New PC build - help

[oNEwISH]

I want to buy a new PC in the next weeks, I haven't bought one for at least 4 years, so I'm afraid I'll need some of your advices. I'd be very thankful if you'd tell me what you think of this system.

Intro:
.) I don't plan to build it myself
.) What do I need my PC for? Mostly for surfing, webdesign (Photoshop, Flash/Dreamweaver), MP3 encoding, and a lot of Office (Excel with VBA and Access). I play VERY very seldom. In addition I plan to record all my VHS films on DVD.
.) PC has to be silent as I use it mostly at night and there is somebody else sleeping in my room.

System
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6300 or E6400

Mobo: ASUS P5B Deluxe Wifi

RAM: 2x512MB Kingston DDR2 533 MHz

Graphic card: ASUS Extreme N7600GS Silent/HTD

Cooler: Zalman CNPS9500

Case: Midi-CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 (Black/silver)

HDD: 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATAII ST3250620AS (250GB)

Video card: Pinnacle Studio 10.0 Plus 700 PCI

Power supply: I must say I don't know how much the sys would need - 400W??



Thanks in advance for your help

 

[dBTelos]

2 things to say.

1) Look at a little bit faster RAM, and 2x 1GB.
2) 400W is good. Look up "Enhance ENP 400W" at eWiz and pick the 80+ version. Should handle your system well 🙂

 

[Boyo]

If you are using Photoshop, I suggest you up your RAM to 2GB. For the PSU, take a look at the Enermax Liberty 500W.

 

[dBTelos]

OP, you don't need 500W for your system. Ignore that part of Boyo's post.

 

[acegazda]

You DO NOT need a p5b deluxe. Way overkill if you're not ocing.
2gb is good, but get 667mhz corsair valueselect or kingston valueram.
You don't even need 400w, but there aren't really any cheaper, quality psus <400w (seasonics are great, but more expensive) That being said, go with the aforementioned enhance psu.
As for the cooler, the scythe mine is $35 shipped @ newegg, about $15 cheaper than the inferior zalman you picked. Check out a couple of reviews and comparisons and you'll see that the mine and ninja are just about the 2nd place coolers (to the tuniq tower) in every aspect.
You should probably go with the centurion 531, it has a 12cm intake fan and room for another 12cm exhaust. It should be quieter than the centurion 5 and costs $50 from chiefvalue.
Hope this helped a little, welcome to the forums!😀

 

[Bobthelost]

Only get RAM faster than 533 if you're overclocking otherwise it's 1) A waste 2) Can be slower 3) A real waste.

2GB would be nice but you might not need it, what's your peak useage at the moment? I'm expecting the RAM prices to fall post christmass and with the off chip controller there's no reason you can't go to 4 sticks later.

That motherboard is a really bad choice.

 

[acegazda]

Thing is, 533mhz RAM is no cheaper than 667mhz RAM! Both are not cheap at all.

 

[dBTelos]

You don't even need 400w

A little off topic but I thought I would inform you here. Any modern system with any video card should have at least a 400W PSU. Just because of how parts are becoming, and how popular OCing is. Almost all CPUs draw 80W at full load, and even a lowend videocard draws 50-70W. Take out efficiency and how much you have on the 12V rail, usually a sub-400W PSU just wont do. Hope this helps.

 

[oynaz]

So you expect that USB, DVD and HDDs draw 250 watt?

A quiet quality 300-400 watt CPU would be a good choice. 400 watt would be a bit overkill, but you might get a good price on one.