DuncanMcDermott

What would your new system look like if you built it today?
I am thinking of this for a new build.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Anyone have any suggestions for changes?

Judas

Considering what you've already got for specs...

i'd be going with a P35 chipset instead, gigabyte still is damn good and stable/reliable though.

What version of windows do you plan on using, cause if you got 4gb of ram, your not going to be to pleased with the results in windows XP or Vista 32bit, x64 xp or vista however will actually make full sure of the 4gb of ram and won't cause issues.

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temeteus82

for me... copy of the Xeon rig that was reviewed here some time ago yeah I do some video rendering back here ...

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DuncanMcDermott

Hi Judas,
I had originally thought about the P35 chipset but read some bad reviews about the board. I thought rather than tempt fate I would stick with one that had been tested. Is the Gigabyte P35 board good to use?
I currently run XP home for an os but will upgrade to Vista when I build this new rig. You say the Ultimate version is the best to go with? Kind of makes you scratch your head and wonder why it took an ultimate version of Vista to run right.

procupine14

well you definitely need to get a 64 bit edition of Vista if you ar running more than 2or3 gigs of RAM because a 32 bit OS won't recongnize all 4 GB of RAM.
Correct me if Im wrong but I'm 95% sure thats how that works.

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HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU

GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU

Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Judas

Hmm, p35 boards with issues, well being new and whatnot, i haven't actually had a P35 board in my hands yet from any company yet, but i've heard some utterly remarkable results from various people, alot of Googling and research into the boards would be a good idea, Probably from various companies to, don't limit yourself to gigabyte.

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DuncanMcDermott

Judas
You're right, Tom's hardware did a review of 8 P35 boards. While one stood above the rest the one that didn't got very good reviews by users. I am now rethinking my initial choice.

As far as Ultimate goes it seems that there are some features I may never use in this version of the OS. I need to do more research on this product as well it seems.

kris23

p35? bad? there are 2 guys i know of running P35 boards, so far from what i have seen, they rocked their balls off

the two boards are the:

ASUS P5K DELUXE (owned by ChaosMinionX)
Gigabyte P35 DQ6 (owned by Lowfat)

though they are the highest end boards on the market.....$200+ you pay for stability man, dont expect the mighty heat pumping P35 to run off of crappy aluminum heatsinks or poorly designed boards

and yes as much as id hate to say it, the P35 does put out a rather high amount of heat..... but it is a good board when used properly, supports 4GB of RAM easy, overclocks like nothing ever before seen! looks good and is just superior to all others with the ICH9 controller, not available on any other board.....

i want to get one..... but seeing how i have no money, by the time i do, ill be seeing the X38 on the shelves

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ChaosMinionX

Quick bench for you, those settings are rock solid on Prime95/Orthos and Memtest 86+ 1.7...... 9k across the board on memory? I dont have my 4GB in, because im waiting for my RMA from corsair, but this board blows the 965 and 975X outta the water. I wouldnt be the first to say that either, however X38 isnt too far off, and if that performs like they say it will, then I will be selling this board and going X38 with quad penryn

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dipstick

I'll agree with everyone that the P35 is the way to go but they are expensive and tbh it might be tough for most to justify the price difference over the 965 boards. Still, they are extremely stable and OC like hell without touching any voltages at all. 500MHz fsb is almost a given and they don't seem to be bothered when all mem slots are filled.
However, your chosen setup is quite good and you should be more than happy with it while saving a few bucks

ChaosMinionX

Thats pretty true, Im a bad example im a hardware addict and I spend my money like it was my job

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PangingJr

965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) "might" still have issues with some of memory modules that are based on Micron D9xxx IC's.
in some cases, you won't be able to overclock your memory beyound DDR2-1066, therefore, if in the case that you like to try a very high CPU front side bus, you can only use 1:1 (2.0x memory multiplier), since there is a limit there. or in some CPU FSB's you can't use one or more of the available BIOS options memory multiplier (2.50x, 2.66x, 3.0x, 3.33x and 4.0+x).

i would forget about buying any P965 base board, but consider buying P35 base instead.

PangingJr

what are your voltages setting?

to make system stable in Vista i need to use 1.5375V Vcore., MCH +0.25V (1.50V chipset spec for 1.25V i think), FSB +0.15V,
and i have to increase system and heatsink fan RPM (speed), but get a good temp though.





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here's only 50% overclocked, e6300 -> 2800MHz 1.4V FSB : DRAM 4:5 (2.50x) and 4-4-4-10, system/CPU fans speed reduced.
system will boot with no need to increase Vcore, just a little of MCH increased and my Windows will be stable with CAS 5-5-5 setting and a none Micron D9xxx IC's memory modules.
however i need 1.4V Vcore, or i won't get a stable Windows when using memory modules with Micron D9xxx IC's and CAS 4-4-4 setting.

DuncanMcDermott

I have to admit those benchmarks look very good and very tempting. I know who to talk to when it comes to OC'ing the board. It will sure be nice to have speeds anywhere close to those. Did you have any trouble with the connectors on the board when you were building it?
How far off are we from the X38 boards?
Just thinking that I could delay this build a little if they were only a few months off. Would they put the DDR3 to better use than the P65? Right now DDR3 seems unneeded.
Money comes pretty slow for things like new computers. When I build I would like it to last as long as possible. If holding off would help with newer boards and possibly price reductions on some items that is a definite plus.

ChaosMinionX

@Pang


CPU - 1.425v (Voltage Damper Enabled)
DRAM - 2.2v
FSB- 1.4v
NB - 1.55v

Nothing too much, takes 1.55v to post @ 4ghz 500x8

The voltage settings im currently using are rock solid in Prime95/Orthos and Memtest 86+ 1.7


DRAM Timings 4-4-4-10-3-25-6-2-4 2T 1:1 DDR2 1000mhz

If that helps you

EDIT: Mind you, im also using about $1000 in ram at the time I purchased it

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PangingJr

for my Gigabyte P965 board in order to run DRAM CAS 4-4-4 at DDR2-1000 1:1, it needs 2.3-2.35V, as i tried with 3 set of 1GBx 2 memory modules...

Geil Ultra DDR2-800 Plus 3-3-3-8 2.4V modules --> 2.35V
G.Skill DDR2-800 HZ 4-4-4-12 2.1V modules --> 2.35V
G.Skill DDR2-1066 HK (D9GKX) 5-5-5-15 2.4V --> 2.30V.

thanks for the voltage and DRAM timings settings again, i'll try them out with a P35 base board whenever i can.

ChaosMinionX

The P35 is a far superior memory controller wise to the P965....Handles 4GB of RAM better, better voltages, better timings....Seems to beat it clock for clock too.

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PangingJr

i think so too.
anyway my Gigabyte P965 are Rev.C1 they are having problem with D9xxx IC's there was an updated BIOS to fix the issues but still not good enough yet. however, i have too many unused boards and a ready built system that i've not actually used it lol, i do like to try a P35 as soon as i can too, i'll try to wait a bit before a new build, or if i feel i'm more addicted to overclock then it might be sooner, lol.

ChaosMinionX

Give you a deal on a Asus P5K Deluxe if your still looking for one when X38 boards are released

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PangingJr

okay.

ChaosMinionX

Not to jack the thread, but same settings......32mhz more on memory, same timings/subtimings and voltage....16mhz more on the FSB got some pretty smokin numbers.




--------[ EVEREST Ultimate Edition ]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v4.00.1043 Beta
Benchmark Module 2.1.184.0
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Report Wizard
Computer DEUSEXMACHINA
Generator AjaX
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition 5.2.3790 (Win2003 Retail)
Date 2007-06-30
Time 00:58


--------[ Memory Read ]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xeon 3060 3600 MHz Asus P5K Deluxe P35 Dual DDR2-1032 4-4-4-10 10243 MB/s
Pentium EE 955 3466 MHz Intel D955XBK i955X Dual DDR2-667 4-4-4-12 8156 MB/s
P4EE 3733 MHz Intel SE7230NH1LX iE7230 Dual DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 8048 MB/s

--------[ Memory Write ]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xeon 3060 3600 MHz Asus P5K Deluxe P35 Dual DDR2-1032 4-4-4-10 9289 MB/s
Athlon64 X2 4200+ 2200 MHz Asus A8N-SLI Premium nForce4-SLI Dual DDR400 3-3-3-8 CR1 6279 MB/s
Athlon64 X2 4000+ 2000 MHz MSI K9N SLI Platinum nForce570SLI Dual DDR2-800 4-4-4-11 CR1 5638 MB/s



--------[ Memory Copy ]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xeon 3060 3600 MHz Asus P5K Deluxe P35 Dual DDR2-1032 4-4-4-10 9513 MB/s
Athlon64 X2 4000+ 2000 MHz MSI K9N SLI Platinum nForce570SLI Dual DDR2-800 4-4-4-11 CR1 5568 MB/s
Core 2 Duo E6700 2666 MHz Abit AB9 P965 Dual DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 CR2 5371 MB/s



--------[ Memory Latency ]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xeon 3060 3600 MHz Asus P5K Deluxe P35 Dual DDR2-1032 4-4-4-10 47.8 ns
Athlon64 X2 4000+ 2000 MHz MSI K9N SLI Platinum nForce570SLI Dual DDR2-800 4-4-4-11 CR1 53.7 ns
Sempron 2600+ 1600 MHz ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 GeForce6100 Int. DDR400 SDRAM 2.5-3-3-8 CR1 53.9 ns

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DuncanMcDermott

Between you two guys Chaos and Pang I feel like the poor guy on the block. One has 1K in ram alone and the other has boards just sitting around. LOL Here I am trying to keep my purchases as low as possible and you guys are sitting on tech heaven. I envy you guys.
You have convinced me though to go P35.
The one question I have is how little do I have to spend at once to get a system up and running? Can I use my current DDR 333 memory with settings of 4-4-4-12 in a new board? Or would I have to go for new memory as well when I buy the board? I was really hoping to be able to run the sytem for a month until the next check then get the memory.
CPUs should be done next month in price and that will help.

Lowfat

GA-P35-DQ6 owner here, and I love it! Previously I've owned a GA-965P-DS3, P5B-D, P5N-E SLI, P5B-D WiFi/AP, and then this. This board is by far has the least problems. And it will handle the 4GB of ram (unlike the P5B-D WiFi) with no problem.

I generally run 400X9 24/7. But it runs 515MHz FSB no problem either.

Currently I do not think I'd sell it for any other board on the market right now. The GA-P35-DS3R is also a very good board with almost similar overclocking results. The only real difference between the boards is half the number of chokes in the CPU phase power, and a few bells and whistles.

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ChaosMinionX

Of course you will need to buy new RAM as well DDR2 specifically.....If you want some good performing ram I would suggest Corsair Dominator 8500C5D, and buy a fan to go along with them, they are priced right for the performance....If your looking for some lower value ram look between Corsair, OCZ, Crucial, and G Skill or Mushkin are all good names in ram, I think I forgot one company but hmmm anyways....

If you have any more specific questions regardign new hardware for your new build feel free to post

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DuncanMcDermott

Chaos you have been great in trying to help answer my questions. Thank both you and Pang. I'll be sure to update here when I get my parts in.

PangingJr

Gigabyte P965 rev.C1 (maybe rev.C2 too) and Micron D9 issues...

there was a motherboard's BIOS fixed for some issues in system with Micron D9 based memory modules... the issues includes, problem with booting, cold boot, won't be able to overclock well... all of these may be fixed in BIOS F8 for 965P-DS4, and F9 for 965P-DQ6. and the updates also include... @1000 MHz 4-4-4-12 2.2V, @1100 MHz 5-5-5-15 2.3V and @1200 MHz 5-8-8-20 2.35V.

1000 MHz 4-4-4-12 2.2V...


@1100 MHz 5-5-5-15 2.3V...


note-- i, however, unable to get DDR2 at 1200 MHz still (only tested the BIOS with a 480 FSB and memory multiplier 2.50x.).
and AFAIK these motherboards platform do not have a lot of the memory compatibility issues when using memory modules based on other ICs (Aeneon, Elpida, Hynix, Infineon, Nanya, Powerchip, ProMOS, Samsung, Veritech...)

anyways, this is for people who interested to know about this. and if you want to build a new computer and looking at to use Gigabyte P965 base and Micron D9 based memory modules, then check the info out first, otherwise, it's best to go for P35 based board instead.

DuncanMcDermott

I have a quick question. I received a e mail today that the P35 board I wanted is back in stock. Also I got a notice that the EVGA 88GTS card is on sale. I guess at this point I am going to take the plunge and buy a new system.
So what memory should I buy. 5-5-5-15 cas 5 or 4-4-4-12 cas 4? The 5-5-5-15 is pc 8500 by OCZ.

kris23

which board is that?

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ChaosMinionX

4-4-4-12 CAS4 is much better.

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DuncanMcDermott

Great thanks!
I was going to buy today but was told there will be a price drop on Intel cpus soon. I am going to hold off for that to happen. And I am going to go Quad if I can squeeze in the extra price.

Now to sort though the coolers. I need to check the current thread on them. They are getting so heavy board makers will have to add support for all that weight soon.