check my build please

E

exe

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 4, 2005
Messages
292
About to order, appreciate any inputs.

Computer will be used for office work, watching movies on the 30", and Photoshop, no gaming. I don't upgrade often, my last built was from circa 2000 that I used for 5 years. I also need the setup to be as silen as possible.

Q6600
Asus P5K wifi
Enermax 82+ 425watt power
HD, my existing HD, which is an ide 200GB. I will figue this one out to optimize for Photoshop.
4GB Ram, GSkill 2GB x2. What speed should I get? PC6400 $80 or PC8000 $100
Graphic card (has to be fanless). Which one, I found Nvidia 8500 or ATI 3470?

For the video cards, I need 2 of them (prefer PCIe x16). I need the first card to drive a 19" and a 30" (most cards have at least one dual link these days), and the second card drives a high res 9+ megapixel display via DVI.

I like the PC to be quiet, so I though to add a 3rd party heat sink. Noctua with the 120mm fan or Termaltake 120, they both look kinda the same.

Thanks all.
 
To answer your question about Asus motherboards (from a PM he sent me), I generally don't recommend Asus ATX motherboards for Intel CPUs. Main reason being that their motherboards are, IMO, overpriced for the features that they provide in comparison to other motherboards. There's nothing wrong with Asus motherboards themselves, I just don't like their prices and feature set. And the second reason why I don't recommend Asus is that the Asus website is ridiculously slow.

But if that Asus mobo has the features you want, go for it.

Definitely get the DDR2 800 RAM. You won't need DDR2 1000 RAM even if you're planning to OC.

As for video cards, the 19" monitor is connected via DVI, correct?
 
I think the P5K-E WiFi is nicely priced. The Deluxe is overpriced, IMO.

I agree with Danny on the RAM.

HDD, go for the WD6400AAKS. Its fast and quiet. Its actually faster than my raptor. :eek:

Either of those vidcards will do fine.

Go with the Noctua, since it already comes with a silent fan for the same price as the Thermalright Heatsink alone (no fan included).
 
exe said:
Danny, what about a Asus P5KE wifi, it's <$150 and has built in wifi which is worth at least $35 (I need wifi.)
Click to expand...

It's a decent motherboard. Can't find any faults with it that may concern you. The only gripe I have with that motherboard is the number of SATA ports it has. But I think that gripe only applies to me. Still hate the Asus website though. So damn slow.

exe said:
Could you please recommend a non gaming card to use for everyday computing, photoshop and watching movies on a 19" and a 30" LCD monitor. Another card (2nd card) I need to drive a 9+ megapixel screen for photoshop, the screen has a 36MB frame buffer. What card (2 of them) will be able to do what I need under Vista. Thanks, been learning lots from you guys.
Click to expand...

Well please answer my previous question about the 19" monitor. Also, what's resolution of that 9MP screen. Better yet, do you have a link about it?

Thought you should stick to your own thread and not threadjack another.
 
Sorry about the highjacking.

The first card will drive 19" 1280 x1024 and 30" 2480x1600 both via DVI. The other card needs to drive a Viewsonic VP2290, resolution 3480x2400 32mb frame buffer. I'm just concerned there's not enough graphic card power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_T221

So the rest of my setup would be:

Q6600
Ram: what you've recommended 2x 2GB GSkill 6400.
MB, undetermined
that WD 640MB HD the above poster recommended.
Vid card: still researching, but I need two of them.
Power.. I'm thinking Enermax Modu82+ 425watts for quiet.
OS: Vista
 
This 8600GTS should be able to drive the second monitor since it can support a resolution of 3840 x 2400. Best of all, it's passively cooled!:
AsusEN8600GTS SILENT GeForce 8600GTS 256MB PCI-E - $120

As for the 19" and 30" monitors, I recommend this passively cooled 8600GT:
Gigabyte GV-NX86T256H GeForce 8600GT 256MB PCI-E HDCP Ready Video Card - $90

Just curious though, what video cards are you using now to drive your current monitors?

I definitely recommend getting this RAM:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM - $75

What case will you be using with this new PC?
 
The ultra high res screen can be driven via 1 single link DVI. I'm using it on my laptop with X300 128MB and when connected on my old desktop it was under ATI 9200se. But are not satisfactory, but this may be due to the esoteric nature of the monitor (1 dvi =13hz, 4dvi =48hz, it's more complicated than that.) Basically, I haven't set up anything to use with this monitor, hence the new build (plus my desktop is already circa 2000ish.) The 30" is newly acquired, just arrived a few days ago actually. My current desktop (since given to a relative) had 4 19" driven by Matrox P650 AGP and ATI 7000 and ATI 9200se on PCI slots, all via DVI. The monitors hooked up on the PCI slots were real slow, you can see tearing when scrolling static web pages.

The GTS you found does indeed support 3840x2400, but that is not necessary. The monitor will work with any single link DVI, like my laptop x300 for example (though it's real slow at drawing picture on Photoshop to be unusable.) The GTS you linked at $120 ($100 with rebate) I can get the ECS 9600GT for $125 after $25 rebate. The only drawback I can see, it consumes about 5 watts more than GTS at idle. I'm going to try to stay away from Gigabyte, there have been reports their capacitors make whine sounds, from the 8600 all the way to the 9xxx cards. There's a variety of fanless alternative on newegg, like Asus, but thanks for your links.

As for the case. I'm going with a Tech Station standard. I'm looking for a small case and can't find anything satisfactory. I figured just get a tech station with the 10" poles and mount a Thermalright Ultra to run it with a silen fan. I'm not going to OC, but I need it silent. My last desktop only had a power supply fan, CPU Zalman fan/heatsink and a fan on top of my video cards total 3 fans. I might get a Scythe hard drive enclosure to keep the HD cool and quiet. LAter on, I may put plexi glass surrounds around the contraption, if it's too loud, put it in a sound absorbing enclosure. But this is way off in the distant.

Thanks for your input.

Edit: Actually, I should say, the GTS card you linked actually doesn't do 3840 x 2400. Even if it does, the monitor isn't going to actually take it in. That's because the monitor will only take in a single link DVI input. One, two or four of them (this gets complicated). Hence why i say it's not necessary. I'm just unsure what is enough to move around 9.2MP at the low end of the graphic card scale.
 
exe said:
The ultra high res screen can be driven via 1 single link DVI.
Click to expand...

This puzzled me, because the limit of single link DVI at 60Hz is 2MP (1920x1200). So, I kept reading, but alas, I'm bored. So, in case anyone needs some additional info on the monitor he's talking about, here are two links I found for the IBM T221 and Viewsonic VP2290:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/63390/ibm-t221.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T221

exe said:
Actually, I should say, the GTS card you linked actually doesn't do 3840 x 2400. Even if it does, the monitor isn't going to actually take it in. That's because the monitor will only take in a single link DVI input. One, two or four of them (this gets complicated). Hence why i say it's not necessary. I'm just unsure what is enough to move around 9.2MP at the low end of the graphic card scale.
Click to expand...

According to those links above, a single singl-link DVI cable won't give you full res (it would give you 1920x1200, obviously), but apparently that still looks great on the monitor because the pixel density is so high (along with a small pixel pitch; 9.2MP on a 22" area). So I guess with two, there would be some interpolation? So your best bet is four. Though, apparently, the card to use with the 9.2MP monitor is the Matrox Parhelia HR256, which is PCI based and uses 2 DVI single link connections. Even with two, it should still look amazing. All the info on this monitor/card is old. It makes me wonder if there's a replacement model for that parhelia. I hope any of that helped... if not you, then others reading the thread trying to help, lol.

According to an amazon review, the monitor is only good for static images... no video or motion graphics.

How about a board with two PCI-E 16x slots and two 8500GT cards for that single monitor? Hm... then you'd need something for the other monitors... So how about an MSI P7N Plat. 780i SLI board but don't use SLI. IIRC, that thing has 4 PCI-E 16x slots that you could fill with 8500GT cards.
 
enginurd, the T221 monitor is very complicated. It's not just sticking in any old 4 DVI and getting it to optimal resolution and refresh rate. Loads of complication, but it is doable with money. Like that special edition HR256 ( I think the price is close to 1K) or using an external dual link DVI box (if you have a DG5 T221) and that box also cost big buck IF you can find on to buy. There is a need to gen lock 4 DVI etc... Really, too complicated. Plus, you need to stay on XP, unless you go the big buck route AFAIK.

So, to simplify things, I will only drive it via one DVI, the monitor has an internal scaller etc.. and it will work.. but only at 13 hz with full 3840x2400 resolution. I will try driving it via 2 DVI, that will give me 21hz, but under Vista, I can't 'span' the screen, so it will act like two screens.

So, that's why I originally put up my question as.. I need a second card to drive a 9+Mpixel monitor. Just think of it as.. I need a card to drive two 30" 2480x1600 monitor. I think I've narrowed it down to a 8600GTS or 9600GT. Thanks for your input.
 
you do not what the 8600GTS, that card is vastly inferior to the 9600GT. But you're in quite a niche market, I cant offer too much advice about this niche market as I've never delt with it, but I can tell you that the old G80 based 8800s have more raw pixel power then the new G92 based ones (24ROPs as opposed to 16). Taking that into consideration, a sub $200 8800GTS 320mb might just fit your bill.

edit: ahh, alas, the 8800GTS's have 4 of the 24 disabled, and the remaining extra four are easily made up for by the extra 150MHz the 9600GT has on it.

Go with the 9600GT then.

Hope I'm of some help.
 
How much did that monitor cost anyways? lol. So complicated. :(

Are there any newer 9.2MP monitors out?

I agree, go with the 9600GT.
 
Just wanted to update you guy, and thank all that helped, especially Danny and Enginurd. This is the system I got and I finally had time to put it together this past weekend. The 9600GT (both output) is driving my Vp2290 monitor and the 8600GTS driving the 30" and 19". Have yet to top off the Tech Station set, system is sitting 1 foot from me and it's totally silent! Love the quad core, I didn't realize my everyday computing utilizes all 4 cores. Memory may be overkill, but I will be using some of it for Photoshop scratch. Thanks again.


 
Nice! That's gotta be one of the most silent rigs I've seen on this forum.

What temps are you getting for the CPU and GPU?
 
Current ambient temp is 23.1c. I get:
CPU idle (surfing, playing net radio): 21C (1.3v)
9600GT: 59c (clocked down 2D mode)
8600GTS: 69c (can't adjust clock)
HD barely warm, enclose in Scythe Himura (not sure spelling)

I assume my Q6600 is doing the speedstep? Where/how can I adjust voltage when it is doing 6x stepped down? I can adjust voltage for 9x.

From left to right, 19" 30" 22"VP. 15MP in all its glory:


 
AFAIK, can't adjust voltage for the 6x multiplier. But 21C idle is pretty good already. What about load temps for the Q6600? And yes Speedstep should be enabled.

The temperatures for the 9600GT and 8600GTS is a bit too high for my liking but they're fine if you're not gaming. Just be careful around summer time!

Nice monitor setup BTW.
 
I haven't loaded up Prime, just got the last monitor setup a few hours ago. I'll try to put another fan for the vid cards. FYI, the entire desktop area you see on the 30"... is replicated 2 times and then some on the monitor on the right!
 
Voltage is automatically adjusted during speedstep.

Thanks for the pics! Hah, I was about to ask about the res of that background image... so much pixel density in that viewsonic!
 
exe said:
Memory may be overkill, but I will be using some of it for Photoshop scratch. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

How do you use the extra ram for photoshop scratch? I am building a photoshop machine and this would be very good to know.
 
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