First Build !

[Rob_B]

Any particular reason you're going with that mobo over another (possibly cheaper) one?

[wzix]

Ok I've bought my;
HD4850
Corsair 4GB Memory
Coolermaster CM690
Corsair HX520
LG DVD Drive
LG 22" Monitor

Still to buy most likely tomorrow evening;
Motherboard
Q6600
Hard Drive


As for the motherboard that one seems to be good value for money?

thanks

[staffsMike]

It's about fair I'd say. Few new features from P35, all solid caps, will be a good overclocker as you will get all the overclocking a Q6600 needs for "free" since it has a native 1600MHz FSB

[wzix]

Hi guys Ive got most of the stuff now at my house, just ordering tonight the cpu, mobo and hdd.

Just a few questions, 64-bit OS, i dont really fully understand this, would it be advantage more me it terms of speed etc?, on q6600, 4gb ram

Ive taken the sides of my CM690 using the thumbscrews, but i cant get the front off?, could anybody with this case give me a bit of help?

Thanks

[staffsMike]

64bit allows you to address all 4GB of the RAM and will also allow run faster as the chip is 64bit and other 64 bit programs will run faster too ..technically.

[wzix]

Ok so 64-bit is something i should definitely include?

Also what are the OEM packages like ?

[staffsMike]

OEM means you can't do a major upgrade to the PC this generally just applies to the motherboard. If the Motherboard fails you can replace it but not upgrade.

So it means one PC and one PC only.

64bit can be a bit fussy with certainly programs and drivers but vista 64 isn't too bad.

[MSIC]

Agreed with StaffsMike (as always), i think that when buying an OEM Operating System, consider that license key as tied to that motherboard... if the motherboard blows up and you get an exact replacement, then fine & carry on. But if you change the motherboard (eg a P35 chipset to an X48-based one) then you buy a new Operating System too ...

As for 64-bit, it doesn't actually run faster per se (in the strict sense of the word), but it does allow you do use your memory more correctly / fully, and even allows for you to add & use more in the future (if your motherboard also allows it). There are a few other ways in which 64 bit computing is better, but it's all a bit beyond me. It is faster in a loose, English language sense.
The downsides are that, certainly in the past, 64-bit computing was quite niche and so quite a few applications & other software weren't written for it & simply didnt work, or had to be run in some sort of compatibility layer (and therefore slower than 32bit). These days that is less and less, although if you know for a fact that you want to use some old 1998 printer, or some SCSI hard drive, you might struggle to get a driver to work well.

Personally, if i were using all modern (ie 2007 onwards) hardware & attached gadgets, and not running old software either, i'd go 64 bit all the way.

[staffsMike]

Yeah I wen't with the ..techically bit at the end because I can't see the difference

[wzix]

Ok guys thanks for all the help,

Ive bought it all now, so should be here monday hopefully.

Will put some pictures up for you, so you can see the latest tech

[wzix]

Hi guys,

built the computer today, everythings worked fine first time! thanks for the advice

Although i downloaded CPU-Z, and it shows my 4GB Corsair Ram PC2, in the general section as DDR3?? when its not, then in the SPD section there DDR2, but the max bandwidth is shown as 400Mhz on both not 800 ??? any help

cheers

[wzix]

The Final Build Spec was;

-Q6600 G0 Stepping (Retail 775) - £113.92
-Asus P5Q-Pro - £79.99
-Sapphire HD4850 - £129.99
-500GB Samsung Spinpoint SATA2 16MB - £38.72
-Corsair 4GB Kit PC2-6400 XMS2 - £55.10
-Corsair HX520 - £65.70
-Coolermaster CM690 - £62.30
-LG SATA DVD Drive - £16.27
-LG L225WT-BF 22" Monitor - £167.44
-Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM - £57.52

Total - £786.95

Few more questions,

- DirectX as far i know this PC doesnt have it yet, where would i download the lastet DX10?

-What programs are about so that I can benchmark it?