Could scan check this for component compatibility please

[Saracen]

I think I now have my system spec sorted. Before I order, could you make sure this will work together, and that I'm not missing anything obvious, please.

LN15170 Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi
LN15049 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
LN11603 600w Seasonic S12-600 PSU
LN17135 1Gb Micron Major, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800)
LN13155 150 Gb Western Digital WD1500AHFD Raptor X
LN14162 2 off - 320 Gb Seagate ST3320620AS Barracuda 7200.10
LN16656 256MB XFX 7900GS PCI-E (x16)
LN17097 19" LG L194WT

Alternate video card :-

LN16398 256MB HIS Radeon X1950Pro, PCI-E(x16), Mem 1480MHz GDDR3, GPU 620MHz, 36Pipes, VIVO

I already have a Coolermaster ally case, mouse, kb and IDE DVD/RW drives.


As an alternative, LN12201 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair Value Select, DDR2 PC5300 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15.

The Micron RAM seems better spec, faster and cheaper, but not matched pair. Would the Corsair really be much better, given it's dearer? Presumably, the Micron is still likely to run dual-channel?

[Richh]

It'll all fit together and work, yes. You don't seem to be missing anything overly obvious given that you already have the case, mouse, keyboard and optical drives, but it's difficult to comment on that with authority as we don't know what use you're going to put it to.

The one thing I would say is that if you're going to go for a Raptor, the 150GB version is significantly faster, and, obviously enough, double the size. You'd be surprised how quick 74GB can get filled up - even in a scenario where you're using separate data/app drives, so for the comparatively small increase in overall spend, I'd go for the bigger drive.


And yes, the "unbranded" Micron is rated at 800MHz so on the face of it offers more bang for buck. There's a lot of kidology and bull associated with "matched pair" memory. This usually only means that two sticks have been tested together and validated to work at a specific speed and timing - it doesn't imply that "unmatched" memory of otherwise similar spec won't work at the same sort of timings, IYSWIM.

The "unbranded"/unmatched stuff is not specifically pre-tested in a dual channel configuration, but that doesn't mean it won't work nicely in a dual channel board. You might not get quite the same tight timings under overclocked conditions than you might with a set of premium brand matched PC6400, but given that you are comparing with more expensive memory that is rated at only PC5300, it's difficult to argue with your choice.

[Saracen]

Point noted about the Raptor. I was wondering about that myself, because I'd read similar comments. I've just been fiddly with this spec for two weeks and am kinda getting antsy to get on with it. You've got to stop tweaking sometime. But, point taken.

The use is as a workhorse. I did put another thread in recently about specific elements, but here's the gist.

It is for browsing, office tasks, web development, content creation, photo editing (that's major, hence the 4GB RAM), a bit of video work, voice recognition, some database stuff, occasional gaming, a few special purposes (but I'm sure of suitability there), and so on.

It is NOT a games machine, not a media centre, and I won't be watching TV or movies on it EVER. Nor is it an MP3 repository. Another machine on the network does that.

That's broadly the use.

[Saracen]

Spec amended to the 150GB Raptor X. I think you're right, Rich. Thanks.

But I'd still like Scan to confirm compatibility of this lot. I appreciate members comments, but I'd rather like the place I'm buying from to confirm it'll work together.

Thanks.

[Saracen]

Is no-one from Scan prepared to confirm compatibility?

It might not be a huge order, but it's about £1200, and I'd like reassurance that it'll all work together properly.

[JohnS]

All the parts look to be okay id recommend Corsair for the memory other than that do you have an OS?

[Saracen]

Thanks, John.

I originally had Corsair, switched to Micron and when I looked yesterday, the Micron wasn't in stock anyway. I'll look again at memory.

As for OS, yes. It'll be XP, at least for a while, and I've several spare licences, both for that and 2000 and 2000 Server.

[JohnS]

coolio in which case it looks good from here.

[Saracen]

Okay, currently got "LN12200 Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC5400 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12" selected. " units, for a total of 4GB.

This is on the basis that it's only a couple of quid dearer than PC5300 Value Select.

That suitable, John?



Oh, and in relation to memory choice, to repeat what I said before, I'm not really looking to overclock this system. If it does, fine. But I'm not interested in fast memory just to overclock. On the other hand, if that would constrain standard performance I'll upgrade it. But all I'm looking for is unfettered standard performance and anything more is a bonus.

Thanks.

[this_is_gav]

The one thing I would say is that if you're going to go for a Raptor, the 150GB version is significantly faster, and, obviously enough, double the size. You'd be surprised how quick 74GB can get filled up - even in a scenario where you're using separate data/app drives, so for the comparatively small increase in overall spend, I'd go for the bigger drive.

The Raptor 150gb is the same as the 74gb version with 16mb cache to all intents and purposes - both are a good chunk faster than the old 8mb cache versions of the 74gb and 36gb though. Of course space is entirely down to use, though if it's aimed at content creation, obviously some meaty mega-bytes is always good.

One thing to consider - for uncompressed media (particularly video) having 2x74gb Raptors, even on software RAID0 (as on the P5B) may be the better choice. The benefits of RAID0 in normal circumstances are minimal, but for media work it can make quite a difference. If you're going to be storing work on there permanently, then it's probably not going to such a good idea (1 failure takes all your work), but if it's going to be used primarily for editing, that's what I'd go for.

I do struggle to wonder why people get the Raptor X - it has a lower life expectancy than the Enterprise, is the same speed, costs more, and all you're getting is a window on it.

Rest of the spec looks perfectly excellent to me (though if you look at 'My System', I would say that

[Saracen]

I think I need to look hard at the differences between the 150 and 74. Data won't be stored on this drive. It'll be a boot drive, and applications, with each on it's own partition.

Initially, data will be split between the two 320s, but it'll be going RAID 5 shortly. I have two existing systems currently handling data storage, one a 4-disk IDE RAID (hardware RAID), and the other a 6-disk U-SCSI hardware RAID 5 system. I'm looking to supercede both those with hardware RAID 5 in this system, either by adding two (maybe more) drives to this, or replacing the two 320s with four to six 320/(-ish) drives and resusing the 320s elsewhere. But that won't happen for a few months.

If you're interested enough, I went into a bit more detail in an earlier thread (here), but the main point is the Raptor will be boot/apps, and data goes elsewhere.

It's not primarily a media machine, though I do some of that, particularly photo editing (can be LARGE files), but I don't store MP3s on it, and only the occasional video editing project. I don't use it for movies, etc at all, EVER.

Thanks for the comments, this_is_gav. It's helped to confuse me a bit again (), but I'd rather sort the confusion now, before I order. Hence this thread. Comments therefore very much appreciated, as I used to know this stuff, but am out of touch and well-rusty on it.