# post-deployment gift to myself



## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

SO! I'm still overseas, but i should be home soon. I ordered my parts so they will be patiently waiting for me when I get there. Here's what I got- tell me what you think. Actually, just tell me the good stuff.. because i may not return in time to RMA it.. haha

CASE: xclio wind tunnel ATX full tower
MOBO: EVGA 680i 122-CK-NF63-TR
PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz
CPU COOLER: Artic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro w/ Artic Silver 5 thermal paste
RAM: A-DATA DDR2800 (PC26400) Dual Channel 5-5-5-18 (w/ corsair RAM cooler just for the heck of it)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
VID CARD: 2x MSI 8800GTS 640MB

i'm going to cannibalize an optical drive from my old comp and get a newer one later, also i have an SLI-ready power supply laying around plus my aweosme logitech 518 mouse and adequate saitek eclipse keyboard.

My biggest concern is the MSI video card + evga mobo, has anyone had any experience with this combination or have any reccomendations either way? THANKS! I can't wait to build it!


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

hey bob,

The only thing I would hope is that your SLI ready power supply is 800W + and from a respectable manufacturer because pushing 2 X 8800 GTS's is gunna suck a lot of wattage


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

do you have any reccomendations for power supplies? Thanks!


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

To be quite honest, I too would hope that the power supply is a major brand in the power range suggested by Blackduck30. Otherwise, if it is not, then you might as well get to ordering one before you get home, or you will not be able to run this rig with an "off brand" 600 to 700 watt power supply.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

I can't honestly remember the wattage, which means it's probably too small.. and i think i got it at best buy :laugh: does anyone reccomend a particular brand or model?


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

well bob you have the 

*antec*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256007

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371012

*enermax*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194020

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194019

*thermaltake*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153043

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153053

*silverstone*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256007

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256020

*PC Power and cooling*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703007

those are some of the main players in the respectable supplies


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

that's IT? :wink:


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

ohhh i could go on if you like bob :grin:


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

i love newegg :heartlove


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

I'm going for http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817182070


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

Rosewill are a crappy brand.


Id strongly suggest going with one that blackduck30 suggested.

$20 more for this :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256007

Alot better than the rosewell one.


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

I agree 100% with Hawman. Do NOT buy the Rosewill. Choose one of Blackduck's suggestions.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Definitely avoid Rosewill. Also, pick out a better board than the eVGA because they make great video cards but not the best motherboards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186113
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130080


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

ordering my parts ahead of time has gone from 'waiting for me, ready to build' to 'getting home too late to return/rma' so i'll have to live with the evga board- i have at least read some other forums of people having good luck with that particular evga board, esp with core 2 duo. the rosewill PSU, however, was just stupid, i should've checked back before i ordered (why'd i post in the 1st place?!) but i'll live with that decision. look for some posts later as i start building after i get home. If i keep coming back and reading what i did wrong im gonna go nuts! Thanks you guys. Maybe i'll start commenting as my tech knowledge increases


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

I decided to order the thermaltake that hawman recommended, and just return the rosewill when i get home!  Why live with an iffy product?


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

Good decision. Please keep us updated.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

i'm going to stick to my evga board though, i'll be sure to let everyone know how it turns out


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Good luck with it.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

well guess what i'm up and running! no fine tuning yet though. by the way, anyone know why 4GB would register as 2.5 in XP home and vista home premium?


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

Hi, good news! I'm glad you're up and running.
The OS is 32-bit, which means it can't "see" more than 3.1-3.2 GB of RAM - including the RAM on the video card(s). How much video RAM do you have?


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

8800 GTS 640 MB x2


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

And you're using both - 2 x 640 MB? That would equal 2.5 + 1.28. Maybe there's another limit, but a 32-bit system won't see all 4 GB - I'll have to check that. I'm sure some of the other members know.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

yessir! SLI


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

Microsoft has a few articles about the RAM limits in a 32-bit system. I'll have a look later, got to go now.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

i'll look too. it's strange because cpu-z and pc wizard 2007 both see all the RAM


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

It should see 3.5 GB. I will have to look into it more later (I have to go now). Does the POST count all the RAM when you do a cold boot?


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

POST sees all RAM


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Then the RAM is fine. The graphics framebuffer does not count towards the 3.5 GB limitation. Where does Windows report only 2.5 GB?


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

in the good old right click on my computer- properties; 2.5 in XP and 2558 to be exact in vista. if it's being used i don't mind but if it's not using it then i'm a little worried.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

It probably won't give much benefit to either. Most of the time after 2 GB each starts to use the pagefile unless you configure it to use all the system RAM before using the pagefile.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

do you have any advice on how to get the most out of my RAM?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Download Cacheman and set the profile to Games. This will give you a nice boost in games especially if you have 2 GB of RAM.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

Thanks! I see tons of little utilities like that around and i never know which are safe/useful to use. if you have any other reccomended gadgets i'm curious about those as well  Thanks! (I basically need to upgrade to 64 bit to really use all my RAM don't i?)


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Here is another trick. Open up *MSConfig*, go to the *SYSTEM.INI* tab, and expand the *[386enh]* section.

Click on the *[386enh]* title and at the side click *New*. In the blank space, copy and paste this:

```
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
```
Click OK and reboot. Now open up a memory intensive app like Google Earth or a Balanced Prime95 Torture test. You should see your computer go down to about 100 MB of RAM or less before it starts to use the slower page file.


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## bob arctor (Sep 2, 2007)

Just an update! Things are running smoothly. I love my SLI setup even if Crysis still gobbles it up! I ended up putting XP and Vista on seperate HDD, I used a lot more space on XP than I realized!


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Good to hear.


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## 2pistolpacker (Dec 3, 2007)

You might consider adjusting the timings of your memory, open up CPUID and in the memory tab it will tell you what the current timings are now. I bought some Adata 5-5-5-18 1.8v memory for a board that I ended up returning. I now have it in another PC running at 4-4-4-12 at 1.9v with no problems. Mike


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