Antec Solo / C2D / Ninja : Build Advice

arlen · Post by **arlen** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:05 pm

Hi folks - long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm looking at putting together a new box for myself. It will mainly be used for gaming. Quiet is good, silent is overkill for me. Here's the bits I'm looking at buying - please let me know if I've missed anything, if there's an incompatibility I've overlooked, or if I'm just plain doing something stupid.

Case: Antec Solo
PS: Corsair 520HX
Mobo: MSI P965 Platinum (Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 is a little cheaper, might be just as good?)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Heatsink: Scythe SCNJ-1100P (aka Ninja RevB, I think)
Memory: Buffalo Firestix (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Video: This one is a little tricky. My thinking is that DX10 is going to be huge, but the currently available cards are at the sharp and painful part of the price curve. I'm thinking the best thing to do is to get a decent card for now, and plan to upgrade when the midrange and midpriced DX10 cards start to show up on shelves in 6-9 months or so. So, for the initial build, does this seem like a reasonable compromise? Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH GeForce 7600GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125025

Fans: I've got a couple of 12cm Nexus and Globe fans kicking around. I'm currently thinking I'll use 3 - one for the CPU heatsink, one in front of the hard disk stack, and one for exhaust on the back of the case. The inlet one might not be necessary, but I'm a believer in keeping HDs cool, since dead disks are a huge pain in the butt.

HD: I've got a couple of disks in my current box that I'll probably use, though I was considering buying two new matched disks to put in a Raid 0 config, but I get the feeling that the overall opinion on raid0 is that it's not worth the bother and risk. Anybody want to talk me in/out of it?

Media: Anybody want to recommend a good DVD burner? Looks like it's possible to get SATA burners, but they're not common yet. Stick with IDE interface for now?

For easy reference, here's the NewEgg wishlist with all this junk on it: https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi ... +C2D+Build

We'll see how it all runs, but my hope was to try for a small overclock, to get a little extra performance without much extra heat/noise, which I think the Ninja shouldn't have a problem with.

Thanks in advance for your advice and helpful criticism!

wundi · Post by **wundi** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:48 am

Hey arlen, welcome to SPCR!

arlen wrote:Mobo: MSI P965 Platinum (Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 is a little cheaper, might be just as good?)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Heatsink: Scythe SCNJ-1100P (aka Ninja RevB, I think)

I'd advise against the S3, as I think it's just a lower quality version of the DS3 (not really sure). But about P965 boards in general -- I think any of the popular ones (MSI Platinum, Gigabyte DS3, Abit AB9 Pro, Asus P5B) is a rather safe bet and you should probably choose by the feature set, price and board layout that suits you the best. The Asus and Gigabyte boards are reported to overclock especially well though.

The rev.B Ninja is reported to have some compatibility issues with some P965 boards, I'm not sure about the MSI though. I believe a new revision was due early this year.

Video: This one is a little tricky. My thinking is that DX10 is going to be huge, but the currently available cards are at the sharp and painful part of the price curve. I'm thinking the best thing to do is to get a decent card for now, and plan to upgrade when the midrange and midpriced DX10 cards start to show up on shelves in 6-9 months or so. So, for the initial build, does this seem like a reasonable compromise? Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH GeForce 7600GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125025

Of course I don't know what games you play and at what settings etc., but I'd definitely go for something beefier even as a temporary solution. The Ati R1950 Pro is supposed to be pretty good value, I think Gigabyte also has a model with a Zalman cooler for less than $200. Just my two cents here.

Fans: I've got a couple of 12cm Nexus and Globe fans kicking around. I'm currently thinking I'll use 3 - one for the CPU heatsink, one in front of the hard disk stack, and one for exhaust on the back of the case. The inlet one might not be necessary, but I'm a believer in keeping HDs cool, since dead disks are a huge pain in the butt.

Note that the front fan must be 92mm in size. I'd definitely recommend choosing a high quality fan for that spot because otherwise you'll hate it. Nexus 92mm equals awesome.

HD: I've got a couple of disks in my current box that I'll probably use, though I was considering buying two new matched disks to put in a Raid 0 config, but I get the feeling that the overall opinion on raid0 is that it's not worth the bother and risk. Anybody want to talk me in/out of it?

I'd say don't do it, for exactly the same reasons you stated.

Media: Anybody want to recommend a good DVD burner? Looks like it's possible to get SATA burners, but they're not common yet. Stick with IDE interface for now?

I don't think there's any reason not to go SATA. I'm sure there's some reviews of those drives around, you can check them out to make sure.

Hope this helps.

mattcoz · Post by **mattcoz** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:25 pm

I'm putting together a very similar system, and I have the same thoughts about video cards. Newegg has a good deal on an X1900XT for $200 after rebate, although getting a silent cooler to put on it will bump the price up.

arlen · Post by **arlen** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:04 pm

Thanks for the advice Wundi - exactly what I was looking for.

The rev.B Ninja is reported to have some compatibility issues with some P965 boards, I'm not sure about the MSI though. I believe a new revision was due early this year.

I did a quick web search, and didn't find anybody complaining about the MSI mobo I was looking at not working with the Ninja, and a couple of posts that seemed to indicate people were running with them together.

Of course I don't know what games you play and at what settings etc., but I'd definitely go for something beefier even as a temporary solution. The Ati R1950 Pro is supposed to be pretty good value, I think Gigabyte also has a model with a Zalman cooler for less than $200. Just my two cents here.

This one, right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125045
It's going to take minimal arm twisting to get me to spend more money on a better video card, and you've done all you need to. Anybody have any negative experience with this card?

Note that the front fan must be 92mm in size. I'd definitely recommend choosing a high quality fan for that spot because otherwise you'll hate it. Nexus 92mm equals awesome.

Thanks for the reminder, I'd forgotten about that.

I'm putting together a very similar system, and I have the same thoughts about video cards. Newegg has a good deal on an X1900XT for $200 after rebate, although getting a silent cooler to put on it will bump the price up.

This guy? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814142085
Damn you people...damn you. I was going to be all virtuous and buy a cheap video card, and now I'm looking at spending more and more, and it's seeming like a good idea. A pox upon you!

wundi · Post by **wundi** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:05 am

arlen wrote:
Of course I don't know what games you play and at what settings etc., but I'd definitely go for something beefier even as a temporary solution. The Ati R1950 Pro is supposed to be pretty good value, I think Gigabyte also has a model with a Zalman cooler for less than $200. Just my two cents here.
This one, right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125045
It's going to take minimal arm twisting to get me to spend more money on a better video card, and you've done all you need to. Anybody have any negative experience with this card?

Actually, I meant this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125052

The X1950Pro outperforms the 7900GS in most cases.

Yeah the X1900XT is a good buy too, especially if you can find a good deal on a VF700 or VF900 (usually very close in price). In the end you will have a $40 bump between the 7600GT and X1950Pro as well as between the X1950Pro and X1900XT. I'd check out some reviews and roundups to conclude if it's worth your money.

blinblin · Post by **blinblin** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:11 am

Hi Arlen

Could you give us some feedback if there is any to give yet ?

I wonder specifically if you went for the MSI P965 Platinum + Scythe SCNJ-1100P, and if so how it is going.

I was attracted by this combination, but was not able to find any compatibility info on the web - except your post

therefore the question...

Thank you very much

arlen · Post by **arlen** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:37 pm

Yup, I went with everything pretty much as described. I ended up buying an HIS 1950 pro to handle video, because I liked the look of the cooler on it (rear exhaust).

It all went together pretty well with no real headaches, and runs at the level of quietness I was hoping for. In particular, the heatsink and the motherboard went together in the case just fine. There's not a ton of room between the power supply and the top heatsink, but it works.

I'm still finishing up the build (going to order another hard disk), but the box is happily running now. I haven't tested any overclocking yet, but the temps under load are pretty encouraging (ie. CPU temp doesn't increase a whole lot when I'm running CPUBurn).

If you're curious, I'd be glad to take a photo of what the box currently looks like, just let me know.

blinblin · Post by **blinblin** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 3:14 am

good news !
thank you for the feedback

happy to read that the ninja 1100p fits well on the msi p965 platinum. i was a bit anxious with the lack of compatibility information on scythe website about msi motherboards

Antec Solo / C2D / Ninja : Build Advice

Antec Solo / C2D / Ninja : Build Advice

Re: Antec Solo / C2D / Ninja : Build Advice