Yet another build....

[bobdelt]

Let me know what you guys think. This is really a budget system. I was torn between going with this and a Geforce 6150 AM2 build. I wanted to keep under 600 but just couldnt do it (unless I went with AMD single core)

Currently I have a Core Duo 1.66ghz laptop. I'm tired of external drives and docking stataions.

I will mostly use this for encoding, file storage - orb, some website building, mess around with Linux maybe. I do a lot of multitasking, but I still plan to use my laptop for most important things. I will be hooking this up to a TV and stereo as well (but not the primary display). I do not play games.

Pentium D 805 and a Scythe Ninja
Gigabyte DS3 165P
2GB GSkill DDR2 800
Seagate 7200.10 320GB
BenQ 16x DVD burner
Antec Case w\ 350watt powersupply
Gigabyte 6200TC w\ HDTV out
Rosewill IDE Controller (I have a couple IDE hard drives)
Encore TV Tuner

A bit over 700 bucks.

I know Conroe is about to come out. I was thinking Allendale which I could snag for 100 bucks more. I wanted to keep it under 600 but still dont know where to cut corners and nobody really knows what Allendale's availability will be like.

In 07, I'd figure a I could drop in a Kentsfield, another 1gb of ram, and upgrade to Vista.

Am I compeltly crazy for not holding out for conroe?? Its a little bit above my price range, and I dont think I need the speed, but just another space heater, I mean computer.

Any glarring mistakes? With the video card be ok for vista - nvidia says it will be at least.

 

[bamacre]

What is the purpose of the DDR2-800 memory? I assume you aren't OC'ing, what with a 350w PSU.

Should be significantly cheaper to pick up some DDR2-533 or 667.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85248

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: bamacre
What is the purpose of the DDR2-800 memory? I assume you aren't OC'ing, what with a 350w PSU.

Should be significantly cheaper to pick up some DDR2-533 or 667.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85248

Agree. other than that it looks fine....

 

[stevty2889]

Just to warn you, the core duo at 1.66ghz will be faster than the 805 at stock speeds. And you aren't gonna get much of an OC outta that power hungry thing with a 350w PSU. Mine will do 3.6ghz at 55c with the scythe ninja and 120mm fan, but with a 450w PSU.

EDIT: I also agree you should just go with some 533 or 667mhz RAM, you will never reach the full potential of 800mhz DDR2 with an 805.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
Just to warn you, the core duo at 1.66ghz will be faster than the 805 at stock speeds. And you aren't gonna get much of an OC outta that power hungry thing with a 350w PSU. Mine will do 3.6ghz at 55c with the scythe ninja and 120mm fan, but with a 450w PSU.

EDIT: I also agree you should just go with some 533 or 667mhz RAM, you will never reach the full potential of 800mhz DDR2 with an 805.

agreed on all points. stick to what you've got and save up. i guess if you save $100 from the ram and drop the scythe ninja...maybe even drop down to a 250gb hard drive, you'll have like $150 saved. that'll get you a better cpu...

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Originally posted by: stevty2889

EDIT: I also agree you should just go with some 533 or 667mhz RAM, you will never reach the full potential of 800mhz DDR2 with an 805.

According to the benchmarks published at Firingsquad, even a Core 2 Extreme Edition doesn't see any benefits going from DDR2 667 @ CAS5 to DDR2 800 @ CAS 3 to DDR2 1066 @ CAS 5.

All games (including FEAR, Quake 4, Oblivion, HL2, Lost Coast) were tested at 800x600 and 1600x1200 without AA using X1900XTX in single- and dual-GPU configs.

While their review summary claims a 2-4% improvement for games, in reality, it's a difference of 52FPS and 53FPS - which is probably simple variance. It appears all games are GPU-limited to show any benefits at higher-res gaming, even without AA and AF.

However, Media Encoding does see benefits from higher memory speeds.

 

[bobdelt]

Well I figured one day I would have a cpu that would benifit from ddr2 800. And that ddr2 667 is the same price as the 800 I'm getting from newegg (before rebate). One day a high speed conroe or Kentsfield would be in there... I'll to find even cheaper ddr 667.