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New build - it's been a while, please critique

R

rabbott

Junior Member

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming, light media processing (home movies, photos, etc), light home office work, occasional heavy office work when my corporate laptop is misbehaving.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
US$900-$1100

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
Intel and nVidia.
Disclaimer: currently running AMD, but from what I've read Intel seems the clear choice today.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I'll probably continue to use my aged but well-performing creative 16x DVD-ROM, the rest goes to the wife.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes indeed, I feel I've done a fair amount of research.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I'll run stock initially. I've overlocked in the distant past (we're talking celeron 300 o/c 450) so I'd like to reserve the right to overclock with this build.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
I plan to order parts this week.

------------------------

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Memory
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Video
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Hard Disk
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

DVD-RW
Pioneer Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 10X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

PSU
COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-550-PCAR 550W ATX from factor 12V V2.01 Power Supply 110-115V/ 220-230V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSM, FCC, CCC - Retail

Case
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

O/S
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
Sadly, I occasionally require RDP. Ouch on the "ultimate" pricing.
I'll also be dual-booting to Linux.

A few concerns/questions:
Memory: if I do plan to o/c at all, is this robust enough?
Motherboard: no fan on NB. Will this be an issue?
PSU: is this enough? Is it robust? It's part of a combo deal with the case.

Thanks in advance for any comments/guidance!


 
Originally posted by: rabbottA few concerns/questions:
Memory: if I do plan to o/c at all, is this robust enough?
Motherboard: no fan on NB. Will this be an issue?
PSU: is this enough? Is it robust? It's part of a combo deal with the case.
Click to expand...

Memory: If and when you overclock, how high do you plan to go. DDR2-800 will take you up to 3.6GHz. If you want to go beyond that you need to look at DDR2-1000.

Motherboard: No, it's not an issue. Most don't.

PSU: I wouldn't buy that PSU, as the current it puts out on the 12V rail is pretty low for its wattage rating. With newer systems, that's where the real power issue is: whether or not the unit can supply enough power on the 12V rail. It would be fine for your 8800GTS, but I wouldn't count on it for future upgrades. I would look for power supplies that meet the ATX 12V v2.2 specification, which is the newest. 80% efficiency is also good to look for.
 
Uh, I mean, get some memory that runs at JEDEC specification 1.8 volts.

Don't make me go back in the cupboard again Blain!
 
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