Comment on my custom PC parts list
 

THIS is what I will be ordering from Newegg.com soon:

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RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black SECC STEEL ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ 500W Power Supply - Retail

ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

IR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s x2

Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2C - OEM

BELKIN F8E093 Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail

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Am I missing anything? What do you think about my selections? Do you sense any incompatibilities? Thanks.

Your CPU is expensive. Looking at NewEgg, the E8400 is $10 cheaper. It doesn't make sense. I'd wait for the E8400 to come in stock somewhere and purchase that.

Everything else looks okay. The case isn't my taste, but case is all about individual taste.

Thanks.

You are right. The Wolfdale has the larger cache...and the cooler name...so I will hold out for that.

I don't see a sound card in there. Not that onboard audio can't handle itself these days but your sig suggests a speaker system which would work well with dedicated hardware.

edit: About the E8400, you could go for the E3110 at $30 or so less with the same specs. In stock, too.

Go for the e8400 if it's in stock. The prices are insane because of demand (it should be less than a e6750), but it's worth it. It's one of Intel's new 45nm processors and offers a very large performance boost over the older, comparable 65nm ones. The thing can easily OC to over 4 GHz on air with no problems.

Just too bad everyone and their mom wants one. A sub 200$ processor is now going for 250 or more. Even the lower end 45nm processors are insanely over priced.

If you're not going to use crossfire I would go with a P35 board instead of a X38. You will save some money and not really see a performance difference. New chipsets are around the corner though, since Intel's new nehalem will require a new one and wont work in current LGA775 boards.. But that could be Q3 or Q4 of this year. *shrug*

Also, you sure that power supply is okay? I would go with a Corsair or PC power & cooling unit, but that's me..

Well, this is sad. All Wolfdale processors are now out of stock. I'm hoping that the Xeon will arrive before the end of the month.

Concerning motherboards, it seems that P35 is indeed analogous to the X38, except for the latter's inclusion of PCI-E 2.0. But is the X38 still worth getting, since the GeForce I've chosen supports 2.0 speeds?

I also don't know anything about power supplies, and one of biggest reasons I've chosen the Smildoon case is because it has one built in. Is 500 watts considered poor for my configuration?

BTW, I will be transferring my Audiophile 192 to this new unit, so I won't need to buy any sound stuff.

There is more to a power supply than just the wattage it can output. There's also stability. In any any PSU there will be small variations in the voltage, but the more you pay the less the variation... and in theory the less chance of damage to your equipment.

People usually say Antec are the "gold standard" of PSU manufacturers. I've certainly been delighted with mine. On the other hand, what can you say about a PSU except that it didn't blow everything up yet?

What is the relevance of the +12v rail spec? What do higher numbers imply?

As far as I know that's about capacity. The more 12V devices you have in your system, the more strain you put on the 12V rail. More is better, in this case. The bigger the number, the more power it can output on the 12V rail without compromising stability.

Ok. I think I will downgrade my motherboard to a P35, then use the additional money for a good Antec power supply...unless someone has justification for the X38's PCI-E 2.0 capability.

And my last question...the motherboard already has a "LAN chipset." This is equivalent to a NIC, correct?

http://www.nvidia.com/docs/CP/5518/P...ev3F_FINAL.jpg

Well, I may have to get an X38 afterall...

EDIT: Wait, hold up. I did a search, and practically every source is saying that the more rails you have, the worse off you are. Apparently there's bottlenecks and poorly distributed power, and what not. Funny thing is that the most expensive power supplies are the ones with the most rails...and all Antecs seem to have multiple ones. So I may just get a Corsair.

Some words about the PSU stuff:
More is not always better. When your system can be driven safely with a 400W PSU don't buy a 1000W PSU, just because you have the money.
AC/DC conversion efficiency is highest when the load on the PSU is high. With light load the efficiency is quite bad. Modern PSUs can get to around 88% efficiency - that doesn't mean however that you always get the 88% - you only get it when the load on the PSU is high, maxing out what it can deliver.

Say you have your 400W system hooked up to a 1000W PSU, you only have 40% load - resulting in a efficiency around 65% or worse. The results is more unnecessary heat produced by the AC/DC conversion.

Video cards are not even saturating the previous PCIe spec, let alone the 2.0 one. I wouldnt worry about support for PCIe 2.0, because by the time you have a card that would absolutely need it you will have to upgrade your board anyway to step up to Intel's new processors.

In regards to the power supply problem, more rails do tend to cause more trouble. This is because it's hard to balance the load accross every rail (not to mention confusing, since you dont know which cable is on what rail). It's generally better to just have one big rail than a bunch of smaller ones. It makes things simpler.

The whole reason some power supplies have multiple rails was to meet some spec that was supposed to prevent fires and damage from one big rail overloading or some shit. The problem with that idea is that your components would have fried long before the cable melted down. So the whole thing is pointless.

Just go with trusted name brands, Antec, Corsair, PCP&C. Look at the amps on the 12v, 5v, and so on. If you plan to upgrade down the road or run a beefy system get a higher wattage PSU to cover future upgrades. If you plan to stick with what you got.. get a supply that's enough to meet the demand of your system.

When it comes to power supplies you do get what you pay for. Put as much money into it as you can. It powers the whole of your system. If it goes belly up so does the rest of your expensive components.

If you want to know what I went with when I built my system, I got this PSU -> PC POWER and COOLING 750 Quad (Black) S75QB Power Supply Retail at ZipZoomfly

Also, any Corsair TX should do good too. I'm not so sure on Antec models though, sorry. ;(

Hmm...I think I will go with:

Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling S610EPS EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail

All of PCP&C's units are single railed, which gives me the impression that they design with the optimal spec in mind, and that they're responsible for quality products. $119.99 for 610W is also very acceptable.

I actually ran through a power calculator last night, and the typical 500W would be plenty...however, this is even better. Hopefully it fits inside the SMILODON though...customers say that it is longer than usual.

Sorry for the unintentional misinformation.

I've been educated, I will remember.