Finalizing my purchase

[lilming]

Hi, I'm planning to build this system for gaming, i just need you guys to tell me if everythigns fine or theres a better alternative at around that price range for the item. I dont plan to OC.

CPU: E6300
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115005

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-S3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128017

Ram: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098

PS: ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817194003

Video card: either x19xx xt or xtx

I have the hard drives dvd drives, monitor, case etc



THANKS!
Andy

 

[brikis98]

assuming you'll be OCing, looks good...

 

[SpeedZealot369]

I would suggest a 8800gts instead of a x1900 but everything else looks good.

 

[golgotha]

Looks good. Only one reviewer mentioned using G.Skill DDR2 with that Gigabyte mobo, but the review was favorable. You're lucky to save cash on the extra stuff too.

I'm building a system right now as well, for a family member. With the goal of constructing a mid-range, high-performance, future-proof system, I pulled the trigger on this setup today:

CPU: E6400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
Core 2 Duo is just hands above the AMD X2 in every review I've read. And despite what I've been hearing, prices for the Intel chips are very competitive. However, once you factor in an LGA775 motherboard and new DDR2 memory, you start to see the price wedge.
I went with the E6400 over the E6300 because I don't expect to overclock much (I'll be using the stock HSF), and the higher clock will give better long-term performance.

MOBO: ASUS P5B-E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131070
Chose the P5B-E basically because of cost and it seems to be a pretty solid platform for the Conroe that is going into it. It is basically a random choice, though, as this is my first Conroe build.

RAM: Same as you: G.SKILL 2GB DDR2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
Again, cost is a big factor, and reviewers on NewEgg have reported good luck with these modules in the P5B-E. It was five dollars cheaper two days ago, but whatever, it's still the cheapest good quality DDR2.

PS: Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023
I was going to go with an Antec or an FSP due to a good personal track record with both brands, but this unit went on sale this weekend with a rebate, so I went with that.

VIDEO CARD: 7900GS
I reserved one of those PNY cards at Best Buy for $149.99 (plus tax, minus 12% Reward Zone coupon). Seems like a decent price without a rebate hassle. The card looks decent too. It won't win any speed records, but the person getting this system wants it mainly for office type work. And now they can also play some decent games, add another monitor, or run S-Video to a TV if they want.

CASE: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068
This is a solid case. I've used it for one other build and didn't have any major concerns. A few details are a bit wonky, but overall the case is good.

NETWORK: EDIMAX EW-7128G 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833315041
The user doesn't have a network connection, but her brother lives across the street and will set his wifi router in the window. I have zero experience with PCI wireless cards, but this one has solid reviews on newegg. I suppose it can't be much different than a wireless card in a laptop, right?

MONITOR: Hanns-G HC-194D
I bought this from www.woot.com for 214.99 shipped, and it has a $100 rebate. So, 114.99 for a 19" LCD? Seems like a pretty good deal, but it really depends on the quality of the monitor. Otherwise, almost any cheap 19" LCD would fit the bill. I have two Dell 1907FPs for my main PC, and a Rosewill R912E (which I forgot to send the rebate for. tsk tsk) on my media center PC. Both models look great and perform fine. They don't match a CRT in gaming and video quality, but for 2D apps I get the impression that an LCD monitor is an LCD monitor and most of the details like refresh rate etc are irrelevant. We'll see how this el cheapo Hanns-G model stacks up.

OPTICAL: Samsung SHS182MBEBN DVD Burner
$29 shipped.

HARD DRIVE: Western Digital WD3200KS 320GB 16MB SATA 3.0Gb/s - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136003
You can get great deals on disks if you want to wait and fiddle with Price Matches and rebates. I don't have time for that so I just picked up this drive from the Egg. Has all the latest bells&whistles at a fair retail price. And it does have a rebate.

STILL WAITING ON:
floppy drive, keyboard, mouse, printer, various cables (USB extensions, 3.5mm audio extension, etc), speakers, headphone/headset, and maybe a modem.
The final price should come in under $1500. What do you think, good value?

 

[caberguy]

lilming, I've got that same Mobo/CPU/RAM combo and running stable at 3.15Ghz (though it will go a bit higher) with Sunbeam Silent Whisper HSF

 

[lilming]

Thanks for the replys ill probably go ahead with this and purchase eveything this week, Last thing, is that ps good or is there better ones for that price.

caberguy: Thats what i wanted to hear, sounds good then.

golgotha: yea salvaging parts makes it soo much cheaper.

 

[cmdrdredd]

If you want to really overclock your memory will limit you a bit. That memory uses an IC that is not very friendly for overclocking. Your mileage will vary, but the better choice would be the G.Skill HZ series which uses a black heatspreader. They use better ICs, Or, get the Buffalo Firestix (under $250 for 2GB now) which use Micron D9 ICs that overclock extremely well.

If you plan to run at 4-4-4-x at DDR2-800/1000 you need to find Micron D9 memory. If that doesn't matter to you then what you have should work.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: golgotha
Looks good. Only one reviewer mentioned using G.Skill DDR2 with that Gigabyte mobo, but the review was favorable. You're lucky to save cash on the extra stuff too.

I'm building a system right now as well, for a family member. With the goal of constructing a mid-range, high-performance, future-proof system, I pulled the trigger on this setup today:

CPU: E6400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
Core 2 Duo is just hands above the AMD X2 in every review I've read. And despite what I've been hearing, prices for the Intel chips are very competitive. However, once you factor in an LGA775 motherboard and new DDR2 memory, you start to see the price wedge.
I went with the E6400 over the E6300 because I don't expect to overclock much (I'll be using the stock HSF), and the higher clock will give better long-term performance.

MOBO: ASUS P5B-E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131070
Chose the P5B-E basically because of cost and it seems to be a pretty solid platform for the Conroe that is going into it. It is basically a random choice, though, as this is my first Conroe build.

RAM: Same as you: G.SKILL 2GB DDR2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
Again, cost is a big factor, and reviewers on NewEgg have reported good luck with these modules in the P5B-E. It was five dollars cheaper two days ago, but whatever, it's still the cheapest good quality DDR2.

PS: Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023
I was going to go with an Antec or an FSP due to a good personal track record with both brands, but this unit went on sale this weekend with a rebate, so I went with that.

VIDEO CARD: 7900GS
I reserved one of those PNY cards at Best Buy for $149.99 (plus tax, minus 12% Reward Zone coupon). Seems like a decent price without a rebate hassle. The card looks decent too. It won't win any speed records, but the person getting this system wants it mainly for office type work. And now they can also play some decent games, add another monitor, or run S-Video to a TV if they want.

CASE: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068
This is a solid case. I've used it for one other build and didn't have any major concerns. A few details are a bit wonky, but overall the case is good.

NETWORK: EDIMAX EW-7128G 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833315041
The user doesn't have a network connection, but her brother lives across the street and will set his wifi router in the window. I have zero experience with PCI wireless cards, but this one has solid reviews on newegg. I suppose it can't be much different than a wireless card in a laptop, right?

MONITOR: Hanns-G HC-194D
I bought this from www.woot.com for 214.99 shipped, and it has a $100 rebate. So, 114.99 for a 19" LCD? Seems like a pretty good deal, but it really depends on the quality of the monitor. Otherwise, almost any cheap 19" LCD would fit the bill. I have two Dell 1907FPs for my main PC, and a Rosewill R912E (which I forgot to send the rebate for. tsk tsk) on my media center PC. Both models look great and perform fine. They don't match a CRT in gaming and video quality, but for 2D apps I get the impression that an LCD monitor is an LCD monitor and most of the details like refresh rate etc are irrelevant. We'll see how this el cheapo Hanns-G model stacks up.

OPTICAL: Samsung SHS182MBEBN DVD Burner
$29 shipped.

HARD DRIVE: Western Digital WD3200KS 320GB 16MB SATA 3.0Gb/s - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136003
You can get great deals on disks if you want to wait and fiddle with Price Matches and rebates. I don't have time for that so I just picked up this drive from the Egg. Has all the latest bells&whistles at a fair retail price. And it does have a rebate.

STILL WAITING ON:
floppy drive, keyboard, mouse, printer, various cables (USB extensions, 3.5mm audio extension, etc), speakers, headphone/headset, and maybe a modem.
The final price should come in under $1500. What do you think, good value?

I would stay away from the older Thermaltake brand of PSU`s.....
The newer Thermaltake PSU`s are much better than the older ones and the TR2 is to be avoided. You can do better......with any of these..

Antec NeoHE 500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A, 2.0 version, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 500W
SeaSonic S12-430 ATX12V 430W Power Supply

all available at NewEgg --http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...0320058+4027&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=58

 

[FightTest]

I would stay away from the older Thermaltake brand of PSU`s.....
The newer Thermaltake PSU`s are much better than the older ones and the TR2 is to be avoided.

Agreed. I'm actually using a Thermaltake TR2-500w that I bought about a year ago when I didn't realize power supplies actually mattered. Although I haven't had any actual performance problems thus far my +12V is reading at 11.37V in both the BIOS and SpeedFan which is way below what it should be. I'm also running on 2-3 year old hardware ATM which is probably why I haven't ran into any real issues.

In any case I'm going to be replacing it next month when I build my new system because I really don't have any faith in this thing powering an 8800. Looking at a Corsair HX520W right now.