Does this look good?

Rhino · Post by **Rhino** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 3:39 pm

Rotorblade wrote:What was the fix?

Okay get ready to laugh...........

I some how managed to use the wrong IDE plug on the optical drive, so i changed to the one that wasnt being used and voiala, vista booted completely!

For this being the first box ive built myself, I feel pretty good, and am even getting a good laugh out of making such a dumb mistake as that to where I could have had it up in a matter of hours.

One thing i will warn is that if you decide to go with a 32 bit system, download drivers to blank cd media BEFORE you install everything and run your system for the first time, because with the new stuff all the drivers are x64 drivers, thus no good.

Vista runs like a champ with the C2Duo and the 8800 GTX, I am downloading 3DMark06 to run as we speak so should have some pretty good results. Core temp is running at a nice 27C right now with all the fans on low!

Rhino · Post by **Rhino** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:00 pm

LD, what was the problem in LOMAC that you were telling me about with the 8800GTX? I think I see what you are talking about with the clouds looking weird and the planes having some weird pixelations?

Burner · Post by **Burner** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:51 pm

Latest Forceware drivers (the only one that will run the 8800GTX) do not correctly render full shadows in LOMAC. The planes and other objects appear in complete shadow all the time. You have to set shadows to one lower than full.

Post by **Redeye** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:23 pm

So far, this is what i'm thinking.
All items are from this Canadian web page:
http://www.ncix.com/
Any thoughts would be aprieciated.

$58.05 Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse 2000DPI USB Multilingual GREY/BLACK
$89.25 Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard USB Black Silver LCD Panel Programmable Backlit Keys
$37.15 Intel PRO/1000 GT Gigabit PCI Network Adapter Card Nic
$89.99 Sondigo Inferno 7.1 Channel PCI Sound Card 24BIT DTS Dolby Digital Live S/PDIF IN/OUT
$109.75 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition OEM
$132.15 Thermaltake VA8000 Armor Super Tower Case Black 10X5.25 2X3.5 6X3.5INT W/ Window
$41.20 Samsung SH-S182 DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL-8X DVD Writer IDE Lightscribe Black OEM W/ Software
$131.08 Silverstone Strider ST60F 600W ATX12V 24PIN Modular Power Supply W/120MM Fan Active PFC
$93.83 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
$169.99 Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-8500C5 2GB 2X1GB PC8500 DDR2-1066 CL 5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory
$78.64 Zalman CNPS9700 LED Copper CPU Heatsink 110MM Fan LGA775 AM2 S939 1250-2800RPM 19.5-35DBA Blue LED
$729.99 EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 Ultra 612MHZ 768MB 2.16GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card
$229.99 Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.66GHZ 1333FSB 4MB Retail
$253.08 ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP ATX LGA775 P35 DDR2 1333FSB 2PCI-E16 3PCI 2PCI-E1 SATA2 Sound Motherboard

$2244.14 TOTAL

Rhino · Post by **Rhino** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:24 pm

Ditch the sound card and the network card and save $100+. Your mobo there already has integrated sound and a dual-gigabit network card on the mobo. I personally dont see the need for the sound card due to the fact that the integrated sound on the mobo's are usually 5.1 or 7.1 to begin with, and are usually pretty decent.

Also, I would take a look at some of the combo deals they have there on the bottom, some pretty good ones.

Post by **Redeye** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 11:26 pm

Thanks Rhino
Don't need the SCard and network, good news cause I'm a first time builder and this means I will have less screws and parts left over!

Rhino · Post by **Rhino** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:59 am

No problem. Also, with your powersupply, I've never heard of "Silverstone" and I'd be interested to see if anyone has either. So with that said, I would pay $5 more and get 50 more watts with a better name powersupply in an Antec TruePower Trio 650 watt.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... ture=ANTEC

This is the PSU I have in my box (I think "Cinch" has the same one?). Definitely gets the job done, and have never had a problem with it.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... chnologies

Cinch · Post by **Cinch** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:53 am

Yea I have that PSU in my other box at work, but my box at home has a 750watt PSU by Silverstone, (Yep I have heard of them) and my EVGA 680i MOBO!

Red,

Before you purchase any of you pc parts, look around the several forums and look to see what type of problems people are having with the MOBO you picked out, look at RAM issues with the MOBO and any graphics issues (SLI and so fourth) so far I have found that the EVGA 680i boards have the least amount of problems, and that is whay I went with the board, If you are going to get a new Vid card get an EVGA one because you have the step up program you can use (ask me about it the next time you see me on line!) Its by far the best deal from any of the vid card makers!!

Cinch out

Post by **Redeye** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:12 pm

Below is my updated list.
All items were taken from NCIX web page, (for cnd prices) http://www.ncix.com/

I would like to build for a vista 64 bit system but want to use XP 32 bit for a year or so before making the switch. I hope these parts allow me this luxury.

EVGA Nforce 680I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
249.99 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=23215

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.66GHZ 1333FSB 4MB Retail
219.99 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... omoid=1042

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 Ultra 612MHZ 768MB 2.16GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card
619.99 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... omoid=1042
The 8800 X is what I was going to get but the ultra was only $20 more so…

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
93.83 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18409

Antec Truepower Trio 650W Power Supply ATX12V V2.0 Active PFC SLI Certified 120MM Fan
136.85 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24126

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-8500C5D 2GB 2X1GB PC2-8500 DD2-1066 CL 5-5-5-15-2T Dual Channel Memory
224.99 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=20533

Zalman CNPS9700 LED Copper CPU Heatsink 110MM Fan LGA775 AM2 S939 1250-2800RPM 19.5-35DBA Blue LED
78.64 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21340

Samsung SH-S182 DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL-8X DVD Writer IDE Lightscribe Black OEM W/ Software
33.99 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... omoid=1042

Thermaltake VA8000 Armor Super Tower Case Black 10X5.25 2X3.5 6X3.5INT W/ Window
162.15 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14055

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3200 Laser Keyboard & Mouse Black USB Antimicrobial SurfaceMicrosoft
90.20 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=20995

Windows XP Home Edition OEM
109.75 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=6526

Total: $2020.37

Burner · Post by **Burner** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:14 pm

Looks like the new Core2 prices have settled down to their retail values. That system looks good Red, you will also want to order some thermal compound to get the most out of your heat sink:

Arctic Silver 5:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... C%20SILVER

The 680i is a great board and I've had little issue with it, though personally I'd purchase the ASUS P5K to really overclock that E6750 if I were not going to go SLi in the future:

ASUS P5K-D:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... cture=ASUS

Now is a good time to pull the trigger on these parts, the new prices for the next few months are now in effect- until the holidays when there will probably be another price drop when the Penryn Series Core2 hit the streets.

Post by **Redeye** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:42 am

Putting it together questions:

Video card:
1. Do you need both 2 PCI-e connectors from the power supply connected to the 8800? Or is the second for SLI and used for your second video card?

Power supply:
1. Where does the smallest 2 wire (black + blue) with a 3 pin connector go?

Post by **Lawndart** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 1:03 pm

The Tech Report wrote:In GTX form, the GeForce 8800 has 128 stream processors running at 1.35GHz, a 384-bit path to its 768MB of memory, is 10.5" long, and has two six-pin PCIe power connectors on a single card. Running two of these cards together in a single system will require a grand total of four PCIe auxiliary power connectors, more than even most high-end power supplies can handle.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/11686/1

Your second Q: Could be just an unused connector off your PSU or I would suspect it attatches to the Mobo somewhere. Check your Mobo documents and look for any open connectors on the board or chipset fans.

Post by **Redeye** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:41 pm

So i need both PCI-e connected to the video card.

2. The small wire connects to the MB which monitors the Power supply fan.

Got it

Thanks LD

Burner · Post by **Burner** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:50 pm

Yeah fill up the power connectors on the 8800, you have 4 total with the PSU, two for each possible video card.

The extra connection is either for a floppy drive (forgot if you had one or not), or case fans. If its for case fans you will be connecting the case fans directly to the power supply thru that cable which should be marked (Fan Only) and letting the temp sensor in the pwr supply determine fan speed instead of hooking your case fans directly to your mobo. Bottom line the only two connectors that go from PSU to MoBo are the 24-Pin and the 8-Pin, everything else either goes to peripherals or case fans. Do not hook any power from the PSU to the MoBo other than the two I named above. Remember all MoBo Fan Headers are outputs to either case fans or CPU fans- there's a specific CPU fan connector point while the others are generic case fan points. Hooking case fans to the MoBo will give you direct control over them (I just set them to 100% for max cooling as I use headphones and noise doesn't bother me) but you can set them to ramp up during high heat periods for best noise reduction.

Below is the official word on your PSU and its connectors:

Connectors: TruePower Trio has a 24-pin main connector with detachable 4-pin
section, a 4-pin +12V connector for single CPU systems, and a 8-pin +12V
connector for multi CPU systems (TP3-550 and TP3-650). All models include six
4-pin peripheral connectors, four 15-pin SATA connectors, one floppy connector,
and PCI-Express Connectors (two for TP3-550 and TP3-650; one for TP3-430).
The power supply has an advanced temperature response system that provides
optimum balance between noise reduction and cooling. The 120mm quiet fan will
always run at the lowest speed possible for existing load and conditions.
In addition, it can control the speed of your system case fans. You can find two
fan connectors (marked “Fan Only”) to which you can connect your system case
fans. TruePower Trio will then regulate your case fans, further reducing system
noise. Note: Do not connect more than two external fans to the “Fan Only”
connectors. Also, Antec DOES NOT recommend connecting a CPU fan to the “Fan
Only” connectors.

Post by **Redeye** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:39 pm

Just a heads up on the PS, it only has 2 PCI-e connectors.
PCI-Express Connectors (two for TP3-550 and TP3-650; one for TP3-430).
To run a second card, i would need a pair of four-pin Molex to PCIe adapters.

The black and blue 2 wire on a 3 pin connector is:
http://www.antec.com/us/support_faqs.php?FAQno=13
The link states:
8. What does the connector with the blue and black wire coming from the power supply do?
That plug is a fan RPM monitoring wire. If your motherboard has a fan plug that is available you can connect this plug to have your BIOS monitor how fast the Power supply fan is running.

Note: this is different than the 2 FAN ONLY connectors.

Burner, just got your PM and i won't hook it up. Thanks.