Combination Chieftec BX + Asus P5Q Pro possible? And some other questions

[Ghostbuster]

Hello all

I need an upgrade of my system because of the sudden death of some hardware
incl. mainboard A7N8X DeLuxe

Now i want to build in my Chieftec BX the Asus P5Q Pro with the Intel Core 2
Duo E8400 and the Sapphire Radeon HD4850. Question is is that possible?

I ask that while i read somewhere that the new MB's are ATX-E and would be
to big for most midi towers. My Chieftec is a huge midi-tower so probably it
won't give me problems, but to go save i ask it here ..

Also i need some good advice for buying new mem-modules which work fine and
will be good for the configuration as described.

If i plan to get me the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for my processor would
it be a good choice?

Also a good advice for a new PSU would be great ...

Tia

 

[Ghostbuster]

The processor and graphics card will fit that mobo with no problem...

Depending on what you use your PC for, you might want to look at the Intel
Core 2 Quad Q6600 instead of the E8400... Its about the same price and
offers much higher performance if you do anything multithreaded. Even
games are starting to take advantage of more than two cores now.

At stock speeds the Q6600 is 52% faster than the E8400 (on multithreaded
stuff), and is even better when you overclock them both (63%). I have
attached my CPUs spreadsheet that compares these.


The ATX-E does not refer to the physical size of the mobo, but to the
power connectors. I suspect you may need to be looking at a better/bigger
PSU anyway so that's not a major problem.

The Asus P5Q Pro is a standard ATX form factor (305mm x 245mm), exactly
the same size as your old A7N8X.

The P5Q has a 24pin ATX power connector and an 8pin ATX-E power connector.
Most modern PSUs will be able to drive this OK.


Almost any memory over PC2-6400 will work on this mobo. To be honest the
gains from spending loads more money on memory are much smaller than
spending the same money on CPU or graphics cards... I would suggest buying
something middle of the range from a good supplier like Corsair. I would
certainly not buy their top end stuff as it is FAR too expensive to
justify the meagre performance improvement.


The AC Freezer 7 Pro is about the best value for money available in the
UK... there are better coolers out there for loads more money and there is
a new bread of coolers being talked about in the US but I haven't seen any
reviewed or on sale in the UK.

I run a Q6600 overclocked (from 2.4GHz to 3.25GHz) with an AC Freezer 7
Pro and I get mid 30sC on idle and mid 50sC on full load... and its as
stable as a rock!


Pick a good brand, Corsair, OCZ or Antec and a power rating 50% more than
all your components add up to... probably something in the 500W range.

Rarius

I just ordered the ENERMAX MODU82+ 625W. That must be far enough i would say
....