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Shades · Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:14 am Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

I've just built something almost identical (with a 7600GS graphics card and Maxtor drives.

Everything you've chosen is good stuff so you shouldn't have any problems.
Couple of things to check:-

RAM
The timings on your RAM; Mine is 4-4-4-12 but a lot of vendors try to hide having to describe timings on 5-5-5-15 sticks which are slightly slower.
MOBO
The BIOS auto-defaults on the Asus board were wrong on mine which confused me for days until I set them manually. The mobo you've selected is an SLi board which means the extra graphics slot will remove two PCi slots from your board lay-out. I doubt you will ever need an SLi configuration with that graphics card so you may be able to save something with a non-SLi board. Otherwise it's a good choice.
CPU
The fan that comes with the E6600 is very good and you shouldn't need a 3rd party one to keep your temps down.
It keeps mine idling at 30C and even overclockers are reporting moderate clocks with good temps from this stock fan.
HDD
I don't know much about the Samsung drive but people who have used it give it good reports.
PSU
You haven't mentioned your power supply. Don't make the mistake of dismissing it as unimportant and try to get away with a cheap or generic psu or one that's included with your case. Mine is an Antec Basiq Power 500w ATX 12v and was a very good price, very quiet with a very steady supply. I recommend it and/or not spending less than Â£40.00 for a 500w psu. There are more expensive ones than that available and for good reason.
OS
What operating system are you going for?
I installed Vista 32bit Home Premium but it has given me some problems I can't get around directly, including not supporting my FFB2 joystick, Norton 2007, and two Belkin Routers.
I don't particularly wish to buy a new stick just to fly CFS1 so I planned a spare partition in advance where I can install XP and make a dual boot system at a later date (coming soon).
Vista 64bit still has loads more compatability issues than even 32bit does. Might be an idea to steer clear for a while.
Especially as M$ are currently saying that SP1 has so many issues to deal with and will be so big that they're not thinking of releasing it until at least Q3 2008 now.
Can't see any problems with XP at the moment although you will probably need to upgrade in a year or so anyway as new Vista games, drivers, and software start to emerge.

HF_SlowHand · Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:47 am Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Dunno much about MoBos but the tech support for Asus sux.... and their web page is cruelly slow... I would ask Shades or another about the MoBo..

I have an Asus SLI board too....

Shades · Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:22 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Same for all of 'em.
I got Asustek because I was so unimpressed with the support I got with my last board from Gigabutt.
I taught myself how to make and sort out pooter problems because I was fed up having to rely on these imbeciles.
Wink

JG300-fr8ycat · Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:49 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

- Shades

I've just built something almost identical (with a 7600GS graphics card and Maxtor drives.

Everything you've chosen is good stuff so you shouldn't have any problems.
Couple of things to check:-

RAM
The timings on your RAM; Mine is 4-4-4-12 but a lot of vendors try to hide having to describe timings on 5-5-5-15 sticks which are slightly slower.
MOBO
The BIOS auto-defaults on the Asus board were wrong on mine which confused me for days until I set them manually. The mobo you've selected is an SLi board which means the extra graphics slot will remove two PCi slots from your board lay-out. I doubt you will ever need an SLi configuration with that graphics card so you may be able to save something with a non-SLi board. Otherwise it's a good choice.
CPU
The fan that comes with the E6600 is very good and you shouldn't need a 3rd party one to keep your temps down.
It keeps mine idling at 30C and even overclockers are reporting moderate clocks with good temps from this stock fan.
HDD
I don't know much about the Samsung drive but people who have used it give it good reports.
PSU
You haven't mentioned your power supply. Don't make the mistake of dismissing it as unimportant and try to get away with a cheap or generic psu or one that's included with your case. Mine is an Antec Basiq Power 500w ATX 12v and was a very good price, very quiet with a very steady supply. I recommend it and/or not spending less than Â£40.00 for a 500w psu. There are more expensive ones than that available and for good reason.
OS
What operating system are you going for?
I installed Vista 32bit Home Premium but it has given me some problems I can't get around directly, including not supporting my FFB2 joystick, Norton 2007, and two Belkin Routers.
I don't particularly wish to buy a new stick just to fly CFS1 so I planned a spare partition in advance where I can install XP and make a dual boot system at a later date (coming soon).
Vista 64bit still has loads more compatability issues than even 32bit does. Might be an idea to steer clear for a while.
Especially as M$ are currently saying that SP1 has so many issues to deal with and will be so big that they're not thinking of releasing it until at least Q3 2008 now.
Can't see any problems with XP at the moment although you will probably need to upgrade in a year or so anyway as new Vista games, drivers, and software start to emerge.

Thr RAM timing is 4-4-4-12 and I've read plenty of reviews discussing the MB inability to correctly set in AUTO so I'm prepared for that.

Sticking with XP for now. Once all the bugs get worked out of Vista then I'll think about jumping.

Shades · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:44 am Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Very wise.

Wink

JG300-fr8ycat · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 12:56 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

I also have been giving serious thought to the PSU and wont be skimping on it. The Video card I've chosen needs 28A on the 12V so have to keep that in mind. Since I'm going with the Ultra case I've been looking at their PSU's. They have a nice 600W modular design (only use the cables you need) but haven't committed to anything yet. Making a desicion on the case and the PSU have been the biggest challenge for me.

And thanks for the tip on the CPU fan. I was set to get an upgraded fan but now will hold off and see how the stock fan does first.

Shades · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:13 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

No worries.
When I first fitted the fan it was REAL noisy, but I figured out that the lead was actually hitting the fan itself.
Once I moved it, it was fine.
I use it for music so the whole thing has to be quite quiet and it is.
Apart from the psu and cpu fans I have 3 x 90mm case fans as well (7600-GS graphic card is passive cooling) and it's all running very quiet, and cool.

JG300-fr8ycat · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 1:42 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Well it's done. Made a couple of changes to save some money but the order is in and here's what's coming. Just preping myself and putting a square of foam on the office wall to help pad the head banging once I start putting it together. LOL

LIAN LI PC-60APLUSII W Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel board

EVGA 256-P2-N765-AR GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Superclocked HDCP Video Card -

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

LITE-ON 20X DVDÂ±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model

Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM

Shades · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 2:38 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Good luck with it m8.
Without Vista it should flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

401RCAF_Jel · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:25 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Recently did a similar build myself and well chuffed with it all.. you'll not be sorry Mr. Green

Hope it all pans out for ya

Jel

JG300-fr8ycat · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:26 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Well so far no probs. Got it all together and everything seems to be running. installing windows now so once the OS and all the drivers are installed we see how FSX likes it. Wink

Will put up a pic of the new rig soon.

JG300-Stoopy · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:28 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

FAR OUT!

Definitely lookin' forward to the progress report! And a coupla FSX screenies!

JG300-fr8ycat · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:29 pm Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

OK Shades or Jel, How do I navigate around the BIOS! Don't know if it's just me being dense or my keyboard not working correctly but no matter what I do the curser is stuck on the time settings.

I cant get anywhere but on the hour:minutes:seconds of the time settings no matter what keys I use.

Shades · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:37 am Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

try page up / page down keys (if the arrow keys aren't working).

401RCAF_Jel · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:35 am Post subject: Re: Taking the plunge?

Another possibility is i've experienced USB keyboards and mouse that don't like certain slots out back of the puter maybe try switching em about if Shades tip don't work.

Hope you get sorted Mr. Green

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