First time build - thoughts please...

[jr2408]

This is going to be a first time build for me. I plan to do heavy multitasking and some games - esp flight sims.

I will be overclocking for the first time, hopefully to around 3ghz (e.g. beyond the level of the E6700).

I plan to upgrade to a more powerful graphics card when the DX10 cards are released - this choice is just a stop gap measure.

Can anyone give me some help in understanding:-

- Is E6600 the right choice? I originally planned to go for the E6700 but I am reading that it is not good value.
- Is this motherboard a good choice? I am really slanting towards an ASUS P5W now as I have heard a lot of bad stories about ram nightmares with the Gigabyte board.
- Have I got my memory choice right?
- As a newbie to build & overclock (but pretty savvy with PC's and tech stuff in general) how difficult is it going to be for me to build & overclock and end up with a stable system? I dont want to overclock for the fun of it, just for a performance boost but i want a stable system that will last me 2-3 years.
- Will this cooler & case be good choices in terms of cooling and also keeping noise down? I am leaning towards maybe a Coolermaster Praetorian in stead as it seems to have better cooling and a bit more space.
- Will I notice the difference the Raptor makes, or should I substitute it for a Seagate?
- Is it worth getting a sound card to reduce CPU cycles?

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN)

Gigabyte GA_965P_DQ6 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-058-GI)

Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) (MY-108-CS)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR)

EVGA GeForce 7600 GT KO 256MB GDDR3 HDTV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-005-EA)

Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-069-WD)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE)

Coolermaster Wave Master - Black (No PSU) (CA-047-CM)

Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0 PSU (CA-046-AN)

Mitsumi FA 404M 7in1 USB 2.0 Floppy & Media Drive - Black (HD-002-MI)

NEC ND4571 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Silver) - OEM (CD-032-NE)

Your help appreciated!

 

[semi-pro waster]

Welcome to the forums, pretty much all good choices with a couple of points to be made.

I'm not sure how well the Gigabyte DQ6 overclocks but I'd suspect fairly well, the DS4 certainly does for 6600 and above chips.

The Corsair will be good so I'd have no worries and I don't think I've heard of any compatability problems with it and Gigabyte motherboards, I believe that was just some models in the GSkill range.

Overclocking isn't particularly difficult at a basic level, I don't imagine you would see that much of a performance boost at the moment going between say 2.4ghz and 3.0ghz as either is going to be a huge jump from what you currently have.

The case doesn't have the best airflow around, an Akasa Eclipse is better in that regard and I suspect the Praetorian is also but I know less about it.

If you might need the extra space then I'd get the 7200.10 because they are close to being as fast as the Raptor.

I might not bother with a soundcard for the moment, your CPU is going to be so powerful that a couple of CPU cycles are unlikely to make any odds but if you feel it to be an issue later it is a simple matter to buy one.