Please criticise new build (first since 90ies)

[Cistron]

Hi community,


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, S775, 3.0 GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 6MB Cache, Retail

Coolermaster Hyper TX 2 Universal CPU Cooler AMD AM2/754/939/940 socket
or Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Funnily the description says AMD only for the TX2, but I'm pretty sure tomshardware tested it on an Intel processor. I won't overclock, so the question is if it is worth saving a couple of quid or to buy the arctic cooling heatsink.

512MB PowerColor HD 3870 PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 2252 MHz, GDDR4, GPU 775 MHz, 320 Streams, 2 x DVI-I

MSI P35 NEO2-FR, iP35, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
Couldn't find a WiFi motherboard for a decent price. This once seems to have a nice heatpipe. So I suspect it will live longer.

4GB (2x2GB) Super Talent TwinX DDR2 PC2-6400 (800MHz), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15
Anything wrong about Super Talent? I know they make decent flash drives.

Pioneer DVR-215BK 20x DVD±R, 10x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM
Happy so long as it burns DVDs.

500 GB Samsung HD501LJ Spinpoint T166, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ
Standard, isn't it?

Antec Sonata 3 Super Black Mini Tower Case with 500W aPFC PSU
I actually wanted a normal NSK6xxx, but scan.co.uk doesn't sell them. If you know a decent substitute, which has a plain look, please suggest.

120mm Noctua NF-S12 1200 RPM Quiet Case Fan
For the front of the case.

24" Iiyama PLB2403WS-B1 Black Widescreen LCD, 1920x1200, 2000:1, 300cd/m2, 3ms, Speakers, VESA
Seems to be good value for money. When the film industry has eventually ended it war about blu-ray/HD-DVD I'd like to upgrade by such a drive. Iiyama claims that the monitor is HD-ready (no HDCP though), but will I be able to watch HD movies, even though I will use a DVI to HDMI adapter?

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)
I don't mind 'wasting' 500MB of RAM. Apparently the 64bit version makes more problems than it solves. I suspect that whenever 64bit applications come to be state of the art, the computer will be out-modded anyway.

The price adds up to ~960quid, means that without the monitor the system will be about £660. I've been out of the business for a long time. Seems alright?

I'd also like to play Oblivion at full screen resolution. Do you think that will be possible?

Thanks for all your comments!

Cheers,
Mike

 

[pongrules]

Hi Cistron,

How's life in the UK? I took a look at your build, and I think it's quite nice. I would say go with the Arctic Cooler Pro 7. I was going to get that one myself but it was sold out. If you're not going to overclock, you don't need anything crazy. You could go with the stock cooler, but your processor will be up to 20 C cooler with the cooler you want to buy.

I really like the choice of processor. Keep in touch and let me know how you like it because I haven't heard too much about it from folks on this forum. I'm very intrigued by what the processor can do. If you're not going to have five different apps running at the same time, dual core processors are the way to go for now.

Case looks good, but I don't know enough about the PSU to tell you whether it's good. I just know that you should check and double check to make sure it has good ratings for stable power and that it's enough to run your 3870.

Curious to know what you think of the 3870 also, and yes, you should be able to run Oblivion full screen res, just maybe with not all the eye candy turning all the way up.

As for MB's, P35 has some good reviews and seems stable. Don't know enough about Super Talent to comment. Just do the research to make sure it's compatible with your MB.

Odd choice of Vista. I don't blame you trying to avoid some of the problems, but from what I can understand, they've gotten a lot better. I would still go for the 64 bit version or you may regret it later and it's too expensive a mistake.

Anyway, good luck with your build and let me know how it goes.

 

[aevm]

If you don't overclock you don't need an aftermarket cooler. The retail E8400 comes with a good cooler already. Between those two I'd prefer the Freezer.

The E8400 may need a BIOS flash. If you'd rather not go through that experience, get a Q6600. It will be more future-proof too. It will be slower than the 8400 in games, but some day lots of games will take advantage of quads, like FSX does now, and then the quad will be better. E6750 is also a good CPU, no flash issues, but a bit slower than the E8400 (about 15% less). Games are typically limited by the video card, especially at 1920x1200, so you won't actually lose anything like 15% of the fps with a 15% slower CPU. If you plan to copy a HD movie to hard disk and compress it you'll definitely want a quad.

HD 3870 is a very good card for the money. Your resolution (1920x1200) is very high though. If you can afford the HD 3870X2 get that one instead.

I don't trust MSI too much when it comes to motherboards. I'd consider Asus P5K-E if WiFi is a must.

Good RAM. Something with 4-4-4-12 timings would be better, but since you won't overclock it's not very important.

No objections to the HDD or Sonata 3.

I've only had one Pioneer DVD-RW drive, I won't ever buy another. It wasn't defect, but it wasn't very good either. For example it could only use 3.99 GB instead of 4.37. I'd buy a Samsung SH-S203N or some LG or Asus model.

Agreed about the operating system. Xp will give you better speed in games, but Vista will keep getting security patches for a much longer time.

No clue about the monitor. I like the Samsung 245BW most when it comes to 24" monitors, but yours might be better, I don't know.

Oblivion gets 24 fps with the HD 3870 at 1920x1200.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=1060&model2=853&chart=298
This is playable IMO, just not very enjoyable.

The HD 3870X2 would do much better.
http://www.chilehardware.com/Revisi...AMD-ATi-Radeon-HD-3870X2-200801281935/4.html
http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Graphics-cards/ATI-Radeon-HD-3870X2-1-GB/Page-3.html

 

[Onus]

I also do not trust MSI motherboards. WiFi on a mobo seems like one more potential point of failure. Get a mobo without it and add a $15-$20 wireless-G card. The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R is one good choice. If you don't anticipate needing RAID (you probably don't), the -DS3L is a little cheaper.