building a budget core2 duo system

[mrweirdo]

Hello I'm helping out a friend of my dads by building a new cad system for him. Hes a big intel guy and wants core 2 duo but at the same time is on a buget. also he wanted 2gb of ram.

So I have come up with the following components: (He allready has a monitor, keyboard, and mouse).

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail $180
MOBO: Intel BOXDP965LTCK Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $106.99
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit - Retail $275
GFX: PNY VCQ285NVS-PCIEX16-PB Quadro4 NVS285 128MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $169.99
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s $94.99
Burner: SONY Black IDE dual layer 2MB Cache DVD Burner $28.99
CASE/PSU: Aopen H600B with 400watt ATX2.0/24pin psu $76.00
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM $139.99

Total price $1071.95. I believe that I have came up with a good list of parts keeping the cost under $1200 after shiping and taxes. Unfortionently I'm not up as good on intel hardware as I am amd. Does this seem like a good setup in terms of compatible parts? Any other thoughs? Thanks.

 

[Howard]

Windows XP Home should be suitable.

 

[Slowlearner]

1. Needs two hard drives, one of OS (smaller) and other for data (larger). No RAID
2. Video card needs to be matched to the CAD software, may need a more expensive one esp if 3d work done (dont rely on software vendor's recommendations, which is usually too low end, input from another savvy user of the same software is best
3. Better case and PSU, Aopen case is fine (if it has a 120 mm fan and filtered front air intakes) but the PSU must be Seasonic/Fortron/Enermax
4. XP Home is fine unless the pc needs to join a domain.

 

[crimson117]

- def get a Core 2 Duo 6400, $45 is a small price to pay for the upgrade
- save $10 on that ram at zipzoomfly
- why not get a dvd drive with lightscribe?
- consider the Sonata II case 450W psu, and quiet.

 

[zainali]

cheaper ram and a faster processor.

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: zainali
cheaper ram and a faster processor.

Sadly that RAM is among the cheapest 2x1gb DDR2-800 these days.

Two months ago it was aboput $100 less.

 

[crimson117]

Although... assuming you're not overclocking, you could get 2x1gb corsair PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) for $229.50 at ZipZoomFly

 

[gate1975mlm]

Nice system

 

[crimson117]

Nice edit

 

[gate1975mlm]

Originally posted by: crimson117
Nice edit

Thanks

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Cheaper ram, you don't need ddr-800

Better PSU

 

[mrweirdo]

thnx for the responses

After further looking into intel core2 duo chips with the intel boards i discovered that they seem to have a hard time dealing with certain ram and tend to cause system instability issues unless you find ram that runs at exactly 1.8v so I had to change it out for some kingston ram that does just that. unfortionently that made the cost go up a little more.

 

[silentvois]

I would say the same:

1. Get cheapest set of ram possible
2. Better psu for peace of mind