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New Build Advice

J

JetsDuck

n00b
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
16
Been planning this computer build for about a year now, slowly tweaking parts here and there as my budget allows. Poor college student, been looking forward to this for a while, so hopefully you guys can help me get the most out of my money!

My needs actually aren’t that advanced, I’m a pretty big movie watcher in terms of DVDs and downloaded programs and stuff, so that’s always a big priority for me. I also listen to a lot of music, and want a lot of storage for all the video/audio I’ll be putting onto this computer.

The PC games I play are mostly RPGs, games like Oblivion and Neverwinter Nights 2. I can’t remember the last FPS I played, but I’d like to be able to play one decently if I had the opportunity. A big sticking point for me is being able to play my PS2 on my system. I have a ton of games, and am constantly getting new ones for cheap (Rogue Galaxy for $20!). Tried looking at monitors with composite inputs, but the ones in my price range had some issues that I wanted to avoid, so going more simplistic with my monitor and trying a TV tuner instead. Heard there might be some lag issues with it, but I’ve heard good things about the one I picked and some software downloads might help it out. I want a TV tuner anyway to record New York Jets games every week. Nobody puts them on the internet because we’re… terrible.

Budget is kind of flexible. Looking for a system that’s quasi-future proof, but I’m aware that in a few years I might have to go quad core to take advantage of software trends that take advantage of it.

Parts:

Case – COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16811119068

Processor – Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16819115037
Rather go for the higher clock speed than 4 cores on this one – like I said my needs aren’t incredibly tailored to video/photo editing and stuff, so I think in the long run I would be happier w/this than a quad. If only I could find the thing anywhere.

Cooler – ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16835118003
Not sure if I need over the stock cooler…

Mobo – ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813127030
Sticking with P35 chipset for now, don’t see the need to spend all the extra $ for the new/upcoming Intel chipsets

RAM – CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16820145184
Heard great things about Corsair RAM, so prepared to spend the extra $ on these over G. Skill and other brands that I’ve heard good things about recently… know I need Vista 64-bit to take advantage of 4 gb, planning on installing/using it (and looking forward to driver issues!).

HD – Looking at two WD SATA hard drives, one 80 gb the other 750 gb

Sound Card – Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16829102006

PSU – CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16817139002
Heard good things about this PSU, a little worried if it’s enough to run my system well though. Looking for a PSU that can last for a while, maybe put into another build at some point. Also want to make sure that it can support the video card and stuff all right. I know I need to look at the 12V, but not sure… huge newb about this.

Graphics Card – EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 512MB PCI Express 2.0
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814130325

TV Tuner – SAPPHIRE Radeon Theatrix 650 PRO TV Tuner (Lite Retail)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16815310002

Optical – A regular DVD drive, as well as a combo burner drive. Use the DVD drive a lot, looking to take some wear off of the burner, which I would also use all the time.

HP w2408h LCD monitor

Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Just looking to see any glaring problems in this build that I missed, what everyone thinks, things like that. Like I said the budget can swing both ways. Thanks a lot guys, sorry for the long post.
 
"HD – Looking at two WD SATA hard drives, one 80 gb the other 750 gb"

Are you looking for a fast OS drive? (I.E. Raptor?) I would suggest if you are not looking for a Raptor that you look into the 32MB cache Seagate HDDs for an OS drive. The 500GB is pretty cheap and has good performance.
 
Burner27 said:
"HD – Looking at two WD SATA hard drives, one 80 gb the other 750 gb"

Are you looking for a fast OS drive? (I.E. Raptor?) I would suggest if you are not looking for a Raptor that you look into the 32MB cache Seagate HDDs for an OS drive. The 500GB is pretty cheap and has good performance.
Click to expand...

Thanks, sorry for not mentioning more on that. I wasn't really planning on getting a Raptor or a faster OS drive.

Whats the advantage of getting the 32 mb cache Seagate OS drive over a basic 7200 RPM WD, or a faster Raptor?
 
Why not go quad-core now? It's only a $15 more than what the E8400 is selling for now. Why wait till the future to go quad-core when you can get a quad-core CPU now for cheap?:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU - $255

Also, note that if you do go with the E8400, you're overpaying. It's MSRP is $190. In another month or two it should drop down to that price but right now, it's overpriced.

Drop the Zalman cooler. There are better cooling HSF out there:
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm HSF - $45
Thermalright Ultima-90 HSF - $46 & Panaflo FBA09A12M 92mm Fan - $3

Also drop the IP35 Pro. It's been shown that it has trouble supporting Wolfdale CPUs i.e the E8400. Which is kind of odd since its $90 brethren, the IP35-E, supports Wolfdale CPUs just fine. So get another P35 motherboard.

Corsair RAM is great but overpriced. Especially since G.Skill and the other brands are just as good as Corsair. I recommend getting this set instead:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM - $90

Excellent choice for a power supply. However poor choice on where you're buying it from. It's cheaper here without rebates:
Corsair 620HX 620W PSU - $139

Haven't kept up on the hard drive tech for awhile. So can't answer your Seagate drive question.
 
Danny - taking your advice and dropping the mobo, is the Gigabyte P35-DS3L all right?

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813128059

Will switch to your cooler and RAM, was being stubborn but G. Skill has gotten a lot of good reviews for less money.

Still stuck on the processor! I knew they were jacking the price up on the e8400, but was willing to pay more just to get it sooner, and thought the clock speed was more valuable to me than more cores. I don't do a ton of complex stuff w/my comps and don't really plan on overclocking.
 
Platter density improves transfer rates better than larger onboard cache sizes. Therefore, go for the new WD 320GB single platter drive instead. The only problem is finding one. The only way you can tell a new revision from the old is the "B3" in the full model number (WD3200AAKS-00B3A0), but no online retailer will guarantee the revision. There's a dealer on eBay that will, but the price is kinda high for a 320gb ($90).

Yes, the DS3L is good, as is the IP35-E. If you need more features, look at the DS3R, DS3P, or DS4, depending on what you need.

I don't suggest getting an OEM CPU (bare CPU, no fan included), because it only has a 90-day warranty; as opposed to full retail box CPUs having a full 3 year warranty.

Also, as far as the case goes, I'd suggest the Centurion 532 or 534 over the Centurion 5. The 532/534 have a 120mm intake fan instead of an 80mm (like the C5).
 
If you're going to overclock, then the range in which you'll be able to overclock both the G0 Q6600 and the E8400 will be to a degree such that any noticeable performance difference between a slightly higher clocked E8400 and a Q6600 will be negligible to non-existent. Furthermore, with programs that make use of four cores, the Q6600 will considerably outperform the E8400, despite each core running at a slower clock.

When the E8400 was released, it could be had for about $80-$100 less than a Q6600, and it was the first chip that could reasonably reach 4.0ghz on air w/o too much trouble. These two things have made the chip very popular, with many choosing it over a Q6600. However, with the E8400 within $15 of a Q6600 or perhaps even more than a Q6600, it looses its value as a better buy. Assuming you OC an E8400 to 4.0ghz and a Q6600 to 3.6, you will likely not notice a performance difference in every day applications, and when you do find that app which uses four cores, the Q6600 will prove all that more valuable.

If you can find the E8400 for under $200, then by all means get it. Otherwise, the Q6600 is really a better buy at the moment.
 
And if you're near a Microcenter, the Q6600 G0 Retail box is only $200. :D
 
enginurd said:
And if you're near a Microcenter, the Q6600 G0 Retail box is only $200. :D
Click to expand...

I wish! Stuck up in Albany, New York - far away from everything.

Man, I thought the processor was the one decision I was sure on! Thanks for the input everyone, starting to lean towards the Q6600 now, although I really have no plans on overclocking either processor.
 
I was planning on a E8400 also but after reading these forums I decided to go with the q6600. Decided it just makes more sense than a dual core at this time...but that's because I'll probably overclock it. You should just read some more info on the forums and try to make the best informed decision for what will work for you.
 
bmorton18 said:
I was planning on a E8400 also but after reading these forums I decided to go with the q6600. Decided it just makes more sense than a dual core at this time...but that's because I'll probably overclock it. You should just read some more info on the forums and try to make the best informed decision for what will work for you.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I've been reading this board and a few others a lot. This place has a lot of great resources, and you guys all helped me out a lot with my monitor, which I was going back and forth on for a couple of weeks. Based on what I've read though, I might stick with the e8400 since I don't really want to overclock at all.
 
I don't think you can go wrong with either chip, unless you pay an inflated price for it. :p
 
JetsDuck said:
I wish! Stuck up in Albany, New York - far away from everything.
Click to expand...

Hehe. Not THAT far away from me. I'm in Orange County, NY!!!

JetsDuck said:
Thanks, sorry for not mentioning more on that. I wasn't really planning on getting a Raptor or a faster OS drive.

Whats the advantage of getting the 32 mb cache Seagate OS drive over a basic 7200 RPM WD, or a faster Raptor?
Click to expand...

The bigger the buffer, the faster the access in terms of amount of data that can be stored in the buffer. In other words, since ram is faster than HDD platters, the more information that can be held in the buffer the better. Although, the performance difference between a 16MB cache drive and a 32MB cache drive isn't THAT great, but for the little extra in price, i would go for the bigger buffer.


Here's the where I bought 2 of mine from:

http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA3476921
 
The Microcenter in Paterson NJ is not too far from Orange County, and even it may be worth the drive from Albany, although it is a bit out of the way from up there.
 
Markyip1 said:
The Microcenter in Paterson NJ is not too far from Orange County, and even it may be worth the drive from Albany, although it is a bit out of the way from up there.
Click to expand...


I don't need anything unless you think my setup needs improving? ;)
 
Burner27 said:
...Although, the performance difference between a 16MB cache drive and a 32MB cache drive isn't THAT great....
Click to expand...

Thats my point. Platter density gives a more noticeable performance improvement than a larger cache size. The WD single platter 320GB drive, with its 16MB buffer, still transfers data faster than the 32MB buffered, 500GB drives (since they're 2x250gb platters).
 
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