E6600 Build. Advice, compatibility check please.

[imported_BlackKnight]

With a nice budget and school coming quickly, I?m ready to build my Conroe System. I?d like your recommendations/advice/reviews for this build, it will be my second.

The goal for this system:

1. Longevity
2. Upgradable

I?ll be using it for everything from some gaming (BF2, HL2, etc.), to browsing, writing papers, and Photoshop, and I do not plan on overclocking.

So, onto the system. The budget is around $1800 after getting a printer and speakers and I?ve configured all the values to fit within budget on each item.

[CPU]
Intel Core Duo E6600 OEM
Bought and on the way.
$375.00

[Mobo]
ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131025

Price range: 240-260 whenever it comes back in stock.
Pretty certain on this.

[RAM]
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145015
Price range: 180-20

I like Corsair, they?ve served me well.

[Case]
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119068
Happy with the looks and feel of this case, pretty certain on this item.
Price range: 40-60

[Monitor]
ViewSonic VX922
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824116375
Very excited about this monitor.

Price range: 250-270

[HDD]
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822144701

Price range: 60-90
Happy with the looks of this boy, WD has been good to me in the past, but open to suggestions if there is anything better in the price range.

[DVD-R]
SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write and LightScribe Black ATA/ATAPI Model SH-S162L - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827151118
Looks good and great reviews, good price and nice features. Open to better suggestions below 40 though.

Price range: 40

[GPU]
I?m pretty sure I want to go with an nVidia Geforce 7900GT, but I?d appreciate some advice on which make of it to get, nVidia has treated me well in the past as well.

Price range: 300<

[HEATSINK]
I?m pretty lost here, would appreciate some advice on a decent cooling device. I don?t plan on overclocking so I need not a powerful fan.

Price range 30< preferably.

[PSU]
Again, very open to some advice for a solid psu in the price range.

Price range: <110

[Thermal grease]
Advice needed here as well.

[MISC]
Anything else needed, everything crosschecked to work? Would I need any extra case fans?

Speaker/printer/mouse/keyboard covered.



With these price ranges set, everything should meet the budget and leave around 100 in it for shipping.

Thanks!

 

[JPS35]

You might want to read the new update on the WD vs Seagate showdown on the main page of Anandtech. Convinced me...

Second, and this is also a question of mine, doesn't the motherboard listed support Crossfire for ATI? If that is the case, can you use an Nvidia card with it?

 

[acegazda]

Why get that MoBo if you're not ocing? Will you be upgrading to sli/xfire that you want to use the psu for? If so, a fortron epsilon or ocz gamexstream would be great. 600w maybe? If not, a good 400w such as an enhance 5140gh or fortron fsp400-60n is awesome. There is an oem x1900xt @newegg for $289 AR. The nec 3550 or benq 1655 would be a better choice for your optical. A scythe ninja would be great as it is decently quiet or a arctic cooling freezer 7 pro from provantage.com is a great buy.
Welcome to the forums!

 

[HorseShoe]

Now this has been bugging me for some time, but I haven't heard or seen anything about this subject, but is C2D a 64bit processor? This may sound extremely newbie but I just really wanted to know. And I did't really want to start a new thread on this so I just thought that I might as well put it on the next Conroe thread that I see.

 

[Howard]

Drop the speed of the CPU and get a bigger, better monitor.

EDIT: The P5W DH Deluxe isn't what you need.

 

[StevenNevets]

Originally posted by: Howard
Drop the speed of the CPU and get a bigger, better monitor.

EDIT: The P5W DH Deluxe isn't what you need.

thats a great monitor, but ya it's kind of small

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: StevenNevets

Originally posted by: Howard
Drop the speed of the CPU and get a bigger, better monitor.

EDIT: The P5W DH Deluxe isn't what you need.

thats a great monitor

Not for Photoshop.

 

[lorkp]

You should check out the BenQ 1650 DVD writer. It has gotten very good reviews.

 

[imported_BlackKnight]

Okay. Thank's for all the replies.

JPS --> I'll read that tomorrow for sure, what'd be your recommended Seagate HD?

Acegazda --> Thanks for the welcome. I'm looking at that mobo simply because of it's great reviews and performance. No, I don't plan on really using xfire or sli in the forseeable future, I don't really want to upgrade in the next half/year with a computer this new.

Howard --> I'd drop the CPU speed but that'd be awful hard since it's coming already. I don't really feel the need for a bigger monitor either. The current one selected seems to fit my needs for gaming. I've been using a 17' old KDS P-o-s CRT monitor for the past 3 years so trust me, a 19'' quality LCD will seem fine for me, I've never really seen a need for a bigger monitor. The only thing I might consider is a widescreen in the same pricerange, if you have a suggestion.

If that mobo is wrong then what would be a better choice?

Howard again --> I'm not a huge hardcore photoshop man, I do my own work everyonce in a while but the monitor does not need to be a supergiant.

Lorkp --> Thanks for the suggestion, I saw a few labeled 1950 on newegg, could you point me to the specific one you had in mind and a reason it'd be better than the listed? Thanks!


Thanks everyone so far!

 

[JPS35]

Yeah, the article gives a nod to the Seagate, but only by a slim margine based on the warranty. Both received excellent reviews, but the warranty was the deciding factor; go figure!

In either case, you will be fine!

 

[Mobiius]

Looking to do something similar BlackKnight, heres what I'm looking at:

Case:
COOLER MASTER CAVALIER 3 CAV-T03-UW Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis
ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$60.00

PSU:
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
$80.00

Motherboard:
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
$270.00

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13GHz/2MB)
$224.00 (Overclock him some


RAM:
Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 (1GB x 2)
$217.00


Hard-Drive:
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
- OEM
$199.00 (After $50 mail in rebate)
HaHa still a Raptor fan :

Video:
SAPPHIRE 100149 Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
Video Card - OEM
$360.00


DVD/CD:
DVD-/+RW: Pioneer 16x DVD+RW/-RW DVR-110D OEM
$43.00


$1453.00

Lotsa nice monitors out there now, kinda have to pick what you most like.

~Mob

 

[Ayah]

:heart: Dell 2007s, both wide and standard.

 

[w00t]

why are you excited about that monitor? it better not be because it has a 4ms reponse time

Also has lorkp stated the BenQ 1650 DVD-Rw is a good drive

If I were you I would get a motherboard that is cheaper, get a benQ/NEC DVD-RW drive, and research a new monitor

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: Ayah
:heart: Dell 2007s, both wide and standard.

:brokenheart: due to banding issues