Best Core 2 Series Desktops-Results and Specs

[funkdrmr]

First off, allow me to thank everyone who has built / tested / posted on these forums. This thread in particular has been a HUGE help for me.

I came across a KILLER deal on Craigslist here in Honolulu, getting a mobo, psu, cpu, DVD / CD burner all for $270

Being on a super tight budget, I'm stoked, but wondering if this will be stable.

Here's what I got:

Asus P5e3 Deluxe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131218

Q6600

PSU is a 650w...can't remember brand but it's decent

I'm purchasing DDR3 1066 RAM right now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148150

Hard drives, video card, adaptec firewire card will all come from my old PC.

Any input would be appreciated. I'm hoping it's all fine, but won't be able to test until I receive the RAM in a couple of days.

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by funkdrmr

First off, allow me to thank everyone who has built / tested / posted on these forums. This thread in particular has been a HUGE help for me.

I came across a KILLER deal on Craigslist here in Honolulu, getting a mobo, psu, cpu, DVD / CD burner all for $270

Being on a super tight budget, I'm stoked, but wondering if this will be stable.

Here's what I got:

Asus P5e3 Deluxe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131218

Q6600

PSU is a 650w...can't remember brand but it's decent

I'm purchasing DDR3 1066 RAM right now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148150

Hard drives, video card, adaptec firewire card will all come from my old PC.

Any input would be appreciated. I'm hoping it's all fine, but won't be able to test until I receive the RAM in a couple of days.

so far i think you get the top prize for build costs!! tho it's a 'dated' build, everythin' looks good to me. X38 chipset should be a go...used in other builds. i'll be curious to see the DDR3 performance with that mobo. looks good. keep us posted. congrats on a steal!!

oh yeah...if possible make sure the Q6600 is G0 stepping. if not, it's still a super deal.

[funkdrmr]

Originally Posted by mykhal c

so far i think you get the top prize for build costs!! tho it's a 'dated' build, everythin' looks good to me. X38 chipset should be a go...used in other builds. i'll be curious to see the DDR3 performance with that mobo. looks good. keep us posted. congrats on a steal!!

oh yeah...if possible make sure the Q6600 is G0 stepping. if not, it's still a super deal.

How can I verify that it's G0 stepping? I was wondering about that but at $125 I didn't think to ask the guy if he knew. It's all in the case now, just waiting on the RAM to fire it all up...should be 2 or 3 days from now (newegg to honolulu).

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by funkdrmr

How can I verify that it's G0 stepping? I was wondering about that but at $125 I didn't think to ask the guy if he knew. It's all in the case now, just waiting on the RAM to fire it all up...should be 2 or 3 days from now (newegg to honolulu).

at this point you probably don't even need to worry about the stepping then. however, i would invest in a non-stock cpu heatsink/fan especially if the Q6600 is the earlier stepping. but as late in the game as the Q6600 is i'd be really surprised if it's anythin' but the G0. lottsa hs/fans to choose from on page 1. i'm usin' the AC7 Cooler Pro. works great

also lived in HI for 3 years. kauai then honolulu...up from the university. aahhh, the ocean breeze!!! and mercy when the trades stop!!!

[funkdrmr]

Originally Posted by mykhal c

at this point you probably don't even need to worry about the stepping then. however, i would invest in a non-stock cpu heatsink/fan especially if the Q6600 is the earlier stepping. but as late in the game as the Q6600 is i'd be really surprised if it's anythin' but the G0. lottsa hs/fans to choose from on page 1. i'm usin' the AC7 Cooler Pro. works great

also lived in HI for 3 years. kauai then honolulu...up from the university. aahhh, the ocean breeze!!! and mercy when the trades stop!!!

yep, the trades have stopped and it's HORRIBLE where I live up the hill from downtown. can't even sleep with a sheet on & it's only June!

I'll take a look at the AC7. Hopefully I can post back here with some good perf numbers. I'm really excited to finally get something other than my pos laptop crawling through an editing session.

[funkdrmr]

Well..I'm back & posting from the new comp!

Ram came in last week & works like a champ.

I feel so lame, as I work in IT every day, yet I don't have a single SATA hard drive laying around my house...they're all IDE drives.

SO...I fired her up with an IDE drive as my budget still sucked, and it's working pretty good. I can tell that I'm choking on disk I/O, though...programs are slower to load up, things like that.

Today, I went to Best Buy & got a Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA (7200.12) drive for $120! Now, my dilemma.

I'm thinking to install this as an audio drive & see how things go, but keep my OS / programs on the IDE for now.

Currently, with 2 IDE drives, I'm getting better performance (less stalls / pops clicks) than with my laptop & firewire external drives.

Is this just gonna be a complete waste of time, or will I actually be able to do some editing / midi sampling with the 1TB as an audio drive with the IDE as my primary OS for a few more days?

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by funkdrmr

Well..I'm back & posting from the new comp!

Ram came in last week & works like a champ.

I feel so lame, as I work in IT every day, yet I don't have a single SATA hard drive laying around my house...they're all IDE drives.

SO...I fired her up with an IDE drive as my budget still sucked, and it's working pretty good. I can tell that I'm choking on disk I/O, though...programs are slower to load up, things like that.

Today, I went to Best Buy & got a Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA (7200.12) drive for $120! Now, my dilemma.

I'm thinking to install this as an audio drive & see how things go, but keep my OS / programs on the IDE for now.

Currently, with 2 IDE drives, I'm getting better performance (less stalls / pops clicks) than with my laptop & firewire external drives.

Is this just gonna be a complete waste of time, or will I actually be able to do some editing / midi sampling with the 1TB as an audio drive with the IDE as my primary OS for a few more days?

unless you slipped-streamed the AHCI SATA controllers onto your install disc, i'm talkin' XP here, then you would not have the capability to run your SATA drives in anythin' other than IDE mode. and unless you are runnin' all 7200.12 drives and above then the sunstain transfer speeds do not exceed that of IDE/PATA drives. so all of that to say, you be just fine runnin' with a PATA/IDE drive as your OS drive. i would recommend that you divide your 1TB drive up into smaller partitions. this is also a recommended DIGI tip. i think i have my drives divi'd up into 250gb partitions. that number is not a rule tho. and REMEMBER make sure to change the DIGI preference setting that states 'use all available space'. change this to 10-15mins max or whatever your max session time would be. hope this helps

[funkdrmr]

very interesting.....so if I do not slipstream the SATA controller drivers into my XP disc, then I'm not getting the 3 gb/s transfer rate on the OS drive after installing?

So ideally, when all said & done, I should have a primary SATA drive, secondary (audio) SATA drive, and reload my OS with the slipstreamed drivers and that will yield the best throughput for the drives?

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by funkdrmr

very interesting.....so if I do not slipstream the SATA controller drivers into my XP disc, then I'm not getting the 3 gb/s transfer rate on the OS drive after installing?

So ideally, when all said & done, I should have a primary SATA drive, secondary (audio) SATA drive, and reload my OS with the slipstreamed drivers and that will yield the best throughput for the drives?

yes, that's true. but remember it's about 'sustained' thru-put. i actually have a post somewhere on this forum about where one can actually expect to see gains on hdd thru-put when usin' AHCI controllers. i 'think' it was 7200.12. but it might even be the next gen of drives. i know there is no difference in the 7200.11 (which i have) gen of drives when usin' AHCI or IDE controllers. but i know if you google these topics you'll find discussions on this topic.

the post might be in the i7 sticky

[Digiwins]

Hi DUCs, I learned a lot from this forum, especially the Dverb threads

I am now using the following specs:
Q6600 G0 (normal VID 1.3250) + ASUS Silent Knight II CPU Cooler
Kingston 2*2GB PC6400 800 5-5-5-18 (doesn't support overclocking)
Gigabyte GA-EX38-DQ6 mobo
ATI HD4550 512MB (fanless)
Profire2626/PT8
3GB Switch
Room Temp: 30 and above in summer

159 DVERB2 with chorus @2.4GHz

After reading this thread, I thought of OCing my Q6600 until I buy the i7 monster

OC Q6600 @3.2 GHz (8*400) stable only with VID 1.3250 and got 179 DVERB2 but running load test the cpu temp reached 57-60 and some cores exceeded the 65.

I then decided not to OC to the max while preserving the 1:1 FSB:RAM ratio and after many trials I felt good with the following
OC Q6600 @2.8 GHz (7*400) stable with VID 1.2000!! and got 162 DVERBS.

My questions here (please):
1. This 1.2 VID is keeping the CPU temp very low 38-40 idle and 52 with 100% load. Will lowering the VID that much harm my cpu or anything on my mobo?

2. If I have my Q6600 [email protected] GHz without 1:1 FSB:RAM ratio will this be better than having 1:1 ratio?

3. I remember I went stable [email protected] (9*400) with 1.5 VID but the temp idled @ 54! what is the max temp that the Q6600 can bear?

4. Is there anything you recommend to have better performance!

Thanks in advance for your help dear friends