Help with building new system

[tjavery]

I'm contemplating building my own system to replace my 6-year old Dell desktop. I'm looking for a solid, quality system that will last a long time. I'm not into o/c'ing. I'm not into gaming. I just want a good, solid system that will hold up another ~6 years using at home.

Here's what I'm thinking on (links to Newegg just for handy reference):

PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz

BOARD: Intel BOXDG965WHMKR LGA 775 Intel G965 Express ATX

MEM: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

CASE & PSU: COOLER MASTER Centurion RC-534-KKR5 SECC chassis ATX Mid Tower 430W

HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0

Please comment and let me know if these things will play well together. The only thing I'm really dead-set on is the processor. Anything else is changeable as per your suggestions.

I'll be using this machine for standard office-type programs and also Autocad and Photoshop. Some of my files get really big (e.g. ~500 MB TIFF files in Photoshop) and I'd like a speedy system to handle it well.

I'm a little torn on the OS. I'm tempted to go with Windows XP and wait until Vista has all the kinks and bugs worked out before "upgrading". I currently use XP and I'm perfectly happy with it.

I see the Intel motherboard comes with a VGA output for a monitor. I'm assuming that will work well for my needs? Again, I'm not really into gaming.

I already have new peripherals (monitor, DVD-RW, cordless keyboard & mouse, etc.) and I'll just re-use them on the new machine.

THANKS!

(Regarding my level of experience, I've never built a computer before. But I'm familiar with the hardware and installing stuff like HD's, optical drives, sound cards, modems, memory, etc.)

 

[boomerang]

You could get by with a far less expensive motherboard if you're interested in saving some money.

On the majority of my new builds these days I use mATX motherboards. Motherboards these days have everything built in that you (and most users) need. Onboard sound and video are just fine for your needs. You can't find a board without an onboard NIC.

I usually buy motherboards with O/B video but that also have a PCIe slot in case a video card is needed in the future.

I think 2GB of memory is the way to go now.

These are my opinions, others have theirs. There are a lot of enthusiasts here. They have a tendency to suggest hardware way above and beyond what people need. I understand your desire to build for the future. I think you're on the right track.

If you have to pay for an OS, I'd say go Vista. No sense buying two.

Welcome to the Forums!

Edit: I'm going to say that I don't know what hardware would be best suited for Photoshop work. I would think that the processor is most important, followed by memory. If so, based on your uses listed and assuming they're listed in order of most frequent use, I'd say you're good.

 

[bamacre]

If you are not OC'ing you can also save some cash by getting 533mhz or 667mhz DDR2 memory.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=2003479&enterthread=y

That will work very well with an Intel chipset.

 

[tjavery]

Originally posted by: boomerang
You could get by with a far less expensive motherboard if you're interested in saving some money.

On the majority of my new builds these days I use mATX motherboards. Motherboards these days have everything built in that you (and most users) need. Onboard sound and video are just fine for your needs. You can't find a board without an onboard NIC.

I usually buy motherboards with O/B video but that also have a PCIe slot in case a video card is needed in the future.

I think 2GB of memory is the way to go now.

These are my opinions, others have theirs. There are a lot of enthusiasts here. They have a tendency to suggest hardware way above and beyond what people need. I understand your desire to build for the future. I think you're on the right track.

If you have to pay for an OS, I'd say go Vista. No sense buying two.

Welcome to the Forums!

Edit: I'm going to say that I don't know what hardware would be best suited for Photoshop work. I would think that the processor is most important, followed by memory. If so, based on your uses listed and assuming they're listed in order of most frequent use, I'd say you're good.

Thanks! I appreciate your advice. I'll have a look at the mATX boards and see. Glad to hear that the onboard video will work for me (come to think of it, that's what I should be using now on my old PC - I'm currently out of town for work, so I can't peek back there ).

Any advice for going with Vista? I see there are 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, but I don't know much about it. What would be ideal for my uses?

Yeh, I think processor speed and memory are vital to Photoshop use. I believe the newer versions of Photoshop take better advantage of high amounts of RAM (i.e. 2 GB and more). I currently have 1 GB and a P4 1.3 GHz, and Photoshop will take its sweet time on some tasks.

Originally posted by: bamacre
If you are not OC'ing you can also save some cash by getting 533mhz or 667mhz DDR2 memory.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=2003479&enterthread=y

That will work very well with an Intel chipset.

Thanks! That thread is massive, but I think the idea behind it is that the speed of the 800 mhz memory might not be realized with my setup? Are the lower speeds of 533 and 667 mhz better optimized for what I'm attempting to build?

Thanks!

 

[Boyo]

Get 2GB of memory and go with the 32 bit version of Vista to save you some trouble.

 

[boomerang]

As far as ram goes, well, your processor's FSB is 1066MHz. Half of 1066 is .......... 533. A nice simple multiplication. Motherboard manufacturers now like to list the maximum speed they support. It's confusing to everyone.

I second 32 bit for Vista.

The last system I built (for my boss) at the end of January, I used this mATX case. I've used a lot of Athenatech cases over the years. This model was extremely quiet. Both the case fan and PS fan were nearly inaudible. This may not fit your tastes. Just something to look at.

Edit: Motherboards are another item with greatly different opinions. I like a board from a manufacturer that offers a three year warranty. It seems like everytime I try to save someone $10 to $30 by using a cheaper motherboard, I get burnt. They die at month 14. I won't use them anymore.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: boomerang
As far as ram goes, well, your processor's FSB is 1066MHz. Half of 1066 is .......... 533. A nice simple multiplication. Motherboard manufacturers now like to list the maximum speed they support. It's confusing to everyone.

Exactly, and the reasoning of cutting 1066 in half is because your ram in dual channel mode will run at 2X. So, as boomerang said, 2 x 533 = 1066. So with no OC'ing, all you need is 533mhz DDR2 in dual channel mode to hit the 1066mhz FSB.

 

[tjavery]

Thanks all! This is just the sort of education I was looking to gain here. I don't want to dive into a project like this not knowing all the fine details.

Will Vista require more advanced graphics, i.e. will I need a graphics card (instead of using the integrated graphics some motherboards have)?

 

[bamacre]

Yeah, if you want to use the 3D interface, you'll want to pick up a video card. Nothing too expensive though, I think something like a GF 7300 LE can handle it.