Widescreen Gaming Forum

Aantal Product Price
1 Asus P5K SE/EPU iP35, SATA2, GLAN, 8CH
€ 73.50
1 HP Cartridge C6656A Nr.56 Zwart 19ml
€ 19.00
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz 1333 6MB Box
€ 157.50
1 Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC8500 CL5.0 HyperX
€ 57.50

________________________________________
Total incl. BTW: € 307.50

I have some question, like is that motherboard good enough? I know that you have to look at the socket, the bus speed, 16x pci-E slot, ram speed and that's it.

With ram, your bus speed have to match, but then, the Cas, and the other timing. What is better?

Oh and that cartridge, yeah I need a new one :wink:

The old parts that I keep.
GFX: Geforce 8800 GTS 640mb
Power supply: Tagan 460W
Case: Antec nine hundred
HDD: 4 Sata Hdd
Dvd Reader/Writer
Monitor: Samsung 255BW
Speakers: Logitech Z4i

And i want to use
An eSata hdd, got it already, but now it is hooked up with a usb connector.

And another question, maybe I gonna add an custom cooler for my processor, what is a good one?

That's pretty good spec, but IMO you could do better on the RAM. The RAM you listed is rated at 1066 bus speed at the factory tested timings, which aren't that fast to begin with for it's given speed. The MB you listed, which is very good, has a DDR2 standard of 1200 (PC2 9600), is rated at 1333 bus speed and can even OC to 1600. Some OC their RAM to make full use of their MB's bus speed but it usually involves loosening up the timings on the RAM.

I would look for DDR2 1200 RAM with as low timings as you can afford, (though mostly pay attention to the first 3 timing numbers). That way it will likely comfortably OC to 1333 or perhaps even 1600 if you choose to. You also should check that the RAM you buy is compatible brand wise with your MB though. I tried to check ASUS' site for info on the RAM they've tested for that MB but I couldn't get through to their site.

Basically the RAM you listed has about the same timings as you can find on faster PC2 9600 RAM and the prices on it are pretty good. Typically faster frequency RAM has slower timings. Here's some I found on Newegg here in the states, don't know what you have access to. Of these brands OCZ is the more commonly used and may be more likely tested by ASUS, though you really have to check on that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000170147+1052308477+1052427322&Configurator=&Subcategory=147&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

Another reason I prefer the OCZ is it has a good working voltage range. As far as I know that MB has a nominal voltage of 2.1v for the RAM, so it's good to find RAM that works at that voltage if you can. OCZ RAM also runs at pretty cool temps. Like I said though, make sure ASUS has tested the brand of RAM you buy first on that MB. These OCZ models even have water cooling fittings on the heatsinks, though keep in mind they're aluminum and galvanic corrosion will occur should you use them in a WC system that has copper parts.

Okay, thanks for you help already :D

Found 2 more RAM that i could buy.

OCZ 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC9200 CL5.0 FlexXLC Product code: OCZ2FX11502GK

Or

Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC9200 CL5.0 HyperX Product code: KHX9200D2K2/2G

The bad thing is that these can only run with 2.3V.

Also my Motherboard, Asus P5K SE/EPU
Found where the EPU stands for, something power reducing thing :)

[Edit]here i found the manual, will look when i'm home from school

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5K%20SE/EPU&type=map&mapindex=8

Actually that Flex XLC OCZ should run at 2.1v too. They're probably only listing it's max voltage.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000170147+50001550+1052308477+1052426639&Configurator=&Subcategory=147&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

Don't worry about EPU, it has nothing to do with RAM voltages. It's just ASUS' buzz word for their "green" feature, meaning the trend of many MB manufacturer's offering low power consumption modes, like when the system is idle. It's a lot like "Energy Star" appliances that aim to reduce electricty usage.
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1348/3/gigabyte_des_and_asus_epu_tested/index.html

Note that it's not so much that your MB WON'T run the RAM at 2.3v as much as having to go above the MB's nominal voltage can sometimes cause more potential problems. Read the customer reviews on the Patriot RAM I linked to above to see what I'm talking about.

PC2 9200 does not match the DDR2 standard of the MB, but going under that won't really hurt anything. It's just not best case scenario for high performance gaming. If you can find the PC2 9600 I'd get that, it's priced pretty well anyway.

Yeah i'm going for the

OCZ 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC9200 CL5.0 FlexXLC Product code: OCZ2FX11502GK

if i want the 9600, i have to order it somewhere else, and i trust this shop. Also i have not that big budget :P Thanks for the input Frag Maniac

Your welcome, let us know how that upgrade works out. If you're still setup with the current rig take some benchies now so you can give a before and after testimonial if you want. You can download the Fraps demo free which you can do timed Min, Ave, Max FPS tests with and it's a great tool for monitoring settings changes anyway.

I finally got through to the ASUS page for that MB btw and unfortunately they don't list tested RAM on the page of the product (or anywhere I can find on their site).

OCZ however lists the P5K3 DLX MB and a tuning guide for using the Flex XLC with it to set up the RAM properly, so that's a bit of an indication that it will likely work well with your P5K too.

It may not be a bad idea to use the technical question feature on the ASUS site to ask if that RAM has been tested with the P5K SE though while you're waiting to get it shipped. That way if for some reason they can't guarantee it will work you can always send it back unopened.

(EDITED)
Just found out from OCZ yesterday that the water jackets of the FLex XLC heatsinks are copper lined. Thus they will work with copper rads and water blocks with minimal to no galvanic corrosion worries. The only possible place you'd have to worry about it is on the very tip of the heatsink barbs, which are aluminum. They do recommend some level of anti-corrosive agent in the cooling fluid though.

Frag Maniac, good that you mention the water cooling part of that, i don't have water cooling :roll: .

Currently going for the Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC9200 CL5.0 HyperX

Frag Maniac, good that you mention the water cooling part of that, i don't have water cooling :roll: .

Currently going for the Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC9200 CL5.0 HyperX

No, no, big mistake. It's just an option, that's why they call it a hybrid heatsink. It runs just fine without water cooling, note the air cooling fins the heatsink has too. The water cooling option is mainly for those whom want to get max use out of them via overclocking or setting the timings lower (eg: faster). In fact this RAM is one of the best designed I've seen in ways other than the heatsink design. Even the memory chips are 8 layered and polished for maximun heat dissipation. Sorry for the confusion, I was only commenting on the water jackets to clarify that it could be used with a copper system with no galvanic corrosion should you eventually choose to use water cooling.

Damnit, now i switched, and won't reswitch. Currently using HyperX DDR1, so i think they will survive too :wink:

Well at least it will be faster than the 8500 you originally planned on. :wink: