Legit Reviews

I've selected all my parts and am ready to make my purchase from Newegg of the following:

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W PSU
Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
LITE-ON Black 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98
Windows 7 Home Premium OEM

This will all be integrated with the following parts from my old PC:

Q6600 Processor
9800GTX+ Video Card
4 GB DDR2 800 PC6400 Corsair XMS2
Cooler Master Wave Master Case

I know that several of you will ask me why am I staying with LGA775 & my Q6600 processor...budget and my Q6600 worked great and will only be better with a Mobo that will allow me to OC it.

I do have one question regarding the OEM version of Windows 7, "If, at any time my motherboard or any other major component dies and am I screwed with my OEM copy of Win 7"? Will MS allow me to reactivate if my motherboard dies or if my HD dies and I have to reload it on my secondary drive? I really need your help with this.

Thanks,

Razorbacx

If you're concerned about this, add a raid controller for your hard drive. you don't have to set up an array at all, and if your mobo goes toes-up then you're good to replace it without sacrificing your installation

Edit: Why would someone knock a Q6600? They're still badass chips!

I think you're very smart to work with what you have. Most people can't avoid the temptation of keeping up with the Jones' and I applaud you for doing just that!

I have a gaming build almost identical to what you have there and it kicks major butt. There's still not a single game on the market that I can't annihilate on high settings, and it scores well over 15,000 3DMark06.

In the past, OEM license are non-transferable and is tied to your computer's motherboard. If you were to replace it with a different motherboard, the OEM windows 7 will refuse to activate itself. However, you can try using telephone activation but there are no guarantees. I think if you change to the same model motherboard it will activate. Changing the hard drive should not affect the activation.

I'm not sure why this is an issue because Gigabyte boards carry a 3 year warranty. Do you plan on still having a socket 775 system in 3 years. To me it seems doubtful. You may want to phone MS and get a definitive answer if its still an issue for you.

Why not just avoid this and spend a little more for a retail version?

Don't get me wrong, the OCZ is a decent enough PSU, but if it were up to me, I would go with a Corsair 650TX just to be on the safe side. Best of luck with the build.

Skip the "Green" hard drive and shell out the few extra bucks on a Black Series.
Example: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1077/1/

I am not 100% but i don tthink you would have any problems activating Windows 7 again as long as you have the key. you might have to use the hotline but its a very simple process. i've already used it about 5 times for windows 7 with no problems. a coupl eof those were switching between a laptop, a friends computer, and my HTPC. I was not sure where I wanted it. I finally settled on my HTPC

All right, I've placed my order with Newegg for the following items:

1 x ($31.99) DVD BURNER LITE-ON | IHAS-324-98 R - Retail $31.99

1 x ($104.99) WIN HOME PREM 7 64-BIT ENG 1PK DSP - OEM $104.99

1 x ($54.99) HD 500G|WD SATA2 32M WD5000AADS % - OEM $54.99

1 x ($109.99) PSU CORSAIR|CMPSU-750TX 750W RT - Retail $109.99

1 x ($119.99) MB GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R P45 775 R - Retail $119.99

I got a great combo deal on the Motherboard and PSU so I was able to knock another $10.00 off and upgrade to the Corsair 750W PSU in addition to another $25.00 worth of rebates (might see that check this time next year). Total price was $422.05. I'll post some pics of my build once I get everything, although it won't be anything as impressive from what I've seen from many of you on here, but she'll be all mine!

Thanks to all those that took the time to respond and provide me their thoughts/advice.

Razorbacx

Congrats! I think you'll be thoroughly satisfied with those components. I know that I would be. Cheers!

Amazingly enough, after placing my order Sunday evening I received notification that my parts are already out for delivery today. I'm so looking forward to putting this thing together tonight! I do have a question for all you builders out there....after I get all the pieces to the puzzle put together (mechanically), what is the first step that any of you normally do? I want to make sure that I do this right, so any and all advice will be much appreciated.

Razorbacx

looking good ....


you are asking the first step after you assemble the parts?

cross your fingers

Darkstar wrote:looking good ....


you are asking the first step after you assemble the parts?

cross your fingers

LOL how very true

Well said...all you can do at that point is cross your fingers and hope none of your parts are DOA!

What I normally do:

1 - make sure the ram is in the proper slots, especially if you have more than 1 stick and you want it to run in dual channel. If you don't have a stick in the first slot, it won't boot.
2 - make sure all the drives are configured properly (master, slave, cs), and make sure they are connected to the proper SATA connectors.
3 - make sure the HSF on the cpu is securely fastened to the cpu, and fan is plugged into the board.
4 - make sure you have power cables to all components...yes, even the PCIE...don't laugh, I have forgotten it more than once.
5 - If the system doesn't power, make sure the PSU power switch is turned ON. I believe they are off by default.
6 - Listen for system beeps as they will notify you of what is wrong, if anything...one beep is music to your ears! For anything else, consult the motherboard manual.
7 - Have the windows DVD in the drive so you can do the fresh install.
8 - Double check everything with the manuals that come with PSU, motherboard, case.

And finally, PRAY!

actually one of the first things i do on booting is go in the bios for pchealth ( or what ever setting might have the cpu temp) and monitor it for 5 minutes to make sure its not climbing too much. while that is going on i insert the OS disk and once it looks good make any other bios changes, F10 and reboot to install.

Need some help! I've got two drives, one bare and one that is loaded with Vista from my previous pc. I'm going to load Win 7 on the bare drive and once I pull the data from my other drive I'll reformat it and use it as my backup drive. In the old days of the IDE it was easy to select the Master and Slave, but now I'm not sure what to do with the SATA connections on my board. I've got 6 yellow SATA2 connections (Controlled by ICH10R, Orange) and 2 purple GSATA2 connections (Controlled by GIGABYTE SATA2, PURPLE).....I have no idea what this means. All that I want to do is install two (2) SATA HD's and one (1) SATA Optical Drive, but I have no idea which connectors to use.

Also, when installing the PINS for the Front Header I was unable to install the Front Panel Audio Header as the PINS do not match up to what my manual states. I have an two additional PINS, L-RET & R-RET and no where to install them. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Razorbacx

In the BIOS set the boot drive to the bare drive. But if I were you I would unhook the Vista install while loading Windows. I've accidentally erased a hard drive and it's data by not paying attention while setting up Windows.

Thanks for the response, Major_A! Do you know which SATA connectors I should use, one of the 6 yellow SATA connectors or one of the two purple SATA connectors?

I would use the Intel SATA controllers (yellow ones) if it was my build. I've tried the 3rd party controllers (Marvell on my mobo) and had problems.

ABSOLUTE FAILURE! The video card smoked and I'm not sure if the rest of the system is fried!!!! I removed the video card and it tries to boot, but then recycles on and off again.

I got this video card from EVGA as a replacement card when my 8800GT died. When I installed it in my now other dead PC that Motherboard fried too. Just think that I've identified the culprit.

Any thoughts?

That sucks, what are the plans now?

I've contacted EVGA and they're sending me a another replacement card. Not only did the video card smoke, but it caught fire too. I had flames coming up out of this thing and yanked the power cord. I was worried about my PSU PCI-e connectors amongst other things, but they appear to be fine. Not sure if my PCI-e slot on the motherboard is toast, but I'll soon find out once my new card gets here.

I spent all of last night checking everything on the motherboard and finally got it to work. Apparently, I had two (2) bad sticks of RAM (possible casualty from the video card) and although I could not check to see if it would actually post (no video card), I did confirm that it will boot up. In the meantime I've RAM'd the two (2) bad sticks of RAM back to Corsair.

I sent an e-mail to Joe, Director over at EVGA, detailing my experience. This card also murdered my other motherboard, although I had no idea that it was the culprit at the time. I'm planning on documenting the entire process and posting it on here whether the outcome is good or bad.

Looks like I'll have to wait a few more days until I'll be back up and running.

Razorbacx

I've dealt with Corsair and bad RAM and they were phenomenal. Because of their support I am forever a Corsair customer.

Side note: The bad RAM was DDR 400 and was purchased before DDR 400 was JEDEC certified. Maybe that had something to do with the failure but they sent me back brand new sticks of memory. Not someone else's RMA'ed RAM that they repaired.