First Build - Please Critique

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PoisonJam

n00b
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Messages
13
Hi, after three years of having laptop at university, I desperately want a desktop. I shall be building this in about two weeks. I want: longevity, quality, stablility and quiteness. i've done quite a bit of research and come up with the following. Wifi is essential, firewire/esata not required. I would like the option of overclocking. I do play games: orange box mainly though (I have it-- just can't play on my laptop). Would also like to play company of heroes.. looks good. Mainly Listen to music and surf the internet aswell as office applications for work/study. I am in the UK. budget: £750

>Mobo: DFI LanParty DK P35-T2RS, iP35 Express, S 775
I've heard these are very stable, and have detailed overcloking options. I am new to overcloking but will enjoy the challenge overclocking it one day. Not too keen on asus p35 boards. I am open to gigabyte. Is P35 a good choice?

>CPU: Intel Xeon, E3110 S775
The wolfdale CPUs seems really good value (except for the E8500)

>RAM: Crucial 4GB kit (2x2GB), Ballistix Tracer DDR2 PC2-6400 CAS4
Odd choice, but the price for my second choice (corsair xms2 PC2-6400 CAS5) is slightly less than the ballistix tracer

>PSU: 550w Corsair VX Series PSU
I think this is too much, however, on the corsair website it said the more power used up; the more the fan will rev up. Plus, it gives me more longevity. Another option is the corsair 420w

>OS:Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
I guess x64 it the way to go, especially with the 4gb RAM. The only worry is what 32bit programmes work or not with it. Furthermore the there are no drivers for my cannon scanner. Scanner is not needed anymore though

>GPU:512MB BFG Tech 8800GT OC
Not a big PC gamer... but would like to play the orange box on full details. Good longevity?

>CPU Cooler:Akasa AK-925 REVO Thermodynamic Core2Quad Cpu Cooler
I'm not too keen on massive heatsinks. I've read good things about this. The only other options is either the scythe ninja/ninja mini

>Optical Drive:Asus DVD Drive
Are asus drives any good? Second coice was a Samsung drive...

>WIFI:Abit AirPace PCI-Express B/G
Should I go for a PCIe card, or just a normal PCI card? Draft-n not wanted.

>SPU: Creative Soundblaster X Fi Xtreme Gamer
This is the part which I'm unsure about... I am a big music listener and I have heard the difference of X-Fi on my friends computer... however I've also heard the bad driver support from creative... then again the auzentech x-fi card is extremely expensive...

Case; the cheapest i can buy, I dont like any cases out there, and so i want to build my own.

Total: £720

Already have:
22" LG LCD Television res 1680 x 1050 (has a HDMI port)
160GB Western Digital Raptor (I wouldn't normally go for this, but the price it was going for recently was that of a 36GB version, i thought it was too silly to miss out-- heard mixed opinions about the noise this drive makes)
Keyboard
Mouse
Speakers (2.1)

Thanks
 
Why do you dislike Asus P35 boards?? the majority are good overclockers have built in wifi so you could save your self a bit of money, an intel core 2 quad is one of the best chips out there at the moment bang for buck wise and they are really easy to overclock to 3Ghz >>(there are guides in this forum showing you how to >visit http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1198647)<< as far as cooling goes one of the best HSF out there is the ZEROtherm nirvana which i am pretty sure you can pick up from www.quietpc.co.uk,>>(I live in the UK too)<< stick with the 550w PSU you dont want to put to much strain on it which will decrease longitivity, RAM seems good and so does the GPU
 
I agree with XILO you can pick up a deccent overclockable motherboard with intergrated wifi form Asus for less than £110 they are usually pretty good or if you truly dislike Asus get an Abit board
 
Hi, thanks for your replies. I have considered getting an asus board, there is P5K-E with intergrated WIFI for £88, or I can get the DFI along with the abit WIFI card £95.

For the asus board I'm not keen on the layout, the SATA ports seem horribly placed (I am considering of attching a accelero S1 which will make it dual slot and hence will cover two of the six SATA ports). I've considered getting 90 degree SATA cables but overall, I think the DFI will be the better choice.

I decided against the Q6600, I probably wont be using all four cores, and I'm also concerned about the heat/power concerns that wont be used that much.

I'll look into the abit board futher, the dark-raider and PRO versions seem good value and ZERotherem, truth be told I haven't heard much about it.

Thanks again, it's much appreciated.
 
If you feel that you will not need all cores than i would recomend the new penryn architecture E8400 wether or not the board you choose will need a BIOS Update is uncertain which is why i recomended the Q6600 first a.)Its cheaper than a E8400 b.)You dont need a BIOS update to accomidate this chip
plus if you get quad core you are future proofing for the time being and you can easily overclock it so you are increasing the amount of time before you will have to update your rig
opinions and advice only
 
Oh and the SCLAR version of the Q6600 use a lower TDP 95w and if you overclock it right it shouldnt be overly toasty especially with a decent HSF
 
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