Ready to Build <--- Need final thoughts and comments please

[Baconator Model T101]

I have spent nearly a month now researching and planning my build and it's now time to finalize. Here is my goal.

1. Computer will be used for GAMING
2. All the items listed are within my budget ~$1200-1300. Budget can expand to include a Q6600 instead of the E6750 if required.
3. Buying from the U.S. Newegg, Fry's Electronics, etc..
4. Planning to go with Intel, nVidia, Antec and PC Power & Cooling.
5. Will use current: Win XP Pro, Optical Mouse, Logitec 5.1 speakers, Acer 22" AL2216WBD monitor and Seagate 150GB ST3160812AS as the Tertiary(3rd) hard drive. The HD will be used only to store old MST3K episodes and will normally be "spun-down"
6. I have searched and/or read similar threads but the Penryn delay might have changed things.
7 Thinking about hitting 3.00 GHz with either the E6750 or Q6600[convince me to go quad ] so would need a good CPU cooler anyway.

* Read the sticky so Blain would'nt beat me


BUILD LIST



CASE:..............Antec P182 ***UPDATE--purchased for $99***
PSU:................PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
Motherboard:....Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
CPU:................Intel E6750 (overclocked to 3.00 GHz)
Video:..............EVGA 8800GTS (G92) 512
Optical Drive:...ASUS 20X SATA DRW-2014L1T - retail
Memory...........G. Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 [PC2 6400] D.C.
HD #1..............WD Raptor 150 (WD1500ADFD) { Windows XP OS + utilites + music}
HD #2..............WD Raptor 150 (WD1500ADFD) { GAMES ONLY }
HD #3..............Seagate 150GB ST3160812AS (old hard drive for video storage and normally "spun-down"

CPU Cooling..... ~UNKNOWN~

P.S. I'm also aware of the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000

Any help or ideas will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[chuckm]

Do already have the OS? Looks real nice. Good luck.

 

[Baconator Model T101]

Yes, have Win XP Pro(32).

Either going to reinstall it from it's install disk or just copy it over from the old drive to the new HD #1 disk, not sure yet.

 

[DSF]

Since you're looking to overclock to 3GHz, I'll mention that the E2xxx and E4xxx series do that relatively easily, and the lower cache isn't much of an issue in the real world. Something to think about that could save you $50-100. Also, for the price of those two Raptors you could get a Hitachi 1TB drive that performs almost as well (better in some cases) and stores 3 times as much.

Edit: If you're going to reinstall it from a disk that doesn't have Service Pack 2, consider slipstreaming SP2 into your install. Instructions for doing so can be found here.

 

[Baconator Model T101]

Thanks for reminding me about Slipstreaming, completely forgot about it.

The two reasons I originally passed the Hitachi by was that I only use up 100GB of my current 150GB HD. The fact of a single HD failing and taking everything with it was also a worry.


If I use the Hitachi I'll partition for the OS. I'm a bit of a n00b so I'll have to look that up too. Do you or anyone know how much space to make the partition for Win XP Pro by chance?

Thanks.

 

[mageslayer]

Get
CM Stacker case, they are awesome
antec 620hx/tx
q6600

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: mageslayer
Get
CM Stacker case, they are awesome
antec 620hx/tx
q6600

He doesn't need 620W for this computer. (For that matter, he doesn't need the 610 he chose above.) 500-520W from a good manufacturer would be plenty.

 

[Baconator Model T101]

Thanks for the replies. I picked up the Antec P182 at Fry's a few days ago because it is pretty highly rated but mainly because I got it for $99. At that price it was too good to ignore.

For the PSU I'm looking at the Corsair 520HX as well based on comments. Since I'm not going to overclock like crazy it should be ok. That 8800 GTS I read somewhere can draw 280watts at full load!(anyone know if that is true?)

That was the reason I was first checking out the PC P&C 610.

I'll check out that Antec wattage calculator again to see if I missed anything.

El Bacon

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Baconator Model T101
Thanks for the replies. I picked up the Antec P182 at Fry's a few days ago because it is pretty highly rated but mainly because I got it for $99. At that price it was too good to ignore.

For the PSU I'm looking at the Corsair 520HX as well based on comments. Since I'm not going to overclock like crazy it should be ok. That 8800 GTS I read somewhere can draw 280watts at full load!(anyone know if that is true?)

That was the reason I was first checking out the PC P&C 610.

I'll check out that Antec wattage calculator again to see if I missed anything.

El Bacon

If that 280W figure is true, which may be possible, that's 280W for the entire system. In other words, with the CPU and GPU both running at full load, the system might draw that much. The card by itself won't use 280W.

 

[Boyo]

Looks like a good build.....I would keep it as is......