System recommendation

kermitSpain · Post by **kermitSpain** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:14 pm

Some time ago I asked you guys about which set up i should have but i never built the computer. Now, months later I have the tv and surround sound. I am only missing the HTPC...

COMPUTER TO BE USED FOR:
Mainly MediaPortal but also for playing games

MONITOR:
46" Samsung FullHD

SURROUND SOUND:
Onkyo with optic and HDMI input

I AM PLANNING TO GET:
Case: Silverstone LC17
Motherboard: Please advise!
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600?
Heatsink: NOCTUA NH-U12P
PSU: CORSAIR HX520W
Memory: DDR2 800 2GB KINGSTON VALUE CL5 (2x2GB)
HDD: 2 x Samsung Spinpoint 750GB
VGA: NVIDIA 9600GT 512MB ASUS SILENT/HTDI/512
DVD: SAMSUNG SH-S203N
Fans: 2 x 80mm Noctua
OS: Vista Business 32bit

Correct or have things changed? Another motherboard perhaps? Different VGA?

Thanks for your comments!

protellect · Post by **protellect** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:51 am

Looks solid, and totally overkill for an HTPC.

But for playing games, should be fine.

I'd recommend any P35 chipset motherboard. You can browse through the ones the egg has here

I've had really good luck with gigabyte boards running the P35 chipset, built 6 or 7 with no problems, all running quadcores [q6600/q9300/q9450], 8GB of memory, and 8600GT/9600GT's, all antec sonata III"s with earthwatts, and xp64bit.

The DFI boards also look well rated.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:46 am

I agree it looks bit overkill for HTPC but screen is pretty big too.

I think for HTPC use Ati HD 3870 might be better due intgrated sound and so forth... And many still say UVD is superior to nVidia PureVideo. 9600 GT is about as strong and as capable card. Both are good..

P35 is rock solid Chipset. Q9450 / Q9550 might better choice thanQ6600 but I think Quad is still overkill... E8400 / E8500 would be more than enough. Infact E7200 would be more than enough but if you want to game E8x00 series is better.... If you don't run multi-threading programs like Cad's graphics etc Quad is pretty pointless.

Its the VGA that really matters. Better card can unload from the CPU less powerful CPU you need.

But if you want to game 46" screen... That needs serious muscles. For HTPC use HD 3870 / 9600GT is more than enough but if you want to game with that monster resolution... HD 4870 X 2 Ã¼ber-hot-vacuumcleaner-sounding might be just about enough or Quad CF'ing them...

Which basicly kills the HTPC use, unless you game something Civilization II leveled game in 40"...

kermitSpain · Post by **kermitSpain** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:31 am

Thank you for your replies.

The price of a Quad 6600 is about the same as E8x00 so why not!

I thought it would be enough with a 9600 GT? I will play games on a moderate level, no extreme stuff. Just want to try out some of the latest games.

Motherboard? Lost in the jungle here, donÂ´t know anything about it. I understand I should have P35, but which one? Really need help on this one... There are so many differemt ones and I simply cannot distinguish the difference between then

thanks

Zeel · Post by **Zeel** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 11:00 am

kermitSpain wrote:Thank you for your replies.

The price of a Quad 6600 is about the same as E8x00 so why not!

I thought it would be enough with a 9600 GT? I will play games on a moderate level, no extreme stuff. Just want to try out some of the latest games.

Motherboard? Lost in the jungle here, donÂ´t know anything about it. I understand I should have P35, but which one? Really need help on this one... There are so many differemt ones and I simply cannot distinguish the difference between then

thanks

It all depends on the native resolution of your screen, you'll want to game in that resolution as much as possible since it puts less stress on your screen and gives a nicer image. 46" Full HD should be 1366*1080 or something (cant remember the full hd res), and at that res you might need a beefier card if you want to play the latest games. Maybe a 4850 could pull it off, if you dont mind playing with gimped (read: medium

) graphics.

Frez · Post by **Frez** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:23 am

The Q6600 is a 65nm based processor and generates more heat than the 45nm E8400. The Q6600 has 2MB cache per core compared to the 3MB per core of the E8400. The Q6600 runs at 2.4GHz compared to the 3.0GHz of the E8400.

What these means for the consumer is that the quad processor will generate more heat, therefore you may have to generate more noise to cool it, and unless you are utilising the four cores (very few programs do so at the moment) then the dual processor will perform better due to the higher clock speed.

If you really want to go quad the Q9550 maybe worth looking at as it has 3MB cache per core, has a faster clock speed than the Q6600, and is a 45nm based processor, albeit much more expensive.

kermitSpain · Post by **kermitSpain** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:05 am

The Q6600 is priced the same as the E8400 where as the Q9550 is 100 eur more. Not too worried about the heat (should I be?). Seems like the Q6600 is better prepared for future programs.

Motherboard? I would really appreciate your help. Planning to buy it all tonight (europe) or tomorrow.

Monkeh16 · Post by **Monkeh16** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:06 am

Frez wrote:The Q6600 has 2MB cache per core compared to the 3MB per core of the E8400.

No, the Q6600 has 4MB of cache per pair of cores, and the E8400 has 6MB of cache shared between both cores.

Cistron · Post by **Cistron** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:14 am

kermitSpain wrote:The price of a Quad 6600 is about the same as E8x00 so why not!

Energy consumption, heat. Do you use software that actively makes use of four cores? Otherwise scratch it and go for a dual core.

I thought it would be enough with a 9600 GT? I will play games on a moderate level, no extreme stuff. Just want to try out some of the latest games.

I'd say go for a HD3870 or HD4850. The latter will probably be harder to cool. For full HD resolution (1920x1080) they should suffice at medium settings. Though I'm not sure whether you'd be too happy playing on a TV, as most of them have quite an input-display delay; the signal processing often causes a 2-3 frame delay.

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 8:13 am

I would advice not to get vista business, but to get home premium. Home Premium has media center etc. built for htpc usage. Business is completely stripped of anything media, and targeted at office usage.

protellect · Post by **protellect** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:54 pm

kermitSpain wrote:The Q6600 is priced the same as the E8400 where as the Q9550 is 100 eur more. Not too worried about the heat (should I be?). Seems like the Q6600 is better prepared for future programs.

Motherboard? I would really appreciate your help. Planning to buy it all tonight (europe) or tomorrow.

Any of the models by Gigabyte that start with "GA-P35-yaddayaddayadda" are my recommendation. They are mostly the same thing with different features [an "R" designates RAID, the DS4 has dual 16x PCI-E, etc]

Q6600 would be fine, and is a fair bit cheaper than even the Q9300 or the Q9400.

Monkeh16 · Post by **Monkeh16** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:05 pm

protellect wrote:Any of the models by Gigabyte that start with "GA-P35-yaddayaddayadda" are my recommendation. They are mostly the same thing with different features [an "R" designates RAID, the DS4 has dual 16x PCI-E, etc]

Not if it's a P35 it doesn't.

samdrong · Post by **samdrong** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:42 pm

There have been a couple articles on AnandTech recently about the ATI HD 4000 series and 8-channel LPCM over HDMI. If you ever consider upgrading to BluRay and you want great 7.1 channel sound you should take a look at a 4000 series card.

The articles can be found here:
ATI Radeon HD 4350 and 4550: Great HTPC Solutions
and
Understanding 8-channel LPCM over HDMI: Why it Matters and Who Supports it