All Input's Welcomed

[TurcoLoco]

Have a look at my post here It covers some concerns regarding performance, but I think you already know about the motherboard/cpu situation, read the part about CPU clocks and videocards.

Yeah, I read your post. I might mess around with some overclocking and possibly get another card later on to SLI but definitely not at first as I do not game hardcore enough to justify spending all the extra $$. After I ordered the 1KW PSU, it felt like it might have been a mistake but I rather have a more than adequate PSU than underpowered unit that will give me grief down the road.

They are out of stock on the CPU which is not a huge shocker (damn Intel) but I will wait till 4/11 to order since it is only a week away. I will be spending less than planned which will leave me extra $$ to get new tires for my NightHawk!

[TurcoLoco]

For all those interested in purchasing the abit QuadGT mobo with the IX38 chipset....it is a great mobo but definitely needs a more stable BIOS.
It was running fine until after 2 weeks into it, I started having very random, unexplained, pattern-less complete power off. Mobo would still have power on it (certain LED lights being still on). Mobo BIOS code would indicate "complete power off sequence". After the BIOS update to version 12, the random power offs almost completely vanished but during CPU/GPU extensive process with heat building up on every component including mobo (such as playing BioShock game), the system still experiences intermitient shut down. Oddly, this is not a case of overheating or inadequate PSU. The system would power on right away and I seriously doubt my 1KW Antec Quattro is insufficient.
Also, since the recent BIOS update made a significant change on this condition but failed to completely resolve it, I believe the root cause is with the mobo. I might have a lemon and may end up getting it exchanged but wanted to give interested parties a little 'heads-up'.
I will have to improve the case cooling as there overheating might still be a factor since besides the PSU, only thing cooling the system is one 80mm and one 120mm case fan. I am still not sure if overheating is a factor since the CPU has proper cooling with arctic 7 silver thermal paste on it and the problem could occur within minutes of turning on the machine and starting the game...a really odd problem that I never experienced before.

[cauzomb]

I would RMA it till it worked out of the box.

[TurcoLoco]

I would RMA it till it worked out of the box.

I did, got the new one recently. I updated the BIOS and so far so good.
I knew it was the mobo from the first day on but since it is also the most pita part to rma, disassemble, package and ship back, I put it off for a long while thank god Newegg was cool enough to give me a break. They even e-mail me the pre-paid return label.

[cauzomb]

That's cool about the shipping, did you end up getting the E8400?

[TurcoLoco]

Yeah, this is what I ended up with:

Mobo: Abit IX38 QuadGT LGA775
CPU: Intel E8400 Duo
PSU: Antec Quattro 1Kw (I know a bit overkill but oh well)
RAM: G-Skill 2x512MB PC6400 and 2x1GB PC6400
Video: MSI 8800GT OC 512MB
Disk: 2x150GB WD Raptor in RAID-0

This things is a lot faster than my last rig so I have not yet had the desire to oc it.

[cauzomb]

that's a sweet machine! if you do decide to OC it, you might run into stability issues using all the ram slots. Hopefully you won't have any of the raid issues my brother had with is x38 board.. It randomely drops a drive or two or three, so we have 5 raptors sitting on the shelf waiting for him to get another raid card.