Rate/Help newbies attempt at rig

[CLite]

Haven't built a rig ground up in like 5 years but here goes my spec after a few days of note taking and relearning the ins and outs.

Tower: So clueless here..., Coolmaster CM690 ~ $30
PSU: Just as clueless.., Coolmaster eXtreme 500W ~ $40
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 ~ $194.99
CPU Heatsink: Zalman CNPS8700 + Artic silver paste ~ $61.90
Memory: 2x2GB DDR2-800 S-Rigid ~ $78.28
Motherboard: Asus P5K-E P35 chipset ~ $145
HD: WD Caviar SE16 320GB/7200RPM ~ $60
*Vista Home Premium ~ $104
EVGA 7900GT 256MB - Already Own

Total ~ $714 (all estimates include the various MIRs I found)

*Would save $100 bucks just upgrading my current XP Home edition but not sure if I want to lose the computer (AMD 64 X2 4200+, gig of ram, Asus Mobo)

Applications: Multiple computer games, I get ADD with games and can have WoW up , Eve up, WC3 up, and like 20 internet explorer windows open all at once. Used to have three instances of a game "everquest" up on this with only 1 gig so I'm thinking 4 gig is plenty.

I do wish to O/C, but I will probably be a newbie at it so I'm unsure if the 60 dollar heatsink is really worth it.

Thoughts on saving money? I feel like I could get a lot cheaper PSU and Tower but don't know anything about that stuff, and I'm sure I could ditch the heatsink unless it's that good.

 

[OdiN]

Where are you getting the Vista price? I got Ultimate x64 for less than that.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/vie...a=AA66730&RSKU=AA66730

 

[CLite]

Well I feel silly, I just googled and followed links figuring there would be an industry wide standard for vista pricing. Though what you linked is 32bit I found 64 bit home premium for $104 on that same site, thanks! I'll update my post accordingly

 

[OdiN]

You were probably looking at the retail version, which is quite a bit more. The only thing you get with Retail is support from Microsoft. If you're building a computer, you likely don't need this.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Retail Vista can be moved between machines. OEM Vista is supposedly tied to your mobo.

 

[996GT2]

The CM690 Case is a STEAL for $30...I recently bought one for the quad-core build in my sig and it's one of the most well-designed cases I've ever used...extra drive screws built into the case, holes in the mobo tray for easy hiding of wires, room for 2 exhaust fans around CPU and 5 extra 120mm fans plus an 80mm behind-mobo fan, etc etc.

I would not get the CM power supply; while Cooler Master makes some of the best cases in the industry, the same cannot be said of their PSUs. I would get an Antec Earthwatts 430 or a Corsair VX450. The Antec is based on a Seasonic unit and uses Nippon-Chemicon for the main capacitor. The VX, IIRC, is a CWT unit with high quality Hitachi main caps. You can find a review of both on Anandtech.com.

If you plan to overclock, I wouldn't spend the extra money on an E6750 and instead go for an E4500. You lose 2mb of cache, but the extra speed gained through overclocking (most Core 2 Duos will hit over 3 GHz, 3.2-3.4 GHz is doable for a lot of people also). I would ditch the Zalman heatsink and get a Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B for around $35 at Newegg. It offers better cooling performance than the Zalman and can be used fanless if you choose to not overclock or overclock lightly with good airflow in your case. It will also fit perfectly in the CM 690 case

I haven't heard of S-Rigid for RAM before, but I would personally go with G.Skill HZ or Crucial Ballistix for heavy overclocking. Cheaper RAM will do if you use a divider and don't plan to OC the RAM a lot.

Hope that helps