new system build

[polonyc2]

I've decided to upgrade my system after 2+ years...here are the parts I am thinking about...any suggestions/comments welcome

Mobo: ASUS P5K Deluxe (P35) (I'm not planning on ever going with dual video cards so no need for X38)

CPU: Intel E8400 (was tempted to get the Q6600)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Video Card: EVGA GeForce 8800GT-G92 (Step Up to single GPU 9800GTX when it is released)

Memory: 4GB (2 x 2GB) G. Skill DDR2-800 or 4GB (2 X 2GB) Super Talent DDR2-800

Hard Drive: Western Digital 500 GB SATA-2 7200 RPM drive or 2 250GB Western Digital in RAID0

Power Supply: Corsair HX620 (1 single 12v rail + modular cabling)

Sound Card: Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1

Case: Cooler Master CM-690

OS: dual boot Vista Home Premium 64 bit (OEM) + XP Pro 32 bit

Extra Case/CPU Fans: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F and Noctua NF-S12-1200

[SRTDodge05]

Thats looks be to be a really sweet system your building. The Q6600 is a good cpu if you want a quad core. The super talent memory is pretty sweet when the low timing and good overclocking headroom. The Freezer 7 Pro is a decent fan but im sure you can find something a little better then that.

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by SRTDodge05

Thats looks be to be a really sweet system your building. The Q6600 is a good cpu if you want a quad core. The super talent memory is pretty sweet when the low timing and good overclocking headroom. The Freezer 7 Pro is a decent fan but im sure you can find something a little better then that.

I did a lot of research and found that the Artic Cooling Freezer Pro cools just as good as the big boys (Thermalright) in pretty much all situations except extreme overclocking...in those extreme situations the bigger CPU coolers win out (Thermalright, Tuniq Tower etc) but I'm not planning on overclockiing that extreme

here is just 1 of the articles...

AnandTech: Arctic Cooling Duo: Alpine 7 & Freezer 7 Pro Attack Value

[CK8-04]

The HX620 is overkill. You may want to consider the HX520 to save some cash and increase efficiency.

[ctal]

Those look like generally excellent choices.

Among the many user comments at NewEgg about the case, there are a number that complain about noise levels, and about having to modify grills to cut down the noise. I have a 4 year old Coolermaster aluminum case which is pretty noisy, in part due to thin resonant panels. I'd probably go with a Lian Li next time.

I don't know if those add-on fans have adjustable speeds or not; if not I'd consider the Antec tri-speed fans, which I've been very pleased with.

Not familiar with the soundcard, so no comments on that.

I'd add an additional hdd for backups, images, and if applicable for large video files.

Good luck with it!

-- Al

[ctal]

If you are not planning to use a third party boot manager to handle the multi-boot, please read the following, especially the paragraph around the middle entitled "what's wrong with the Microsoft way." It predates Vista, but is probably just as applicable to a Vista/XP multiboot.

Multi-Booting with Windows in an Extended Partition

-- Al

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by CK8-04

The HX620 is overkill. You may want to consider the HX520 to save some cash and increase efficiency.

it probably is overkill...but I think the efficiency remains the same for both units

Originally Posted by ctal

Those look like generally excellent choices.

the case choice had me going back and forth numerous times...I narrowed it down to 3 choices--Antec P182, Cooler Master CM-690 and the Cooler Master Stacker 832...I must have read dozens of articles and looked at hundreds of pictures of all the different cases

in the end it came down to which one I felt had the best combination of cooling, looks, features and price...cooling was a really important factor in my decision and the CM-690 has room for 8 fans and it seemed to be very spacious for a mid tower case...the P182 just seemed too cramped inside and the cooling placement was not to my liking while the Stacker's cooling was overkill and the case was too expensive

I looked at every pic in all these threads...

Antec P182

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1186892

CM-690

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1222224

Stacker 832

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1203970

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by SRTDodge05

The Q6600 is a good cpu if you want a quad core. The super talent memory is pretty sweet when the low timing and good overclocking headroom

if the new mainstream Quad Core Penryn's were out I would have definitely gone for it...but I didn't want a Conroe based CPU

it's hard to find a 4GB memory kit from Super Talent anywhere online

Originally Posted by ctal

If you are not planning to use a third party boot manager to handle the multi-boot, please read the following, especially the paragraph around the middle entitled "what's wrong with the Microsoft way." It predates Vista, but is probably just as applicable to a Vista/XP multiboot.

Multi-Booting with Windows in an Extended Partition

good info...I'll definitely look into it

[SRTDodge05]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

if the new mainstream Quad Core Penryn's were out I would have definitely gone for it...but I didn't want a Conroe based CPU

it's hard to find a 4GB memory kit from Super Talent anywhere online



good info...I'll definitely look into it

I dont know if they even make a 4GB kit, i have two 2gb kits total of four sticks.

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by SRTDodge05

I dont know if they even make a 4GB kit, i have two 2gb kits total of four sticks.

they do make one as I went to their website...it's just hard to find any online

I'd rather not fill up all my memory slots with 1 GB modules...plus it's not good for overall system performance and overclockability

[CK8-04]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

it probably is overkill...but I think the efficiency remains the same for both units

Not exactly. You may want to have a look here. Efficiency for both units reaches its max when load is just about half of what the supply can handle. With the power load of your anticipated parts, the HX520 would be a better choice.

[SRTDodge05]

Originally Posted by CK8-04

Not exactly. You may want to have a look here. Efficiency for both units reaches its max when load is just about half of what the supply can handle. With the power load of your anticipated parts, the HX520 would be a better choice.

Makes since if your machine takes 400wat at load with a 520watt power supply it will be more efficient then having a 620watt power supply. Not sure if it will make that much of a difference.

[ctal]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

good info...I'll definitely look into it

I use a slightly older version of BootItNG Boot Manager, Partition Manager, and Drive Image Utility - BootIt Next Generation to multi-boot XP and Linux Ubuntu. I've been extremely pleased with it. It also includes a very good drive imaging capability, and also a partition manager (that I haven't had occasion to use), all for a very low price.

The only caveat is that it is dos-based, which means that if you have a usb mouse and/or keyboard, legacy usb support has to be provided by the motherboard and enabled in the bios when you are setting it up (and when you select which os you want to boot, if neither the mouse nor the keyboard is ps2). I don't know how the P35 chipset handles legacy usb support.

Regards,
-- Al

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by CK8-04

Not exactly. You may want to have a look here. Efficiency for both units reaches its max when load is just about half of what the supply can handle. With the power load of your anticipated parts, the HX520 would be a better choice.

I'll look into the HX520...but 2 years down the road when I get the urge to upgrade again my 620 watt PSU might still be useable...especially with dual GPU's/quad GPU's/quad core CPU's etc becoming more mainstream

Originally Posted by ctal

I use a slightly older version of BootItNG Boot Manager, Partition Manager, and Drive Image Utility - BootIt Next Generation to multi-boot XP and Linux Ubuntu. I've been extremely pleased with it. It also includes a very good drive imaging capability, and also a partition manager (that I haven't had occasion to use), all for a very low price

I was actually thinking about dual booting Vista and Linux but after doing some searching online it seems to have the potential for more problems

[ctal]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I was actually thinking about dual booting Vista and Linux but after doing some searching online it seems to have the potential for more problems

Using BootItNG or another comparable boot manager, the two os's, whether they are Vista, XP, Linux, or anything else, are completely independent from each other. The boot manager can (and normally should) be set to hide all of the other os partitions from the os that is booted.

I suspect that the problems you read of pertained to using the Grub boot manager in Linux, or Vista or XP's built-in dual boot functionality (see the link I provided above for some of the problems that can lead to). Or else the people were choosing which os to boot via the bios, by having the two os's on separate hard drives and selecting in the bios which drive to boot from. That is a poor way to go, in part because the os partitions are not hidden from each other.

The bottom line is that with BootItNG or a comparable boot manager, dual or triple booting any combination of XP, Vista, and Linux is no more difficult or risky than dual booting XP and Vista.

Regards,

-- Al