming goes the X6800 extreme is going to be the chip for you.

 

Well I do gaming and also some software development for my school work. Some times I have multiple compliers runnings at once and the run time of numerous applications that I am designing is a strain on the current system I have.

Where can I find the QX6800? I searched "QX6800" and it does not come up on Newegg.

 

[ot]Anybody thought about Opterons??[/ot]

 

Those are in the same class as Xeons, and based off the Athlon64's. The two main features the have are larger cache and SMP support, either 2-way or 8-way maximum. This isn't to say their bad, but Intel currently has it in the bag for CPU performance.

 

Motherboard: (Help me decide)
-ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX
-EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX

Processor:
-Intel Core 2 Exteme Processor QX6700 (with Zalman CNPS 9700)

RAM:
-CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR2 1142 (PC2 913)

Hard Drive:
-Western Digital Raptor X 150 GB, 1.5 Gb/s, 16 MB Cache, 10,000 RPM

Graphics:
-Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX SLI (Old Computer)

Audio:
-Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi (Old Computer)

Power Supply:
-PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad - Copper EPS12V 750W

Case: (Help me decide)
-Antec P180B
-Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS

The remaining questions for me are:
-I have the money for either motherboard, but which is the better product? It seems like consumers are 50/50 on which is the best motherboard right now from what I have read. What are the "extras" that everyone talks about with the Striker?
-Which case you think is better?
-Should 750 watts get the job done or do I need to go up to 1 kilowatts?
-Ram suggestions better than this?
-Will the Zalman keep this cool enough? I do not plan on overclocking.

 

I can't give you a very good answer on the mobo department other than to say that generally ASUS is the more respected brand out there. They've been playing the game awhile and are generally stable and full featured. Evga is pretty new with the mobo department and though they seem to do well I wouldn't expect the same level of support or resources available to you.
750wts is more than enough, especially concidering you've got the best brand around back you up.
While I care for the looks on the Armor series case a bit more than the plane jane meets sleek and stylish hybrid feel of the antec. But generally I've give a nod to the antec on a whole as it seems to be very wisely laid out, has great build quality, isn't as massive, and might run a little quieter. But the armor got some nice reviews and has some pretty slick features. When they're both that high quality it really comes down more to asthetic preference.
You pretty much nailed the cooling and ram departments, that corsair should be blazingly fast and stable, and since you're not oc'ing you'll be more than content either way. Zalman is very well known for delivering great cooling solutions and they ususally run pretty quiet too.

 

Thank you for your input. The last question is will the Striker handle memory higher than DDR2 800? The specifications say the standard is that and the RAM I have selected is higher than that. Will it run okay even though it is beyond that or do I need to downgrade? Thanks.

 

No prob dude. Basically there's a pretty good chance that it will work fine, when they say recommended or standard that's basically the highest that it will officially support in that they aren't officially responsible if you have problems using ram at higher speeds on that mobo. Generally it's a better policy to stick with what they list as supported but you should be able to pop in higher yes. It's sort of like with LCD monitors. They have a native resolution in which the picture will appear at it's best. You can change to another but the effects can vary and you're probably best sticking with what they suggest.
So if you want my opinion I'd say keep it at DDR2 800, it gives you that extra bit of insurance that if it messes up it's not the ram speed anyway and you aren't held accountable and besides 800 is plenty speedy and if you're not about to oc it you really don't need faster. Besides the cas latency, while not generally a big factor in overall computer performance does get pretty lousey once you edge up above the ddr2 800 mark anyway so I'd say stick with that number.

 

yea that is what i did

thanks a lot, ill post pictures when i get a chance

 

you're welcome man, hope it all works out.