Intel Core2Duo ... anyone got one working yet?

[sunburst79]

Ok the main System is this:

Asus P5K E Wifi M/B
Intel Q6600 CPU G0 Stepping
Memory - See below..
NVidia Quadro FX 1400 (I already have this)
320gb WD Sata2 16 meg cache partitioned, System/Drivers storage etc'
500gb WD Sata2 16 meg cache - A/V drive
Some other Sata drives for various things ( I have already)

Cooling Mods-
Cpu
Thermalright ultra 120 extreme heat sink
x1 Noctua NF-S12-1200 Fan
Vga
Thermalright HRo3 Rev A - VGA cooler
Coolink 921 92mm fan with fan controller

Undecided about the Modem/Router going to leave it till later
It's replacing a wired network, so no big deal for now.

Memory, I'm a bit unsure about not buying 1066 now.
But it's better for compatibility with the other machines to stick with 800
Here are my options.

4gb of this stuff

http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/...1b84de1bc83c0)

or I can stretch to 4gb of this stuff
http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/...e334e1b5685751

Almost there thankfully

Hi Min! You want the 1st choice of the DDR2 800 with the timings of 4-4-4-12 get 4 GBS of that.

There have been a couple of isolated instances of WD drives causing problems with PTLE. Not quite enought to throw up a red flag but enough that I am keeping a note of it. VocalVooDoo was plauged by errors through 3 different systems with the same error codes and in the end the only constant was the WD drive. it tested fine but replacing it was the only solution. There have been one or two other instances as I recall.

I would buy whatever drives you like and can obtain locally with good service. I'm using the Raptor for audio and a Seagate for my system drive with no problems. If your comfortable with Seagate you might consider them. I would let price and availibilty and warentee service determine my purchase. Just be aware that their may be a nearly random issue that probably falls well within the normall range of HDD errata

Also it occoured to me that I recomending a system to some to use with a AVID Media Composer and I have NO idea what that requires other than 4GB of memory. Can you post a link to the Media Composers requirements so I can make sure I'm not giving you a bum steer.

Also I'm real interested in your choice of fans and cpu coolers. I've ordered the fans and am thinking about the Ultra 120. excellent choices there.

[original_min]

That's great!
That memory choice is a bit cheaper too, excellent!

I'll look into the Seagate drives, now that I have 'saved money' on the memory, lol.

The Media Composer requirements are generally a bit over cautious.
They have for years pretty much said that it will only run on a HP or Dell workstation.

HP xw4400 for example is considered 'Entry Level'
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.67GHz, 4MB L2, 4GB DDR2-667 ECC, 160GB WD Raptor 10000rpm SATA, 16X DVD+-RW SuperMulti, Broadcom 5755 Netxtreme Gigabit NIC, Win XP Pro

But the truth is it runs on pretty much anything, with AMD being a possible exception in some cases.
I even had a 3.2 ghz P4 running it, fine for edits, rendering was awfully slow, lol. It's mostly graphics card where you can run into problems with the Avid. The Quadro FX 1400 I have is fine but once again 'Entry Level' in Avid land.

I am switching my cooling system from my usual choice of Zalman coolers, to a heatsink/fan based approach.
In my little studio I have DAW, Gigastudio PC, a Sony video desk and sometimes a mac all running within about 3' of where I sit. Noise is a major consideration, I have often considered moving into the booth, it's so peaceful in there.

I haven't tried them yet, but the Thermalright coolers have gotten really good reviews, same with the Noctua fans.
I figured those in combination with the new heatpipe based motherboards might be the way to go. Of course it's not that expensive to replace if it doesn't work, but I just never get around to it.
Much like my Zalmans, still there 5 years down the track, each day a bit noisier as they get dusty.

Well, with your fantastic assistance I think I might be there now.
Your help has been invaluable, particularly at this final stage as my brain has short circuited from looking at too many parts.

Sunburst79, stellar advice

[sunburst79]

"my brain has short circuited from looking at too many parts."

You have no idea how many boards I looked at going through the specs for the top of the page! Basically all of them out there

Theres about 6 weeks of research in that list.

You going to like your new computer espescially coming from a 3.2 P4 (I had a 3.4)

You will have 6 or 700% more power

You will be able to load your largest session and it will barely register on the system resourse meter.

And theres a enough system overhead to steamroll over any minor PT glitchs.

I'm glad to help.

[kattskralle]

my system is e6750 core 2 duo, 2gb 800mhz cl4 ram, 2x samsung t166 7200rpm 250gb hdd. Gigabyte p35c ds3r motherboard.

It's NOT working properly!

Midi playback doesnt work hardly at all (in ezdrummer).

I havent got a clue what to do...

[sunburst79]

my system is e6750 core 2 duo, 2gb 800mhz cl4 ram, 2x samsung t166 7200rpm 250gb hdd. Gigabyte p35c ds3r motherboard.

It's NOT working properly!

Midi playback doesnt work hardly at all (in ezdrummer).

I havent got a clue what to do...

I just found this in the other Core2 Specs thread, First I have heard about this.

It may be your HDD's

Hi everybody, especially sunburst!

Here a follow-up for my problems:

1. I think 260 DVerbs out of an unstable system is quite good!
2. The reasons for the problems (after extensive time on hardware forums etc..) are
- Samsung harddrives have problems with the P35 chipset (the samsung was my audio-drive)
(confirmed in the Gigabyte Forum, and by my computershop)
so they may need some new firmware!?!?
- the GSkill Ram was programmed with the wrong SPD
(confirmed by GSkill)
as I got my second pair of 1066 later, possibly a whole batch is like that

My computer is back in the shop, a new harddrive will be put in and I believe 4 GB of OCZ Rams!

Anyways, I'll keep you informed!
Thanks for everybody's help!

You might want to checkout the Gigabyte forums.

It might be EZ Drummer which I don't have. Have you tried the EZ drummer forums? Is the problem related ONLY to EZ Drummer or is it a system wide problem?

Posting in the Virtual Instruments Forum might get you better EZ Drummer help faster.

I'm quessing its a EZ Drummer/MIDI issue though.

[TCM]

my system is e6750 core 2 duo, 2gb 800mhz cl4 ram, 2x samsung t166 7200rpm 250gb hdd. Gigabyte p35c ds3r motherboard.

It's NOT working properly!

Midi playback doesnt work hardly at all (in ezdrummer).

I havent got a clue what to do...

They told me that samsung harddrives have problems with the P35 chipset!
The first thing I would do is to set a jumper to put the harddrives in SATA150 mode and see
if your system works!
Otherwise the Gigabyte forum is excellent!

[sunburst79]

They told me that samsung harddrives have problems with the P35 chipset!
The first thing I would do is to set a jumper to put the harddrives in SATA150 mode and see
if your system works!
Otherwise the Gigabyte forum is excellent!

Keep me updated on this problem if anything new turns up. If it looks like its a fatal fault I will need to post a warning of some type on the Core 2 Specs page. Also Hitachi HDD's and Samsung drives are made in the same factory so its not any stretch to assume that the same problem effects both brands.

I strongly suspect that the posters problem will turn out to be a EZDrummer/PT MIDI configuration issue. I doubt that its hardware at this point.

[original_min]

my system is e6750 core 2 duo, 2gb 800mhz cl4 ram, 2x samsung t166 7200rpm 250gb hdd. Gigabyte p35c ds3r motherboard.

It's NOT working properly!

Midi playback doesnt work hardly at all (in ezdrummer).

I havent got a clue what to do...


kattskralle, I know this is painful.
Does your system work with everything else?

[6969]

Hey sunburst and everyone else!!!

So I think I fixed my video card issue with a driver update from ASUS that was released some days ago. I installed the video card and never checked if there was a newer driver for it after the computer was built. I was getting a full computer crash and then a GREEN SCREEN when I would click out of watching a video. Didn't matter what player,it was happening with Windows Media and also the program I use mostly, Winamp. It seems solid now and no flickering when I actually open up a video to watch. I sorta knew it wasn't a heat issue and was hoping I didn't have to update the bios.

There is an annoying "Powered by Asus SPLENDID" ad type of sign that pops up on the upper right hand of the screen everytime I open up a new video. Wonder if there is a way to turn that off? Also. Why is it such a big deal to NOT update the bios if the computer is already running smoothly? What problems might occur? Thanks again folks and having a great time with the quad and feelin cool.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Specs:

Digi Mbox 2 Pro factory 7.3.1cs4

XP Home SP2
Intel Core 2 QUAD q6600 LGA775 2.40 GHz B3
ASUS P5K Deluxe WiFi AP (P35)
Crucial Ballistix 2Gb (2 x 1 Gb) PC2 8500 1066 MGz 240 pin DDR2
Corsair HX520 W PSU
ASUS VGA EAX1600PRO SILENT 256M Video Card
X2 SEAGATE Barracuda 250 Gb 7200 SATA
Zalman CNPS9500 Heatsink
Samsung SATA DVD Burner with lightscribe

Link to my CASE~~~~> 120MM fan front and 120MM fan back
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147033

[sunburst79]

Hi DJ, I beleive you are running the same card as me, the Asus ATI 1600 Fanless?. I don't get the green ASUS pop up box your describing. On my most recent install I switched to the ATI Catalyst 7.9 Drivers. I think the best way to get rid of the ASUS popup would be to uninstall the ASUS Video card driver and install the ATI reference driver from ATI.com. You want the choice labeled option 1.

I'm trying to remember if you installed a ASUS video decoder program-that could be causing the popup issue.