Updated System Specifications

[Whizzer]

Good to see you solved it. This way, no other owners of this motherboard will find themselves without chipset drivers (if they only search at the Asus website). This is actually similar to my first 'own' PC experience. I finally had it powered up, no big deal since I didn't assemble it myself, but after XP had installed, I instantly installed Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time, which was one reason I got the system at all. It didn't work, saying the videocard couldn't be detected. I hadn't even thought of installing drivers. Next up, no audio chip detected. Then, I could play the game perfectly fine, but the system crashed randomly. Whadda you guess? Chipset drivers!

[LazerFX]

OK, I think it's time to review the machine, as I've made a few tweaks to it from the original specification, and I've a few things that I want to do to it.

Mesh Elite Fire X1950CPU: Core 2 Duo E6700
Case: Mesh Coolermaster - I intend to change this to the Antec 900
CPU Cooling: Stock Intel - I intend to change this to the Tuniq Tower 120
Motherboard: ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
RAM: 2GB OCZ 900Mhz Matched Pair (Currently running at PC-7100, default timings)
Graphics: ATI X1950XTX 512MB (Connect3D) - I intend to change this to a Palit 8800 GT Sonic 512MB
Sound: X-Fi XtremeGamer
Hard Drives:

Western Digital Raptor (WD1500ADFD) 150GB - primary Boot
Western Digital Caviar (WD5000AAKS) 500GB
Hitachi Deskstar (HDS721010KLA330) 1TB - Two partitions, 700/300GB, due to disk-keeper home not defragmenting drives above 768GB

DVD Writer: Sony 18x DVD+-R/RW/RAM
DVD Drive: Sony 16x DVD
Monitor: LG Flatron L225WT 1680x1050 22" 8ms 400cdp 5000:1
Input:

Logitech Wireless Keyboard (Deluxe 650)
WolfClaw Devour II
Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick
Razer Diamondback 1600dpi Chameleon ('TVR' paint style)
Microsoft XBox 360 Wired pad

Speakers: Speedlink Medusa 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones
Other: Antec AllInOne front-case media reader, display, temperature and fan control and monitor.
Power Supply: 550W Mesh generic
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

OK, to summarise, I've tweaked the hard drives since last update (The 1TB drive is a right corker), upgraded the monitor to a wide-screen 22" model, and upgraded to Windows Vista Home Premium. I've also put in an Antec AllInOne front-case media reader, port header and monitor, which works pretty well.

At the minute, I've got the upgrade bug, as mentioned elsewhere on the forum, and so I've got a plan to purchase the following things:

A new case. The current Mesh model is OK, but not fantastic. The airflow is OK, but I could do with better. Therefore, after some examination of cases, I've pretty much decided on the Antec Nine Hundred series - the bottom-situation PSU, four fans with speed control (Top 200mm fan), reputed low noise and high throughput at low fan speeds, with the option to increase, fans blowing over the drive area (Important for the Raptor and the Hitachi) all combine to make this a pretty good buy. I can pick it up for £70, inc delivery, from Microdirect.

A new CPU cooler. This is something that's always been on my list of things to get. The current cooler (Stock Intel) is OK, but does get a little warm. TAT hits about 65 - 70C when run flat-out. I'd rather this was somewhat less, and the Tuniq Tower does appear to be the best around. I can get that, along with some Arctic Silver, from KustomPCs.co.uk for £49, inc delivery.

A new graphics card. As discussed elsewhere, the best bang-for-buck at the minute seems to be the 8800GT, and the best of these appears to be the Palit 8800GT Sonic factory OC'd. The best place in the UK at the minute for this appears to be amazon.co.uk, who has this for £159, inc delivery. The new cooling configuration really seems to do the job, and coupled with the new case for airflow improvements, I wouldn't have any issues with it not primarily venting outside the case.

Total cost of the upgrade: £280, approximately. Should give me more freedom in the case, as well as improving cooling and performance.

[Chickenfeed]

All very solid upgrade choices. One thing I'll mention though is although the TT120 is a great heatsink, if you don't intend to overclock you'd be better off with something such as a Artic Freezer Pro. They are about half the price and it will more than do the job on a Core 2 Duo. Also although the Tuniq fits in a Antec 900, it is a tight fit at that so breathing room ( more so working room ) around the cpu area is very little. If you do want one of the higher performing sinks (fan included) then the Tuniq is still the way to go. Although the Thermalright Ultra is marginally better it doesn't come with a fan so this still makes the Tuniq the better buy ( plus I really have no love for Thermalright's wire fan braket mounting system ; Tuniq's design is much more elegant )

[LazerFX]

Thanks for the advice, Chickenfeed. I don't intend to overclock per-se, however I will be upgrading to a C2Q at some point, probably within 3-6 months as the 45nm parts come out in more availability. I understand that, even at 45nm, a 2.66Ghz or 2.8Ghz C2Q can really push out the heat (IIRC, it's a 120W TDP, but that's from memory, so I could be wrong), so I'm going for the best I can find. I did look at the Thermalright, but reports were that, with the behind-the-motherboard back-plate design, the Tuniq's had the edge in terms of overall system stability. That's quite a priority for me, as I do move the machine every so often to go to LAN parties round a mates, etc.

The Arctic Freezer 7 Pro seemed decent enough, but almost too small to really handle a C2Q's heat output - I'd probably try for a 3Ghz OC on a Quad, though I'd probably need to go for up-rated memory to really handle it.

I've had big and heavy coolers before - the 1.4Ghz Athlon Thunderbird I used to have needed about 800g of copper, with a 7,500rpm 75CFM Pabst fan on it just to keep it at about 50C... That tended to get in the way, but I could work with it.

[Whizzer]

You don't need better RAM to overclock any CPU. I almost always recommend a good PC6400 kit. Good ones can hit 900-1000MHz and that's enough for running a very high FSB (450-500). For example, my Q6000 is running at 3.6GHz and the RAM is running on its original spec. With a multiplier of 9 and FSB of 400 that puts the RAM at 800MHz. The need for very expensive RAM may come when Intel releases their new CPU system (no more sockets and integrated memory controllers).

My friend has the Tuniq Tower 120 in an Antec P182 and it was tough for us to make it fit and also screw in the motherboard (we attached the cooler before screwing in the motherboard because that was required). Make sure you have a long screwdriver or you will most likely not be able to fit the last screw in. It does cool very well, it keeps his E6420 without overclock at 20C idle and around 35-40 load. We're planning a 3.2-3.4 GHz OC when he takes over my 8800GTX (and I get my 9800GTX).

Also remember that the 45nm Quadcore Penryns can hit 4GHz on air and the TT120 is one of the best air coolers available. The Nine Hundred has good airflow (another friend has it) so either way, you are good to go. Always a good feeling to have a futureproof system.

[LazerFX]

Thanks for the owners perspective on the Tuniq, Whizzer, I was hoping someone would give that I did find a screenshot of an Antec 900 with a Tuniq on the motherboard, and I know that P5W DH users have used them, so I wasn't too worried about it (And no worries about finding long, short or mid-length screw-drivers, we've got a garage full of tools ), but it's nice to have some confirmation that it'll fit.

I think I'll consider this upgrade for a week or two more, and then decide. I'm not big into jumping into things, I like to ponder and let them settle.

Thanks all who've posted - the help has been appreciated

[kscd]

Antec Nine Hundred: A brilliant case but two floors: It doesn't have a removable MB tray or any real implementation for cable tidying, but if you take your time and think it through you can keep them nice and clear and avoid obstructing the air flow. The air flow is second to none really, I have the three 120mm fans on low and the top 200mm exhaust fan on medium and it's very, very quiet. This leads to the second problem however; the amount of dust it drags in because of the lack of filters, so I don't recommend having it on the floor if you're room is prone to dust.

Because it has two exhaust fans, one on the back and one on top, it gives you extra flexibility for which way you face your heatsink. For example, my P5N-E SLI has a large heatsink on the northbridge which would mean I would have to cut my Arctic Freezer 7 Pro fan to make it fit if I needed it to blow out of the back. Instead I only needed to twist it 90 degrees and it blows out of the top no problem

Palit 8800 GT Sonic 512MB We discussed this a bit in my Rigs thread, however I can't give enough praise for it, it's fantastic! There's been no knock on effects due to it not emitting the air out of the back of the case- I've noticed no increases in case temps at all.

Tuniq Tower 120 A real monster of a heatsink, get a decent Yate Loon fan to go with it and you'll have plenty of cooling.

[ontarian_frog]

Facing the top if you have an opening there, and the power supply at the bottom of the case really is the best way to go in my opinion. You're not trying to force heat out of it's natural path, which is up.

Great upgrades, wish I could do some myself.

[Night~]

Just wanted to add that if you want to use the fan controller, you're either going to have to replace all the 120mm fans in your Nine Hundred OR get a bunch of 4pin molex to 3pin fan connector cables which is not ideal.

I am looking to do the same at the moment and will most likely be replacing all my 120mm fans with the Scythe S-FLEX ones, while leaving the 200mm one going on high the whole time. I'm also thinking of getting a modular PSU because I have 4 harddrives at the bottom of my case and the bottom drive cage is just an ugly mess of cables, it should help me keep it tidy. Just a consideration if you've got some spare cash now or maybe a few months after you've got all the other parts.

Or you can just wait for the Antec 1200 and not have to worry about cable management.

[Arbatel]

As far as your video card goes, for a few dollars more you can get the 8800GT Super+1GB. The only difference is the clock rates are at reference speed vs the sonic being bumped 50mhz core and 100mhz memory (effective). I see the memory increase as not necessarily needed as of now, but a welcome addition especially at the price point. And with the same cooling setup as the sonic, you can overclock easily to at least the sonic speeds, if not greater.