CPU/Mobo Final Config > Comments needed

[IceFusion]

Finally i have the budget to get an upgrade over my current system >

The config that i have come up with is as follows

Intel Q6600
Asus P5N-E-Sli
4GB DDR2 RAM
9600GT 512MB

From my current setup, i am picking up
My 2 IDE and 2 SATA drives
DVD writer
Creative X-FI Xtreme music sound card
600W coolermaster SMPS
22" Acer LCD monitor
Logitech Z5500 speakers

Comments are more than welcome, if someone feels something should be changed.... I dont plan to overclock it at all >>

Would be playin games, watchin movies and listning to music on it mainly...
Sm work on photoshop, audio editing, etc to be done...

Major issue that i am facing now is.... Which cabinet to get ?

I am in mood for the CM690 but its for 4.6k in Delhi

Its not much of a budget issue, but i wont really mind getting a cheaper cabinet also... so any suggestions are welcome... i think the zebronics cabinets are also decent.... what do you say ?

 

[bottle]

stay away from 4gb ram for now.. am using it now and it feels really laggy compared to ram with tight timings

 

[ShaTTeR]

Change the mobo as It has some issues with Quads
Get Abit ip35-e Thats Equivalent :\ or some other , but dont go for P5n-e

 

[IceFusion]

4GB would be 2GB Kingston 800Mhz DDR2 Ram x 2 sticks....

@ shatter > Care to elaborate on the issues ??

I would prefer a Sli mobo so that i can go Sli after 6 months or so if needed...

 

[bottle]

4GB would be 2GB Kingston 800Mhz DDR2 Ram x 2 sticks....

mostly timings for these would be 5-5-5 while 4-4-4 or less would be better

 

[Ero-Sannin]

Mobo i think switch to Abit like shatter said

a CM690 seems a good choice. but 4.5 is kinda high

also SLI wont do that gr8 on 9 series since its a mid range card.

 

[hatter]

Finally i have the budget to get an upgrade over my current system >

The config that i have come up with is as follows

Intel Q6600
Asus P5N-E-Sli
4GB DDR2 RAM
9600GT 512MB

From my current setup, i am picking up
My 2 IDE and 2 SATA drives
DVD writer
Creative X-FI Xtreme music sound card
600W coolermaster SMPS
22" Acer LCD monitor
Logitech Z5500 speakers

Comments are more than welcome, if someone feels something should be changed.... I dont plan to overclock it at all >>

Would be playin games, watchin movies and listning to music on it mainly...
Sm work on photoshop, audio editing, etc to be done...

Major issue that i am facing now is.... Which cabinet to get ?

I am in mood for the CM690 but its for 4.6k in Delhi

Its not much of a budget issue, but i wont really mind getting a cheaper cabinet also... so any suggestions are welcome... i think the zebronics cabinets are also decent.... what do you say ?

If you can wait, shop after two to three weeks. Q9300 or Q9450 may come to market by then. They are better buy than Q6600. Official price for Q9300 is similar to that of Q6600, though in he beginning there could be price gauging.

CPU: Even right now, because you are not going to overclock, E8400 is a better processor for general use. It is slightly slower in encoding/decoding stuff as compared to Q6600, but more cache, higher FSB and higher clock speed give it an advantage in games and general use. E8400 will also result in saving of around 2.5K. IMO E8400 is a better deal.

Mobo: Feature wise, Abit IP-35 pro is a better mobo than P5N-E-Sli. But it is a little more expensive and does not support SLI. If you want SLI (For ur monitor IMO a good Single card like overclocked 8800GTS (G92) or upcoming 9800GTX will be enough. and it will cost equal to two 9600GT) on budget P5N-E-Sli is perfectly fine.
GFX card: try to get 8800GT as it is still the best bang-for-buck card. 9600GT is good no doubt but 8800GT has some raw power that 9600GT lacks.

Cabinet: CM690 is good though it is little pricey in Delhi. I have a Zebronics Lava and i don't like it's quality. Though, Lava costs just 1.2K while CM will set you back by at least 4K.

RAM: IMO quantity matters more than the timings unless we are talking about absurd quantities. 4GB is perfectly reasonable amount of RAM nowadays and first priority should be get the quantity rather than settle for tight timings. With Vista, 2GB is definitely not enough and games are already using more than a GB to run. 4GB is fine.
Of course it's great if you can get RAM with better timings. If you are willing to spend a couple of thousands more you can look for low-latency RAM at newegg and get them through KMD.
Some links that I thought could be useful to you

Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Newegg.com - GeIL Esoteria 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Newegg.com - Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Newegg.com - Patriot Viper 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
cheers :hap2:

PS: and BTW, changing your PSU will do good to your rig

 

[MAGNeT]

would suggest to wait till april 15 or 20 as q6750 price coming down to that of q6600

 

[apollyon]

stay away from 4gb ram for now.. am using it now and it feels really laggy compared to ram with tight timings

Which sticks are you using bottle?2gb ones?if yes why not 4x1gb? you can get tighter timings na?

 

[vishalrao]

would suggest to wait till april 15 or 20 as q6750 price coming down to that of q6600

can you post a link to q6750 info/specs? will it really come down to current q6600 prices at the end of april?

 

[soggy316]

if you do plan to get the CM690 then you would need to do some filing on the cabby to get the IDE hard disks properly connected - DVD writer will not face any such issue

The basic issue is that once you put the IDE into the HDD tray some part of the power port and some part of the IDE cable port are blocked, so you would need to file the supports a little to fit the cables.

 

[Udit]

Intel Q6600 - 11k

Abit IP35-E - 5.5k

4GB DDR2 RAM - 4k i guess

Gigabyte 8800GT 512MB - 12k if not affordable then 9600GT 512MB

btw Q9450 will launch in April for 15k mostly so wait for it

 

[Quad Master]

CPU

Dual Core Wolfdale :

1.> E8200 [8x334 = 2.66G]

2.> E8400 [9x334 = 3G]

3.> E8500 [9.5x334 = 3.166G]

Common : Max Power Loss TDP in Watts : 65

Adv. Dual Core

1.> Beats Quad Core in Divx and xvid encoding

2.> Beats Quad Core in some games too as games as games were not optimized

for more than 2 cores , same thing is with applications too they are not

optimized for more than 2 cores

​

OCing Dual Core Peryns

First of all we tried overclocking our Core 2 Duo E8500 sample without raising its Vcore. In this case the CPU ran stably at 3.66GHz frequency.

​

tests showed that Wolfdale responds very good to Vcore increase. But we didn’t aim for record-breaking speeds, so we only increased the processor Vcore in the BIOS Setup to 1.5V that resulted into the actual 1.42-1.46V taking into account Vdroop. This voltage increase is relatively harmless for a processor using an efficient air cooler and is acceptable for systems running 24/7. However, even in this case our Core 2 Duo E8500 didn’t disappoint us at all.

​

We managed to get this processor to run stably at 4.37GHz. No doubt: Wolfdale CPUs will become another overclockers’ favorite, because Conroe processors could hardly hit these speeds at extremely high voltages and with special cooing systems involved. By the way, our processor running at 4.37GHz retained quite acceptable thermal mode of only 70°C under workload.

Read More : X-bit labs - Meet Intel Wolfdale: Core 2 Duo E8500, E8400 and E8200 Processors Review (page 12)

Quad Core

1.> E6600 [Kentsfield] [2.4G]

Max Power Loss TDP in Watts : 95

2.> E9300 [Yorkfield] [334*7.5 = 2.5G]

​

At first glance Core 2 Quad Q9300 seems to be a very attractive candidate for overclocking experiments, at least since Core 2 Quad Q6600 used to be one like that. As you remember, we managed to easily overclock the youngest Kentsfield processor to 3.4-3.6GHz reaching unprecedented performance heights. We expect Core 2 Quad Q9300 to do even better than that: it is based on 45nm dies, each of which can run at 4.3-4.3GHz in Wolfdale processors. Moreover, we are also very optimistic because the top Yorkfield processor, Core 2 Extreme QX9650, overclocked to 4.0GHz in our previous experiments. All this contributes to very favorable informational background and creates highly positive overclocking aura around our today’s hero - Core 2 Quad Q9300.

However, Intel played a mean trick on enthusiasts when preparing their Core 2 Quad Q9300 and other CPUs from the same family for launch. This may totally ruin overclocking attractiveness of the new solutions. The thing is that Yorkfield processors, unlike their predecessors from the Kentsfield family, work with 333MHz FSB. And it automatically lowers the default clock frequency multipliers.

Thus, Core 2 Quad Q9300 with the nominal frequency of 2.5GHz featuring a 7.5x clock multiplier. It means that you will have to significantly increase the front side bus frequency in order to achieve any noticeable results during overclocking. For example, in order to clock Core 2 Quad Q9300 at 4GHz, which seems to be quite attainable for this processor theoretically, the FSB should be increased to unreal 533MHz. I said unreal, because none of the existing mainboards can work with quad-core processors at super-high FSB frequency like that. Numerous overclocking experiments show that the maximum FSB frequency contemporary mainboards can reach when working with quad-core processors and traditional cooling systems is 460-470MHz. That is why the typical overclocking result for Core 2 Quad Q9300 will be around 3.4-3.5GHz. Further frequency increase will be limited by the mainboard and the chipset, but not by the CPU that can definitely do better.

​

Source : X-bit labs - The Youngest of Yorkfields: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor Review (page 6)

Read More About CPU here.

1.> X-bit labs - Meet Intel Wolfdale: Core 2 Duo E8500, E8400 and E8200 Processors Review

2.> X-bit labs - The Youngest of Yorkfields: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor Review

Mobo



Abit IP-35 E [5.5K]

1.> Has Dual Boot problem.

2.> Some ppl here on TE had problems when some usb dev [eg. prn] was hooked up

and the pc was booted it didnt boot or something.

Thread :http://www.techenclave.com/cpu-mobo-corner/problem-s-with-ip35-e-107376.html

3.> Stormy is running his quad 6600 3.5G Oced 24x7 , he confirmed dual boot issue

Abit IP-35 Pro [9K]

1.> All Solid caps

2.> No dual boot issue like the IP-35 E

3.> Looks like a better board to me.

Abit IP-35 Reviews

Abit IP35 Pro - The Hardware Labs

X-bit labs - Print version

AnandTech - Abit IP35-E Review (500MHz FSB board)...$90 @ NewEgg + $6.61 ship

Abit IP35-E Socket 775 Motherboard - Overclockers Club

Overclockers Club » Abit IP35-E Socket 775 Motherboard

InsideHW - Abit IP35 Pro and IP35-E

[H] Enthusiast - abit IP35 Pro

Reviews say Abit maxes out at 450FSB for stable oc's

GPU :

9600GT is gr8

but

8800GT wud be better it

wud allow you much high resol gaming without hiccups.

Matter of personal choice.

Cabinet: CM690 is the one to get , have seen it in person and can vouch for it.

Read More

CoolerMaster CM 690

Cooler Master CM690 Mid-Tower Enclosure :: TweakTown

My Suggestion

E8400

Abit IP-35 Pro

Rams ur choice

8800GT

CM 690

These are my views

hope it helps you.

 

[bottle]

Which sticks are you using bottle?2gb ones?if yes why not 4x1gb? you can get tighter timings na?

i got the gskill pq series.. check my rig gallery. my cellshocks had gone for rma and i just got these to test out .. dont really need 4gb. but then now its been 4 months and cellshock still hasnt got my replacement ram to me yet

 

[Arun.P]

@quadmaster nice review about 45 mm review keep up is dual core is enough for game and aveg power

 

[Switch]

Ice Man... Try to pick up a second hand good condition cabby from TE... A good cabby is always a decent investment... Also buy a screwless cabby... As for the rest buy whatever you feel fits the bill and is within your budget... Dont overspend on a proccy cause it wont be worth it...

 

[Gannu]

Finally i have the budget to get an upgrade over my current system >

The config that i have come up with is as follows

Intel Q6600
Asus P5N-E-Sli
4GB DDR2 RAM
9600GT 512MB

From my current setup, i am picking up
My 2 IDE and 2 SATA drives
DVD writer
Creative X-FI Xtreme music sound card
600W coolermaster SMPS
22" Acer LCD monitor
Logitech Z5500 speakers

Comments are more than welcome, if someone feels something should be changed.... I dont plan to overclock it at all >>

Would be playin games, watchin movies and listning to music on it mainly...
Sm work on photoshop, audio editing, etc to be done...

Major issue that i am facing now is.... Which cabinet to get ?

I am in mood for the CM690 but its for 4.6k in Delhi

Its not much of a budget issue, but i wont really mind getting a cheaper cabinet also... so any suggestions are welcome... i think the zebronics cabinets are also decent.... what do you say ?

Get a Quad6600 or the Q9300..

The IP35 E.. With the newer BIOS update comes lesser hassles..

4GB DDR2.. Crucial/G.Skill/Trannscend JetRam

8800GT 512MB...

The CM690 without the transparent panel shud be around 4250.. Has good cooling solutions but pathetic fans onboard coutesy coolermaster.. U may want to purchase additional fans..

Else Zebronics Bijli..

 

[IceFusion]

@ quad >> Whoa.... thnx a ton mate... thats loads of info

@ Switch >> Umm... so a CM690 should be brought or not ?

I'll replace the 9600T with an 8800GT no issues...

Processor is smthing that i am totally confused on now... >> :/

 

[Quad Master]

Future is quad core for sure , currently i feel dual core peryns are much better.

you can also get a better oc on dual cores 4G easily.

[But we upgrade every 1 or 2 yrs so why not think of the present ]

If u want to get the quad core any how wait for 9XXX to come.

 

[Gannu]

The Q9300 now has a price of abt 12k.. A good performer but make sure u utilize the 4cores for the apps u're running..

Else the Q9450 is gonna debut this April with Intel announcing the Price cuts. So u can get Penryns much cheaper..