Are the Gainward / XFX / Inno3D cards ok?

Spec again...

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor
• 2x Corsair 2GB Kit (4x1GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 XMS2 Dominator Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-15) E.P.P. DHX Technology Lifetime Warranty
• ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus AiLifestyle nForce 680i SLI Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
• (C:\) WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB SATA 150 10KRPM 16MB Cache
• (D:\) WD WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache
• Antec P182 Gunmetal Grey Super Mid Tower Case - No PSU
• Enermax EIN720AWT 720w Infinity PSU silent and Cool 13.5cm Fan
• LiteOn DH-20A1S 20X DVD1RW/DLRAM Black Bare Drive
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition w/SP2c - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - CD

• 512mb 8800GT PCI GCard from eBay/elsewhere


 

Hmm... doing some research on the mobo - Asus say it supports DDR2-800/667/533 memory.  So, does this mean the above memory isnt useable?  Ive heard the board is very o/cable - could I set it to run with the 1066 sticks?

What about the CPU?  Thats 1066 too...

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=495&l4=0&model=1567&modelmenu=2

 :?

 
Bizarre  :shock:

OcUKers seem to hav an entirely different opinion over the consensus here.  This is what we specd...

Will this system work ok and give good results?

• Antec P182 Gunmetal Grey Super Mid Tower Case
• ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP AiLifestyle Series P35 Socket 775 Socket eSATA 8 channel Audio ATX Motherboard
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping L2 8MB Cache OEM Processor
• Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler
• Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty
• BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC2 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
• WD Raptor WD740DFD 74GB SATA 10KRPM 16MB Cache
• WD WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache
• LiteOn 20X SATA DVD±RW/RAM With Beige, Black & Silver Bezel + Nero
• Corsair HX Series 620W Modular PSU - ATX12V v2.2 APFC

• Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x64Bit OEM 1PK DVD

 :?

Theyve specced a different (I assume better) chipset having Googled "P35 vs 680i" or "mobo A review". Clever chaps.

More sensibly priced RAM and PSU they obviously poorer than tekforums... dunno why theyre sticking with a 10k rpm drive though.

And Vista :/

If you hold on for a day or two Im going to write to the PM and Bill Gates himself to get a 54th and 55th opinion and to demand a full referendum on this matter. Really, you should wait. Panorama are doing a special report on this PC in the week and the Express is taking Maddie off the front page on Monday.


 

Quote from: sdpTheyve specced a different (I assume better) chipset having Googled "P35 vs 680i" or "mobo A review". Clever chaps.

What is better?  You can see my frustration, surely?... I havent got a frickin scooby so Im relying on expert help.  But when the general opinions of two well-known IT forums clash, it sets alarm bells ringing.

QuoteMore sensibly priced RAM and PSU they obviously poorer than tekforums... dunno why theyre sticking with a 10k rpm drive though.

Thats me.  Theyre suggesting a RAID array like here but I cant be arsed with it, tbh.  The speed difference wont be all that noticeable.

RAM-wise, they seem to think that 6400 will be as good as 8500 (or at least I wont notice the diffy).

QuoteAnd Vista :/

Theyre saying its very stable.  Also that XP64 has very poor support.

QuoteIf you hold on for a day or two Im going to write to the PM and Bill Gates himself to get a 54th and 55th opinion and to demand a full referendum on this matter. Really, you should wait. Panorama are doing a special report on this PC in the week and the Express is taking Maddie off the front page on Monday.

Maybe Ill just buy that £1700 DELL...
 


 [/quote]

I didnt mean to sound so harsh dude, got bad headache

Hang on and Ill get the lowdown on the ps3/680i.

k, chipsets in best-least best order;

X38
P35
680i

The P35 vs 680i seems to come down to whether you want SLI or not - the P35 is a way better board and will support the new 45nm CPUs.

The X38 - I dont know if its worth it. Theyll do 1600mhz FSB but if youre not upgrading the cpu for a year or too the difference is in all likelyhood moot. You get DDR3 support but its silly money right now.

The Asus looks good for the dosh.

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Memory, someone will have to confirm/correct this but the way I understand it is the memory runs at Xmhz and the CPU runs at 2*Xmhz. So with 800mhz RAM youve got headway up to 1600mhz FSB. The Q6600 runs at 1066mhz, which is 2x533mhz.

To be fair I can see why theyre saying dont bother with the expensive stuff now  - thinking back, I actually had the same thing when I built my pc

-----------------------

PSU, I said it before but I wouldnt pay more than £40 for one, but I know Corsair make top notch stuff and I wouldnt say no to a modular PSU


-----------------------

Vista/XP - thats your call

 

the p35 has been around a while, its good but getting on abit.

intel chipsets are the ones to go for though, much better than nvidia.

i975 is the one to go for atm.

The last 2 systems you specced would be very good.
With a good cpu cooler you should be able to clock the Q6600 to @ least 3 GHZ without any problems(probably up to 3.4 or 3.5 ghz for 24/7 stability).
680I is a very good chipset & is very good for fsb overclocking.
Just choose 1 , im sure you,ll be very happy.

Quote from: sdpI didnt mean to sound so harsh dude, got bad headache

Wasnt taken that way.  Maybe my reply sounded like I had... sorry!  :mrgreen:

As for the info, thanks. However....

QuoteThe Q6600 runs at 1066mhz, which is 2x533mhz.

Does that mean the 800Mhz RAM will only run at 533?  :shock:  :?

Quote from: DEViANCEi975 is the one to go for atm.

Is that an x38?

I need to lie down.. lol
 

lol

Dont quote me on this but you should be able to run the memory at 800 and the FSB at 533 (but a birdie told me its faster to run the memory at the same speed as the FSB. God, Im confusing myself now.. I think the point is youve got lots of room for overclocking, like my RAM is rated at 333 (iirc) but I set it to 266 in the bios so when I bump up the speed the memory is well within safety margins. Or something.

Wot Steve said; whatever youll buy is gonna be stupidly fast, just go order it and worry later

The original ram on modern intel mobos has two ticks each clock cycle on the mobo, so if the mobo goes at 533Mhz the ram doubles it to 1066. Once on the rising edge and again when the voltage falls AFAIK

Latest stuff runs independently so you will get the full 800 providing your mobo can run at half the speed

i975 is an intel chipset, not a GPU

[edit - missed this looking through earlier...]

Quote from: neXusEagle, just think of it this way

Photoshop being 32bit will not see any perfomance boost from being under xp64bit BUT xp64 bit pro runs a lot smoother in the background giving an overall better pefromance

Not quite true, while it will only access a given amount 3-4gb directly the rest wont be wasted so quickly if using really big files, 64 uses the rest as a virtual disk before it starts fragging your HD so in this case it will be even faster because of less actual disk swapping.

Quote from: sdplol

Dont quote me on this but you should be able to run the memory at 800 and the FSB at 533 (but a birdie told me its faster to run the memory at the same speed as the FSB. God, Im confusing myself now.. I think the point is youve got lots of room for overclocking, like my RAM is rated at 333 (iirc) but I set it to 266 in the bios so when I bump up the speed the memory is well within safety margins. Or something.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Data_Rate


Memory on DDR2 though is double pumped so while the bus is 200mhz the IO bus is 400Mhz giving a data rate of 800mhz, no matter what rate the motherboard is set to. Believe me, it just works...


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Eagle, also dont forget that few apps if any are presently set up to use four cores, so you might not notice any improvement over a dual core unless you are using multiple programs at the same time. In the future though they may be very useful.
[/edit]

Your getting confused alright
CPU runs @  9 x 266 = 2.4 ghz
Memory is doubled pumped so 533 memory runs @ 1066.
533 memory is PC 8500
400 memory is PC 6400
Both will run fine but the memory divider will be set differently(automatically from the SPD settings).
I have both types of memory in my P965 mobo( 2 x 1ghz sticks & 2 x 512meg sticks) & they run fine even when overclocked.
The memory dividers can be changed to make the memory run @ what speeds you like(if they are capable) , in fact my PC6400 will run CAS3 @ it,s stated speed & will overclock faster than my PC8500 memory.
Memory & CPU are not directly linked(well they are but not as they used to be).
I helped build a Q6600 system for my brother in law that uses 8GHZ of PC4200 memory & that runs faultlessly .
Buy it & try it.
Fine tuning will come later.

Quote from: bigsteveYour getting confused alright
....
.....
....
I helped build a Q6600 system for my brother in law that uses 8GHZ of PC4200 memory & that runs faultlessly .
Buy it & try it.
Fine tuning will come later.

Dont worry too much about not having the uber fastest RAM possible either, FSB speed is more of a bottle neck on these latest boards/processors so I gather.

Congrats on provoking such fierce discussion :mrgreen:

Thread of the month.

Quote from: Eagle

Quote from: DEViANCEi975 is the one to go for atm.

Is that an x38?

I need to lie down.. lol
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_chipsets

Intel 975X is pretty old, the replacement for it was the Intel P35. Since then weve moved onto X38 which is the newest although its not seen as much of an improvement over P35.

X48 boards are due out soon, although the main thing it adds is DDR3-1600 FSB support.