Final SFF Intel build specs. How'd I do?

[Freezebyte]

Ok, after nearly a month of tireless research, hours of clicking and reading through various forums, more google searches then I usually do in a year and eating up more of NewEggs bandwith then should be allowed and asking more questions that I probably spent some peopls sanity at the [H], have my finalized specs for my new light SFF gaming build to retire my old Athlon 64 setup.

Here's what i've got on my wishlist at the egg and plan on ordering the morning of the 31st as soon as my direct deposit goes through *Oooh a Halloween build *

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

ASUS P5E-VM HDMI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131237

G.Skill 4GB DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

MS Windows Vista Home Premium OEM 64bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Parts already purchased:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb

Asus DRW-2014L1T DVD SATA Lightscribe DVD/RW + -

SILVERSTONE Sugo SG01B-F


Parts reused from Athlon 64 setup

Antec NeoHE 500watt

BFG 7800GTX OC PCI-E

SoundBlaster Audigy 2 PCI

I''ve weighed my options, pluses and minuses and decided im' better off with the dual core for now as I simply don't use the programs to warrant going quad. I"ll be upgrading the 7800GTX OC sometime next year with something. After reseaching I determined that Vista now seems stable and worthwhile to finally let my aging XP Pro retire as my main OS, hopefully I won't regret it.

A few final notes on this setup:

1. Do you think I could take the E8500 to 3.8ghz with the current specs on a stock cooler? Think I might need to up any of the voltages? I decided this layout would at least give me the option of OC a little bit vs saving money and having no OC potential vs spending alot more on equipment that I may or may not OC or have success with.

2. Triple checking once more time. Think the PSU will have enough juice for my intended plans?

Thanks all, your input and advice has been greatly appreciated this past month

 

[remmeh]

1. Do you think I could take the E8500 to 3.8ghz with the current specs on a stock cooler? Think I might need to up any of the voltages? I decided this layout would at least give me the option of OC a little bit vs saving money and having no OC potential vs spending alot more on equipment that I may or may not OC or have success with.

2. Triple checking once more time. Think the PSU will have enough juice for my intended plans?

I ran my E8400 C0 at 400x9 = 3600 without changing any of the voltages (actually, I lowered the Vcore to 1.1875) and could run IBT 20 runs stable. I wouldn't imagine 400x9.5 = 3800 would be any more difficult. Should work fine on stock cooling.

500W will be plenty for a dual-core, single-VGA, single hard drive setup.

 

[Frobot]

It's not worth it to overclock that processor by a single MHz, much less 600+ MHz, to improve gaming if you're going to use that video card.

 

[Freezebyte]

It's not worth it to overclock that processor by a single MHz, much less 600+ MHz, to improve gaming if you're going to use that video card.

The video card will be upgraded at a later time to something newer, late christmas/early next year.

 

[lillimon04]

Just get the e8400 and save twenty dollars. Then overclock it.

 

[ballistic]

It's not worth it to overclock that processor by a single MHz, much less 600+ MHz, to improve gaming if you're going to use that video card.

I disagree with that and I am not going to explain why I do.

 

[Dangman]

1. Do you think I could take the E8500 to 3.8ghz with the current specs on a stock cooler? Think I might need to up any of the voltages? I decided this layout would at least give me the option of OC a little bit vs saving money and having no OC potential vs spending alot more on equipment that I may or may not OC or have success with.

2. Triple checking once more time. Think the PSU will have enough juice for my intended plans?

1) With overclocking, YMMV. I've seen people OC that high without changing stock voltage and with the stock HSF albeit not that often. However, I've seen in many cases where a 3rd party HSF and increased vCore was needed to gain that high of an OC.

2) Yes that PSU is enough.

 

[ImperfectLink]

I dont know if the Sugo has enough space in it for my liking. Lian Li had one that was very nice and a bit larger.

 

[PC_User]

Looks like a good setup.

In terms of ram, I would take a look at this. Nearly $20 less and tighter timings.

 

[Freezebyte]

Looks like a good setup.

In terms of ram, I would take a look at this. Nearly $20 less and tighter timings.

Interesting, i'm not familiar with Patriots memory, how's their quality? Doens't seem to be as popular as G.Skill or Corsair on the Egg

 

[Renner Technology]

its on par
ya cant go wrong with either


also.. if one thing on new egg has another egg then another, people always choose that
product and write a review for that. I never really look at how many reviews it his. I look
at what each review says. Really helps me avoide problems!

 

[PC_User]

Interesting, i'm not familiar with Patriots memory, how's their quality? Doens't seem to be as popular as G.Skill or Corsair on the Egg

I'm on my second kit of Patriot and I'm very satisfied. Some are better at overclocking than others but the kits are very well-built and its quality on ram (on par with G.Skill, OCZ, Crucial)