Can people check my new set up please :)

[TheWakeUpCall]

Hi everyone,

I was going to wait until january to buy all this stuff, but I thought screw it, I want it over christmas really, and for a max saving of maybe £20 it's not worth it, so i'm going to buy it maybe this weekend.

So if you could check over these parts and see if they'll all fit together all right just quickly, would be much appreciated.

The main problem I have is the PSU, I don't really know what wattage i need. I thought 500W would be fine, but it turns out the processor can run as high as 250W, so i don't know what that says for the rest of the parts.

Anywhere, here are the specs:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz Retail
Motherboard - Asus P5Q PRO
RAM - 2 x Corsair 800Mhz DDR2 4GB Kit (2x2GB) (totalling 8GB)
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 500GB
DVD-RW - 2 x LG SATA DVD+RW
PSU - Antec EarthWatts 500W

Case - Undecided

Graphics - Got a spare ATI Radeon x1900 (not that much of a gamer, so that's fine for me)

Also, does the retail CPU come with a fan or do I have to buy one?


Thanks guys, much appreciated. I don't want to buy the wrong stuff!

 

[dont do it it"ll hurt]

cant help much but i think you need to buy cpu fan separately

 

[Mall]

I would also go for a chunkier PSU 650W minimum.

 

[Gshock]

Retail CPU always come with a heatsink & fan, but if you intend on overclocking you will need to upgrade from the stock one:Cheers:

 

[Napster]

retail CPU will come with correct fan m8 so no need to worry there.

 

[nara]

Retail CPU always come with a heatsink & fan, but if you intend on overclocking you will need to upgrade from the stock one:Cheers:

Not necessarily. Buying a boxed version over the counter,yes, but large internet suppliers like Aria will also offer them on their own.

I would agree about the 650W power supply.

 

[witchy]

Why does he need a 650w PSU?

500w will do perfectly well considering he's going to be running a low-end GFX card, the rest of the system will not even come close to eating up 500w.

 

[nara]

Why does he need a 650w PSU?

500w will do perfectly well considering he's going to be running a low-end GFX card, the rest of the system will not even come close to eating up 500w.

Future-proofing, the more the merrier.

 

[witchy]

Future-proofing, the more the merrier.

Personally, I'd have a 1 giga-watt PSU

 

[jamrop]

I have been thinking of upgrading, but decided to wait, due to the new AMD Cpus coming out in January, prices should drop and new items to get

 

[TheWakeUpCall]

Thanks guys. I might get a 650W power unit, as the same model as what i was looking at before is only £10 more for the 650, so not much of an increase. Is Antec Earthwatts a good brand and model to go with?

A few years down the line I might buy a new graphics card, but not any time soon, so i'll get the higher power i think, even though it will put up the electricity bills slightly.

As for the fan, i'll buy it, and if it doesn't come with a fan then i'll buy one.

I don't see the point of waiting until january. I was going to myself, but I can't be bothered. I have no interest in AMD processors, and I can't see the intel ones getting much cheaper, they're already very competitively priced.

Thanks guys.

 

[witchy]

I have no interest in AMD processors, and I can't see the intel ones getting much cheaper, they're already very competitively priced.

Yer AMD have had their 15 minutes of fame, during the Athlon XP years I thought the sun shone out their arses, but these days they just can't keep up with Intel.

Kudos to AMD though, coz without them Intel would still be selling their CPU's at crazy prices.

 

[TheWakeUpCall]

True, AMD does keep intel competitive. I have another question, the motherboard I want says

Compatible with Intel® 05B/05A/06 processors

What are these numbers? what do they mean? Does this include the Q9400, because I just bought one?

 

[Gshock]

Not necessarily. Buying a boxed version over the counter,yes, but large internet suppliers like Aria will also offer them on their own.

I would agree about the 650W power supply.

Retail chips come with a heatsink and fan, OEM chips come on there own & I think they have different warranties

 

[TheWakeUpCall]

Another question, do I have to apply thermal paste onto the CPU? Is it essential?

I found this:
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Thermal paste 3.5gram - Ebuyer

And it says that it fills in gaps in the processor, sounds dangerous, won't that void the warranty?

 

[little_pob]

There will be thermal paste on the stock fan. The Arctic Silver 5 can keep the CPU 5-10°C cooler as its more efficent.

However, you'll need to clean the existing paste off using isopropyl alcohol or the likes. Do not use meths, as the oil in it will reduce the efficiency of heat transfer.

 

[TheWakeUpCall]

If there's paste with the CPU that will be fine then, won't need to buy any more. Thanks.


I've been reading up and this motherboard can be quite picky on RAM. Do I have to choose RAM from the Qualified Vendors List? Or should any RAM work that has the right specs?

 

[little_pob]

I've got 4x1GB Corsair PC2-8500C5 in a P5K-E board from ASUS, my RAM isn't on the QVL list either and it works fine. A quick search finds someone on Tom's Hardware that is running 2x2Gb so the RAM works in that board, but I've not found anyone running 4x2Gb on the first few pages of google.

Anyway, here is my stock question for anyone with over 3GB RAM; You are intending on running a 64bit OS aren't you?

 

[TheWakeUpCall]

I've got 4x1GB Corsair PC2-8500C5 in a P5K-E board from ASUS, my RAM isn't on the QVL list either and it works fine. A quick search finds someone on Tom's Hardware that is running 2x2Gb so the RAM works in that board, but I've not found anyone running 4x2Gb on the first few pages of google.

Anyway, here is my stock question for anyone with over 3GB RAM; You are intending on running a 64bit OS aren't you?

Yes I'm going to run Vista 64. Thanks for looking into this for me, tried doing a search but didn't really know what to search for. I think i'm going to buy it in a few minutes then. Here are the final specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz
Asus P5Q PRO
2 x Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) - totalling 8GB
Seagate Barracuda 500GB
2 x LG SATA DVD+RW
Shiny Piano Black Mid Tower Case
Antec EarthWatts 650W

Before I do that, just going to check the power unit is compatible with the motherboard and then i'll buy it, thanks everyone

 

[little_pob]

Power supply should be fine. Just make sure you connect the 2x4pin plugs into the 8 pin connector near the CPU as a lot of boards won't boot without it plugged in.

Even if it and the RAM aren't compatible (which I cannot see being a problem with the PSU), you're covered by the distance selling regs which give you 7 days from the day after receipt to return for any reason.