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About to order Core 2 Duo system - quick check?

A

aphextwin555

Junior Member
Thanks to the responders of my earlier post! I narrowed down a system and I'm ready to place my order - just want to see if anyone would mind double-checking my work to reduce the chance of performance bottlenecks, hardware conflicts, incompatibilities, etc.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Processor
Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 16MB SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H Intel P965 Express Motherboard
Corsair XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 800 Dual Channel Memory
Sapphire 100162L Radeon X1300XT 256MB PCIe x16 Video Card

This is a budget graphics/web design workstation - no need for a serious gamer video card, but multitasking prowess is a big requirement. Does everything else seem to be well matched and free of potential compatibility problems? I've checked it as thoroughly as I know how to, but the Corsair memory, for example, wasn't listed on the Foxconn Mobo product compatibility page, and neither was the video card (could be fairly new?)

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Not sure on the motherboard, might want to reconsider seeing as how (afaik) there have been odd compatability problems with the first set of c2d motherboards. Also I would change the ram from 2x512 to a 1 gig stick (allowing for future upgradability much easier), especially since for serious multitasking in Vista 2 gigs might become more of a necessity.
 
If you're on a budget, you can get away with DDR2-533 instead of DDR2-800. Granted, that Corsair stuff is on a weekend sale at Newegg (currently) but it's still overkill for the system you've described. Furthermore, since you've listed "multitasking prowess" as a requirement, you probably want more RAM than less. How about this instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231044

For a few more dollars, you get twice the RAM (you can try a different brand if you don't like G.Skill). I wouldn't worry about the RAM compatibility list too much, since it's obvious that it passes with every variety of RAM that they bothered to test with the board.
 
I agrre completely with DrMrLordX. 2 gigs of DRR-533 would give much better performance than 1 gig of DDR-800.
 
You guys rock! Many thanks for the advice. I think I will go for the G.Skill 2GB in lieu of the 1GB Corsair. I've used Corsair before and been very happy, but I hear good things about G.Skill and the price is certainly right.

@Shortass (or anyone else) - I had read a couple of good reviews on the Foxconn - no frills but a decent budget motherboard - but I'm certainly not partial to Foxconn. Could you give any suggestions on a budget Core 2 Duo mobo (i.e. pref. <~$140)? I'm leaning toward the Intel P965 Express/ICH8 chipset or similar functionality, though I'm also not partial to Intel - just not well-studied on the NVidia chipsets in this realm. I really don't need any features but the basics (ATX, a couple 3.0GB SATAs, a couple PCIs, PCIe 16x for video, LAN).

Thanks again!
 
Just by reading your subject line, I can tell you that your HDD is a bottleneck. A very general statement to be sure, as it can be applied to virtually any computer on the market today, though, so I wouldn't be too worried about it. 🙂

</joke>
 
Motherboard: The Foxconn is most likely a very solid board. From the images I see top quality polymer (probably Sanyo) around the CPU and Rubycon's elsewhere; it should be rock solid probably last nearly forever.

A good alternative in that price range would be the Gigabyte GA-965P-S3.

Graphics: For low to mind range graphics you should opt for passively cooled card, fans make noise and can fail. I've used this x1300 Sapphire in the past, I recommend it.

RAM: As others have said 2GB of 533 or 677 would be better, this Kingston looks good.

What PSU do you plan on using?
 
Thanks again for all of the input and recommendations!

@MadAmos & @Operandi - I take your dual recommendations on the Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 to be a sign! I looked it over and it definitely seems like the way to go. The Foxconn was tempting at the price, but for less than a $20 premium it's definitely worth the jump up to the Gigabyte to get the name brand quality and extra features. Thanks for the recommendations!

@BOLt - Haha, yeah, that's going to be holding up the system for sure ;-). I probably would have opted for a cheaper HDD if Newegg hadn't made it such a no-brainer on the price! I can't believe how cheap those things are for the size/performance.

@Operandi - So I think I will go for the Gigabyte GA-965P-S3. I'm giving the x1300 Sapphire that you recommended a hard look, but I read a few really shining reviews of that 100162L Sapphire 1300XT that I think I might still opt for that; I'm certainly with you on the pros of passive cooling in that range, but in about a year I should have a lot more money to work with and will likely upgrade the system or build a new one, so as long as it gets me through a year it should be OK. On the RAM, would the 677 benefit me over the 533? I'm not too strong on RAM specs, but do I understand correctly that the dual channel would effectively make 2 matched sticks of 533 match the 1066 FSB of the processor? I'm pretty sure that I'm going with the E6300 Core 2 Duo, as the E6400 didn't seem to justify a $40 premium to me since I won't be doing aggressive, if any, overclocking and likely won't need the 8x multiplier.

Thanks again everyone for your help!
 
Originally posted by: aphextwin555
@Operandi - So I think I will go for the Gigabyte GA-965P-S3. I'm giving the x1300 Sapphire that you recommended a hard look, but I read a few really shining reviews of that 100162L Sapphire 1300XT that I think I might still opt for that; I'm certainly with you on the pros of passive cooling in that range, but in about a year I should have a lot more money to work with and will likely upgrade the system or build a new one, so as long as it gets me through a year it should be OK. On the RAM, would the 677 benefit me over the 533? I'm not too strong on RAM specs, but do I understand correctly that the dual channel would effectively make 2 matched sticks of 533 match the 1066 FSB of the processor? I'm pretty sure that I'm going with the E6300 Core 2 Duo, as the E6400 didn't seem to justify a $40 premium to me since I won't be doing aggressive, if any, overclocking and likely won't need the 8x multiplier.
Click to expand...

Since you won't be gamming on the system the passive x1300 will function nearly identically to the "XT" variant. There isn't really a good reason to go with the XT card here, passively cooled cards are silent so they'll always have that as a resell value for just that reason alone, not to mention the relaiblity.
 
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