Eidola Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I have made this shopping list on NewEgg and was wondering if anyone had any comments or suggestions about these selections: Mainboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131225 Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115030 DDR2 Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820161241 Power: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817159066 Video: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814260061 Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136073 DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827106247 From what I have read an ICH9R bridge is the best for SATA use, though I plan to use a mix of SATA and PATA drives as I still have two drives with data I wish to use. I chose slower RAM because from my understanding that is possible to do with DDR2 and the 667mHz RAM is much cheaper then the 1066 mHz RAM, as in I can double the memory. Thanks for any suggestions or comments you may leave! -Eidola Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/91621-how-is-this-hardware/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eidola Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Nobody has any comments or suggestions on this hardware? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/91621-how-is-this-hardware/#findComment-654504 Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuietOC Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 From what I have read an ICH9R bridge is the best for SATA use, though I plan to use a mix of SATA and PATA drives as I still have two drives with data I wish to use. An AHCI enabled southbridge is the best, which is not just the ICR9R (e.g., the ICR9DO is also AHCI.) Some boards have an unofficial AHCI mode for the ICR9. The PATA driver (JMicron) limits you to using 3GB or less of RAM. The plain ICR9 is fine using 8GB in Leopard with DuNe's new kext (=driver). Even with an AHCI capable southbridge you may want to turn off AHCI to improve SATA performance. I chose slower RAM because from my understanding that is possible to do with DDR2 and the 667mHz RAM is much cheaper then the 1066 mHz RAM, as in I can double the memory. Pretty much true. I can recommend the A-Data 4GB (2GB x2) DDR2 800 Kit. I got 2 for $126 AR (plus a couple of 1GB USB of flash for $6). Lots of good deals right now. Look for 1.8V specified sticks to save a little power. 1GB 8600GT is overpriced. Find a 256MB model for ~$80 or less. I'd make sure to find one with a nice big, quiet heatsink, as many 8600GTs are noisy. The 8600GT is limited by memory speed not by memory amount, so if you want to spend extra on one, find one with the fastest memory, not a ridiculous amount of memory. Really just buy a cheap one because for ~$150 you can buy something more than twice as fast (HD 3850) and much more efficient. Consider a WD6400AAKS over the old WD5000AAKS. The former is a two platter drive while the latter is a four platter drive. The former should be considerably faster, quieter, cooler, and use less energy. I like my 500GB 2 platter Hitachi P7K500, but the WD AAKS drives should be a little faster. Overall, I don't see any problems with any of the components. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/91621-how-is-this-hardware/#findComment-654517 Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatpeep Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 i was looking at a similar setup and ended up going with a eP35-DS3R and an E8400. I've got two of that LiteOn burner and they work well except they can get a little loud when things get spinning. i know the p5k line has been well received, but i'm a gigabyte guy - they have treated me well so far! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/91621-how-is-this-hardware/#findComment-654519 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eidola Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 An AHCI enabled southbridge is the best, which is not just the ICR9R (e.g., the ICR9DO is also AHCI.) Some boards have an unofficial AHCI mode for the ICR9. The PATA driver (JMicron) limits you to using 3GB or less of RAM. The plain ICR9 is fine using 8GB in Leopard with DuNe's new kext (=driver). Even with an AHCI capable southbridge you may want to turn off AHCI to improve SATA performance. From what you have said, and from what I have read, the board I found seems perfect for the job. Though what do you mean by the PATA driver limits me to 3 GB of RAM? I plan to fill the board to the max of 8 GB (4 x 2GB), will doing so preclude me from using my two PATA drives with this system? Pretty much true. I can recommend the A-Data 4GB (2GB x2) DDR2 800 Kit. I got 2 for $126 AR (plus a couple of 1GB USB of flash for $6). Lots of good deals right now. Look for 1.8V specified sticks to save a little power. I found some for the same price as what I was paying for the DDR2 667, so thank you for that tip. 1GB 8600GT is overpriced. Find a 256MB model for ~$80 or less. I'd make sure to find one with a nice big, quiet heatsink, as many 8600GTs are noisy. The 8600GT is limited by memory speed not by memory amount, so if you want to spend extra on one, find one with the fastest memory, not a ridiculous amount of memory. Really just buy a cheap one because for ~$150 you can buy something more than twice as fast (HD 3850) and much more efficient. I will take another look at the video cards, though one thing that is nice about 1GB of RAM on the card... you can run games with ultra high textures enabled. Do you have any suggestions for a 512MB card around the same price with better performance? Consider a WD6400AAKS over the old WD5000AAKS. The former is a two platter drive while the latter is a four platter drive. The former should be considerably faster, quieter, cooler, and use less energy. I like my 500GB 2 platter Hitachi P7K500, but the WD AAKS drives should be a little faster. Do you happen to know which other high capacity WD drives are two platter vs four platter? Thank you for your feedback and suggestions, they are appreciated! -Eidola Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/91621-how-is-this-hardware/#findComment-654575 Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuietOC Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Though what do you mean by the PATA driver limits me to 3 GB of RAM? I plan to fill the board to the max of 8 GB (4 x 2GB), will doing so preclude me from using my two PATA drives with this system? If you have the PATA driver installed and use more than ~3.25GB of memory the kernel will panic and you will have to reboot--unless someone fixes the JMicron driver. You could use the drives with a USB to PATA or SATA to PATA adapter without a problem. I will take another look at the video cards, though one thing that is nice about 1GB of RAM on the card... you can run games with ultra high textures enabled. Do you have any suggestions for a 512MB card around the same price with better performance? No, it can't. The 8600GT just lacks the GPU power to make use of anything beyond 256MB. Even the 8800GT is rarely limited by 256MB--a card with 3.5x times the raw GPU performance of the 8600GT. Do you happen to know which other high capacity WD drives are two platter vs four platter? The old 2500KS, 2500AAKS, and 3200AAKS were 2 platter drives. The new WD5000AACS "Green Power" is a 2-platter 5400rpm drive. The new 3200AAKS is a single platter 7200rpm drive. Western Digital uses the same model number for very different drives. The full part number for the new 320GB model is WD3200AAKS-00B3A0. Eventually the WD5000AAKS will also be switched to a 2 platter design, if they keep making it. 2 platter drives are generally the best buys. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/91621-how-is-this-hardware/#findComment-655158 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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