Best Core 2 Series Desktops-Results and Specs

[mlange]

Originally Posted by mykhal c

thanks on the website man. yeah talked to petro today. small world!!

you probably have checked, but make sure you check page 1 of this thread. maybe those 2 mobo's you listed have been used already. both sunburst and i (at his recommendation) built with the mobo i linked you to. keep us posted

Mykhal & crew-

Has anybody added an PCI LPT/parallel card to their rig? I'm using a MidiTimePiece/AV midi interface and she requires a parallel port.

The ASUS P5K DELUXE is looking good...

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by mlange

Mykhal & crew-

Has anybody added an PCI LPT/parallel card to their rig? I'm using a MidiTimePiece/AV midi interface and she's requires a parallel port.

The ASUS P5K DELUXE is looking good...

To the best of my knowledge no one has added a parallel port card but I would be surprised if it caused problems.XP has excellant support for legacy devices. Let us know how it works.

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by TheBaron

Hey guys. I'm in desperate need of a new computer. I really don't have the knowledge to build one. The last time I had a roommate help and we had so many issues with parts that eventually we had to take it somewhere to do diagnostics and find out what was bad/needed replacement....so it cost as much as buying one with several weeks of time and shipping as we sent things back for replacement.

Anyway, I'm looking into buying one at a site where they'll build to spec, sort of. You have lots of options. Unfortunately, they're not exactly the same as what's on this site. Can anyone comment on which of the following motherboards would be good to build the cpu around?


MSI G31M-F Intel G31 Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 Intel G31 Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
MSI P35 Neo-F P35 Chipset LGA775 Supports Core 2 Duo CPU FSB1333 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
MSI P7N SLI-FI 750i SLI Chipset LGA775 Supports LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
($30 Mail-in Rebate)(3-Way SLI Support) MSI P6N Diamond nForce 680i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
Asus P5N-E nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
EVGA NFORCE 680i SLI CHIPSET 1333FSB DDR2/800 SATA RAID W/ USB2.0, 1GbLAN, & 7.1 AUDIO
(QX9650 Support) Asus P5N-D nForce 750i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard

*Also, has there been any more testing of the Q9450 processors? I read some posts 4 months ago about it being slightly better, maybe 10% than the Q6600. With the extra cache, will it be better for virtual instruments?

i agree with john. i don't see anythin' i like nor would i take a chance on. and some of the chipsets flat out won't work (tried in the past).

Q9450 is happenin'!! sunburst is the only one here to buy, build and post. and i think he gained about 25 dverbs in goin' from his Q6600 to the Q9450 with stock settings it does have a lower multiplier than the Q6600. but you can do just as much OC'g if you choose with an 8x as 9x if you tweak it right. but if i was buildin' today i'd go with the Q9450.

[mykhal c]

Quote:
Originally Posted by mykhal c
thanks on the website man. yeah talked to petro today. small world!!

you probably have checked, but make sure you check page 1 of this thread. maybe those 2 mobo's you listed have been used already. both sunburst and i (at his recommendation) built with the mobo i linked you to. keep us posted

Mykhal & crew-

Has anybody added an PCI LPT/parallel card to their rig? I'm using a MidiTimePiece/AV midi interface and she requires a parallel port.

The ASUS P5K DELUXE is looking good...

yep...what sunburst said

[TheBaron]

Thanks guys. I think you've talked me into building one

Before I start I have a few questions on specific hardware:

If I go with a Q9450 can I use all of the same parts at the front of this thread?

How important is the power supply? I have a 450w. Is that good enough? It says 450 at the front of the thread, however, I read several pages back that someone upgraded from 450w to 750w and got a huge performance jump. That just doesn't seem logical to me...can that really help?

Can someone recommend some 1066 ram? The link at the front of the thread is to a deactivated type. I'll probably get 4gig.

Any suggestions for a good quiet but reasonably priced case? Do I need a full or mid size?

Also, any suggestions for proven video cards that are still active?

Thanks for all your help. You're providing a great service to all of your fellow music lovers!

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by TheBaron

Thanks guys. I think you've talked me into building one

Before I start I have a few questions on specific hardware:

If I go with a Q9450 can I use all of the same parts at the front of this thread?

yep, Q9450 and ASUS P5K DELUXE WIFI would be a very solid choice. that is sunburst's build also. great results.

How important is the power supply? I have a 450w. Is that good enough? It says 450 at the front of the thread, however, I read several pages back that someone upgraded from 450w to 750w and got a huge performance jump. That just doesn't seem logical to me...can that really help?

more power can't hurt and will only make your system that much more stable. i went with the CORSAIR 520 which has 3 rails. very glad that i did.

Can someone recommend some 1066 ram? The link at the front of the thread is to a deactivated type. I'll probably get 4gig.

so many choices these days and cheap. i went with PATRIOT but CORSAIR is used and liked a lot also. i'd say go with best bargain as long as it has good reviews. definitely read the NEWEGG reviews.

Any suggestions for a good quiet but reasonably priced case? Do I need a full or mid size?

Also, any suggestions for proven video cards that are still active?

Thanks for all your help. You're providing a great service to all of your fellow music lovers!

i like the LIAN-LI cases. not as quiet as some 'cause they are lightweight but great air flow and design.

video cards...go fanless unless your case is extra quiet and go with 256 ram on the card. the less on the card the less it will steal from system dram. hope that helps.

[jello]

Mushkin extreme performance are good ram, Q9450 is great with maximus formula. This is what I use, and I have never maxed out the cpu during a session, just the ram (so I need to get the 3gig switch done:). I have clocked it to 3,2 rock solid (it hasn`t crashed on me yet). I followed some of bladesq bios instructions on this thread. I haven`t d-verb testing on this clocking, but did when the system was clocked to 3,7 and got me 345`ish verbs. Thats alot of verbs

Thumbs up for this thread, and thanks to mykhal, sunburst and bladesq for sharing their knowledge!

[mlange]

Originally Posted by mykhal c

video cards...go fanless unless your case is extra quiet and go with 256 ram on the card. the less on the card the less it will steal from system dram. hope that helps.

The video question is a good one.... many of the available PCI Express x16 cards w/o fans on Newegg are poorly reviewed (most folks say they have to add fans due to heat).

Here's an interesting candidate: MSI RX2600XT-T2D256EZ Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127318

Any thoughts for driving a dual-monitor system?

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by mlange

The video question is a good one.... many of the available PCI Express x16 cards w/o fans on Newegg are poorly reviewed (most folks say they have to add fans due to heat).

Here's an interesting candidate: MSI RX2600XT-T2D256EZ Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127318

Any thoughts for driving a dual-monitor system?

I think a lot of the bad video card reviews tend to be based on bad/old drivers- plan on taking the CD that comes with you video card and useing it as a coaster. Then download the latest reference drivers for Nvidea or ATI website while you waiting for the UPS truck to show up. That way you will have the latest drivers.

The other bitch people have with fanless cards is that they get too hot.

Some of this depends on how good you cases internal ventilation is and how the heatsink is oriented on the card. Cards with the heatsink on the back side are best as it tends to get hit with the prop wash from the CPU fan. Most cards however have the heatsink on the "Drivers side" and thats good because it puts the heatsink on the top of the card in todays popular reverse ATX oriented cases. I also think that their are a lot of people asking a bit too much from a passively cooled card as they are playing games at resolutions that are just a bit too taxing.

Your just not going to get the best results playing Call of Duty at 2048 with a passive card that overclocked 15% using Coolbits or ATItool in a case with no fans.

But the same card for PT would be fine.

I'm running 2 fanless 128MB cards with 3 17 monitors @ 1280*1024 in a rack case in a un-airconditioned house in the summer. No problems so far.

Neweggs reviews are a GREAT tool but you do need to read a lot of them and draw your own conclusions. There are a lot of people out there that have no idea what their doing or talking about and whether or not the card actually fit their needs in the first place.

If you want a passive card that will game there was a Fat1ty series passive card that was reveiwed quite well.

If you planning on any VI usage smaller is better as far as onboard card memory goes.

[mlange]

Originally Posted by sunburst79

I'm running 2 fanless 128MB cards with 3 17 monitors @ 1280*1024 in a rack case in a un-airconditioned house in the summer. No problems so far.

Neweggs reviews are a GREAT tool but you do need to read a lot of them and draw your own conclusions. There are a lot of people out there that have no idea what their doing or talking about and whether or not the card actually fit their needs in the first place.

If you planning on any VI usage smaller is better as far as onboard card memory goes.

No gaming here whatsoever - just music apps. So the current crop of 256MB cards will "steal" 256MB of potential system RAM when using 4GB total (plus the 3GB XP/PT software patch), while the 128MB cards only grab 128MB? Seems like a 64MB card would be cool if it could quickly redraw PT mix and edit windows across a 1920x1200 and a 1280x1024 pair of monitors.

And either ATI or nVidia are acceptable video chipsets in a PCIe 16X form.... no favorites here....

Again, sorry to be so slow - I am so old school - g=c800:5 :)