Advice for new system

[Rugmonster]

Hello all! I finally got an account after lurking for a long time.

My A64 3200+ desktop is starting to get a little long in the tooth. When I had to bump the settings on ET:QW down substantially to be playable I decided it was time to look into building a new box.

I use my desktop primarily for dev work, in which I use Eclipse 90% of the time, and running multiple virtual machines concurrently using either Xen or VMWare Server. I do game occasionally, so I don't want to skimp in that department. With that in mind, please take a look at this and tell me what you think.

Processor: Intel C2D E6850
Motherboard: EVGA nForce 680i SE SLI (122-CK-NF63-TR)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4x1GB DDR2 800
Video: 2x EVGA 8800GTS 340MB in SLI
Disk Controller: 3ware 2650SE 4-port PCIe SATA II RAID w/ Battery Backup Unit
Hard Disks: 4x 160GB WD Caviar RE SATA II
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 750W "Silencer 750 Quad"
...misc other pieces and parts...

Yes, I know SLI performance in Linux has a lot to be desired, but I play games in both Linux and Windows.

I'm torn on how I want to configure the drives. I don't need a lot of space since my mass storage is done on the network. I know everyone says RAID1+0 is the best performance with redundancy. I want the best performance, but I've seen conflicting information on RAID5 vs. RAID1+0. I'd love to hear from anyone that has experience with the 3ware cards and can say which setup is faster with redundancy.

I've seen that the onboard audio will work fine, but I'm a little concerned about the quality. I have an Audigy2 from my current system I could throw in there, but are there any more current soundcards that are better and work in Linux?

Lastly, do you think the 750W power supply will be enough juice? Over the last few years, I've built several systems, but they have been more on the economy side. I based that on what others were saying in reviews on NewEgg.

Thanks! I look forward to see what everyone has to say.

[Rugmonster]

After looking at my budget some more I decided I could spend a little more and made some changes.

Processor: Intel C2Q Q6700
Motherboard: eVGA nForce 680i SLI (122-CK-NF68-A1)
Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 4x2GB DDR2 800

All other items are the same.

[David]

PCP&P is a great choice. I think 750W out of a PCP&P will be enough. I'd hesitate to say that of any other brand.

If you might want to overclock at all (these days it's childs' play anyway) I'd say ditch the Q6700 and grab a Q6600 G0 (SLACR). It'll save you some cash.
Sound card: Chaintech AV-710 works great for me. It's a very cheap card and IMO it beats the Audigy 2.
Otherwise I think everything else looks good. Keep us posted.

[Panix]

I am building a 2nd system and will use the Q6600 G0 stepping cpu. The remaining components include motherboard, graphics card and PSU.

I am not sure about the mb or graphics card. I will probably choose the Corsair 520 psu.

Perhaps some owners of the Gigabyte P35 and Abit IP35 boards could give some info about the use of them in Linux?

Is it important to have extra pci slots? Many of the Gigabyte boards only have two so I am wondering if that should be a factor or not.

[David]

The P35-DS3P I have has no issues with linux, except for the minor Realtek Ethernet problem:

http://www.phoronix.com/blogs/david/?k=blog&i=60

That's only an issue if you dual boot however.
It's a great board otherwise, and overclocks very easily.

[Panix]

Thanks for your info, David!

I guess the DS4 should be a similar experience?

I think they're both good boards but I was concerned about only 2 PCI slots. If I want to experiment with a sound card and a TV Tuner card, would I be in good shape still? What other cards utilize PCI? I was going to use a wireless usb adapter rather than pci so I'd have the extra pci slot options. I suppose 2 is sufficient. However, I was comparing the Gigabyte boards to the Abit IP35 Pro since they are all around the same price but the Abit has 3 PCI slots.

[Michael]

Thanks for your info, David!

I guess the DS4 should be a similar experience?

I have the Gigabyte DS4 sitting on my pile of things that will be reviewed soon.

[d2kx]

+ Q6600 G0

+ Gigabyte P35-DS4

+ 2x 8800 GT 512 SLi

+ Zalman CNPS9700 LED

[Raven3x7]

+ Q6600 G0

+ Gigabyte P35-DS4

+ 2x 8800 GT 512 SLi

+ Zalman CNPS9700 LED

+1 from me although i'd choose a different CPU cooler to get more OC. Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme(It needs a 3rd party fan)

http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/main_product_ultra120_extreme.htm

[Panix]

I got a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Cooler and Scythe Flex fan for it.

I'm confused about the 2 8800 GT boards, though. I thought SLI setups only worked in 680 or 650 Nvidia boards. I was under the impression you needed motherboards with 2 SLI slots of x16 (lanes) and the P35 board (most of the recent ones) slots are 1 x16 and 1 x4 lane. Can anyone explain or confirm?