[SilusBotwin]

Hi everyone this my very first post in these forums. Nice to meet such a friendly helpful group.:wave:

Well let me cut to the chase. I bought a slew of pc components to build my first somewhat hi tech system.:4-dontkno I've built numerous P3, P4 and even P2 machines and have had little to no problems with any of my builds. All components are as follows:



Mother Board: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3

CPU: E5200 Dual Core 2.50 GHz
Core 45nm
Socket LGA775
2 MB L2 cache

System Memory: OCZ Vista Performance 4GB Kit (2 x2 GB Modules) DDR2-800 (pc-6400) Plan to buy another matching kit to max out at 8 GB DDR2

Hard Disk Drive: Western Digital Caviar 500 GB / SATA / 7200 RPM / 16 MB Cache

Power Supply: Cool Max CU-500B 500 Watt ATX (4) Molex 4-pin Connectors; (1) Floppy 4-pin Connector; (4) Serial ATA Connectors

Primary Optical Drive: Samsung DVD-+RW Double Layer Burner with 2 MB Buffer

Secondary Optical: EIDE DVD-R RW (piece of crap)

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel (Mid Tower Case)

Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce 7950 GT 512 MB DDR3 pci express x16

Operating System: Im currently on the edge of the fence as to whether I should run Vista Ultimate 64 bit or Windows 7 64 bit Release Candidate.:4-dontkno

Ok now to sum it up I'm wanting to make sure all these components are compatible to build a machine with them. Of course I have extra SATA and IDE cables handy.

Any advice I can get about the compatibility of these components would be well appreciated (i.e. will I run into any problems running the secondary IDE optical burner since I already have a SATA optical. Will any of these components cause problems for othe components?) I have absolutely NO plans of overclocking even though I've heard the E5200 is an overclockers dream.

I would also appreciate any advice about which OS to go with. Im not exactly a Vista fan, but I hear the RC of windows 7 runs XP programs as if they were running in Windows 7

Thanks in advance,
Silus Botwin

 

[Tyree]

All are compatible.
The Mobo you have listed is a 965 chipset. I would go with a P45 or at least a P43.
The ASUS P5Q Pro is a great full featured board at a good price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
CoolMax PSU is not good quality.
Loot at FSP, Seasonic or Corsair.
4GB is all the RAM you'll need.
The IDE & SATA Hdd's will work together.
The WD Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB would be faster and has a 5 yr. warranty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

 

[SilusBotwin]

I would be interested in asus and AMD but the thing is, i already purchased everything. the case, mobo and video card i got from ebay for 100 bucks with free shipping cant beat that! the CPU, hdd, ram, DVD burner and psu i got all from microcenter.com in store pick up by my house. all together this system has cost me 275 dollars total.

Tyree. I noticed your currently running Windows 7 RC. I was wondering how the xp virtual program emulation (or whatever the tech term is for it) works out on windows 7. I downloaded and burned the iso for it and im just trying to decide whether I should go with Vista 64 Ultimate or go with RC 7. The fact that I can run xp programs, and it seems like they're running pretty smooth and bug free from all the reviews I've read, RC 7 seems VERY appealing to me. The one thing that piques my curiosity is, what happens on June 1st 2010 when the RC serial key ends? Will you have to buy a key? Or go back to your previous OS? If we do have to purchase a new serial Im wondering what it will cost. Im gonna do some researching and see if I can't find anything out about that subject. I appreciate your response and lack of flaming this noob.

So all in all you say everything will work together just fine, correct? In your opinion, on a scale of 1 to 10 what would you ladies and gentlmen rate my rig? Do you think I got my moneys worth?

 

[Tyree]

The XP virtual emulation is dependent on the CPU. You will need to download and run the Intel Processor ID Utility to determine if your CPU has the capability.
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/sb/cs-014921.htm
If you haven't purchased Vista I would recommend using 7 to save some money. When the testing period is over you will have to purchase a copy of Windows 7.
Everything is compatible but ,as I said earlier, the PSU you have purchased is NOT good. I would highly recommend replacing it with a quality unit before you start the build.
You didn't post what you paid for the components so I can't comment on how good of a deal you got.

 

[SilusBotwin]

I paid 50$ for the cpu. i looked to see if it supports virtualization and is does not oh well. I guess for now Ill stick with my legal copy of 64 bit vista. Ill buy a better cpu when i have more funds.

Any idea how much ram can be read by 64 bit XP?ray: I know the 32 bit only sees 3 to 3.5 gigs unless I use PAE. I understand how the memory is distributed between the kernel and current processes. I prefer XP over Vista and I would rather install XP if it will see all 4 gigs.

 

[Wrench97]

32 bit operating systems can mathematically only address up to 4Gig of ram total including any cards installed they will report between 2.8-3.4 as usable usually around 3.2Gig but can and do address the upper areas for system devices, PAE is for use on servers to use upper address space for data base overflow won't do a thing for you on a desktop.
64 bit operating systems have a theoretical mathematical limit of 112Gig of memory space.

 

[SilusBotwin]

I just got my hands on a copy of XP 64 bit edition. It will see up to 16 gigs of ram. I will be maxing my mobo out @ 8 gigs. I appreciate all the feedback from everyone. I really wish I could have bought a vt-xx supported cpu. I'm looking for a new cpu so when my next direct deposit hits my bank account I'll be ready to hit microcenter.com in store pick up for a core 2 duo quad. Maybe I can find something within my budget with 4-6 MB L2 cache. Well I'm off to search for a new cpu Thanks wrench97 and Tyree for your help. Any more advice anyone would like to contribute is definitely welcomed and encouraged.

 

[SilusBotwin]

The XP virtual emulation is dependent on the CPU. You will need to download and run the Intel Processor ID Utility to determine if your CPU has the capability.
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/sb/cs-014921.htm
If you haven't purchased Vista I would recommend using 7 to save some money. When the testing period is over you will have to purchase a copy of Windows 7.
Everything is compatible but ,as I said earlier, the PSU you have purchased is NOT good. I would highly recommend replacing it with a quality unit before you start the build.
You didn't post what you paid for the components so I can't comment on how good of a deal you got.

Very good idea with the PSU. I can return the one I have as it is still sealed and I still have all receipts. And that will knock off about 30 bucks off a replacement psu. Could you tell me if this psu would work ok until I can afford to get a better one? They will let me return an opened psu and give me in store credit for it. So If that psu will get me by until I can afford to upgrade I'll use it. What do ya think?:4-dontkno

 

[Tyree]

Personally, I would not use that PSU and risk damaging the other hardware.
4GB of RAM is more than sufficient for almost anything.

 

[Tyree]

double post

 

[SilusBotwin]

Personally, I would not use that PSU and risk damaging the other hardware.
4GB of RAM is more than sufficient for almost anything.

What hardware are you referring to that could be damaged by this psu and why?

 

[Tyree]

Cheap PSU's have a tendency to take the CPU and MOBO with them when they fail.

 

[SilusBotwin]

Tyree, I think you cursed me.

I recieved the rest of the stuff needed to get building. After assembling everything I tried to power up the pc and my screen was getting a no signal error and the keyboard lights do nothing. The keyboard lights would flash for a split second when I plug in the power cord but they dont do anything else after I try to turn it on. All fans are working fine, the DVD tray opens and closes but I get no beeps from the case speaker. I tried to strip down to CPU, power supply, ram, vid card, keyboard and still same thing. I eliminated each device one by one, tried clearing CMOS and it still wont help. I've tried everything I can think of. I'm hoping one of you will have some sort of suggestion for me. I'm thinking power supply. If I cant' figure it out by tomorrow night I'm taking it to micro center to have them test everything. fingers crossed it's the power supply.

 

[Timmy_j]

usually a no signal error on the monitor means the cable isnt plugged in properly or your on the wrong input on your monitor ( thats if it supports more than one input chanel )

 

[SilusBotwin]

usually a no signal error on the monitor means the cable isnt plugged in properly or your on the wrong input on your monitor ( thats if it supports more than one input channel )

I thought the same thing. I bought a DVI to VGA adapter and I have it running to the vga port on my 37 inch LCD. The pc I'm on now is on the VGA port so I know it's not the t.v. Although the pc I'm on now doesn't need the adapter because the vid card has VGA output unlike the vid card on the new pc. The new pc has two DVI outputs and 1 S-Video output but no VGA I tried hooking up to S-Video to no avail. The vid card fan works fine but it might just be because it's not on the same rail as the GPU. Just because the fan is running doesn't necessarily mean the whole card is I suppose.

 

[Timmy_j]

Well have you tried hooking up your monitor through the DVI port instead of using the VGA adapter??? also seeing as the video card has two DVI outputs, you might want to try both of them. I dont think having them on seperate rails should matter, but maybe trying both on the same rail, and if the fans working, then i think it would be safe to assume the video card should be as well. But as with what tyree said, you might not have enough power for everything, whats the Wattage of your pwer supply???

Usually if you go the manufatcures website for the card, they tell you ther minimum amount of watts you need to power your card.

 

[SilusBotwin]

I don't have a plain DVI cable to try yet but I will when I can. The adapter is brand new though that doesn't mean it's not faulty. I've tried both DVI ports on the vid card and still nothing. I also checked the minimum wattage required for the card to run and it's 400 minimum and I'm using a 500 watt supply so it shouldn't be that.

 

[Wrench97]

What revision is the motherboard There is a 1, 1.3, 2, & 3.3 version?
http://www.gigabyte.us/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_List.aspx

 

[SilusBotwin]

wrench97 it's revision 3.3

 

[Wrench97]

Looks like it needs the F14D Bios to support the E5200 I believe that is a Beta Bios so the board may not have that version on it.
http://www.gigabyte.us/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2456
Do you know what Bios is on the Board?
Is the board new or used?