Help me finalize my build!

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Boardin087

Gawd
Joined
Jul 2, 2003
Messages
689
Hi all, I have purchased a few components for this. Some are returnable so hopefully you'll be able to help guide me where needed.Some areas I could use some guidance are better deals on a psu. And motherboard help!

Antec 900 Case
Purchased for 100 shipped Buy.com




GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$89.99 $89.99



eVGA 8800GTS 512 Mb
purchased ebay 212 Shipped - 69.99 Microsoft cashback in 90 days comes out to 142 or so :)



Antec 500W Earthwatts PSU
Purchased 63.00 after a free 20 dollar gift card I got from Best Buy for being one of the first 50 at one of thier stores. So technically 83. Would love to return this and buy something else with the gift card. Any other reliable PSU?


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
$189.99 $189.99



G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

$129.99 -$45.00 Instant $84.99




Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

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$109.99 $109.99





LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-16D2S-04 - OEM
$17.99 $17.99


Toshiba 32 inch 1080p Regza 700 Shipped
Purchased (not going back :) )

Total without TV came to..... about 872 before that cashback from microsoft. 800 After. Yes I'm getting a DVD RW instead I haven't changed it so add a few bucks. I know I need wires also but I'll put htem in later.

So I think I can shave off about another 15-20 on a hard drive and 10 or so on Ram and maybe 10 on a mobo if I dont need that one? Not really sure.

Should I get any aftermarket cooling? I may be OC'ing, it depends if I can do so without too much added price (as far as better mobo/ram/cooling goes)

Computer is for gaming/development!
Thanks
 
All those parts look good, no need to change them. Oh, except the Lite-On drive... its loud. If you want something more quiet, get a Samsung SH-S203B instead.

Yes, you should get aftermarket cooling:
$37 - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler (optional $7 Xigmatek Bolt-Thru-Kit)
$50 - ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler ($10 MIR)
$59 - Noctua NH-U12P Universal heatsink
 
Everything looks good, but if you need to save money, swap out the E8400 for the E7200 or even the E4600.
 
e8400'll be fine, and your mobo should be fine, but you might consider a P45, as they just came out, such as the asus P5Q series. i do agree with eningurd though, the liteon drives are pretty loud and i haven't had any experience with the samsung drive, so i'll recommend the asus lightscribe dvd drive (forget the serial number) as i have found ti to be pretty quiet and it has lightscribe...

i also recommend the noctua cpu cooler, as it is very quiet, and apart from installing the fan, is relatively easy to work with (installing the fan onto the heatsink can be a bit annoying).
 
Build looks good to me. The only concern I would have, is whether or not the Mobo is "fully" compatible with the E8400. My E8400 works fine on my Abit IP35Pro, but the core temp readings are off. As long as you are aware of about how much you're off though, it's not really a big deal.
 
"hrmmm what is wrong witht he mobo, the temp monitors are just poor?"

I believe the temp monitors are fine, but the bios is off. Since the Wolfdales came out a lot later than the mobo, I think they are having trouble making it fully compatible. With every bios update, it gets better, but the temp is obviously wrong.

Again, this may not apply to your DS3-L.
 
IP35 Pro is made by Abit, and the DS3L is made by Gigabyte... two very different companies. Gigabyte is a Tier1 mobo manufacturer and Abit is a recovering mobo manufacturer that got it right with the IP35 Pro. :p Abit should have a BIOS update that fixes their temp issue, and Gigabyte had no issues supporting Wolfdales when they came out, as the IP35 Pro did, so you'll be fine.

If you want lightscribe, the Samsung version with it is SH-S203N.
 
Yah, 8GB is fine. Just note that it will limit your overall OC due to the extra stress on the MCH for powering all 4 DIMMs (this is true on any board).
 
I'm about to pull the plug on this by early monday morning ( so it will all ship out by monday afternoon hopefully) Is there a cheaper hard drive with the same performance, maybe a 500 GB one?)
 
Boardin087 said:
I'm about to pull the plug on this by early monday morning ( so it will all ship out by monday afternoon hopefully) Is there a cheaper hard drive with the same performance, maybe a 500 GB one?)
Click to expand...

Order before noon and it has like a 99% chance of shipping that day -- though may not all be shipped from same warehouse.

The WD6400AAKS uses 320GB platters, so the only other drive that has nearly the same performance is the WD3200AAKS. The problem is, there is a slight chance you won't get the new revision that uses the new 320GB platter. Personally, I'd stick with the 640GB because it will definitely be fast.
 
enginurd said:
Order before noon and it has like a 99% chance of shipping that day -- though may not all be shipped from same warehouse.

The WD6400AAKS uses 320GB platters, so the only other drive that has nearly the same performance is the WD3200AAKS. The problem is, there is a slight chance you won't get the new revision that uses the new 320GB platter. Personally, I'd stick with the 640GB because it will definitely be fast.
Click to expand...

what makes these drives so fast? is there no equivalent?
 
The high density platters (320GB/platter). There are equivalent drives in terms of performance, but they're more expensive. The Samsung F1 series uses 333GB platters, IIRC. Seagate is supposed to come out with new drives using 320GB+ platters, but I haven't seen them yet.
 
nice. One last question...... hopefully. Since my power supply can do SLI apparently. Is it worth it to get an SLI mobo in case I choose to upgrade. Only thing stopping me is I wanted an intel chipset. How much would a nice OCable SLI board run me. and is the chipset going to be worse?
 
oh one more thing, How many SATA cables do I need and what kind from new egg. if someone could link me that would be terrific
 
If you can, avoid nForce boards; which means avoid SLI if possible. SLI boards are typically not as reliable/stable as intel chipset boards. However, if you still persist on SLI, get the eVGA 750i SLI FTW board. Your motherboard should come with all the cables you need.
 
I have decided to go with the same mobo I had plus a Tuniq Tower CPU cooler, Shoud I also get a cooler for my chipset? I'm hoping with the Tower and a shipset cooler i should hit close to 4.ghz, doable?
 
Boardin087 said:
I have decided to go with the same mobo I had plus a Tuniq Tower CPU cooler, Shoud I also get a cooler for my chipset? I'm hoping with the Tower and a shipset cooler i should hit close to 4.ghz, doable?
Click to expand...

It's doable. Just remember that with overclocking, YMMV. You may end up with an E8400 that hits 4.5Ghz or one that can do only 3.6Ghz.

A small 40mm to 50mm fan attached to the stock MCH heatsink works pretty well in addition to replacing the TIM with AS5. You can also pick up this chipset HS:
Thermalright HR-05 Chipset Cooler - $24
 
Yah, a fan works well, but its not as quiet as a better heatsink. Though, sometimes, a good heatsink isn't enough and you'll still need a fan, depending on how hot it gets.

The Tuniq Tower was one of the best coolers back in the day. There are lighter/smaller options now that cool just as well or better. I'd go with one of these instead:

$35 - Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja Plus Rev.B CPU HSF (optional $5 Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit)
$46 - Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU HS + FBA09A12M - Z ($3)
$37 - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler (optional $7 Xigmatek Bolt-Thru-Kit)
$50 - ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler ($10 MIR)
$59 - Noctua NH-U12P Universal heatsink

My Ultima90 cooled just as good as my Tuniq, yet it was much lighter, smaller, and easier to install.
 
just get it somewhere else, or wait for newegg to get it back in stock. I'd stick with the HR-03 models, though.
 
for the stock chipset heatsink? or for the HR-03?

40 or 50mm fan for the stock, 80mm for the HR-03.
 
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