Review my Conroe build

[Mr Bob]

I'm going to put together a computer this christmas, and wanted to go with Conroe. Most of the time simple word processing/email/internet will be the main use. There might be a game every once in awhile.

The reason for the 6600gt is because I wanted something that will work for most of the current games.

CPU: E6300
$183
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80858

MB: Asrock ConRoe945G-DVI 945G
$80
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=245018

GPU: eVGA 6600GT w/ dual dvi
$125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130064

2 DVD Drives: LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SHW160P6S05
$35 x 2 = $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106014

Floppy: NEC Black 1.44MB Floppy Drive
$11
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821152005

RAM: GeIL Ultra Series (2 x 512MB) DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
$125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820144539

PSU: Ultra V Series 500W PSU
$0.00 after $40 MIR
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4587977

Price: $594 after $40 MIR

The budget on this is $700-$750, and I have everything picked out except for a case (approx $80) and hard drive (approx $60).

 

[pkme2]

I have 2 points of issue.
Your Micro ATX mobo and Ultra 500W.
Why so small a mobo for C2D, aren't you ever going to expand? If not, then it's your build.
The PSU for free after MIR, great deal but mediorce PSU. It will work as long you don't load it up too much.

What's with the items listed at bottom?

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Mr Bob
I'm going to put together a computer this christmas, and wanted to go with Conroe. Most of the time simple word processing/email/internet will be the main use. There might be a game every once in awhile.

You're spending WAY too much for those tasks. :shocked:

 

[dBTelos]

For $0 that's a great PSU. It can easily handle your system and it should keep 70+ efficiency. No need to spend more then nothing!

-dB

 

[jleves]

Instead of a bare floppy drive, you might try this floppy/memory card reader for the same space.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821104104

 

[acegazda]

"an occasional game" is porbably fine w/ integrated gfx.
HDD: seagate 7200.10 250gb $80
Case: Coolermaster Centurion 531 $50

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: dBTelos
For $0 that's a great PSU. It can easily handle your system and it should keep 70+ efficiency. No need to spend more then nothing!

-dB

I'm sure it's far from great. You get what you pay for and if Ultra is giving them away I wouldn't count on getting much.

 

[acegazda]

The v-series is better than the original X-connect series, but inferior to the X2 connect and xfinity. The xfinities are the best. Sometimes the 500w ones are like $20. That would be a MUCH better deal than the v-series FAR.

 

[Quiksilver]

Erk. That build is quite nasty.
Why do you have a micro atx motherboard. I honestly don't see the point of this, unless you plan on placing it in a sff case.
What's with the Ultra PSU? The make crapppy psu's most of the time and the luck of getting a good one it low.
A 6600GT? Um. You can get a 7 series card for around the same price. Which is most games offer's a considerible performance gain.
Lite-On has alos been having a series of problems go wrong with their dvd-r/rw drives, craftmanship isn't their anymore.
You also never included a hard drive or case, which i don't see why you didn't.

Anyway, i configured a build over on newegg, for a total of $799.91 without shipping. Of course i did zero shopping around. Well, these are my spec's.(Also, Note that most motherboard's that support core 2 duo only come with 1x PATA connector, so you will not be able to hooke up 2 optical IDE drives unless you use round cables with 2 device connectors, but i included 2 of them anyway)

Case:Rosewell R5604-BK
Power Supply: Enermax Liberty 500W
Motherboard: Biostar Tforce945P
Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Memory: Geil Ultra 1GB (2x 512) DDR667
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB
Video Card: eVGA 7600GT (Newegg Has the Listing Wrong, But Spec's Right)
Optical Drives: 2x Samsung SH-S182D
Floppy Drives: Samsung SFD321B

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: acegazda
The v-series is better than the original X-connect series, but inferior to the X2 connect and xfinity. The xfinities are the best. Sometimes the 500w ones are like $20. That would be a MUCH better deal than the v-series FAR.

Better then the original X-Connect, thats almost saying something....

The pure fact that Ultra sold the X-Connect and junk like the V-series is reason enough to never recommend a Ultra PSU.

 

[Blain]

Just buy a refurbed Dell off ebay and add a little beefier AGP card.
Mucho cheaper... Still runs the stuff you've outlined... Even get an OS with the deal... :thumbsup:

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: Blain
Just buy a refurbed Dell off ebay and add a little beefier AGP card.
Mucho cheaper... Still runs the stuff you've outlined... Even get an OS with the deal... :thumbsup:

Referbrished HP's woudl be better Easier to upgrade IMO

 

[dBTelos]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: dBTelos
For $0 that's a great PSU. It can easily handle your system and it should keep 70+ efficiency. No need to spend more then nothing!

-dB

I'm sure it's far from great. You get what you pay for and if Ultra is giving them away I wouldn't count on getting much.

I ment great in value, not great in quality. They're what, $60 a piece originally, now they got all kinds of rebates going. It's not like they just give them away at all times.

-dB

 

[Corporate Thug]

for the proce you have listed for the 6600gt you can get a 7600gt

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143049

 

[Mr Bob]

The PSU is normally $50-$60, just because it is 1) on a great sale of only $40 2) contains a $40 MIR... it doesn't mean it is a POS. The build I am making is for what should be a very lightweight computer. I don't see why a 350w wouldn't be able to handle the computer. I thought Conroe takes up quite a bit less power than the AMD line too.

for the proce you have listed for the 6600gt you can get a 7600gt

- Except you are paying more upfront, and the 6600GT is already too much as it is. It's about the only thing I think is overkill on the system. I might rethink it later with a lower card, but I really wanted eVga or BFG, and I haven't seen much of a good deal on the lower line of things.

Memory: Geil Ultra 1GB (2x 512) DDR667

- Is that ram better than the Patriot I picked out up top? Only difference I saw was CAS3 vs CAS5, and I thought CAS meant very little (almost nothing) in terms of performance on Conroe builds.

The motherboard seemed to have pretty good reviews, even though it is mATX. It has all the features of a bulky mb, but is less in cost, and have great reviews. Have something proven better for the same price? I've looked around and that was the best I could come up with.

A 6600GT? Um. You can get a 7 series card for around the same price. Which is most games offer's a considerible performance gain.

- I'm not looking for a gaming machine, the 6600gt is overkill as it is, and I couldn't justify spending anything more than what that 6600gt costs.

Instead of a bare floppy drive, you might try this floppy/memory card reader for the same space.

- Good point, it might be better to stick something like that in instead.

 

[acegazda]

I have an idea, get a 6200le or tc for like $50 shipped to your door.
about cas latency: 2 cycles is a big difference. It may make a little difference in multitasking, but both RAM are the same price... why not choose higher performance?

 

[Mr Bob]

Something like this one? http://www.pcsupplysource.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=VGAPE-EV-62LTC1

Yeah, prolly better to go with the geil.

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: Mr Bob
Something like this one? http://www.pcsupplysource.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=VGAPE-EV-62LTC1

Yeah, prolly better to go with the geil.

yeah

 

[pkme2]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: dBTelos
For $0 that's a great PSU. It can easily handle your system and it should keep 70+ efficiency. No need to spend more then nothing!

-dB

I'm sure it's far from great. You get what you pay for and if Ultra is giving them away I wouldn't count on getting much.

If you get it for free, there's a catch. If you're willing to trust your system to that PSU.then all the recommendations that jonnyguru and other ATers have gone on deaf ears. Sad.

 

[Mr Bob]

"If you get it for free, there's a catch"
- What's the catch on this one? Please explain... Note that this is free AFTER rebates. Many free items do come with a catch, but they usually are free without rebates.

If you have a better suggestion for a PSU, please go ahead and let me know.

I think a more quality 400w PSU would be good, but I haven't seen any for around $40.

 

[dBTelos]

I now see why Jonny hardly posts any more and Galvanized doesn't do much recommending. You guys have such closed minds from anything like a TT Toughpower, any Ultra product, or *gasp* anything from a brand you haven't heard of, that I shouldn't bother. Just tell the guy to spend $100+ for a S12 like most of you will do and be done with it, because I'm tired of resorting to 3 paragraph replys just go get a point to you guys.

-dB

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: dBTelos
I now see why Jonny hardly posts any more and Galvanized doesn't do much recommending. You guys have such closed minds from anything like a TT Toughpower, any Ultra product, or *gasp* anything from a brand you haven't heard of, that I shouldn't bother. Just tell the guy to spend $100+ for a S12 like most of you will do and be done with it, because I'm tired of resorting to 3 paragraph replys just go get a point to you guys.

-dB

mmm... galvanized pimps for enhance what are you talkin' about?
Yeah well what do you expect from people who worship the pcp&c name.
3 paragraph replies are neither needed nor to the point You could do well to tell them to ask any elite member about enhance, wintact, sparkle, zippy, etc. any of the quality OEMs and they will certainly tell you that these are the psu's you want to consider. People, I hope you are listening! Though it is true that ultra is not of the best quality, and may in fact have a bad derating curve... IT DOES NOT EVEN MATTER FOR A 150W BUILD! Ridiculous. While it is also true that seasonic is quiet, we're talking about a max of 4dba from seasonic to the middle of the pack.
To sum it up:
?Do your research
?Be openminded
?Listen to people who know what their talking about
?Don't pay more than you have to
With those principles you will have the piece of mind knowing you chose the best psu for your system.
There, ~1.5 paragraphs dB!

 

[dBTelos]

IT DOES NOT EVEN MATTER FOR A 150W BUILD!

Don't pay more than you have to

Exactly. Most people come in saying, you need 450W at least. And it must be from Seasonic, Enermax, or PC P&C. Anything other then this won't work and isn't of much quality. Ughhhh...

 

[Mr Bob]

Just tell the guy to spend $100+ for a S12 like most of you will do and be done with it,

- You don't need a $100+ PSU for every computer you build.

 

[dBTelos]

I know that. If you didn't notice (I guess you didn't), I was just saying that because according to most people on this forum, if it isn't 500W+, from Seasonic, Enermax, or Enhance, and over $75 in price, then it isn't recommended.