Critique my first build, please (long post)

[Backslash]

I've been researching for my first build for several months now, and now I'm finally able to begin building in a few weeks.

My requirements: a near silent system (since fan noise aggravates my tinnitus) that will hopefully last me up to five years without a major upgrade. As a reference, I've been able to survive with the system in my sig for the last four years. This computer will be used mainly for web + word processing and occasional gaming, 3D rendering, and audio production. I'll be doing some mild overclocking.

The budget is $1800, including tax and shipping costs. That's the absolute upper limit of what I'm willing to pay, though, so I'm trying to keep costs under $1700 or $1600 if I can. I'll be building from the ground up, so the budget must also include a new monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Well, here are the parts I've chosen for my build so far. Remember, my budget includes tax and shipping. All prices are current at the time of this post and include CA sales tax and shipping costs.

Case - Antec P180, $125.91
Power Supply - Seasonic S12-430, $88.41 (already purchased)
Motherboard - Undecided, northbridge cooling must be passive, onboard wireless is a plus
CPU - Undecided, leaning heavily towards Core 2 Duo, price cuts are making socket AM2 CPUs look more attractive though
CPU Heatsink - Scythe Ninja, $71.54 bundled with AS5 and ArctiClean and purchased with six Yate Loon fans
RAM - Corsair XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 TWIN2X2048-6400, $172.36 after $40 MIR (already purchased)
Video Card - Gigabyte Geforce 7600GT Silent Pipe II, $169.83 after $20 MIR
Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic, $87.93 (already purchased)
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB WD2500KS, $81.58 after $10 MIR
Optical Drive - BenQ DW1655 - Retail, $47.41
Monitor - Viewsonic VX2025WM, $367.52 (waiting for a good deal on these right now, this price is a little too high)
Keyboard - Logitech Ultra X, $30.25
Mouse - Logitech MX1000, $57.20 (my friend is trying to convince me out of this one )
Other - PA2V2 Headphone Amp, $60.00

With these parts and prices, I have about $440.06 to spend on the motherboard and CPU. So, any suggestions as to which motherboard and CPU I should purchase? Comments/critique on the parts I've already chosen will be appreciated as well.

Thanks!

Here's the plan for system once it's built:

All components (CPU, GPU, northbridge) will be passively cooled except the power supply. The airflow plan is to have two Yate Loon D12SL-12 fans undervolted to 5v as exhaust fans, with another 5v Loon as an intake and to cool the GPU. I'll also be using aluminum tape to seal up the PSU vents in the case for better airflow.

The hard drive will be suspended with elastic to reduce vibration and idle/seek noise.

I'll be doing some very mild overclocking, although I'll also be undervolting at the same time to reduce heat. The video card will be undervolted/underclocked in 2D applications.

How does that sound?

 

[munkle]

I really doubt you'll get any overclock if you are undervolting, most overclocking will require a voltage increase to go any further, if your undervolt it, you are already limiting your self from the start and can some times become unstable at stock speeds if you go to low. Now undervolting and using a passive cooler will help alot, but Im not sure you could passivly cool a conroe with out it throttling to a lower speed. Im not really sure most processors now days could be passivly cooled. You could get a scyth ninja, I read on here they do great with low air flow.

Have you thought about water cooling and using a passive raidiator like the Zalmann?

A plus to amd is there low wattage x2 3800, but it is a lower end processor, it wont generate as much heat and will prolly do best passivly cooled.

 

[Backslash]

Well, I may seem a bit optimistic, but from what I've heard over at SPCR, someone has been able to successfully cool a Conroe overclocked up to 3.45 Ghz passively with a Scythe Ninja.

So, I'm planning to overclock very mildly (something like 2.4 -> 2.7). When taking into account how far Conroes can overclock (people have been getting 4.0 Ghz on air), I should have some headroom to undervolt.

 

[00ber_m00]

I would be tempted to spend a little more on the graphics card if you want a good 5 years out of it.

 

[454Casull]

I would be tempted to spend a little more on the graphics card if you want a good 5 years out of it.

Onboard graphics was good enough for him.

Backslash, go with the Samsung SP2504C instead of the WD2500KS. If you go with the P180B instead of the P180, you'll get a fixed version for sure (warp-free door, 120x25mm fan between HDs and PSU instead of 38mm, etc), but most of the old stuff should be gone from inventory.

The E6300 paired with the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 should be a great combination. Some people have taken the FSB to more than 450MHz, at which point the E6300 would be running at >3.1GHz. That would definitely last for a while. Of course, the P5W DH Deluxe can also reach those speeds but it's more expensive.

 

[Backslash]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Backslash, go with the Samsung SP2504C instead of the WD2500KS. If you go with the P180B instead of the P180, you'll get a fixed version for sure (warp-free door, 120x25mm fan between HDs and PSU instead of 38mm, etc), but most of the old stuff should be gone from inventory.

I was considering a Samsung drive, but others have reported that WD's newer revision SE16 drives are actually quieter than the SP2504C. Also, they're slightly faster (probably not enough to notice in everyday use though).

I'm probably in the minority, but I actually prefer the P180's "refrigerator theme" to the P180B's all-black finish. >_> The P180B looks too monochromatic, in my opinion. And as you said, most of the old revision P180s should be gone from inventory by now.

The E6300 paired with the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 should be a great combination. Some people have taken the FSB to more than 450MHz, at which point the E6300 would be running at >3.1GHz. That would definitely last for a while. Of course, the P5W DH Deluxe can also reach those speeds but it's more expensive.

I agree, that looks like a great combination. I'm also seriously considering the P5B Deluxe, if prices (by some miracle) settle to underneath $180 within a few weeks.

 

[454Casull]

Sample variance seems to be worse with the WD5000KS than with the SP2504C (admittedly, not all the Spinpoints are great), according to some SPCR users.

 

[zero_vertical]

that case is cheaper on newegg.

the 7600gt is a good card, but 5 years is a stretch. you should be looking at the 7900 series as they have unlocked more pixel pipes. it's goign to eat into your mobo+cpu budget though.

i have that HDD (in 2 rigs). good choice. quiet, and believe it or not, the 16mb cache does make a difference.

i'd consider active cooling on the cpu. the zalman 7000s are very quiet, and will actually move air throughout the case. it's worth it.