Old 07-20-2007, 06:38 PM   #1
richlum
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Default Q6600 build advice...

Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a Q6600 system to replace my old P4 (posted here a while ago about upgrading to E6600 but I've umm'd and ahh'd for so long everything has changed!!!)

Want to order this week or next though (current PC has started rebooting for no reason on the rare occassion)

I don't plan to overclock it.
Will be using it primarily for audio recording and mixing so quiet is good

I'd appreciate any advice/experience/comments on the following:

Mobo - Asus P5K or Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6?? (leaning toward the DQ6 based on what I've read online)

RAM - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4

HDD - 2 x Seagate ST3320620NS (heard these are noisier than samsungs, but more reliable - also read that 320GB is the ideal balance between size and performance as it is 2 platters and bigger drives go up to 3 platters - don't actually understand why that's good )

Cooler - Zalman 9500 or Thermaltake V1 (not sure about fitting in case etc)

Case - Antec Sonata 3 with inbuilt PSU or Antec P182 with TruePower Trio 650 PSU (cooling and noise concerns)

Video - Gainward Geforce 8500GT 256mb fanless
or
SAPPHIRE HD2400PRO fanless
(want a passive card with dual monitor support. Won't be playing games or anything, mainly running audio apps with low graphics requirements. Maybe playback of video etc.)


My main concerns are whether the case and cooler will be cool enough for the Q6600 and fit.
And also I know nothing about video cards, so not sure whether getting a 128MB 7600GS might be better for lower power consumption/cooler running or whatever.

Any advice or things to consider on the above would be appreciated.
thanks,
Rich
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Old 07-20-2007, 08:13 PM   #2
Jim Roseberry
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Hi Rich,

That looks pretty good.

If you have plans of moving to Vista in the near future, you might want to use an ATI video card instead of the Geforce.
The Geforce cards are great under WinXP... but the ATI cards perform (currently) better under Vista. Allows lower system latency (not to be confused with audio latency), which makes the system less prone to drop-outs at low audio latency settings.



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Old 07-22-2007, 07:13 AM   #3
LabbyRoad
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I'm looking to build a similar system sometime later in the summer or very early fall.

My current system is dual core and based on a Shuttle XPC chassis and is near dead-quiet. If your looking for quiet, it's worth having a look at Shuttle. They make a small chassis that supports Intel quad core CPU's. The model here in Canada is SD39P2, the model number may differ in the U.S. These chassis are more expensive than buying your own case/mobo/psu/hsf but they are great if you want a near silent system.

Try and choose a video card that is fanless. I too prefer AMD cards but sadly, there aren't as many good fanless choices from AMD as there are from NVidia. The Asus® Extreme AX1600Pro Silent /TD - Radeon™ X1600Pro Silent/TD VPU w/512Mb DDR2 is worth looking at.

Hard drives with fewer platters generally run cooler, which can be important especially if you are building an SFF system. Try to get a drive with 16MB buffer vs 8MB. These usually have a slight performance edge. I currently prefer Western Digital. The Samsung spinpoints are quieter and cooler but do not perform as well. Consider two hard drives; one for OS and one for projects.

As for me, I'm going to wait just a little longer and see how the AMD monolithic quad cores coming out next month perform in comparison to Intel. I expect the AMDs to have better power and thermal characteristics, making them better for an SFF case. The only question mark here is performance.

I hope this helps.
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Old 07-22-2007, 10:30 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LabbyRoad View Post

Try and choose a video card that is fanless. I too prefer AMD cards but sadly, there aren't as many good fanless choices from AMD as there are from NVidia.
I hope this helps.

HIS x1550-pro
Inexpensive/great performer with 512MB/passive cooled


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Old 07-23-2007, 12:21 AM   #5
richlum
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Thanks guys.
I'll look at that graphics card...

I've changed to the WD 320GB AAKS drives now (2 of them) as they look to be quieter than the seagates, but more reliable than the samsungs.

Also still completely undecided about coolers...

Rich
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Old 09-19-2007, 04:50 AM   #6
remi_2
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Hi there, I just built a new Q6600 machine, I was going for an asus P5K but I eventually took the Asus BAD AXE 2 mobo which has the intel workstation/server chipset, and put 8 gigs of ram on it. It smokes.
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Old 09-19-2007, 05:46 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by remi_2 View Post
It smokes.
is that good?
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