Building my 2nd Rig

[invidia]

So it has been a while since I built my first computer (2004). After a couple nights of research I've decided what parts I want to get. My main goal is to have a mid tier gaming computer for UT3 and any upcoming games that would utilize the quad core or directx10. I use photoshop/3ds Max sometimes. I also plan on moving to Vista in the near future but not now.

For overclocking, I am undecided and probably will do a little in the future. But for now I just need a new computer. All the parts on my computer is phased out (DDR1 and AGP graphics card. All those IDE drives.)

I'll probably get all my parts from newegg. Here are the parts I plan to buy over the course of 3 weeks until the July 22 price drop for the Q6600. I'm still undecided on some parts, primarily the PSU and heatsink.

Case - Antec Performance One P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (Already bought, so no changing.)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Memory - 2GB DDR2 800 Preferably Crucial or Corsair (haven't decided yet, just whatever goes on sale the next couple weeks b4 7/22.)
Graphics Card - Geforce 8800 GTS
Power Supply - Corsair 520
Heatsink - Tuniq Tower
Hard Drive - Salvaging my old 80gb WD IDE hard drive as secondary and getting a SATA 320gb Seagate HD for primary storage.
DVD Burner - SATA DVD burner I bought a couple weeks ago, going to use it on this rig

I want to keep it a <$1000 budget. If anyone with experience or has a quad core/type of case and mobo would recommend me a good PSU or heatsink, that'll be helpful. I've had the Antec site recommended me an Antec PSU. But I heard so many good reviews and recommendations for the Corsair 520.


Update: Decided on heatsink and PSU. I figured all this would come a little over $1000.

 

[Knavish]

If you hang onto that old 80GB drive, I'd either make it the secondary storage drive or put it in a USB enclosure. HDs get faster with each new generation -- there's no reason to wait extra seconds for Windows to boot. A 3 year old HD might also be a bit of a risk since it's already eaten away a chunk of its MTBF.

-Knavish

 

[jkresh]

I agree with Knavish, make the 300 or 500 gig new drive your primary one use the 80gig as secondary or backup. As to psu's corsairs 520 or 600 would be a good idea for that system, seasonic, enermax and pc power and cooling are also very good. FOR HSF just look at anandtechs recient reviews but thermalright's ultra 120 is very good in performance to noise ratio (depending on what fan you use).

Unless there is a big sale I wouldn't buy parts much in advance as if you end up not using a part till after the 30 day return policy is up and it was doa that would be a major hassle.

 

[Roguestar]

Indeed, get a new SATA hard drive and use it as your primary drive. The old one can be used for storage. Get a Western Digital KS or Seagate 7200.10 model.

Heatsink: read AnandTech's latest cooler review and look at the graphs.

PSU: Seasonic/Enermax/Corsair, around 520W or 550W should do you well.


By the way, get a vanilla no-frills 8800GTS. No point in getting a factory overclocked one and paying them for what you can do and possibly get more out of.

 

[invidia]

At the moment, my main concern is the PSU and heatsink. I've checked out the Thermalright ultra 120 and it seems rather huge. Would it fit in my case/mobo? It seems like it would obstruct some of the ram slots.

Also I've noticed reviews and concerns that you will need a PSU with long enough cables for the P180 case. Will the Corsair 520 be good enough?

 

[invidia]

I've decided on a Tuniq Tower heatsink. From what I hear and read, you'll need to lap the ultra 120. I've looked up what lapping is and it doesn't seem to be a thing I'll be good at.

Hopefully I don't need to lap the Tuniq

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: invidia
For overclocking, I am undecided and probably will do a little in the future.

Please expound on your views of overclocking and the associated risks.

 

[invidia]

Originally posted by: Blain
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: invidia
For overclocking, I am undecided and probably will do a little in the future.</end quote></div>
Please expound on your views of overclocking and the associated risks.

Actually I've never overclocked a comp before... I wanted to overclock the current one I'm using but never gotten around in doing so. It was already running hot air cooled and couldn't figure out the problem. After switching to over 4 heatsinks and refitting the sink on the cpu hundreds of times, I decided to leave as is and not overclock.

I live in South Florida, so it's insanely hot and humid year round. AC is on during the 3 hottest months (june, july, and august)


I'll overclock if I can manage to get the temps on my quad core to a reasonable range and hopefully this works better than my last ordeal. I know I won't get too far without water cooling.

 

[Blain]

Do you want to OC just because you can, or does your system run too slow and you need to OC?

"Please expound on your views of overclocking and the associated risks."

 

[drakore]

Take a look at the 2900XT. With the catalyst drivers it outperforms the 8800GTS 640MB in almost every category.

Do not get corsair ddr2-800 ram, it will most likely be promos chips. If you want to overclock definitely the crucial ddr2-800 w/ micron D9's

The corsair PSU is a must, stick with it.

I would consider ditching the quad core... you probably don't need it, not to mention overclocking it is very hard. If you wait and get one with G0 stepping then that will help your overclocking cause a lot.

Other than that, system looks good.