# Building new gaming rig .. need your opinion!!



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

Ok , so i finally finished searching online for the best components reviews and i am buying the computer next week but i am still confused about a point or two and need your help guys 
I live in egypt so plese bare with me i you suggested anything and i couldn't find it here because it's hard to find all the stuff you have here in the states
first of all i won't be able to change or upgrade anything other than the GPU for at least 2 years so i really need a future proof machine and i decided on the following components and need your opinions .

PSU : HEC Zephyr 650W

MB : Gigabyte P35-DQ6 DDRII ( i initially wanted the ABIT pro but couldn't find it here ) but i think the Gigabyte is a worthy alternative 

RAM : 2x1 Giga Corsair XMS 800mhz (4-4-4-12)

Case : Gigabyte aurora 570

HDD : western digital 250GB or 320GB 7200rpm 8 mega cache ( the 16 mega cache version isn't available here )

optical drive : Asus sata dvd burner

cooling : ZALMAN CNPS9500

GPU : i am getting the ATI x1950pro for now until this battle between ATI and nVidia is over with the release of any directx 10 real titles like crysis so i won't get a powerful GPU until next november

Processor : well i am torn between the Q6600 (G0 Stepping) and the E6850 , i read numerous reviews comparing both of them and since i am getting the pc mainly for gaming people suggested the E6850 for the increased clock speed while i am leaning towards the Q6600 for its future proof benifits when multi thread applications hit the market 

so i really need your opinion regarding the processor and any other component you find not that good 
thanks and sorry for the long post !


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

need a better psu like an ocz gamextreme 700 watt


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

actually we dont have any OCZ power supplies where i live , the only other one i found that i think is better than the HEC Zephyr is the Corsair 620W but it costs a whopping 230$ can you believe that 

will you check that link , they say that the HEC is actually pretty good :
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2081


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

even the corsair wont hold up the rig for long you need a better one look in the psu infor thing in my sig for information on brands


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

i actually read this article befors but i am trying to get along with what i have here ..
we do have anther brand here , it's gigabyte and they offer the 800w odin pro and gt but they are also extemely expensive ( both over 240$)
there is a very old trick a friend of mine used to do long ago , he used to power the HDDs and the optical drives with a separate power supply , would that be any good at all ?


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

anybody with opinions regarding what to choose between the E6850 and the Q6600 ???


----------



## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Three things; 

First, I would not buy the power supply you are looking at for the unit you have listed. 

Second, I would not do the dual power supply issue. Cost wise when you look at energy consumption, you would be better off to buy a good one right off and get it over with. Don't patch this thing. 

Third, have you checked the price in your area for the Thermaltake Toughpower 750? It would pull this rig quite well. You might also check the Silverstone 750?


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

well i would never like to patch it but it seems that i might have to ..
first of all , price wise the dual power supply thing won't cost me anything as i will be using an old 300w power supply for the hard and optical drives 
second , unfortunately we don't have any Thermaltake or Silverstone offerings where i live , they don't sell here at all ..
i am in one deep problem i know


----------



## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Can you list the brands you do have? Do you have Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, FSP, or Antec?

Also, choose the E6850 now, your games will thank you.

Other than that, looks good.


----------



## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Where are you located?


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

actually here the most respectable brands we have are the HEC (350,420,580,650)W , Gigabyte odin pro and GT 800w and a single model of corsair which is 620W ..
we don't have any models of the brands Seasonic, PC Power, FSP, or Antec !! strange i know

for your processor recommendation , if it's not much trouble would you look at this review :
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q6600_12.html#sect0

and here's a quote of its conclusion :
By dropping the price of the youngest quad-core processor below $300, Intel made a great gift for hardware enthusiasts. Our today’s test session revealed that this processor can really do great in skillful hands. The overclocking potential of the Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor based on the new G0 core stepping is quite sufficient to help it compete successfully in almost any applications.

According to our tests and numerous overclockers’ reports online, quad-core Core 2 Quad Q6600 processors can overclock up to 3.6GHz with proper air-cooling. In this case they can perform better than Core 2 Duo CPUs overclocked to their maximum. Moreover, we see this tendency even in those applications that are not optimized for multi-core processors and that are getting fewer day by day. As we saw there are very few tasks left, where overclocked quad-core processors cannot outperform overclocked dual-core CPUs. They defeat their rivals not only thanks to twice as many computational cores, but also thanks to twice as large L2 cache.

So, we think Core 2 Quad Q6600 seems to be a much more attractive offering these days than Core 2 Duo E6850.

However, those computer users who do not want to mess with processor overclocking may think differently. In this case Core 2 Duo E6850 with 25% higher clock speed performs better in a lot of applications, including games. Moreover, it is also more economical. As a result, the most optimal choice for a system working at nominal speeds would depends a lot on the type of tasks it is intended for.

Nevertheless, we shouldn’t forget that most upcoming applications and games are being designed with multi-threading in mind. That is why Core 2 Quad Q6600 may be a more promising solution even if used in its nominal mode.


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

i'm in Egypt


----------



## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

If you are going to overclock - get the Core 2 Quad. If not, get the Core 2 Duo.


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

well as i said in the beginning i like the Q6600 more but this power supply issue is troubling me especially that power consumption will significantly rise when the processor is overclocked ..

anyway , so could anyone tell me what sort of problems would i expect if i get that HEC Zephyr 650W ?
a friend of mine is running it on a somehow similar rig with a 8800GTX and it's running fine
would i expect any crashes ?
and if this happens would it take any other component with it ? (burn it i mean)


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

it could take everything with it


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

well i'll try to search some more and get back to you 
thanks guys ..


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

Hi guys . it's me again
well i searched and searched and the best power i could find was this :
HEC Zephyr 750W
it has >80 % efficiency as declaired by most reviews 
and Quad 12V rails with 19amps on each rail and there was little to none at all voltage increasing or decreasing on any of the rails ..
what do you think ?


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Seems fine as long as there are not many people commenting about doa as that might indicate bad quality control


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

Thanks a lot 1 g0t 0wn3d ..
you reply faster than i can refresh my page


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

I try =)


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

well thank you for that ..
by the way i have another question concerning power supplies , i posted it in the power&ram section but it seems that the section is a little deserted right now so would you mind answering it ..

How much power in Watts can a regular 4-pin power connector supply ?
thanks a lot man ..


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

To be honest i really do not know if you are talking about the motherboard connector i know that you should have a 8 pin motherboard connector if your cpu takes over 130 watts, as for molex i am not sure i would say around 30-50 watts each


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

thanks man, yeah i was asking about molex connectors ..
thanks again ..


----------



## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Linderman posted on your other thread saying something differt so you should look at that to


----------



## sagittar (Jun 14, 2007)

i am now , thanks ..


----------

