New System [Q6600], Advice Needed

Hi,

I have just purchassed the following components, and could do with a bit of advice regarding them.

tem: Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 Onboard Audio ATX
Qty: 1Cost: 60.82

Item: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair)) Retail Boxed Processor
Qty: 1Cost: 140.75

Item: Casebuy Black/Silver MIO-906-SB ATX Midi Tower Case - With 350W(PPFC) PSU
Qty: 1Cost: 17.01

Item: MSI 8600GT Silent edition 256MB DVI HDTV PCI-E
Qty: 1Cost: 53.22

Item: Extra Value Blue Transparent 650w PSU 12cm fan 12v dual rails
Qty: 1Cost: 24.66

Item: Seagate ST3500630AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 16MB Cache 7200RPM - OEM
Qty: 1Cost: 51.87

Item: OCZ 1GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Unbuffered CL5 (5-5-5-12) SPecial Ops Edition with Camouflage XTC Heatspreader Lifetime Warranty
Qty: 4Cost: 25.52

Item: Yatai 5.1 Black/Silver 33W RMS Surround Sound Speaker System - With LCD Front Panel/Wireless Remote
Qty: 1Cost: 25.52

Purchased from the online supplier, eBuyer.com
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I do not intend to overclock this straight away and probably not in the future, but if I choose to in the future I'll more than likely need a better Heatsink/Fan. This is one thing which I need advice on. Which one should I get, if I choose to overclock this at some point ?

ezcomputers.co.uk -> My local hardware shop. If you can find a good one on their, it would be helpful as I can get it quickly.

Also, will the compound supplied on the bottom of the stock Heatsink/Fan be sufficient ? I am almost 100% I want to run this for reliability and stability, and not for overclocking, so take that into account.

Fast responses will be greatly appreciated as the components are due to arrive this wednesday and I would like to put it together ASAP.

Regards,
Luke

There's not really a great deal of choice at your local shop, nothing in partiulcar i can recommend, Sycthe Mine's and the Thermaltake Big Typhoons are are very good and quiet and not too expensive either if you can get hold of one elsewhere though

Dunno that those would fit in this case. Probably best you can get is the Thermalright Ultima 90i plus maybe a Yate Loon fan. But it's not the cheapest.

Nice memory deal BTW, but dodgy case, PSU and speakers and possibly not the best choice of mobo.

I really wouldn't have bought that PSU.. you should never skimp on that.

Would suck if you burn out the Q6600 with a cheap fireworks show. Mobo is ok if you aren't overclocking and isn't bad if you are. P35 chipset is probably better though.

And yeah you have the B3 stepping quad core so it will run quite hot with the stock HSF even without overclocking

Hope it all works out.

If I can get away with the stock HSF, then I'd be happy.

The case just had to be cheap. It looked fairly decent, had some alright reviews.

PSU had some good reviews also, good price.
Mobo was my second choice. Always liked Asus boards. This one offered everything I needed and at the right price for me.

Speakers.. lol. I think the words, 'Rushed Purchased' pretty much cover them.

I had to work with a budget, and being a student dont exactly have tons of cash to spend on this type of thing at the moment.

Hopefully its ok but you would have been better with something from tagan or fsp around 400w..you wouldnt need more.

Probably only £5 maybe £10 more

I wouldn't recommend just going by the ebuyer reviews on that PSU as you have to look at long term reliability as well, and it doesn't need to be particulary powerful for the system you have there, 400-450W would be more than enough (and remember its not all about the wattage)

Yeah. I know. Looking back on it all now.. I should have looked into it a bit more.

If only I have found this site beforehand. Ah well, nothing much I can do about that now.

Im still fairly confident about it. If it comes down to it, then I'll have to purchase the better PSU, HSF.. but hopefully everything'll go to plan.

I've also noticed that ebuyer reviewers are heavily influenced by "bling". It's good to have a nice-looking PSU. But it's rather more important to have a solid one that delivers the power it's supposed to and doesn't blow up...

Ignore me, it does support it :(
Regarding Thorssons post and ebuyer. I bought a casetek case off them for £17. Reviewed it, with 1 star (only because the system couldn't give 0), a week later, all the 1-star reviews had been removed, taking the rating back upto 4.5 stars :)

You almost gave me a heart attack then.:surprised: *Heartbeat Start To Return To Normal*

I suppose you cant stop a company trying to protect themselves, but thanks for the info. It's my first time purchasing from eBuyer and so-far the impression I've gotten is pretty good. Apart from that rating mischeif you described. I can only hope that everything is going to be alright.

Well that explains a few things...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smithmr8

You almost gave me a heart attack then.:surprised: *Heartbeat Start To Return To Normal*

I suppose you cant stop a company trying to protect themselves, but thanks for the info. It's my first time purchasing from eBuyer and so-far the impression I've gotten is pretty good. Apart from that rating mischeif you described. I can only hope that everything is going to be alright.

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One of my mates from uni bought a logitech desktop set from ebuyer, arrived with a european plug on the end of the cable. He sent it back under RMA, lo and behold, the one they sent out had, again, a european plug :S

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve B

One of my mates from uni bought a logitech desktop set from ebuyer, arrived with a european plug on the end of the cable. He sent it back under RMA, lo and behold, the one they sent out had, again, a european plug :S

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I bet that was frustrating.

haha it was:D anyway, thats off-topic.
the bottom line is however, that your system is a good system. Its not precisely the best system that you could have chosen, but its a decent PC none-the-less. As has already been mentioned, the only thing i'm worried about is the power supply :)

Yeah. I think I might have to look into buying a better one. Annoying:angst:, but hey.. thats life.

The person who Im getting to assemble it for me, as I dont want to risk fudging it up, I'll ask about the PSU and if he recommends getting a different one then I'll go with it. If he thinks it'll be alright then I might stick it out.

If you look on www.ezcomputers.co.uk.. can you tell me if any of those would be better than this one. Bearing in mind Im running on an already tightening budget.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=284214
no doubt blitzen will love me for that;)
Enermax make awesome PSUs

Quote:

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Originally Posted by staffsMike

I really wouldn't have bought that PSU.. you should never skimp on that.

Would suck if you burn out the Q6600 with a cheap fireworks show. Mobo is ok if you aren't overclocking and isn't bad if you are. P35 chipset is probably better though.

And yeah you have the B3 stepping quad core so it will run quite hot with the stock HSF even without overclocking

Hope it all works out.

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x2

I stopped at the PSU, everything looked fine up till that

hehe.
I'm kind of hoping that I'll be able to go and get one from somewhere near me instead of waiting for the delivery.

Is their none that would be sufficient in ezcomputers.co.uk :help:

If not then I'll guess I'll need to get this one.:rolleyes:

Scan are getting better, its usually next day now, as long as no items go out of stock.
I, along with many others, would strongly suggest not putting that PSU anywhere neeeeear your system:P

Ok.

Yeah, I dont plan to. Not after this. lol. Just return it once I receive it, and purchase a new one.

Just want to check that their is none that will be sufficient in www.ezcomputers.co.uk

Im pretty sure they wouldn't be selling them if they weren't fit for use.

For Example, Would any of these be sufficiant ?

EZCool 550W 12cm Fan ATX PSU
EZCool 600W 12cm Fan ATX PSU
EZCool 650W 12cm Fan ATX PSU.

I have used them before, and they do work well.

i took a look round that ezcomputers site, and there's not a great selection if you're on a budget. has the order from ebuyer been dispatched? maybe amend the order to include a different PSU?

Its gone past the stage where I can edit/remove an item. :eek:

I know they dont offer a great deal of selection, but I think Im just going to have to go with one of their EZCool PSU's. I dont have much of a budget to play with anymore and that would be the easiest option.

Ive had a good experience with Hiper before, and I have one of them in my server (which admittedly is only an AMD 3200 processor) and it runs very well (with good voltages) and quietly. It would be your best bet from that store IMO.

That said I would still opt for an Enermax/Xclio or something else off scan if you can afford to wait. But I think the Hiper would be OK.

After looking around quickly, I've found that that PSU is being sold on a large amount of websites, including amazon. Now, Im pretty confident that if the PSU was unsafe for use then they wouldn't sell it nor would it get anywhere near production.

Thats just my view. I think the best thing for me to do is ask the person assembling it for me, like I said earlier. I'll keep you guys informed.

Thanks alot for the advice/help/info. I think I'll be around these forums quite a lot. They seem to be very informative.

Regards,
Luke

OH, one other thing you may be able to help me with.

I own two different operating systems and would like your opinion on which one would be better for this build.

Microsoft XP Professional Inc SP2
or
Microsoft Vista Ultimate, 32Bit Edition.

Also, which Anti-Virus software to use. I currently own McAfee 10 [AV, Firewall, Spam Killer, Everything]

Thanks,
Luke

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smithmr8

OH, one other thing you may be able to help me with.

I own two different operating systems and would like your opinion on which one would be better for this build.

Microsoft XP Professional Inc SP2
or
Microsoft Vista Ultimate, 32Bit Edition.

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Neither. With 4Gb RAM you need a 64-bit OS to take full advantage of it.

I know that. I dont want to use a 64-Bit OS yet due to the lack of compatability for the programs I need to use.

Out of those two, which would be the best one to use ? XP or Vista.

Well, if you're worried about compatability it has to be XP.

xp hands down, wouldnt let vista in my front door even the dog is trained to rip on site!...lol

Ok, Thanks.

The Stupid stock cooler is pretty ****. Lets be honest. I saw my Idle Temps up at 50C, so I went down and brought myself a new cooler.

Asus Silent Square PRO. -> [Link]

I dont feel like fitting it at the moment. Frankly, because I dont really know what to do with it, so am leaving it for someone else to fit for me.

Idle temps for my 4 cores are approx 45 each at the moment. Better than 50-52 completely, but cant wait for the new one.

Anyone else got an 'Asus Silent Square PRO' ?

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Also, what might be the cause for the computer locking up. Randomly. Sometimes at boot/post, others during normal use, when idle. Ect..

No, but it has been reviewed and it scores OK, but no better. However I'm absolutely certain that different coolers work better in some set ups than others. Get yours fitted soonest - so that you can send back if it does nothing for you.

Yeah. Im going to take a stab at it tommorow.
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Can someone help me out. This computer is all assembled but is tending to freeze at random intervals. Would the PSU listed above cause a problem like this, or is it likely to be something else.