[kkttt87]

Okay, so with the help of a couple of Recommended PC Builds threads [1] [2] here on Tech-Forums and research of my own (including product reviews on PCWorld.com and CNET.com), I've put together a build I like for a new Desktop. I checked as I went to make sure everything was compatible, but it never hurts to get a second opinion. Also, I was a little fuzzy on the memory. I'm pretty set on G.Skill since most everyone everywhere says it's decent, and I know I need DDR2 and PC2-6400, but I'm unsure on what series I should get. There was like 8 of them on G.Skill's site and I wasn't sure what the difference was. HZ, HK, PK... Anyways, here's the components:

Case/Chassis = Thermaltake VA8003BWSATX Full Tower Case [A]
Processor = Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 [A]
MoBo = Intel Board DP35DP [N]
Hard Drive = Western Digital Caviar 500GB SE16 SATA-300 (x2) [N]
Memory = G.Skill 2x 2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 SERIES??
Power Source = Corsair 620W HX Series ATX [A]
CD/DVD Drive(s) = Samsung SH-S203N CD/DVD-Burner [N]
Graphics Card = eVGA GeForce 256MB 8600GTS PCI-Express [A]

[kkttt87]

Uh... guys? Don't mean to bump or double-post--please feel free to delete--but... a little help? C'mon, someone must know which memory would be compatible with my build!

[peterhuang913]

Grab the HZ's.

[kkttt87]

Cool, thanks. And just for future reference, what's the difference between the series? Also, did that build look compatible or will pretty much anything go with anything?

[peterhuang913]

They latencies and their overclockability. Also the looks.

[kkttt87]

Wow... so less than 2 weeks later, the above build is now sitting next to me and it is a beast. Had no idea the case was going to be so big.

Anywho... it's running just fine, but the HDDs are being a little temperamental. I installed Vista on the one main drive (WD 500GB) and it's running just fine. There another of the same drive in there and the PC sees that one in the BIOS at startup, but not once it boots. It hasn't been formatted or anything... would I be able to format it without an O/S for just storage? Both of those are running off individual SATA cables. Also, I stuck my old 40GB WD in because it has all my files on it, just to ease the transfer. I was hoping to be able to either boot off of this one (XP) to make the transfer or just have the compy read it as a separate drive and transfer my files off. However, the PC does not see this at all, BIOS or Windows. This one is hooked up via IDE cable (so obviously can't slave it). Is that why it's not showing up? Thanks for any advice.

Edit: So I did a little experimenting and tried unplugging the SATA HDDs, changing them from RAID to IDE in the BIOS. I also figured out I had the master/slave plugs on the IDE cable reversed with the master on a DVD drive and the slave on the HDD. The way they are positioned, I had to really twist and stretch the cable to make it fit so the master was on the HDD, but got it to work and then booted. Sure enough, the PC defaulted to the IDE HDD. Backed up everything important, formatted it, formatted the 500GB I'd initially installed Vista on and then put Vista on the 40GB drive. Voila. 40GB drive runs as master with Vista and the two 500GB drives show up with drive letters assigned as additional storage.

[Peter.Cort]

nice, congrats on a successful build. what all do you do with your computer? cause you got some hefty stuff and a not so hefty graphics card? Still tho, good to hear that almost everything went together without a hitch!

[kkttt87]

LOL, yeah. I had to think about that one. I wanted to get just a step or two below the best of everything, but I don't do a lot of gaming so I couldn't justify the price for a more awesome gfx card (though, to me, anything not integrated is awesome, having never had anything but :speechless. Maybe at some point I will upgrade. I work with a lot of media, though, and do a ton of multi-tasking. I just wanted HDD space and processor/memory that could handle my doing 6 things at once. Mostly just wanted to say I'd actually built my own rig.