Ok I'm looking at upgrading because my old test computer/computer for watching tv/dvds in my room is dying and can't recognise the CPU anymore.

Here's what I'm checking out:
ASUS Striker Extreme nForce 680i SLi Motherboard
Intel S775 Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz CPU
Albatron 7950GT 256MB PCIe Video Card
Antec P180 Black Case (No PS) (because it's pretty)

Now, it says to go look on asus' website for a list of compatible ram but buggered if I can find it and all I could find in google was a list of ddr400 ram for some other motherboard. I know a couple of you here work for CA and that's probably where I'll get it so will the DDR2 2GB G.Skill 800MHz PC6400 RAM Kit PK ram work in it? What's with the HZ NR and PK thing after the ram too?

Powersupply I have NFI, probably just get some Enermax EG701AX-VE (W)SFMA 600 watts Power Supply thing.

I know it's an SLI motherboard and there's only 1 card there at the moment but like I said this upgrade is so I can replace a dying PC more than because I can so I'll grab another video card down the line when I cbf.

Anyone know of driver issues with vista for this board?

p.s. This won't be my test computer, this will become my main game pc and the old AGP p4 I'm on now will go in my room for dvds/tv.

what board spooky one?

If you aren't going the SLI route straight away I would strongly recommend a Commando board over the Striker.

Have seen a few strikers come through work with some faggy issues, it also has major issues running 4 gig of ram. No config I tried (and tested by others) would work. 4 x 1gig in Corsair, Geil or Gskill, nor 2 x 2gig modules. (BTW Geil Ultra DDR2 800 - 2 x 1gig modules works in the striker without a drama)

I have seen a few of those BFG 680i boards with issues too, I'm not too keen on that chipset.

Commando setups I have seen recently have been nothing but solid.

PSU I highly recommend anything Tagan (580 would be good for your config) followed by zalman or e-power.


Also those videocards are old stock, especially 256meg, probably wont be anymore in. You'd want at least 512 nowdays anyway. Maybe save some more pennies and go for an 8800GTS

last edited by rubba-chikin at 01:36:26 20/Mar/07

Ok then, say I just go with a single video card mobo how do the ASUS S775 P5B-E-Plus Core 2 Motherboard go?

edit: and one of these? Albatron 8800GTS 320MB PCIe Video Card
320mb? that's odd?

\/ \/ \/ Both I guess, stability hardware wise and driver support/development for vista.

last edited by whoop at 01:47:47 20/Mar/07

with VISTA or in general?

p180 is by far the worst case to wire and make neat. Striker is a good board but do your research first and make sure on initial post u set all the correct voltages as the Strickers are undervoltaged out of the box and require you to manually set them. only ones come back so far have been CPU initalisation errors. Use Gskill memory

Albatron 7950GT 256MB PCIe Video Card

If you can afford the extra $100 or so, I'd suggest the 8800GTS.

No point buying previous generation hardware.

p5b-e = excellent choice

If I were to build up a rig now, thats the board I would use :)

Slapper is right about the p180 as well, it looks fairly nice but is a complete ass to wire up and do s*** inside.

I still swear by the original gigabyte aurora, it is still my favourite case by far to build in.


The 320 meg 8800GTS range is the budget end of the 8800's they just chopped half the memory off the original 8800GTS. I personally would forget them and just get a regular GTS otherwise later down the track you may regret getting a videocard with less than 512meg memory when dx10 games really start utilising it.

Just for s***s and giggles heres what I would spec up now if I was to buy something -

CPU - Intel core2 6400 or 6600 (budget allowing)
Mobo - Asus P5B-E Plus
RAM - 2 gig Geil DDR2 667 kit or 800 (budget allowing)
Video - Nvidia 8800GTS 640meg (I honestly don't care on brand, Albatron while cheap still performs well from what I have seen)
HDD - 320g Seagate SATA
Case - Gigabyte 3D Aurora (not the new 570 or whatever it is uglehhhh)
PSU - Tagan 580 or 800 (budget allowing)

why is it people keep buying 4gig of ram for Vista32 when it only sees 3?

:/

cos peoples are stooopid.

If I were you I'd save a bit more and get faster ram so you can really make use of the cpu

If I were you I'd save a bit more and get faster ram so you can really make use of the cpu

Waste of money in my opinion*, getting 800MHz or faster.

Firstly, the E6600s are fast enough at stock speed for most uses .. unless you're running scientific simulations or encoding movies all day. And yes I personally run some simulations for uni and use virtual machines heavily and it's fast enough at stock speed.

Secondly, 667MHz memory will get allow an E6600 to reach 3GHz without requiring the memory to be overclocked. 800MHz can get you to 3.6GHz which would likely cost you even more money as you'd need to buy a better CPU cooler to maintain that clock-rate without overheating, assuming your system could even run stable at that speed .. which many people can't. Good ball-park average limit seems to be about 3.2GHz.

667MHz memory is good enough. I'd recommend it over 533MHz just so that you have SOME overclocking potential if you decide to go down that path or not down the track.

* = I have that exact 800MHz dual-channel pair that whoop listed in his opening post (F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK), along with an E6600 and after-market Zalman 9700 cooler. So I'm not telling him to go the cheaper path out of e-penis envy :P

last edited by parabol at 19:45:32 20/Mar/07

Well I'm getting the 800Mhz ram anyway.

I don't look at the interior of my case and the case I have now is FAR from neat so the inside doesn't really bother me. As long as there is sufficient airflow to keep everything cool I'm happy, I want a case that looks nice on the outside and no fancy bits hanging off it or sticking out of it. I also like doors that hide cd drives.

I'd also like to keep the major hardware bits in the range of $2k - $2.5k so I can go the 8800GTS.

edit: this one? clicky I don't much care for that at all.

unless you're running scientific simulations or encoding movies all day.

well I need all the speed I can get, I've almost found the cure for stupidity :p

edit#2: this looks pretty sexy (and pricy)

last edited by whoop at 20:48:04 20/Mar/07

as much as I hate Gigas***e.. they sure do make a f***ing awesome computer case :/


they must've got a 3rd party (or Lan Li) to do it for them

Well they failed the 2nd time around, I think the Aurora 570 front looks like utter balls. Functionality-wise its a touch better than the original with a few extra inches length to help fit the big videocards.

Just went to CA and the guy there said the commando motherboard would be better than the p5b-e thing, I don't suppose anyone here would have one & know what they're like?

Ok, the guy at the store said the commando can't do SLI, which according to a review I saw it can using ati's crossfire s***, and the P5N32-E SLI Plus also has SLI and is an nforce 650 chipset for exactly the same price as the commando. Now I'm leaning towards the P5N32-E SLI Plus because both pcie ports are x16 where the commando has 1x16 and 1x4.

I hate it when there's too much choice ffs, why can't it be like the old days when you bought a celeron 300a that abit motherboard (forget the model) and you were set. These days there's too much choice :@

last edited by whoop at 20:43:41 21/Mar/07

last edited by whoop at 20:59:00 21/Mar/07

If you were to build a machine right now with a $350~ budget on the mobo go the P5N32-E SLI if you're a nvidia fanboy or the commando of you're an ati fanboy, simple.

its true Shrap speaks wise words.

Why do you want SLI capability? If you aren't going to throw together a crazy expensive 8800GTX SLI rig its not really worth it imo.

If you are only going for a mid range gaming PC (high end im talking $5k+ for the box alone), forget SLI. When it comes time to upgrade again just sell ur existing card and put it towards a newer single card platform again.



last edited by rubba-chikin at 23:16:03 21/Mar/07

guys can't we just make luv?

my place or yours ?

screw it, I'll just buy an xbox, it's more simple. HA!

Why do you want SLI capability?

I don't, but the guy at CA recommended the commando over the p5b-e because he said it overclocks better & said the other pcie slot wasn't for sli anyway, but it can with ATI's xfire. I hate ATI and am going nvidia in the video card so I figured if he's going to try to sell me an SLI motherboard what the f***, go with the other one coz at least it can SLI with nvidia cards. I hate when computer store people try to talk you into and out of stuff, that's why I go to umart. I order my s***, I go pick it up no one questions why I want what I want.

last edited by whoop at 00:12:41 22/Mar/07

Well what the sales guy is saying is true, it is a better board. It just comes down to how many bells and whistles you want. Will you really use all the extra features? Is it worth the extra $100 you are going to spend on it over the p5b-e?

My answer would be no, its a board high end users or overclockers who want to squeeze every last bit out of their hardware would want.

Even a vanilla p5b would do you fine, I just prefer the p5b-e plus as it has higher quality caps.


Just be firm about it, say I know what I want just go get it built for me pls kthxbi!

My answer would be no, its a board high end users or overclockers who want to squeeze every last bit out of their hardware would want.

Actually, I pretty much O/C my computers to the point of hang, then back off a little so perhaps it is for me after all :)

I've actually o/c the everloving s*** out of my x1300 video card in an effort to get some decent fps in cs, if I cbf I'd glue heatsinks on the ram like I did to my voodoo2 & go that extra bit more :p

Fair enough then, if you do OC a lot then it definately should be a consideration. The commando and striker are both in the Asus ROG (republic of gamers) series and are aimed at exactly that, gamers and enthusiasts who like to crank their s*** to the limit.

You might also wanna throw in a Zalman 9500 cpu heatsink. Will take you much futher than the stock cooler plus it will be tons quieter.

You might also wanna throw in a Zalman 9500 cpu heatsink. Will take you much futher than the stock cooler plus it will be tons quieter.

Get the Thermalright Ultra 120 if you want to push it.

Ahahah I went to look for the prices of those 2 coolers and noticed they still make/sell those stupid "orb" coolers. Man I had one of those on my AMD, it ran hotter than the stock cooler. Pieces of s*** they were, have they changed? (not that I'll even consider getting one)

edit: looking at those zalman things, do they put a lot of stress on the clips/motherboard holding something that freaken big on?

last edited by whoop at 20:44:57 23/Mar/07

They have their own chunky bracket that screws onto the 4 holes around the CPU socket.

They work great with cases that have 120mm fans in the rear of the case as the hot air just gets blown straight out the back.

looking at those zalman things, do they put a lot of stress on the clips/motherboard

Stress? Not really.

I have a Zalman 9700LED (bigger and heavier than the 9500LED) and it's fine. Almost completely silent on the lowest fan setting, yet still cools awesomely at that low speed.

Damn those things weigh 764g :o I had no idea they made a BIGGER one!

I likey :D

Not to mention a hard drive isn't even in the price of the PC, I'm going to have to thieve one of the drives from this pc, the only empty drive in here is the one that's dying (hence empty :p) all the rest are full with nowhere to put it and the dying computers' drives are all IDE. Damn technology.

Oh and did I mention another $600 or so next week for car rego. MONEY!@#$!@$