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Need some feedback on the new PC I want to build

R

Rand3000

Member
Hopefully this is the right place to post this. I'm going to be building a new PC and I'd like to get some people to take a look at it and let me know if there any problems with the build or if they have better ideas on what components to put in. Thanks

Revised Build:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 4300 (plan to overclock it)
Motherboard: Asus P5N-E SLI
Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB or SAPPHIRE 100176U Radeon X1950 PRO ULTIMATE 256MB
Case: Antec Solo
Power Supply: Enermax 500W
DVD Drive: NEC 18X DVD±R
Hard Drive: Using existing SATA drives I have in my old PC that are SATA 150.

Original Build:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 4300 (plan to overclock it)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3
Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB or SAPPHIRE 100176U Radeon X1950 PRO ULTIMATE 256MB
Case: Antec Solo
Power Supply: RAIDMAX AURORA RX-580F ATX 580Watts
DVD Drive: NEC 18X DVD±R
Hard Drive: Using existing SATA drives I have in my old PC that are SATA 150.
 
I would not receommend getting a Raidmax PSU. You are much better off getting a Seasonic or Enermax 500W. Also, why not go with a DX10 card at this point in time?
 
I suggest the Asus P5N-E SLI (the one with the 650i chipset) because the DS3 could be problematic when you overclock. It's hit or miss right now. Mine is working okay but the bios is not perfect.

Originally posted by: Boyo
Also, why not go with a DX10 card at this point in time?
Click to expand...
Because he might not want to break the bank on the first generation of DX10 cards on the market. It's not like they are dime a dozen at this point and you can just take your pick in the midrange level.
 
Originally posted by: Boyo
I would not receommend getting a Raidmax PSU. You are much better off getting a Seasonic or Enermax 500W. Also, why not go with a DX10 card at this point in time?
Click to expand...
:thumbsup: since you plan on overclocking, its a safer bet to get a quality PSU
 
Thanks for the replies. I am targeting a mid-range system for under $1,000. I would like to upgrade to DX10 card sometime in the next year. On the power supply, the nicer ones seems to be $120+ and I was hoping to get a good 450 Watt + PSU that would be a little cheaper. The Raidmax is around $45 after rebate and has pretty good reviews on Newegg.

The main reason I went with the DS3 is because that is what Anandtech used in their Core 2 Duo 4300 review so I figured it would be a good one to use. 🙂 I'll have to check out the Asus board.
 
Anand has an "exceptionally" good DS3 board. They haven't had the cold boot problems everyone here seem to be having with the F8, F9 and F10 bioses.
 
Originally posted by: StopSign
I suggest the Asus P5N-E SLI (the one with the 650i chipset) because the DS3 could be problematic when you overclock. It's hit or miss right now. Mine is working okay but the bios is not perfect.
Click to expand...


I'd go with an Asus P5B over something with an Nvidia chipset.



 
Originally posted by: Rand3000
On the power supply, the nicer ones seems to be $120+ and I was hoping to get a good 450 Watt + PSU that would be a little cheaper.
Click to expand...

There are good power supplies for under $100. You should be able to pick up the Enhance 5150GH (500W) for around $80 shipped. Many, many other good choices, not as cheap as $45, but better. Take Newegg "reviews" with a grain of salt.
 
Terrible power supply. If you want cheap, just get a 400W Enermax Liberty and call it a day.

RAM is also bad.

Third vote for the P5N-E 650i.
 
So guess I'll need to get a new Power Supply Any recommendations on Power Supplies under $100? I'm having a hard time finding the Enhance 5150GH PSU.

And on the motherboard, does the Asus P5N-E do pretty well at overclocking? I like that it has a Firewire port built in.

Lastly, what RAM would you recommend?
 
The 400W Enermax Liberty is rated much lower than it's actual power draw... I'm sure it would have no problem powering your setup.

The P5N-E SLI is the board to have for $150 overclocking, despite the fact that people have been getting results a bit shy of Anandtech's 500 FSB.

As for the RAM, there are only two options for your price range. Either wait until these Buffalo's come back in stock (they are D9 Micron, so expect DDR2 1000+), or take advantage of the awesome rebate on these, which also use D9 Micron chips.

Either one would be an awesome choice, and a similar performer. I would take advantage of the Patriot rebate...
 
Originally posted by: Blain
Originally posted by: Rand3000
Need some feedback on the new PC I want to build.
Click to expand...
Dude, I haven't seen one of these builds for a while. I give it 3.75 out of 10
Click to expand...

Um, thanks for the feedback. Mind providing something more useful about what changes you would make? I don't claim to be an expert so I"m asking for help here since there are a lot of experts on this forum.
 
Originally posted by: tcG
The 400W Enermax Liberty is rated much lower than it's actual power draw... I'm sure it would have no problem powering your setup.

The P5N-E SLI is the board to have for $150 overclocking, despite the fact that people have been getting results a bit shy of Anandtech's 500 FSB.

As for the RAM, there are only two options for your price range. Either wait until these Buffalo's come back in stock (they are D9 Micron, so expect DDR2 1000+), or take advantage of the awesome rebate on these, which also use D9 Micron chips.

Either one would be an awesome choice, and a similar performer. I would take advantage of the Patriot rebate...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I've updated the PC to this build, how does this look now?

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 4300 (plan to overclock it)
Motherboard: Asus P5N-E SLI
Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB or SAPPHIRE 100176U Radeon X1950 PRO ULTIMATE 256MB
Case: Antec Solo
Power Supply: Enermax 500W
DVD Drive: NEC 18X DVD±R
Hard Drive: Using existing SATA drives I have in my old PC that are SATA 150.
 
why dont u get the e6400 or something?

btw, do you need a pretty good(and expensive) motherboard if you want to overclock? I heard the cheap motherboards cant handle much oc
 
Originally posted by: NZ
why dont u get the e6400 or something?

btw, do you need a pretty good(and expensive) motherboard if you want to overclock? I heard the cheap motherboards cant handle much oc
Click to expand...

The reason I'm going with the 4300 is because of Anandtech's article about it being better at overclocking than the 6300 and 6400.
 
Originally posted by: Rand3000
Um, thanks for the feedback. Mind providing something more useful about what changes you would make? I don't claim to be an expert so I"m asking for help here since there are a lot of experts on this forum.
Click to expand...
Don't use an SLI (nVidia chipset), MB. Use one that's got an Intel based chipset.
If you're using SLI no matter what, use nVidia video cards.

 
I suggest changing the board to GigaByte 965P-DS4. I works perfect with the E4300 and OC at least 50% (I tested it).
Also the Asus P5B-Deluxe will work fine for you.

Everything else looks fine to me.
 
Nay, I say the S3. I've not had any problems with it, and there are some real success stories in the CPU/OC forum with it. Duvie and markffw have 5 overclocking conroes to ~3.5Ghz each between them, mine is at 3.22 and working fine. It's cheaper than the DS4 by quite a bit too.

If the OP isn't buying nVidia cards or planning to use SLI then there's not much need to shell out for the 650i board if he can get a more stable intel chipset for cheaper and still overclock it to his heart's content.

Originally posted by: tcG
The 400W Enermax Liberty is rated much lower than it's actual power draw... I'm sure it would have no problem powering your setup.

The P5N-E SLI is the board to have for $150 overclocking, despite the fact that people have been getting results a bit shy of Anandtech's 500 FSB.

As for the RAM, there are only two options for your price range. Either wait until these Buffalo's come back in stock (they are D9 Micron, so expect DDR2 1000+), or take advantage of the awesome rebate on these, which also use D9 Micron chips.

Either one would be an awesome choice, and a similar performer. I would take advantage of the Patriot rebate...
Click to expand...

The Buffalo Firestix have swapped from D9 to something else (can't quite remember if it's Promos or elipida) according to one of the later posts in the DDR2 overclocking thread in the CPU/OC forum. The patriot is a good choice, though.
 
You don't need expensive D9 memory if you're getting an E4300 for overclocking. Regular DDR2-800 will get you to 3.6 GHz........
 
So it looks like the Motherboard is the main area where there are various opinions on. So far there are the following boards below recommended. The reviews I've been able to read all seem positive for these boards so I'm wondering if these are all fairly equal. Any suggestions on what I should consider in selecting one of these motherboards? Looks like the S3 is the cheapest and the P5B is the most expensive. Thanks.

Asus P5N-E SLI
Asus P5B-Deluxe
Gigabyte 965P-DS3
Gigabyte 965P-S3
 
Thanks TcG. So will the P5N-E work fine with an ATI card or should I really look at getting an Nvidia card? I think right now I'm leaning towards the S3 because it's about $40 cheaper, although the P5N-E has Firewire built in.
 
No problem! 😎

It will work fine with an ATi card, but you won't get the added benefit of going SLI in the future.

Like I said, they are both great boards and should both get you in that 450+ FSB range, provided your RAM is cooperating.

That being said, I would buy the S3, and use $40 I saved to upgrade the X1900GT to an X1950Pro.

Also, what kind of CPU cooling are you looking at?
 
Originally posted by: tcG
No problem! 😎

It will work fine with an ATi card, but you won't get the added benefit of going SLI in the future.

Like I said, they are both great boards and should both get you in that 450+ FSB range, provided your RAM is cooperating.

That being said, I would buy the S3, and use $40 I saved to upgrade the X1900GT to an X1950Pro.

Also, what kind of CPU cooling are you looking at?
Click to expand...

I was planning on just using the stock cooler because the reviews of the Core 2 Duo overclocked seemed to show that the stock cooler was sufficient. Do you think I'll need a separate cooler? Thanks again for the info.
 
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