Help me build a stable machine:

[IntruderLS1]

I need some pro-style help from you guru's out there.

I'm ready for a new beast, but the factory built units are a rip off. I'm going to put my own together, but haven't done it since my 486 DX2!! :eek Dude, my 4MB's of RAM, and 36MB HDD WTFPWND everything else out there. :jk

I know I want to overclock. I know I want to run SLI video. I know I want to run 4GB Random Access. I'm putting everything in my last generation Alienware tower, so I have plenty of space, and good cooling.

Here is the list of components I'm currently looking at. Do you see any room for improvement? Anything that doesn't jive? Stability is my #1 requirement. I would rather have a slightly slower machine that didn't give me any problems than something that screams, but I have to reboot every other time I push it.

Thoughts, opinions, advice? Everything is welcome. Thanks for taking a look.

Chip

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115002
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
$320.00
MoBo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188019
EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
$159.99

Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$159.00 (x2 for 4GB) = $320.00

Video
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
$389.99 (x2 for SLI) = $780

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153039
Thermaltake W0106RU Complies with ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V version 700W Power Supply 100 - 240 V CE, CB, TUV, FCC, UL, CUL, and BSMI certified

 

[ouachiski]

Man that all looks good to me. Not all that different from the one I was thinking about building a little while back.

 

[IntruderLS1]

Thanks Ouachiski. I think this is the way I'm going.

 

[Reaver]

There's a few things I've noticed, and you can trust me, I've built about 12 computers for friends in the past, not to mention trouble shooting and building machines for my high school for 4 years.

There's nothing wrong with the mobo you selected, but I would personally go with a bigger name like ASUS. They always work for me, and they are incredibly stable when overclocking. Just make sure you do a manual overclock and dont use the system tools!

Corsair is good ram, but G Skill is better for over clocking. pricier too though. worth every penny IMHO

If you want to run the 8800 effectively, you need a 1000 w power supply. No joke. Let alone if you want to run 2 in SLI. (holy shit)

Consider scrapping the SLI idea unless you have a huge monitor, especially with a 8800. there's great and then there's showing off. 2 would be showing off. Plus, SLI is kinda a useless concept unless you have a really really good monitor, because no matter how great the video card is, your monitor can only support so many colors and contrasts. the better the monitor, the more versitile the monitor becomes. Go ACER if you need a new one and have money to spend.

Make sure your RAM pin number matches that of the board. big problems will result if it doesn't.

Get SATA hard drives if you dont have them. trust me, best decision you will ever make.

If you're overclocking this beast, get watercooling, period. Between the 8800, and the Core2Duo, you could cook a fucking turkey in that thing, let alone wiht all the other components...

That's about all I see. These are all suggestions... what you have would probably work fine. If you have any more questions, I'll be checking back on this thread occasionally, or you can send me a PM.

 

[Tegan]

If stability is your concern, you do not want to go SLi. It's a great technology, and I personally run a pair of those very cards, but it's got it's quarks and it's been known to cause my machine to BSOD from time to time. Your video card selection is absolutley fine. The 8800 series is just a great series of cards, no question about it. I have a pair of the 8800GTS 640mb cards (in SLi) in my machine, and it's jaw dropping how powerful they are.

As for the motherboard, it's fine, stick with the eVGA. I run one and have zero issues. It's a stable, rock solid board. I used to be one of the "Only buy ASUS/ABI/MSI" crowd, but after buying this eVGA, I am more willing to take my chances with a little lesser known board. Any new 680i by eVGA you buy will be the latest revision, which fixed all the problems of the rev1 (or the lions share of them anyway). Make sure you flash to the absolute latest BIOS first thing, before doing anything else with the computer if possible.

There is only 240-pin DDR2, so you are okay there. The pin count only matters with DDR and older flavors of RAM. For systems, DDR2 really only comes in 240-pin. Be careful with Corsair memory. I think you have the right part listed, but some Corsair doesn't use the high binned Micron chips, it uses some no-name chips that cause stability issues at tighter timings and rates. I had to do a long RMA process with Corsair to get RAM with the right chips on them. The 6400C4 batch, which I have, is using the correct Micron IC's. The 6400C5 IS NOT. For that matter, the 6400C5D (Dominator) DOES NOT. Only the 6400C4, 6400C4D and better use the correct IC's.

Your power supply is fine, I run a 700W modular and it runs that system great. Even with a 150GB Raptor drive as my system drive and another 320GB SATA as my data drive, I have zero power draw issues. All of my rails are rock solid stable. If you are looking to get a modular supply, I highly recommend the Seasonic M-12. It's what I run and it's a stellar part. If your case is going to be small-ish, I highly recommend the modular PSU. It will save you a serious wiring headache.

From a storage point of view, I absolutely cannot recommend a Raptor system drive enough. The general system responsiveness increase is astounding. If you can afford one, they are simply a stellar part to build a storage solution around. I do recommend getting a slower 7200RPM SATA drive for general storage though. Raptors come in small sizes (34GB, 75GB, 150GB) and as such aren't really meant for storing stuff. You get the most out of them when you use it for program data and operating system files only. This keeps your system load times extremely tight. I also must recommend staying far, far away from RAID if system stability is your main concern. RAID can be a great technology, but it can hamper stability and cause all kinds of hard to diagnose issues.

For reference, my system:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (@ 3.0ghz on water)
Mobo: eVGA nForce 680i LGA775
Memory: Corsair XMS2 PC2-6400C4 (@ 4-4-4-12-1T stable)
Video: eVGA GeForce 8800GTS (640mb) x2 in SLi
HDD0: 150GB WD Raptor 10,000RPM SATA
HDD1: 320GB WD Caveat 7200RPM SATA
PSU: 700W Seasonic M-12 modular
Case: Koolance PC-400 integrated water cooling system (Lian Li case)

Even overclocked with SLi, my system is rock solid stable. I still wouldn't recommend those options if stability is your ultimate goal. I am willing to live with small hiccups in the name of performance, you may not be Hope this helps.

 

[Tegan]

As a quick rebuttal to something Reaver said. Yes, 8800's will cook a turkey. Bums could huddle around the back of my system for warmth because of the heat they push out.

The C2D on the other hand runs very, very cool. You can cool it on air and overclock quite easily, provided the airflow in your case is good. I still recommend water to avoid severe electro-migration, especially if you only upgrade once a year or less. I upgrade so often I may or may not need it myself, but I still run water because I pass my CPU's down to family and friends who prefer not to get my broken hand me downs because I ran the pins off the CPU

 

[NightWarrior]

If you want stability, quit over-clocking. No need for it. Your not even going to notice the difference. What you need is to run dual processors.

 

[Tegan]

Why would you run dual processors in the modern era of computing? You can get a single quad core processor for ~540 dollars, less than you would pay for a pair of dual core CPU's of the same quality. For that matter, dual core CPU's are very affordable and perfectly capable of handling most day to day computing. If by dual processors you meant dual core, then ignore all of this.

Overclocking is definitely not the best path to go down if stability is your main concern. That said, you can make an overclocked box stable if you are patient and understand the settings.

 

[IntruderLS1]

If stability is your concern, you do not want to go SLi. It's a great technology, and I personally run a pair of those very cards, but it's got it's quarks and it's been known to cause my machine to BSOD from time to time. Your video card selection is absolutley fine. The 8800 series is just a great series of cards, no question about it. I have a pair of the 8800GTS 640mb cards (in SLi) in my machine, and it's jaw dropping how powerful they are.

As for the motherboard, it's fine, stick with the eVGA. I run one and have zero issues. It's a stable, rock solid board. I used to be one of the "Only buy ASUS/ABI/MSI" crowd, but after buying this eVGA, I am more willing to take my chances with a little lesser known board. Any new 680i by eVGA you buy will be the latest revision, which fixed all the problems of the rev1 (or the lions share of them anyway). Make sure you flash to the absolute latest BIOS first thing, before doing anything else with the computer if possible.

There is only 240-pin DDR2, so you are okay there. The pin count only matters with DDR and older flavors of RAM. For systems, DDR2 really only comes in 240-pin. Be careful with Corsair memory. I think you have the right part listed, but some Corsair doesn't use the high binned Micron chips, it uses some no-name chips that cause stability issues at tighter timings and rates. I had to do a long RMA process with Corsair to get RAM with the right chips on them. The 6400C4 batch, which I have, is using the correct Micron IC's. The 6400C5 IS NOT. For that matter, the 6400C5D (Dominator) DOES NOT. Only the 6400C4, 6400C4D and better use the correct IC's.

Your power supply is fine, I run a 700W modular and it runs that system great. Even with a 150GB Raptor drive as my system drive and another 320GB SATA as my data drive, I have zero power draw issues. All of my rails are rock solid stable. If you are looking to get a modular supply, I highly recommend the Seasonic M-12. It's what I run and it's a stellar part. If your case is going to be small-ish, I highly recommend the modular PSU. It will save you a serious wiring headache.

From a storage point of view, I absolutely cannot recommend a Raptor system drive enough. The general system responsiveness increase is astounding. If you can afford one, they are simply a stellar part to build a storage solution around. I do recommend getting a slower 7200RPM SATA drive for general storage though. Raptors come in small sizes (34GB, 75GB, 150GB) and as such aren't really meant for storing stuff. You get the most out of them when you use it for program data and operating system files only. This keeps your system load times extremely tight. I also must recommend staying far, far away from RAID if system stability is your main concern. RAID can be a great technology, but it can hamper stability and cause all kinds of hard to diagnose issues.

For reference, my system:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (@ 3.0ghz on water)
Mobo: eVGA nForce 680i LGA775
Memory: Corsair XMS2 PC2-6400C4 (@ 4-4-4-12-1T stable)
Video: eVGA GeForce 8800GTS (640mb) x2 in SLi
HDD0: 150GB WD Raptor 10,000RPM SATA
HDD1: 320GB WD Caveat 7200RPM SATA
PSU: 700W Seasonic M-12 modular
Case: Koolance PC-400 integrated water cooling system (Lian Li case)

Even overclocked with SLi, my system is rock solid stable. I still wouldn't recommend those options if stability is your ultimate goal. I am willing to live with small hiccups in the name of performance, you may not be Hope this helps.

:bowdown:

I'm almost speachless beyond the above mentioned emoti, and that's flippen saying something when it comes to me. :lol

Can't thank you enough for this insite. I'm going to go look over my HW again, and see what changed I need to make.

I have a question about water cooling. Does it eliminate the need for the rest of the fans? How quiet is this thing? Do you have an external unit, or does yours all wire up into the box?

I've got a three year old Alienware tower (monstrosity), so it's pretty big, with lots of airflow. Would you still recomend liquid?

Thanks man. I don't think we've ever talked, but I really appreciate you stoping in with the good intel.

 

[IntruderLS1]

Do you have an external unit, or does yours all wire up into the box?

Disregard. I see yours is integrated. Got a little ahead of myself there.

 

[BreakfastSurreal]

tegan i have a pic of your case somewhere if you look on my iphoto library...

 

[Tegan]

No worries.

In my case, no it doesn't cut down on the noise, because the rest of my system is still air cooled. My next build will use a much larger cooling system and likely water cool everything. I will put the CPU and the north bridge on one loop and both GPU's on the second. The only fans I will have then is an ultra quite intake in front of my HDD's and an ultra quit blower at the back (and of course the radiator which uses fans to cool the incoming water).

The only reason to go water is if you plan to overclock. Given that you are building for stability, you likely don't want to OC much, if at all. So no, I don't think liquid is worth the money for you. It's expensive and can be a pain in the rear to deal with when you have to do things like replace a bum motherboard I would stay air and just get a really good air cooler (I can recommend a few good ones for the Core 2 Duo). Just remember to set your case fans up to create good airflow from front to back and you should be fine. A single 8800GTS won't run that hat, and it has it's own hot air ejection at the back (all 8800's take up to slots).

 

[Tegan]

I have my case picture at GT.net:

I've cleaned up the wiring a bit, that was when I first put the whole thing together with the dual 8800's.

 

[IntruderLS1]

Okay, I've changed some stuff around a bit. What do you think of this setup?

Is the 6700 a good choice, or should I go with the 6600 like everybody else seems to do?

​

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136012

​

EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130079

​

SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817151031

​

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145034

​

EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813188019

​

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6700 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115002

 

[Tegan]

I would get the E6600 myself. The E6700 isn't going to be that much faster, and you can shave a little cash off your bill. If you ever decide to OC, the E6600 is a great overclocker (it's what I have). Other than that, your setup looks great.

 

[IntruderLS1]

Cool deal. I've ordered my components.

I pussed out and got the 6700. It was a last minute moment of weakness. Oh well. $100 bucks for 200 some-odd MHz... what can ya do?

What heatsink/fan would you recommend? I'll be at stock speeds for probably a year or two. (No point in OCing for me until I come against something my current HW can't handle.) So I was thinking of just staying with the stocker. Everybody on NewEgg slams them, but most of those guys are serious about stressing their machines. I've NEVER burned out a proc like half of these guys seem to do.

 

[Tegan]

Stock is fine if you are running everything at stock speeds. Just make sure your case has good airflow.