Which ASUS Motherboard Please

"Phil" wrote in message
.. .
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

A very big THANK YOU for ALL of your advice and assistance.
I now have something to work on
Once again thank you

Mandy


Just to let you know this is what I intend to go for:-

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt
SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM DDR2 - 800 PC2 6400 (still undecided whether to go for 1gb or 2 gb)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink and associated 120 mm fan
Nvidia EN7600 GS Graphics Card
CPU because of my budget I think it will have to be Intel Core 2 Duo
E6300

I gather i will need 64 bit Vista, could someone please confirm (thanks);
also if you can see anything wrong or would like to comment re my
selection PLEASE do let me know (I will not be offended:-)

Once again many thanks to all you who replied, I think you will see I
have taken all your advice, it really was very helpful and much
appreciated.



You will be able to run a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, with that rig. Do not go
with Vista 64-bit unless you are absolutely sure that 64-bit drivers are
available for all your hardware, and that all the applications you intend
to run are 64-bit compatible.

If you're buying a retail Vista license, both versions are included in the
box. The retail key will activate both versions, the only restriction
being that you may not run both versions simultaneously, like in a dual
boot setup. In other words, you may only have one version activated at any
given moment, but you may switch back and forth.

Oh, and do yourself a favor if you're planning to go with Vista: get 2GB
of mem. Other than that, I think you'll be quite happy with this rig.

-phil

I intend getting an OEM version .................thanks

"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

"Phil" wrote in message
.. .
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

A very big THANK YOU for ALL of your advice and assistance.
I now have something to work on
Once again thank you

Mandy


Just to let you know this is what I intend to go for:-

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt
SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM DDR2 - 800 PC2 6400 (still undecided whether to go for 1gb or 2 gb)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink and associated 120 mm fan
Nvidia EN7600 GS Graphics Card
CPU because of my budget I think it will have to be Intel Core 2 Duo
E6300

I gather i will need 64 bit Vista, could someone please confirm
(thanks); also if you can see anything wrong or would like to comment re
my selection PLEASE do let me know (I will not be offended:-)

Once again many thanks to all you who replied, I think you will see I
have taken all your advice, it really was very helpful and much
appreciated.



You will be able to run a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, with that rig. Do not go
with Vista 64-bit unless you are absolutely sure that 64-bit drivers are
available for all your hardware, and that all the applications you intend
to run are 64-bit compatible.

If you're buying a retail Vista license, both versions are included in
the box. The retail key will activate both versions, the only restriction
being that you may not run both versions simultaneously, like in a dual
boot setup. In other words, you may only have one version activated at
any given moment, but you may switch back and forth.

Oh, and do yourself a favor if you're planning to go with Vista: get 2GB
of mem. Other than that, I think you'll be quite happy with this rig.

-phil

I intend getting an OEM version .................thanks



That being the case, I would go with the 32-bit version.

-phil

"Phil" wrote in message
.. .
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

"Phil" wrote in message
.. .
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

A very big THANK YOU for ALL of your advice and assistance.
I now have something to work on
Once again thank you

Mandy


Just to let you know this is what I intend to go for:-

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt
SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM DDR2 - 800 PC2 6400 (still undecided whether to go for 1gb or 2 gb)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink and associated 120 mm fan
Nvidia EN7600 GS Graphics Card
CPU because of my budget I think it will have to be Intel Core 2 Duo
E6300

I gather i will need 64 bit Vista, could someone please confirm
(thanks); also if you can see anything wrong or would like to comment
re my selection PLEASE do let me know (I will not be offended:-)

Once again many thanks to all you who replied, I think you will see I
have taken all your advice, it really was very helpful and much
appreciated.



You will be able to run a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, with that rig. Do not go
with Vista 64-bit unless you are absolutely sure that 64-bit drivers are
available for all your hardware, and that all the applications you
intend to run are 64-bit compatible.

If you're buying a retail Vista license, both versions are included in
the box. The retail key will activate both versions, the only
restriction being that you may not run both versions simultaneously,
like in a dual boot setup. In other words, you may only have one version
activated at any given moment, but you may switch back and forth.

Oh, and do yourself a favor if you're planning to go with Vista: get 2GB
of mem. Other than that, I think you'll be quite happy with this rig.

-phil

I intend getting an OEM version .................thanks



That being the case, I would go with the 32-bit version.

-phil

Ok Phil, thanks I will take your advice and get the 32 bit

No you don't need 64-bit Vista, and in all probability, you don't want
the 64-bit version, you want the 32-bit version.

[The 64-bit version will work, but it's the wrong choice for most people
at this time.]

You do not need to waste any money on a heatsink and fan. The one that
comes with the Intel CPU is fine (do make sure that the bottom is
"flat", however, there were apparently some defective ones that had
concave bottoms).

If there is one recommendation I'd make, it would be to "stretch" the
CPU to the E6600. Dropping the heatsink and dropping the memory back to
533MHz instead of 800MHz but using an E6600 would be a better way to go,
unless you plan to overclock. Do not, however, use 666MHz memory. Both
533 and 800MHz are better choices.


Young Mandy wrote:
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...
A very big THANK YOU for ALL of your advice and assistance.
I now have something to work on
Once again thank you

Mandy


Just to let you know this is what I intend to go for:-

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt
SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM DDR2 - 800 PC2 6400 (still undecided whether to go for 1gb or 2 gb)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink and associated 120 mm fan
Nvidia EN7600 GS Graphics Card
CPU because of my budget I think it will have to be Intel Core 2 Duo E6300

I gather i will need 64 bit Vista, could someone please confirm (thanks);
also if you can see anything wrong or would like to comment re my selection
PLEASE do let me know (I will not be offended:-)

Once again many thanks to all you who replied, I think you will see I have
taken all your advice, it really was very helpful and much appreciated.

"If you're buying a retail Vista license, both versions are included
in the box"

No they are not, with the sole exception of Vista Ultimate.

The license key DOES work with both versions, but MS got "cheap" and
decided to leave out the 64-bit DVD media in all versions other than
Ultimate. You DO have a license for the 64-bit version, but you have to
order the DVD from the MS web site, wait 2-4 weeks for delivery and pay
a shipping charge to actually get it. It really sucks.


Phil wrote:
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

A very big THANK YOU for ALL of your advice and assistance.
I now have something to work on
Once again thank you

Mandy


Just to let you know this is what I intend to go for:-

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt
SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM DDR2 - 800 PC2 6400 (still undecided whether to go for 1gb or 2 gb)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink and associated 120 mm fan
Nvidia EN7600 GS Graphics Card
CPU because of my budget I think it will have to be Intel Core 2 Duo
E6300

I gather i will need 64 bit Vista, could someone please confirm
(thanks); also if you can see anything wrong or would like to comment
re my selection PLEASE do let me know (I will not be offended:-)

Once again many thanks to all you who replied, I think you will see I
have taken all your advice, it really was very helpful and much
appreciated.



You will be able to run a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, with that rig. Do not go
with Vista 64-bit unless you are absolutely sure that 64-bit drivers are
available for all your hardware, and that all the applications you
intend to run are 64-bit compatible.

If you're buying a retail Vista license, both versions are included in
the box. The retail key will activate both versions, the only
restriction being that you may not run both versions simultaneously,
like in a dual boot setup. In other words, you may only have one version
activated at any given moment, but you may switch back and forth.

Oh, and do yourself a favor if you're planning to go with Vista: get 2GB
of mem. Other than that, I think you'll be quite happy with this rig.

-phil

"Barry Watzman" wrote in message
...
No you don't need 64-bit Vista, and in all probability, you don't want the
64-bit version, you want the 32-bit version.

[The 64-bit version will work, but it's the wrong choice for most people
at this time.]

You do not need to waste any money on a heatsink and fan. The one that
comes with the Intel CPU is fine (do make sure that the bottom is "flat",
however, there were apparently some defective ones that had concave
bottoms).

If there is one recommendation I'd make, it would be to "stretch" the CPU
to the E6600. Dropping the heatsink and dropping the memory back to
533MHz instead of 800MHz but using an E6600 would be a better way to go,
unless you plan to overclock. Do not, however, use 666MHz memory. Both
533 and 800MHz are better choices.



Barry I do not intend to overclock (don't know how).
I will look at the costings and get back to here.
Thanks again for everyones assistance.

Mandy

"Barry Watzman" wrote in message
...
"If you're buying a retail Vista license, both versions are included
in the box"

No they are not, with the sole exception of Vista Ultimate.

The license key DOES work with both versions, but MS got "cheap" and
decided to leave out the 64-bit DVD media in all versions other than
Ultimate. You DO have a license for the 64-bit version, but you have to
order the DVD from the MS web site, wait 2-4 weeks for delivery and pay a
shipping charge to actually get it. It really sucks.


Phil wrote:
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...

A very big THANK YOU for ALL of your advice and assistance.
I now have something to work on
Once again thank you

Mandy


Just to let you know this is what I intend to go for:-

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt
SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM DDR2 - 800 PC2 6400 (still undecided whether to go for 1gb or 2 gb)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink and associated 120 mm fan
Nvidia EN7600 GS Graphics Card
CPU because of my budget I think it will have to be Intel Core 2 Duo
E6300

I gather i will need 64 bit Vista, could someone please confirm
(thanks); also if you can see anything wrong or would like to comment re
my selection PLEASE do let me know (I will not be offended:-)

Once again many thanks to all you who replied, I think you will see I
have taken all your advice, it really was very helpful and much
appreciated.



You will be able to run a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, with that rig. Do not go
with Vista 64-bit unless you are absolutely sure that 64-bit drivers are
available for all your hardware, and that all the applications you intend
to run are 64-bit compatible.

If you're buying a retail Vista license, both versions are included in
the box. The retail key will activate both versions, the only restriction
being that you may not run both versions simultaneously, like in a dual
boot setup. In other words, you may only have one version activated at
any given moment, but you may switch back and forth.

Oh, and do yourself a favor if you're planning to go with Vista: get 2GB
of mem. Other than that, I think you'll be quite happy with this rig.

-phil


Gotcha. I wasn't aware of that.

-phil

Barry Watzman wrote:

The Intel stock heat sink/fan is fine, no premium after market cooler is
needed, although check that the heatsink bottom is truly flat ...
apparently there have been some that were defective in that the heatsink
base was concave enough to be an issue. If you insist on an
after-market cooler, the Zalman CNPS-9500 and 9700 are the best ones
available. But they simply are not necessary for Core 2 Duo chips,
which run quite cool, and which come with a good thermal solution if
it's not defective.

And Anandtech agrees completely with Barry:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling...oc.aspx?i=2932

They just tested the 9500 and 9700, and they are OK, but the article
concludes that the rest of the cooling/noise reduction world has caught
up; also, their tests show the Intel retail HSF is among the quietest
solutions:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling...spx?i=2932&p=7

The other coolers chill the chip better than the Intel HSF, but, not a
factor for non-overclockers:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling...spx?i=2932&p=5

Article conclusion:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling...spx?i=2932&p=8

"Zalman may have started the quiet, high-performance cooling rage, but
the 9500 and 9700 are not leaders by any measurement."

BC

Note: I use a Zalman 9500 on a P4 Prescott 640 3.2Ghz: the stock fan
sounded like a rusty chainsaw....the Zalman was a huge improvement over
the stock HSF, and, cooled it down a lot....obviously the C2D is a new
species, so the 9500 no longer needed to quiet things down.








Young Mandy wrote:
I am looking for a bit of help and advice.
Firstly I hope I have posted this in the correct newgroup.

I am a little out of touch with the latest processors, motherboards
and ram.
In the past I have built a few PC's for my college friends always
using Gigabyte motherboards and AMD processors..
For a change, and I have been advised that ASUS are as good as any
other mptherboard and generally speaking INTEL CPU's run cooler than
AMD. Therefore I am going to attempt and build another, using VISTA
and probably an ASUS motherboard with an Intel CPU.
The PC will not be used for gaming, but will be used for surfing and
also downloading and making DVDs. I do have a budget so I cannot go
out and buy the best and the most expensive. But the most important
thing is the PC must be as quiet as possible.

I intend using a 250GB SATA HDD
At least 1GB of RAM
Ideally I would like RAID (future project) and also built in Sound and
LAN, with usual USB sockets etc
Not quite sure which graphics card I will use but probably something
without a fan.

I am not certain which CPU I will use, as that seems a minfield out
there as well; but I guess I would like a dual processor with at least
2GB on each.

I wonder if anyone could please recommend an ASUS motherboard (Vista
compatable) to meet the above spec. Also which CPU and also probably
more important a good quiet CPU fan? and case and power supply.

I would be extremely grateful if anyone could come up with something
for me to get going and work on.

Many Thanks In Advance

Mandy XXXXXX

"Barry Watzman" wrote in message
...
No you don't need 64-bit Vista, and in all probability, you don't want the
64-bit version, you want the 32-bit version.

[The 64-bit version will work, but it's the wrong choice for most people
at this time.]

You do not need to waste any money on a heatsink and fan. The one that
comes with the Intel CPU is fine (do make sure that the bottom is "flat",
however, there were apparently some defective ones that had concave
bottoms).

If there is one recommendation I'd make, it would be to "stretch" the CPU
to the E6600. Dropping the heatsink and dropping the memory back to
533MHz instead of 800MHz but using an E6600 would be a better way to go,
unless you plan to overclock. Do not, however, use 666MHz memory. Both
533 and 800MHz are better choices.


Young Mandy wrote:
"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...
A very big THANK YOU for ALL of your advice and assistance.
I now have something to work on
Once again thank you

Mandy


Just to let you know this is what I intend to go for:-

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt
SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
ASUS P5B Deluxe
RAM DDR2 - 800 PC2 6400 (still undecided whether to go for 1gb or 2 gb)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink and associated 120 mm fan
Nvidia EN7600 GS Graphics Card
CPU because of my budget I think it will have to be Intel Core 2 Duo
E6300

I gather i will need 64 bit Vista, could someone please confirm (thanks);
also if you can see anything wrong or would like to comment re my
selection PLEASE do let me know (I will not be offended:-)

Once again many thanks to all you who replied, I think you will see I
have taken all your advice, it really was very helpful and much
appreciated.

Nearly there.............just juggling figures etc
Can you tell me if this RAM
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(14773)...l-Channel.aspx

will work OK with the ASUS P5B Deluxe and E6600 CPU

Once again thanks for your help

"Young Mandy" wrote in message
...


Nearly there.............just juggling figures etc
Can you tell me if this RAM
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(14773)...l-Channel.aspx

will work OK with the ASUS P5B Deluxe and E6600 CPU

Once again thanks for your help


or this:-
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...=PriceRunne r