Rate my rig

[mosmef06]

Hey everyone, I'm building a new computer and would love to hear some input on the initial build choices I've made. I'm pretty much open to suggestion for cost improvement on everything, as well as performance improvement within a reasonable cost limit of the current item. My plan is to do a moderate but not severe overclock of the CPU. The unit will be used for just about everything, photo, video editing, gaming, etc. and will run on a 24" Dell 2407.

Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

COOLER MASTER CM Stacker STC-T01-UWK Black/ Silver Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply - Retail

(Placeholder for 6420 on April 22ish) Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail

BUFFALO Firestix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model FSX800D2C-K2G - Retail

2X Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model LH-20A1H-185 - OEM

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Total Cost - 1562.90 at the egg.

My main concerns are the Motherboard (not too familiar with rev 1.3 vs. the others), Video Card (EVGA seems pretty highly rated, what are opinions on the Superclock version), but I'm certainly open to suggestions for anything on there.

Thanks for your input.

 

[oynaz]

2 gigabyte RAM is not future-proof. If the motherboard can use 4 RAM sticks, it is not a big problem though.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: mosmef06
Rate my rig

3.75 out of 10...
Lacks originality :laugh:

 

[yh125d]

Don't buy the DS3 from newegg, buy it from ClubIT.com, they guarantee you get a rev 3.3 board I think.

 

[theYipster]

Originally posted by: oynaz
2 gigabyte RAM is not future-proof. If the motherboard can use 4 RAM sticks, it is not a big problem though.

If you buy 4 gigs of RAM, you should know that 32-bit Windows (XP and Vista) will not be able to use it all. Due to technical limitations, the most 32-bit Windows can use is 3.2 Gigabytes (in reality, Windows will map 4 Gigabytes of system RAM minus any component PCI/E memory, such as the memory on your video card.) 4 Gigabytes of RAM is a nice thing to have, but be prepared to run XP-64 or Vista-64 in order to use it all.

Also, for a Dell 2407, you might want to consider an 8800 GTX video card in order to run today and tomorrow's games at high settings at native resolution. A GTS 640 Meg will work, but 1900x1200 is really a resolution where having a beast of a card makes a noticeable difference.

Good luck,

Mark.

 

[mosmef06]

How can 4GB improve future-proofedness without using something like a 64-bit OS which would likely drive me crazy with driver issues, on top of it only really being able to use the extra ram for a single application? I'm sure this build lacks originality, I've lifted most of the parts from guides here at anandtech as well as THG, that's why I'm asking you all if there's something better.

Thanks for the input on the ClubIT purchase also!

 

[theYipster]

It can't. First of all, no matter how much RAM you have in your machine, a 32-bit Windows program will only be able to use 2 Gigabytes of memory at a time. This is true, btw, if your running a 32-bit or 64-bit Operating System. For a single program to use more than 2 Gigabytes of RAM, it A) needs to be compiled as a 64-bit binary, and B) must be running on a 64-bit operating system. The only way 4-Gigs will be useful, from a future-proof perspective, is if and when you run a 64-bit OS.

(Okay, so technically, there's a switch in 32-bit Windows called PAE that will allow PAE aware programs to use more than 2 gigs of RAM. However, this switch is horribly buggy and will ruin your system's stability and performance. Besides, I know of no program that is PAE aware.)

The benefit of having an extra 512 to 1.2 gigs of RAM in XP (how much will depend on your component, i.e. video card, memory) is that you'll be able to do a bit more multitasking w/o sacrificing much performance. However, you should feel confident in running 32-bit XP or Vista with 2-Gigs of RAM, as both will run perfectly well with that amount of memory. If, in the future, you wish to move to a 64-bit OS, then you can buy the extra RAM at a cheaper price.

Good luck,

Mark.

 

[mc866]

Originally posted by: yh125d
Don't buy the DS3 from newegg, buy it from ClubIT.com, they guarantee you get a rev 3.3 board I think.

:thumbsup: Got ver 3.3 from ClubIT for my last build




Also I would go with a Tuniq Tower 120 or a Thermalright ultra 120 for the HSF, other than that I think it looks perfect.

 

[Zardnok]

Looks very similar to my current project. ClubIT does have great pricing, but remember to compare the bottom line! ClubIT will get you on the shipping fees.

What is your purpose with this machine? Do you plan to Overclock? If so, how much would you like to OC?

 

[drum]

Originally posted by: yh125d
Don't buy the DS3 from newegg, buy it from ClubIT.com, they guarantee you get a rev 3.3 board I think.

I got a 3.3 from newegg a month ago

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: drum

Originally posted by: yh125d
Don't buy the DS3 from newegg, buy it from ClubIT.com, they guarantee you get a rev 3.3 board I think.

I got a 3.3 from newegg a month ago

Yeah but it's pretty much luck of the draw at the egg.

 

[mosmef06]

THanks for all of the comments. I agree on a number of them, especially the HSF being switched out witha Tuniq.

Any other recommendations for the mobo? I'm having trouble figuring out which board out there is the best for a middle of the road, yet rock stable over clock. (like 3.2 range).

Thanks.

 

[Roguestar]

3.2Ghz is a fairly big overclock, you know . The DS3 1.3 or 3.3 is a great motherboard for overclocking, like the Asus P5B-Deluxe.