Critique my first time build, please.

[billyc]

I'm a first time builder and first time on the forum. Been around awhile (old) and have mostly had gateway computers currently a P4 2.2 XLT. My goal is to have a machine capable of 1600 x 1200, play games, videos , good graphics and normal stuff. I've neve OC'd but would like to push the system to aorund 3 GHz.

I did my research and set up my first crack on components and decided I was over budget. Wanted around $1500 and stood at $1700. I did another round of research to see where I could cut and now I'm a little over $2000 - good plan huh?

Here's where I stand and relish all comments.

Case COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW
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Case Fan COOLER MASTER SAF-S12-E1 120mm Case Fan
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Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
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Memory Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
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Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3

I had the ASUS P5B deluxe all the way but it seems many are happy with this board. Also considered the ASUS P5B E.
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Power Supply OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W

This or the SeaSonic M12. Also, could I drop to 550W? Figured it's better to keep a little in reserve.
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Cooling ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
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Graphic Card XFX PVT71PUDP3 GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 EXTREME
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Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb
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Monitor LG L204WT 20" Widescreen Monitor
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DVD Burner LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R SATA
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Floppy MITSUMI Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal USB 2.0 digital card reader with Floppy Drive Model FA404M BLK
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Keyboard Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
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Mouse MS (comes with keyboard - will use current MX518)
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Soundcard Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
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OS Windows XP Home w/ Vista Premium upgrade
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All said and done, that comes to a around $1500. Any suggestions, up or down or across will be appreciated.

 

[Newf]

Conroe E4300 1.86GHz/9 2MB Boxed $179+0 1/28/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115013

Want to overclock an E4300?
333MHz x 9 multiplier = 3GHz
Kingston ValueRam 2x512 DDR2 667 CL5 $109+5 1/28/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144199

If you are patient for a month or so, the price of the 4300 should come down, and OEM versions will be more commonly found and even cheaper. You will then not pay twice for cooling the cpu.

 

[Newf]

Sorry, forgot you wanted 2GB...

Kingston ValueRam 2x1GB DDR2 667 CL5 $179+0 1/28/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134046

 

[billyc]

Being patient will not be a problem. I have to work some things out to get this done anyhow. Thanks for response. I need to do some research on the E4300, know very little about it. It does seem popular for overclocking. The C2D E6300 is only $187 + 0. From what I've read here, two main reasons for the E4300 are ease of OC (I suppose that's due to the higher multiplyer?) and you can get by with cheaper mem. You also meantioned it will run cooler (due to the mem?).

Thanks for catching the 2meg request. I looked at Kingston, don't remember why I passed it by. Will take another looksee.

 

[Newf]

Being patient will not be a problem. I have to work some things out to get this done anyhow. Thanks for response. I need to do some research on the E4300, know very little about it. It does seem popular for overclocking. The C2D E6300 is only $187 + 0. From what I've read here, two main reasons for the E4300 are ease of OC (I suppose that's due to the higher multiplyer?) and you can get by with cheaper mem. You also meantioned it will run cooler (due to the mem?).

No, the chip won't run cooler, you will just only need to buy one aftermarket cooler if you get an OEM cpu. If you buy a boxed cpu it comes with the stock cooler, which you may want to (but not have to) replace.

Thanks for catching the 2meg request. I looked at Kingston, don't remember why I passed it by. Will take another looksee.

Normally you would not buy ValueRam for overclocking. It sucks for this. BUT in this case you would not overclock the ram when you overclock the E4300.

The stock FSB speed for an E4300 is 200MHz (sometimes called 800MHZ for marketing benefits, oh well).
If you buy an E4300 and do not overclock it, then DDR2-400 memory would run at "normal" speed, (200MHz x double data rate = DDR2-400).

The E6300, E6400, etc run a stock FSB of 266MHz. Thus DDR2-533 ValueRam works fine here, unless you overclock them.

Now if you take a stock E4300 and raise the FSB from 200 to 333, the cpu is now running at 3GHz, and the memory is running at 333MHz. This makes DDR2-667 run at its STOCK speed. It will work just fine, and is cheap!

 

[billyc]

Sounds better all the time. 3 more items I'm wondering about.

1. Would it be better to bite the bullet now and up mem to ddr2 800 for future growth?

2. Is there anything to consider about the diffence in voltage.

3. Allendale vs Conroe Core. One better than the other?

Sorry for my ignorance. It comes naturally.

 

[billyc]

ok Newf, you sold me. Changed to 4300 and Kingston mem.

Are my other choices good with these changes? I will probably keep this on the back burner for awhile to see how prices go.

 

[Newf]

ok Newf, you sold me. Changed to 4300 and Kingston mem.

Are my other choices good with these changes? I will probably keep this on the back burner for awhile to see how prices go.

Try to find an SATA DVD burner.
Spend some time in the Power Supply forum. You don't have to spend extra for bling, even though there's nothing wrong with your choice.
Consider a Logitech G5 (or G7 cordless) gaming mouse. I have one and it's so much better than anything I've used outside a $100+ Kensington expert trackball (which is not for gamers).
Be carefull not to buy ram that needs more than 1.8v in order to boot. Nobody needs that hassle, although there are some workarounds.

 

[billyc]

Got it on the Sata DVD burner. Will check around.

I have an MX518 Logitec I would probably use in place of the freebie. I'm pretty happy with it with my current system. Not sure the G5 is that much of an improvement but will consider.

Thinking of switching to a widescreen but concerned about gaming. I now have Doom 3 and half life. Need to find out how well games play on ws.

Thanks for your input. All good advice.

 

[billyc]

Not much response to my first go, thanks for your comments, Nerf.

After further research, I decided to cut back to my original budget ($1500). I modified my list on top, but the changes are as follows:

1. Added a 120mm case fan to replace the 80 supplied.

Is this necessary?

2. I decided to cut back on the GPU to an xfx 7900gs. I can get this now for $150 with the rebate. The 8800 GTS will make a good upgrade down the road at a cheaper price.

3. I dropped the HD to 250GB and will add another one or two later.

4. Chaned the monitor to an LG L204WT wide screen. It's on the web right now for $280 with free shipping. Good reviews and doesn't seem to have any more problems than all the other LCD's. I was going to just use my current Gateway (1280 x 1024) but I want to move to wide screen (I think) and $70 bucks off the LG is too good a deal to pass up.

5. Changed to a SATA DVD burner (thanks NERF)

6. Changed floppy to a combo floppy, card reader.

7. Removed the speakers which can be added later. I have my old speakers but I'm using my Sennheiser 150 head set now anyway.

8. Added windows XP with a Vista upgrade coupon. I don't want to go to Vista yet but you need to use the coupon before the end of March. Time to work some bugs out.

Rebates and sales are changing daily so I might get the things discounted now and wait a week or so to see how prices go, at least on the higher $ items.

Any comments and/or recommendations will be appreciated. I still want to OC to about 3. Is the upgraded fan and the cooler both necessary with this rig?

Edited comment: From what I've read, I should probably wait on the DS3 MB until someone gets the DS3P out. Cost a little more, but there are several upgrades and it should be out any time I would think.