Envi Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 Ahhhh, I see, that's awesome about the sound card. Didn't even notice when I looked at the specs, lol. The memory definitely works, got a confirmation on the Asus mobo's forums here: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=200...%20II%20Formula So I think I've narrowed down almost everything. As soon as I find out about my financial situation I'll decide whether to do a single video card with the 260 core 216, or if I can afford to do two, in which case I'll get 2 4870s. Then I'll update all my changes and share them here. Thanks again for all the help, it's most appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexvision Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 Ahhhh, I see, that's awesome about the sound card. Didn't even notice when I looked at the specs, lol. The memory definitely works, got a confirmation on the Asus mobo's forums here: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=200...%20II%20Formula So I think I've narrowed down almost everything. As soon as I find out about my financial situation I'll decide whether to do a single video card with the 260 core 216, or if I can afford to do two, in which case I'll get 2 4870s. Then I'll update all my changes and share them here. Thanks again for all the help, it's most appreciated. Don't get 2 4870's grab a 4870x2 if you can afford it, it will be cheaper anyways. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Envi Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 Oh... is that card simply the level of Nvidia's 280 then? Lol, maybe I should just forget about crossfire completely then, and if I can afford one of those two cards just get that instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcl Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 Oh... is that card simply the level of Nvidia's 280 then? Yes it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Envi Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 Alrighty well it looks like financially it'd be best for me to stick to the 260. So here's the full list now: Motherboard: ASUS Maximus II $270 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131319 CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz: $320 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115041 Video card: GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition: $310 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130400 Memory: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500): 2x $134 (2x $94 after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145214 Monitor: Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor: $360 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824009125 Hard Drive: RAID-0 array: 2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive: 2x $75 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136218 DVD Burner: $35 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827135156 Power Supply: ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ800 800W ATX12V / EPS12V: $170 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817814014 Case: Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower: $175 (20% off by 10/20) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...welve%20Hundred CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler: $37 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...tek%20HDT-S1283 CPU Cooler bracket: $7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...TEK%20ACK-I7751 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Grease: $6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835100007 TOTAL: $2108 (after rebate: $2028) The only question I have left is a couple of nitpicky things about RAID-0 and how to set it up... I did a bunch of research, and I'm not sure exactly what the process is for doing it right. I think I understand all the initial setup stuff with the BIOS, but I'm not sure how doing that would affect the installation of the OS. I'm also not sure whether to get Vista Upgrade or the full retail version... if I do the upgrade I would still be doing a clean install through the trick (I do have XP Home right now on this computer though). Also on RAID-0, with this motherboard the specs say "0/1/5/10 Matrix RAID" under storage, so that means that I don't need any sort of extra PCI card to run a hardware RAID, right? Just want to make sure I understand this correctly. Even if for some reason I can't do RAID I'm still going to get the same hard drives though, so I think my build is just about all planned out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcl Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Alrighty well it looks like financially it'd be best for me to stick to the 260. So here's the full list now: Motherboard: ASUS Maximus II $270 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131319 CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz: $320 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115041 Video card: GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition: $310 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130400 Memory: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500): 2x $134 (2x $94 after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145214 Monitor: Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor: $360 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824009125 Hard Drive: RAID-0 array: 2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive: 2x $75 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136218 DVD Burner: $35 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827135156 Power Supply: ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ800 800W ATX12V / EPS12V: $170 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817814014 Case: Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower: $175 (20% off by 10/20) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...welve%20Hundred CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler: $37 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...tek%20HDT-S1283 CPU Cooler bracket: $7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...TEK%20ACK-I7751 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Grease: $6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835100007 TOTAL: $2108 (after rebate: $2028) The only question I have left is a couple of nitpicky things about RAID-0 and how to set it up... I did a bunch of research, and I'm not sure exactly what the process is for doing it right. I think I understand all the initial setup stuff with the BIOS, but I'm not sure how doing that would affect the installation of the OS. I'm also not sure whether to get Vista Upgrade or the full retail version... if I do the upgrade I would still be doing a clean install through the trick (I do have XP Home right now on this computer though). Also on RAID-0, with this motherboard the specs say "0/1/5/10 Matrix RAID" under storage, so that means that I don't need any sort of extra PCI card to run a hardware RAID, right? Just want to make sure I understand this correctly. Even if for some reason I can't do RAID I'm still going to get the same hard drives though, so I think my build is just about all planned out. The RAID is in the user guide, if you want to see it now you can downlode it from ASUS, hears the link, http://support.asus.com/download/download....SLanguage=en-us Go with the full retail version, it's a pain to use a HDD out of a diffrent PC. You got a nice set up hear. :thumbs-up: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Envi Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Oh awesome, I didn't realize that the mobo's manual would have that well detailed instructions on the RAID stuff. I read through it, added an $8 floppy drive to the build (since I don't own a single one anymore), and I think I understand how to do it now. So thanks again all for the help! Might be awhile before I can afford to get everything, but I'll let you know when I do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoosty Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Just received the Asus Maximus II Formula and the Bios version was the 901 and the Q9550 was the E0 stepping in my order from NewEgg yesterday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcl Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Just received the Asus Maximus II Formula and the Bios version was the 901 and the Q9550 was the E0 stepping in my order from NewEgg yesterday. The BIOS will need to be upgrad from ASUS site, as soon you install the board update it to the latest bios. :thumbs-up: Any boar you buy will come with the original bios it was built with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcl Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Oh awesome, I didn't realize that the mobo's manual would have that well detailed instructions on the RAID stuff. I read through it, added an $8 floppy drive to the build (since I don't own a single one anymore), and I think I understand how to do it now. So thanks again all for the help! Might be awhile before I can afford to get everything, but I'll let you know when I do. Ya let me now. :thumbs-up: :thumbs-up: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoosty Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 The BIOS will need to be upgrad from ASUS site, as soon you install the board update it to the latest bios. :thumbs-up: Any boar you buy will come with the original bios it was built with. The board came with the 901 Bios' and the Q9550 only needed the 801 Bios' to work. But already planned on upgrading to the 1307 Bios' so I can use the new GSkill PI Black F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B @ 4-4-4-12 ram. Thanks any way for your advice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcl Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 The board came with the 901 Bios' and the Q9550 only needed the 801 Bios' to work. But already planned on upgrading to the 1307 Bios' so I can use the new GSkill PI Black F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B @ 4-4-4-12 ram. Thanks any way for your advice. Cool :thumbs-up: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now