Give Me A Heads Up Before I Order Components

[mlhm5]

Not a hardcore gamer, do do a lot of video work and am wondering if this ~$600 system could use some tweaks. The MB is useful when the quads shrink in price and will easily allow me to OC the e2160 to 3.0 GHz.

GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R - $128.90

2GB Crucial or Corsair or Patriot DDR2-800 PC2-6400 (whichever one is cheapest after MIR)

INTEL Pentium Dual-Core 1.8GHz e2160 - $82 - Should I wait until DEC for the e2200?

COOLER MASTER CAC-T05-UW Centurion 5 Mid Tower Case (Silver) Retail - $61.99 - good enough or buy better?

AEROCOOL ZERODBA 620W - $108.99 - in case I upgrade the CPU in the future.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - $19.99 - Will need if I upgrade and OC.
...and
Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound - $5.99

LITEON LH-20A1L-05 20X SATA DVD Burner Black DVD±RW - $37.99 - Is there a difference between the $80 opticals and the lower priced ones?

SAPPHIRETECH 100208L Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 - $104.99 - Are there others that will outperform this one for $100?

 

[aadamszc]

Lots of views, not too many replies. List format because I feel lazy:

-I don't think that you really need the "P35C" you could go with just the plain "P35". that'll take you about $30 dollars cheaper. IDK, about the overclocking ability difference between the two though.
-Memory seems dandy to me. If you are planning on overclocking the memory, you could go with a 4-4-4-12(or 15).
-I guess you are going to be OCing your processor. From what I hear, that is a good one. I suppose you could wait until December, but would their be a dramatic performance/price difference?
-I vaguely recall that case. I am pretty sure that is good. I think it has good airflow.
-(No-Way-Jose). I would definitely not get that power supply. That is a Tier 4. You are going to want to get something from tier 3 or above. May I suggest the corsair 520Hx? From what I can tell, you pc won't be too demanding on the wattage. Here is the tier list: http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiered+PSU+Listings?t=anon
-Honestly, I don't know jack about OCing or Cooling paste, etc.
-Yeah, there is some difference. That difference is speed(and probably lifespan). I personally have a $30 dollar one.
-Hmm..this one is ok, but might I suggest the 1950pro for $130?

Very quick guesstimate. Hope I Helped.
-Adam

 

[tlmck]

Over clocking the E2160. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160.html

 

[aevm]

Agreed with aadamszc on all points. The GA-P35-DS3R overclocks better than the GA-P35C-DS3R. You could get the GA-P35-DS3L in fact, unless you need RAID, and save yet another $30.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is all right, worth the $20. There are much better coolers out there for $70, but it's silly to spend $70 on that - better use the money to get a good video card.

Here's a relatively cheap PSU that has good quality and can handle your system:
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX, $78
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003&Tpk=450vx
The 520HX is better but it's $30 more.

Difference between $80 DVD-RW and $30 DVD-RW: I have a $90 PX-810SA and a $35 LG GSA-H62N in my PC. The Plextor backs up DVDs 3 times faster. It also came with some fancy software. The LG came with PowerDVD 7 and Nero 7 Express, and I happen to like these programs so I didn't install the Plextor's software
Apart from that they are the same. Exactly the same speed when reading files or burning disks. As for lifespan, who knows. My previous LG drive was $60 (but it can be bought for $30 now) and it was still working after 3 years. I only ditched it because it was IDE and I don't want ribbon cables in my new PC.

If you do a lot of video work you should get a Q6600. I know it's more expensive, but your time must be worth something too and the quad can save you a lot of time compared to a dual core. If the additional $200 saves you an hour every day for the next 500 work days that's 40 cents an hour. I honestly hope you are paid more than that :lol:

 

[WR2]

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - $19.99 - Will need if I upgrade and OC.
...and Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound - $5.99

The AC Freezer 7 Pro has pre-applied MX-1 thermal compound that is actually very good. You won't need the AS5.
You can get the CoolerMaster Hyper TX 2 for free (after rebates). Its very similiar to the AC Freezer 7 Pro.
AC Freezer 7 Pro vs CM Hyper TX 2 review
The stock Intel HSF isnt so bad at overclock cooling. But it does start to get loud before it runs out of cooling ability.

 

[lunyone]

Here's a better deal for the Corsair 450vx, everything else aevm mentioned would be good. If your saving you $ right now, the e2160 is perfect budget OC'ing chip. Yes the q6600 would be better for encoding, but the almost $200 more isn't worth it, at least that is my opinion. As far as the GPU, I'd recommend the x1950pro, but if you wait a few weeks there will be more selection from nVidia and AMD that might suit your needs.

PSU - $75 shipped - $10 MIR = $65! Can run a single 8800gtx system.
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W Active Power Supply Retail ***Free Shipping***
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006428