Getting New Custom PC: Need Help...

[AkG]

Just to add my two cents to the discussion. I would stay away from the WD Se13 320 AAKS. The OLD AAKS had good random access time but wasn't overly fast. The new AAKS (WD3200AAKS-00B3A0) uses 1 platter and is fast but access time is stuck at 16+ms. As far as I know the old one was phased out a months ago so getting the old AAKS might be tough. The SE16 500GB on the other hand is a great all round drive. One thing about the 500 is some ship in "quiet mode" to fix this you can download Hitachi drive tool (yeah I know Hitachi...WD....go figure, but it works) and increase its performance (and its noise level) by changing its acoustic performance. Heck 3 of the 5 I have were already in performance mode when I got them BUT this trick improved their access time by about .5ms.

Just food for though ;)

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by jdrom17

That review is of the Alpine 7 Pro. Totally different and crappy heatsink. The one we're talking about is the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.

Another decent choice would be the Noctua NH-U12P.

Ahh okay. I will add the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro to my first post and update the total price.

Originally Posted by 3.0charlie

As others have replied, we are talking about the AC7 Freezer Pro. It's rather a nice size and fits all cases that I know of. Highly recommended, though I have never tried to cool a Quad with one. Here's a review that our own sswilson did last year: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler Review. Other models to consider, depending on availability: Noctua NH-U12P (Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler Review), OCZ Vendetta 2 (OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler Review).

For the DS3L board, I had 2 once and both performed flawlessly with a Q6600 and an E6400. Great, cheap little board. You'll love it for the price.

They don't have the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L unfortunately. Or they missed/mixed-up a number because they do have:

• GigaByte EP35-DS3 €89,-
• GigaByte EP35-DS3P €115,-
• GigaByte EP35-DS3R €99,-
• GigaByte EP35-DS4 €129,-
• GigaByte EP35C-DS3R €95,-

Originally Posted by AkG

Just to add my two cents to the discussion. I would stay away from the WD Se13 320 AAKS. The OLD AAKS had good random access time but wasn't overly fast. The new AAKS (WD3200AAKS-00B3A0) uses 1 platter and is fast but access time is stuck at 16+ms. As far as I know the old one was phased out a months ago so getting the old AAKS might be tough. The SE16 500GB on the other hand is a great all round drive. One thing about the 500 is some ship in "quiet mode" to fix this you can download Hitachi drive tool (yeah I know Hitachi...WD....go figure, but it works) and increase its performance (and its noise level) by changing its acoustic performance. Heck 3 of the 5 I have were already in performance mode when I got them BUT this trick improved their access time by about .5ms.

Just food for though ;)

Thanks for the info mate. I will change my hard disk to the SE16 500GB.

[1Tanker]

Originally Posted by Bozza

Ahh okay. I will add the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro to my first post and update the total price.



They don't have the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L unfortunately. Or they missed/mixed-up a number because they do have:

• GigaByte EP35-DS3 €89,-
• GigaByte EP35-DS3P €115,-
• GigaByte EP35-DS3R €99,-
• GigaByte EP35-DS4 €129,-
• GigaByte EP35C-DS3R €95,-

Thanks for the info mate. I will change my hard disk to the SE16 500GB.

I would suggest the DS3R. You won't be needing RAID or CrossFire support(which this board doesn't have...saving money). It has up to 8 SATAII ports..for nice future expansion with HDD's. It has a nice beefy 6-phase power-circuitry for the quad. No Firewire... and you asked what it is. It's basically like USB but a bit faster. It was created by Apple, so they could have their own faster version of USB. If you have an External HDD...there are 3 ways to transfer from it to the PC.. either USB2.0 , eSATA or Firewire. So if you don't have an eSATA port...Firewire is the second fastest for external HDD's. The rest of the suggestions look good. GL

[sswilson]

Just to muddy the waters a little bit on the topic of firewire..... :)

The most common application of firewire is for digital camcorders so if video editing is in your wishlist you might want to consider it. That said, if it's not in your immediate requirements, you can always pick up a firewire card in the future as required.

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by 1Tanker

I would suggest the DS3R. You won't be needing RAID or CrossFire support(which this board doesn't have...saving money). It has up to 8 SATAII ports..for nice future expansion with HDD's. It has a nice beefy 6-phase power-circuitry for the quad. No Firewire... and you asked what it is. It's basically like USB but a bit faster. It was created by Apple, so they could have their own faster version of USB. If you have an External HDD...there are 3 ways to transfer from it to the PC.. either USB2.0 , eSATA or Firewire. So if you don't have an eSATA port...Firewire is the second fastest for external HDD's. The rest of the suggestions look good. GL

Thank you for the quick reply and the explanation Tanker! I do have an external HDD but I'm almost certain that it doesn't have a firewire connection.
Question about the chipset of the motherboard. Someone recommended me that I should get a P45 chipset and not a P35 like the Gigabyte motherboards. What do you guys think about that?

Originally Posted by sswilson

Just to muddy the waters a little bit on the topic of firewire..... :)

The most common application of firewire is for digital camcorders so if video editing is in your wishlist you might want to consider it. That said, if it's not in your immediate requirements, you can always pick up a firewire card in the future as required.

Thank you for the little bit on the topic of firewire Wilson ;)
I don't think I will be needing a firewire option on my motherboard since what you just said doesn't apply for me (yet).

[Supergrover]

Originally Posted by Bozza

Thank you for your quick reply Charlie and thanks for the warm welcome!

Case: I kinda like the look of the CM690 and it seems to have enough fans in it lol (3x 120mm). Also, I read some good reviews. However, I heard someone about a case with dusk filter. Is a dusk filter good to have? And if I take a case without a dusk filter, how many times should I clean the PC from the inside?

Welcome Bozza if you live in high dust environment like me dust filters are nice, I simply use a used "bounce" or fabric softener sheet as a filter. I Blow out the case once every 2 weeks and change filters at the same time. But again I have "extreme" conditions around here.

[3.0charlie]

I second Tanker's choice of the DS3R - and don't worry about the P35 vs. P45 chipset. Unless you plan to really tweak your setup, the P35 will be just fine, for many years.

And I told you others would chime in. ;)

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by Supergrover

Welcome Bozza if you live in high dust environment like me dust filters are nice, I simply use a used "bounce" or fabric softener sheet as a filter. I Blow out the case once every 2 weeks and change filters at the same time. But again I have "extreme" conditions around here.

Thanks for the warm welcome Grover! I don't live in such a high dust environment. Don't get me wrong though, the HSF of my current processor stopped working recently, probably due the to dust level lol. But it's been months since I cleaned it. Something I will do much more often from now on!

Originally Posted by 3.0charlie

I second Tanker's choice of the DS3R - and don't worry about the P35 vs. P45 chipset. Unless you plan to really tweak your setup, the P35 will be just fine, for many years.

And I told you others would chime in. ;)

You were totally right Charlie hehe. I will go for the DS3R but the GigaByte EP45-DS3R instead. Perhaps P45 chipset isn't necessary at the moment but I've read some good reviews about this one and it's within my budget.


Question about the HSF. If you would have to make a choice, would you go for the AC Freezer 7 Pro or the OCZ Vendetta?

About cooling, with the Cooler Master CM 690 case, is it necessary to buy myself a additional fan for the case or has the case enough fans of it own? Same for the graphical card, do I need to buy a seperate fan one for the card or is the one that is on the HD4850 good enough?

[JD]

Originally Posted by Bozza

Question about the HSF. If you would have to make a choice, would you go for the AC Freezer 7 Pro or the OCZ Vendetta?

About cooling, with the Cooler Master CM 690 case, is it necessary to buy myself a additional fan for the case or has the case enough fans of it own? Same for the graphical card, do I need to buy a seperate fan one for the card or is the one that is on the HD4850 good enough?

If it's the OCZ Vendetta 2, I'd go with it instead.

As per case fans, you probably want a couple more. It comes with front, rear and 1 side. I'd personally get 2 120mm fans to put up top. The fans that come with the case aren't all that great either, but it's your choice. Buying decent fans will cost you quite a bit of money so it might be something you want to do progressively. Best choice is probably Scythe S-FLEX for silence and good airflow. If noise isn't too much of a concern, Scythe Slipstreams might work alright and are half the price.

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by jdrom17

If it's the OCZ Vendetta 2, I'd go with it instead.

As per case fans, you probably want a couple more. It comes with front, rear and 1 side. I'd personally get 2 120mm fans to put up top. The fans that come with the case aren't all that great either, but it's your choice. Buying decent fans will cost you quite a bit of money so it might be something you want to do progressively. Best choice is probably Scythe S-FLEX for silence and good airflow. If noise isn't too much of a concern, Scythe Slipstreams might work alright and are half the price.

Thanks for the quick reply JDRom! It's the OCZ Vendetta, not the 2nd version. The 2nd version is getting pretty expensive (another €10 on top of the Vendetta).

As for the case fans, I might start with one Scythe S-FLEX. Is it possible to put a Scythe S-FLEX up top of a Cooler Master CM 690? And is one of those enough to start with? By the way, there are three different versions. The 800, 1200 and 1600. Which one will do the trick? Prices are the same...