New build confirmation June 08

[wand3r3r]

Please critique my possible build. I am planning to build around mid-June and will likely get parts from Newegg. I only need the parts listed below because I have a case, a hard drive, a dvd burner, LCD screen, mouse, keyboard, memory card reader from my existing computer.

I will be using the computer mainly for programming (tomcat, eclipse, netbeans etc) and the compiling etc is pretty intensive, for an occasional game, surfing, and other normal tasks. No brand loyalty, performance is king (well, and price). I will also be interesting in ?light? overclocking so my main concern is the motherboard because I haven?t been following them for a long time. I will keep the computer for several years so I need to plan for that. As for operating systems I already have and will use Ubuntu/openSuse, Vista 64, and XP 64. I will have 2 dual booting hard drives.

My parts that I need are: PSU, CPU, a hard drive, a motherboard, graphics card, RAM, and a CPU fan. The things I am sitting on the fence over are the motherboard, graphics card (4850?or Nvidias new cards) and the power supply.
Budget ~$750: Not set in stone but cheaper is better, but don?t want to sacrifice.

CPU: $200 (Hoping to spend around $200)
E8400 with plans to overclock to whatever it will go to without raising voltages.
Basically I have debated between the Q9300, Q6600 and this with this winning due to cheap, overclocking is easy, and performance is good. I could be tempted into the Q9300 if the prices drop a little in the next month. Its around $275.
E8400 newegg

Motherboard: $110 (Could spend more if better)
This is my biggest question. I will never use SLI/Crossfire but would like it to be overclockable and reasonably priced but not lacking in features. I think this may be pretty old technology as I have read about this DS3 a long time ago. Suggestions??
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L with solid state capacitors
DS3L newegg

GPU: $150 (before $25 MIR) (Could spend max $200)
ECS N9600GT-512MX-P GeForce 9600GT 512MB
I am wondering if its worth seeing what the 4850 turns out to be if I should look at it instead. I think this one is pretty quiet which is very important but performance is king.
9600 GT newegg

RAM: ~$70 (could spend from $60-140 for 4-8GB)
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Mushkin 4GB newegg
I got these from a review.
Ninjalane review

Hard drive: $115 (hope to spend $115 or less)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB
I guess this the dual platter 640 GB is pretty quick.
WD 640 GB newegg

PSU: ~$60 (hope to spend $60 or less)
Antec earthwatts EA430 430W
This was just a random choice hearing earthwatts a few times.
Earthwatts newegg

Cooler: $32
KINGWIN Revolution RVT-12025
Kingwin fan newegg
I chose this from this review:
Benchmarkreviews review

 

[chinaman1472]

I would consider the a Quad Core for your uses. A Q6600 can be found as cheap as the E8400 and you should be able to utilize the extra cores for programming if the compiling is long. I don't think the Q9300 will drop much in price; there's always a chance it could go on sale for a bit for probably $250.

That 9600GT will end up costing around $125 AR. Here's an 8800GT for $140 AR from Fry's http://shop3.frys.com/product/5434309 It's tough to say whether you should wait or not, but chances are if you wait, current video cards will dip a little more in price.

Good picks on everything else.

 

[wand3r3r]

Thanks for your input.
I am beginning to lean towards the Q6600 or Q9300. What is the best motherboard for overclockability but still not over priced? I will use DDR2 and I will never have SLI or Crossfire so I don't care if the motherboard supports them.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

If you like the p35 from gigabyte- they have a $89 version with an E out front on newgg. Some powersaving features added, but seems to be the same thing.
I'd stick with the E8400. The 6mb cache matches the quadcores, 45nm is cool and oc'able, and you'll get higher clocks on that than a quad in your price range. If you overclock, get ddr2-1000 or ddr2-1066, because it makes it much easier to just up the fsb, and not worry about intricate cpu + ram dividers (4gigs is plentiful- get a 64bit os).
I'd say go with the quad if you decide to do all the things you mentioned at once. I have a friend with a q6600 (admittedly it is the first spin, not g0), and it only reaches 3.4ghz
But for what I'm seeing, an E8400 should do nicely. Might want to check out the zerotherm nv120, or the thermalright 120 extreme w/ a scythe kaze fan (and mx-2 paste).
You might want to consider adding 4 dollars to your hdd budget. you'll pick up an extra 110gb, 32mb cache:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152100

if you don't go with an earthwatts, be sure to go with an 80+ certified psu. They save electricity (money + environment), are quieter, and cooler too.

What you have looks good. have fun!

 

[chinaman1472]

The WD 640GB is slightly faster in most cases due to having higher density platters. On the big scheme they're about the same though.
The extra cache is nice from the E8400, but if the programming stuff he can do can really utilize the extra cores, he'll see more benefit out of that than higher clock speed/cache methinks.

 

[wand3r3r]

Thanks for the advice. I am unsure about the processor as of this moment.
Maybe the hard drive would be worth having the extra 110 GB versus the speed. Thanks for the heads up on that.

Good point on the PSU, I had just picked the Earthwatts randomly so I'll see on that.
Motherboard. Hmm, now when I check the specs on the DS3 it only has PCI Express 1.0 and only 4 sata connections. I am not very sure about it. Thanks for the info on the cheaper DS3, if I get a DS3 it will probably be the cheaper one.

Does PCI-Express 2.0 make a difference if you have a GPU which has the 2.0 connection?
Are there better motherboard options then the DS3 which overclock well and don't break the bank?