Yet Another Build Review (Please) :)

[PoppaCap]

It's been a few years since I did any sort of upgrading or system building, so I am opening up my current build for your review and critiques
I am looking for a mid-high end rig that will hold up for a couple years with minor upgrades. I don't game all that much, but I do like to have the option

Please let me know if you have any ideas or see any problems, thanks you so much!
(Everything listed is from Newegg)

Mobo
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128012

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115003

Video Card:
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130071

RAM:
OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P800R22GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227139

Power Supply:
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139002

Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148140

Optical:
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S - Retail
Item #: N82E16827106057

Case:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119068

Currently, this setup is about $1,200, so I figured I have about $800 more to spend on a monitor, an OS, and any other stuff I might need to fix in the current configuration (I have an old keyboard/mouse setup I can use for now)

I am also open to suggestions on whether or not to go with Vista (32 or 64?) I have never used it or even seen it in person, and I am very comfortable with XP, but I would like to get the newest thing if it is stable, etc (especially since I have to buy an OS either way)

Thanks again!

 

[AmberClad]

Looks good to me :thumbsup:.

I personally would wait on Vista. I've seen Vista running on someone else's machine, and it appeared to be eating up ~900 MB of RAM with little in the way of programs running. Course, they may have done a far less than optimal installation, but still -- in XP, I usually only use ~180 MB with no programs running. For me, I might have to invest in another 2 GB before making the switch over to Vista.

 

[PurdueRy]

You don't need the 620 for that setup. The Corsair 520 is more than enough.

Secondly, I personally recommend the SH-183L samsung DVD burner. It may not be 20x(like that makes much of a difference) but they have worked great for the computers I have installed them in and are quieter(from what I have heard)

 

[PoppaCap]

Thank you for your comments.

I can downsize the PS no problem, but for the Samsung burner, all newegg has are OEM versions. What cables/software should I also get in order to get this up and running? Just the SATA connector and SATA power connector?
What burning software do you recommend for these?
Thanks again

 

[AmberClad]

The Corsair PSUs come with all the SATA power cables that you could need. Motherboards come shipped with IDE and SATA cables. A thread in the Software forum recommends CDBurnerXP as a free burning program.

The only thing you *might* you have to worry about are screws. But even the bare OEM Lite-On drive I got came with 2 little plastic baggies of screws.

 

[Bradtechonline]

Looks good to me man. I'd just bite the bullet, and go with Vista. It will improve over time, and you will eventually have to buy it then. I would get the 64 bit version because 32 bit operating systems will hold you back when you decide to go above 4 GB of memory.

 

[PoppaCap]

Thanks AmberClad! I think I can cannibalize some screws from my current system if I need to

As for Vista, I am still not sure. I just dug up an old XP install disk I got when I was a student, so I think I should be able to use that to get everything up and running at least
I will think it over though, thanks for the feedback!

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: PoppaCap
Thanks AmberClad! I think I can cannibalize some screws from my current system if I need to

As for Vista, I am still not sure. I just dug up an old XP install disk I got when I was a student, so I think I should be able to use that to get everything up and running at least
I will think it over though, thanks for the feedback!

The coolermaster case will come with all the screws you need to mount the samsung. In addition, yes the cables come with the mobo and the power connectors will be on the PSU.

 

[Quiksilver]

I personally would hold off on vista, not because it's "using" an ungodly amount of memory but rather there just isn't a reason to purchase it other than the new interface. Considering numerous programs don't really take true --if any-- advantage of new idea implemented into vista, also with that fact that a lot of benchmarks I keep saying show a performance loss instead of performance gain more than anything. Oh, why the quotes around using? It's technically not using the memory, it has to do with a the idea of superfetch. read more about it here: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000688.html Although I normally hate blogs, that is a rather interesting read.

On the note of OEM products and what not, while they don't include any cables and what not, you are given the software and drive which is in most cases all you will need as all cables or accessories you will come with your motherboard or PSU. I mean my asus motherboard came with 8 or 10 SATA cables when I only needed two. Just to give an example.

I would agree go with the samsung drive, there isn't going to be hardly any difference between 18X and 20X, maybe 20 seconds at the most. On top of that samsung drives have been considerably quiter than any lite-on drive I have ever had in previous computers.

Now, I can't verify this, but I have heard that there isn't going to be much of a performance difference between a 320MB 8800GTS and a 640 8800GTS, at least not until you plan on gaming above 1600X1200, then there is a considerable difference. I'm not certain about this though, I'd have to dig up some benchmark data and what not.

Other than that you got an excellent build going for yourself

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

looks good! I'd just say you could get the 6320 and oc it till it squeals. If you were planning on oc'ing the 6600 to >3.6 than forget about that (idk if 6320 will go that high). You could use the 60 bucks to spring on a better cooling solution (thermalright 120 extreme?). Or maybe some speedier ram (perhaps something rated >1000).

The biggest thing I'd suggest is to wait for the next round of price cuts. If you did that, you mich be able to get a higherend mobo, better ram, and a much cheaper cpu (or for the same price and configuration go quad-core). you've waited this long- and want it to last with a good price/performance ratio: Why not wait a bit longer?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

that case has a 80mm fan in the front, i dont know if it will be sufficient to cool the 7200.10 series, as they run rather hot, mine runs hotter than my 150gb raptor, not significantly but like 3C hotter...

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

why not go wdc then? 16mb cache, still available in 320gb... and much cooler I guess

 

[LOUISSSSS]

cuz i don't think they're as fast...

 

[AndeeG]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
You don't need the 620 for that setup. The Corsair 520 is more than enough.

I'm gonna have to go with Purdue on this one.

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
The biggest thing I'd suggest is to wait for the next round of price cuts. If you did that, you mich be able to get a higherend mobo, better ram, and a much cheaper cpu (or for the same price and configuration go quad-core). you've waited this long- and want it to last with a good price/performance ratio: Why not wait a bit longer?

If I were you, I would definitely not wait. Price cuts for the e6600 were only a few weeks ago IIRC so I don't think you're going to see much of a decrease in the near future as far as processors go. If you have this mentality, you're going to be waiting for a long time and as soon as you do buy, there'll be price cuts anyway.

 

[jkresh]

Well if you want a system to last for as long as possible then wait till te July price cuts and get a q6600 for about $50 more then the e6600 is now, it wont be much faster in most things now (in fact it will be slightly slower depending on final oc) but in a year or two it will likely be significantly faster. Having run vista 64 for several months now I would say its a viable option (as long as you don't run any 16 bit programs) and it really makes use of ram (4gigs would not be a bad idea). Also vista in general uses more RAM then xp but uses it better (os yes it might be using 900megs out of 1gig with nothing open but it is using that for caching programs yo might open and other things and it gives the memory to programs as they need it). Unless you have programs that don't work in vista it doesn't make sense to buy a new copy of xp now, if you already have a license you can transfer to this machine then you could wait for a while before going vista, but since you are getting a dx10 card you might as well move to vista (crysis is due in September I think so you would have to move then anyway...)

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: PoppaCap
Thanks AmberClad! I think I can cannibalize some screws from my current system if I need to

As for Vista, I am still not sure. I just dug up an old XP install disk I got when I was a student, so I think I should be able to use that to get everything up and running at least
I will think it over though, thanks for the feedback!

Microsoft Academic Alliance = free operating systems = win

Your list looks really good, to be honest. As mentioned I'd maybe tone the PSU down from 620 to 520, and look for an aftermarket cooler (even if you're not overclocking, you could get a big fanless one and run hella quiet). As jkresh said, however, if I recall correctly in July the Q6600 is going to drop to $266, which is scandalously low for a processor of its calibre.

 

[PoppaCap]

Thanks to everyone! You have all been a great help, I really do appreciate your advice. Now I just need to decide if I can wait until July...Probably not, but it's possible

One question, when the topic of after market cooling comes up, i find myself a little lost. Should I get case fans? CPU Coolers? Other stuff? All of the above? Any specific items I should look in to? (You can tell me to stop being lazy and search if you want, I don't mind haha)
I do not plan on really overclocking this much, but I might feel adventurous and tweak a few things. I am not very knowledgeable in this area though, but I know I can read up on all of that when I feel the need.

Also, should I try to get a 2GB stick of ram instead of 2x 1GB? Since it sounds like I will need to go up to 4GB when I get Vista. Is the DDR2 800 good enough to last a while?

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

Originally posted by: AndeeG

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
You don't need the 620 for that setup. The Corsair 520 is more than enough.

I'm gonna have to go with Purdue on this one.

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
The biggest thing I'd suggest is to wait for the next round of price cuts. If you did that, you mich be able to get a higherend mobo, better ram, and a much cheaper cpu (or for the same price and configuration go quad-core). you've waited this long- and want it to last with a good price/performance ratio: Why not wait a bit longer?

If I were you, I would definitely not wait. Price cuts for the e6600 were only a few weeks ago IIRC so I don't think you're going to see much of a decrease in the near future as far as processors go. If you have this mentality, you're going to be waiting for a long time and as soon as you do buy, there'll be price cuts anyway.

its a fact intel is lowing chip price when the 45nm processors come out. If he waited, he could get a quad core for the same price...

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: PoppaCap
Please let me know if you have any ideas or see any problems, thanks you so much!

Wow, your rig looks so much different than what all the others are building.
I give it a 3.75 out of 10, because it lacks panache. :laugh:

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I'd get some ram rated for 1000 or higher. you can run it @ 800 if you're uncomfortable overclocking, or want less heat. Definitely get fans to fill in the spaces on the case. You need to decide whether you want to go for quietness, or airflow (greater airflow, greater cooling, better overclocking). Scythe makes very quiet fans, and noctura(sp?) makes very good cooling fans. As for the cpu cooler, the same balance applies. If you want the lowest temperature (equating to the best overclock, and best lifespan), thermalright 120, or 120-extreme is the way to go. Just look at the review of it to see other fan makes/models, then check on newegg for prices.

 

[AndeeG]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh

Originally posted by: AndeeG

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
You don't need the 620 for that setup. The Corsair 520 is more than enough.

I'm gonna have to go with Purdue on this one.

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
The biggest thing I'd suggest is to wait for the next round of price cuts. If you did that, you mich be able to get a higherend mobo, better ram, and a much cheaper cpu (or for the same price and configuration go quad-core). you've waited this long- and want it to last with a good price/performance ratio: Why not wait a bit longer?

If I were you, I would definitely not wait. Price cuts for the e6600 were only a few weeks ago IIRC so I don't think you're going to see much of a decrease in the near future as far as processors go. If you have this mentality, you're going to be waiting for a long time and as soon as you do buy, there'll be price cuts anyway.

its a fact intel is lowing chip price when the 45nm processors come out. If he waited, he could get a quad core for the same price...

You're right, sorry about that. Anyway, I realize that there are more price cuts coming up but if I were building, I definitely wouldn't wait on anything (I have no desire to get a quad core for now).

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

good point. He could get lasting performance though (his build-goal) w/ either a quad-core, or a 45nm chip. no bigge

 

[50cent1228]

quick skim...it looks good