Guidance for a first timer's build

[Goldfish4209]

Hi, I'm building a semi-bleeding edge rig for christmas. This is what I have:


CPU: C2D E6750 2.66Ghz 1.33Ghz FSB $194.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115029

Mobo: Asus P5K-E P35 $142.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131225

RAM: 2x Mushkin 2x1Gb DDR2-800 4-5-4-11 $62.99 ea. $125.98 both
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820146673

Sound card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer PCI $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16829102006

Graphics card: (undecided brand) Radeon HD 3870 $219



CPU cooler: Zalman CNPS9500 92mm fan $63.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835118223

Arctic silver thermal goop: $5.99

Better case fans: 2x Aerocool Xtremeturbine black 120mm $15.99 ea. $31.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835129245

Case: Thermaltake Matrix black aluminum mid tower $85.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811133008

PSU: Corsair 450VX 450watt (but 33A +12v rail) $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139003



Optical Drive: 2x Lite on 20x dvd burner SATA $28.99 ea. $57.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827106070

Hard Drive: Seagate barracuda 7200.10 250Gb SATA $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822148262

Card Reader: SIIG 9 in 1 USB card reader + floppy drive $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16815150058



Keyboard: Logitech G15 $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16823126034

Mouse: Razer Diamondback 3g Flame red $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16826153014

Speakers: Logitech X-540 5.1 $88.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16836121006

Monitor: BenQ G2400W black 24" 5ms dvi widescreen LCD monitor: $449.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824014158


OS: Vista Premium OEM builder's edition $111.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16832116204


Added up, not including any rebates or instant savings is $2076.79 on Newegg. I may or may not buy from a different site, but it's not worth spending extra on shipping to get all the lowest prices.


What does everyone think?

This I'm planning to be able to upgrade for a few cycles, save the CPU and the memory, which probably will be staying.

I will be gaming on this for a while, but it won't be seeing crysis or anything, the most demanding game I'm putting on this so far is going to be FSX, but this still has to play the civilizations and war simulations of tomorrow.

I plan on the CPU/FSB being at 3.2Ghz/1.6Ghz and the memory in 3:4 ratio at 1200 if overclock allows, or at 2:3 at 1066 if 1200 (most likely) fails. From what I've heard, the memory should have enough headroom to hit 1066.

As a CPU sidenote, it doesn't look like AMD is making a comeback anytime soon, so I'm sticking with intel for this rig.

What does everyone think of the case? I'm not really comfortable with the case, but I can't really find a better one that has a window and isn't too flashy.

When the nforce 7xx chipset comes out and a price compatible replacement surfaces, will someone please recommend me that board in the case it pwns P35?

And, will a 3870 cover up all the SATA ports on the board? They look kinda close and reviews kinda indicate it will.

Will that little syringe of arctic silver be enough to cover the CPU, chipset, and GPU in the case I want to reapply and improve the gpu/chipset cooling?

Also, will the PSU be beefy enough to handle future high-mainstream cards?

If I commit to a 3870 or a 8800GT, should I preorder (how do you do it, click auto notify?) as soon as possible to make sure I get my hands on one before christmas break when I build?

AS far as OSes go, I want to try out linux and dual boot. I've never done this before, so in this area I have no experience whatsoever. Without blowing extra money on utilities is it possible to mess around with partitions in windows/BIOS/wherever you do it? And what linux distro should I pick?

Lastly, is there anything I've forgotten?

Comments, help, constructive flaming is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

(For the record, I've lurked around tech websites and read magazines for long enough to know how to put together a computer and tweak it, etc, so I think I'm all set as far as getting it to boot and install windows/linux goes)

EDIT: Additional information requested by that pc builder's notice thread:

Orders will be going to illinois. I have no real brand bias other than that I'm not going AMD due to costs and performance as of thanksgiving. I've done research, and I'm pretty confident in what I've got listed. These are all new parts, and the price range (in case someone missed it is $2000, give or take maybe $75 or $100. I absolutely CANNOT go over $2100.

 

[Rike]

It's minor but ...
Case fans: High speed Yate Loons x3 [two for case, one for heatsink) ($3.15x3= $9.45)
http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-L...igh-Speed-pr-3771.html

Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-2 ($5.95)
http://www.jab-tech.com/Arctic...-Compound-pr-3863.html

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultima 90 ($45.95)
http://www.jab-tech.com/Therma...Ultima-90-pr-3852.html

Subtotal: $61.35 + $7.50-$9.00 shipping

Lower cost and a bit better preformance.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

My suggestions would be

Swap the ram with two of these
Super Talent 2gb DDR-800 $44.80
spending $38 less and getting double the ram

Get the Soyo 24" lcd at officemax on BF for $249 saving $200


With the money you save wait until the first week of december and get the new G92 GTS with 1024mb memory

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
My suggestions would be

Swap the ram with two of these
Super Talent 2gb DDR-800 $44.80
spending $38 less and getting double the ram

Get the Soyo 24" lcd at officemax on BF for $249 saving $200


With the money you save wait until the first week of december and get the new G92 GTS with 1024mb memory

That's a pair of nice finds. I just found a new camping spot for Friday morning.

Thanks, GuitarDaddy. A for you.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Rike

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
My suggestions would be

Swap the ram with two of these
Super Talent 2gb DDR-800 $44.80
spending $38 less and getting double the ram

Get the Soyo 24" lcd at officemax on BF for $249 saving $200


With the money you save wait until the first week of december and get the new G92 GTS with 1024mb memory

That's a pair of nice finds. I just found a new camping spot for Friday morning.

Thanks, GuitarDaddy. A for you.

:thumbsup:

I got the Soyo 24" when it was on sale for $299 before I knew about the BF deal. It's a great screen with the more expensive 8bit P-MVA panel and 5ms response, mine had no dead pixels and a gorgeous picture.

 

[Goldfish4209]

Oddly enough, I can't find the soyo panel on sale anywhere, it's not on sale at the soyo website and it's not even mentioned on the officemax website. Any ideas there? I'm not gonna stand in line at midnight to buy something that isn't even there.

Guitardaddy: That memory looks good, but how does it overclock? I really want to overclock it to about 1066.

Also, Why the yate loon fans? I kinda want a few "fancy-ish" fans, and those seem to be incompatible with controllable mobo headers? Or am I missing something?

Those Scythe kaze jyuni fans look pretty nice, should I get 2 and put them in push pull?

As a side note, how much air do a PSU and a 3870 exhaust?

 

[s44]

The Soyo doesn't have HDCP, which may be an issue down the line. Yate Loon is basically expensive Nexus fans at a tiny fraction of the price.