C2D Build: About to order my first ever build, advice please

jr2408

jr2408

jr2408

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Joined
13 Sep 2006
Posts
3
All,

I would really appreciate your input on my final spec for my first build.

Intended Usage:
- 80% Heavy multitasking - Mail, browsing, downloading movies, playng music with Mediaplayer, decoding movies, online poker
- 20% Games - Warcraft, Flight sims, RTS

Other Info
- I will be using my existing Dell 20 inch LCD, running 1600x1200
- I will experiment with moderate overclocking, but this is my main system so I want a stable box that will run for 2-3 years
- I don't want the extra complexity of RAID
- I am not interested in SLI. I will buy the top of the line DX10 graphics card next year, the current choice is only a stop gap.
- Based on what I have heard above the minimal cpu impact I am going for on board sound rather than a separate card
- In future I see myself upgrading to quad core
- I will run XP 32 as my main OS, with Vista on its own partition until I am happy to move to Vista (late next year?). Will also have another OS partition on the main Harddrive for messing around with Linux

Questions
- What are your general thoughts?
- How does my memory choice look?
- Does my PSU look ok for the future? I would like a modular unit. I won't go SLI, but do see myself having Quad core and a beefy DX10 GPU, as well as 3+ SATA devices.
- Is there an ATI alternative to my graphics card choice, as I hear ATI is the way to go right now? Also I want to avoid reinstalling my OS if I move to an ATI DX10 card (I have hear that you should reinstall the OS if you are changing between ATI & Nvidia drivers)
- What's the view on my case? I want something with good cooling, quiet, space to move around in and good looking. Suggestions?

Spec
These parts are available in online & local stores (i live in Holland).

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Motherboard - P5W DH Deluxe (Intel 975X) (I changed this from a Gigabyte DQ6 after hearing about a lot of memory problems)
Cooler - Zalman CNPS 9500AT
Memory - 2GB - OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 CL 4-4-4-15
OR
2GB Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 2048MB CL5
Video - XFX GeForce 7600GT 256MB (will upgrade to DX 10 card(s) next year)
Hard Drive #1 - Western Digital Raptor WD1500AD) - (Windows XP, Vista, Linux, Games partitions)
Hard Drive #2 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 - (another of these to be added later for backup)
Case - GigaByte 3D Aurora (I have been bouncing between a Coolermaster Mystique 631, a Coolermaster Praetorian and a Collermaster WaveMaster, now I have this choice)
PSU - OCZ Modstream 520W or Antec NEO 500W
Floppy/cardreader - Mitsumi 7in1 FDD+Cardreader
Optical - NEC AD-7173A DVD burner
 
Welcome to the forums, it all looks pretty good, I'd probably pick the Corsair for the Ram because it is solid stuff but I don't know too much about Ram.

PSU should be fine at present but I can't say what the power requirements for quad core or the DX10 graphics cards will be.

You don't need to re-install when changing between ATI and Nvidia but most people will suggest running something like Driver Cleaner to get rid of the old drivers. ATI don't have anything in the price range to compare with the 7600gt properly, if you up your budget to £130 or £140 (maybe 200 Euros) then an X1800XT should be within range.
 
Good spec. Id recommend getting the Lian Li pc7+ over the gigabyte aurora and use the cash saved to get a seasonic S12 500W psu. Thats just my opinion though. If your happy with the aurora then it's not a bad case.
 
I don't think the Raptor is worth the money. The only thing you would be doing that might hit the hard drive is game playing, and with 2 GB of memory, that's not going to happen as you won't need to hit the swap space often. If you did a lot of Photoshop or movie editing, then perhaps it would be a bit different.

Truth be told, saving a few seconds off of loading a level in an FPS isn't a good enough trade of in terms of the increased cost, power draw, noise and reduced capacity. Save the money and buy another Barracuda.
 
i strongly agree with Biggles 266, personally i would recommend a bigger for same price 7200.10 seagate. or a same sized one and just save your self a few £££

but generally speaking very nice spec.

although i question if you really need a 6600, judging from what you said your gonna be doing a 6300 will easily keep up and save you a few £££. Just something to consider if you are on a tight budget or anything.

not to be patronising on purpose, but just a foot note in case you where not aware, get an OEM 6600, as this will come without a Intel stock heat sink and fan, just saves £20 since i see your buying yourself a zalman. that looks like a pretty quite system you have there btw, very nice.

good luck
 
Thanks for the tip allllec - I did know that the OEM version of the CPU comes without a heatsink, but I had forgotten, so you saved me 20 bucks ;-)

I may drop the raptor and go for a 250gb Seagate for the OS and a 500Gb Seagate for date...

I have heard some negative remarks about the case I have chosen - anyone have anything to say about the Antec P180 as an alternative?
 
Well, the P180 is one of the most recommended cases on Ars Technica's forums. Very quiet and excellent cooling capability.

A couple of selected comments about it from the last discussion on it:
"P180 suffers from abit of cable routing/length issues due to the 4 HDD mount in the lower chamber as well as the PSU. Can you deal with that?

Using a full size ATX board in the P180 will very likely cause you to lost the use of the lowest PCI/PCIe slot on the board and ideally you should not have a long card in the 2nd lowest slot either. Can you deal with this?"

Other than that, everything is good.
 
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