New budget build...comments please!

S

Swishbish33

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 26, 2005
Messages
177
I am building my brother a gaming PC on a budget, and have come to the altar to ask for assistance and comments on this build. I have added my own comments/questions after each part to give an idea of my thinking on choosing the part I did. I am also reusing some old parts from a 2 year old build in order to save money. Thanks for your help.

Budget: $500-700

CPU - Intel E2180 (OC while keeping price down - worth it to move up to E4400/E4500?)
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
Memory - G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 (Will this hold back my OC? Worth it to jump to 4gb?)
Video Card - GeForce 8800GT 512mb (Looking at MSI OC, EVGA, or ECS passively cooled)
Hard Drive - Western Digital WD2500KS (Using from old build)
Power Supply - Seasonic S12-500 500w (Using from old build)
Case - UNDECIDED
CPU Cooling - UNDECIDED
DVD Burner - UNDECIDED
OS - Windows XP Home (My bro prefers XP to Vista)


Some questions:

1. Any red flags with the parts I've chosen?
2. Worth it to jump up to E4400/E4500 from E2180 if I'm going to OC?
3. Worth it to jump to 4gb of memory?

Also, I'm undecided on a choice for a case, CPU cooling, or a DVD burner. I figure I have about $250-$300 left for a case, CPU cooler, DVD burner, and any upgrades to parts listed above. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
 
Go to a local BBuy and see if any more of the clearance Rocketfish (Lian Li) case's are on sale still. Best case for the money and no shipping wait/charges.
I've seen those cheaper C2Ds get massive overclocks up to and over 3ghz.
 
Swishbish33 said:
Memory - G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 (Will this hold back my OC? Worth it to jump to 4gb?)
Video Card - GeForce 8800GT 512mb (Looking at MSI OC, EVGA, or ECS passively cooled)
Case - UNDECIDED
CPU Cooling - UNDECIDED
DVD Burner - UNDECIDED
OS - Windows XP Home (My bro prefers XP to Vista)

Some questions:

1. Any red flags with the parts I've chosen?
2. Worth it to jump up to E4400/E4500 from E2180 if I'm going to OC?
3. Worth it to jump to 4gb of memory?
Click to expand...

The E2180 has a 10x mulitplier and can reach around 3.4Ghz (near its max), so no, DDR2-800 won't hold back your OC.

What size monitor will he be gaming on?

1) parts look good. you'll probably want an AC Freezer 7 Pro or similar to help cool the CPU once you OC.
2) not really. the extra cache only helps a tiny bit. there's a section in the FAQ about this... http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032330608&postcount=14
3) if you cash to spare, yah, pickup an A-Data or G.Skill 4GB kit for around $70.

For a case, if BB doesnt have the rocketfish, check out the Cooler Master Elite 330, Centurion 532 or 534. They're usually $30-$40, and if you're lucky, they'll have free shipping.

Go with Lite-On if you don't mind loud DVD burners. If you want something quiet, get a Samsung SH-S203B or 203N instead.
 
I would get an E2200 over that E2180 for $7 more. It has an 11X mulitplier as oppose to 10X on the E2180. The RAM for $30 more you might as well get the 2x2gig G.Skill DDR2 800 RAM for $75. Video Card (What size lcd and what resolution do you plan on gaming at?) you can go with this MSI NX8800GTS 512MB card for $225($30 MIR) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325. CPU cooling this ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134. DVD burner, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153.
 
HardwareGuru said:
I would get an E2200 over that E2180 for $7 more. It has an 11X mulitplier as oppose to 10X on the E2180.
Click to expand...

I think that extra multiplier won't help. It's already shit easy to OC with the E2180's 10x multiplier. Considering that the E2200 and E2180 have about the same OC limit, that extra multiplier won't allow for a higher OC either. So higher OC and easier OC are not a good reason to buy the E2200.

However, an extra 200Mhz for $7 is not too bad if you tend to keep your system at stock speeds for a while. That's a good reason to buy the E2200.
 
Yeah my response was a bit overboard wasn't it?:eek:

Oh well.
 
Which size monitor (and its resolution) does your brother use? If it's less than 20 inches (or its resolution less than 1680x1050/1600x1200) you could get away with using a 9600GT to save yourself some money.
 
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