Spec Check Please - £400 +PSU & case & graphics

[Namsnik]

I would appreciate your advice about this spec please. In particular
(i)is the RAM compatible and a good choice?
(ii)what is the difference between the DS3 and DS3P? They seem well respected on this forum hence my choice
(iii)Do I need anything else, like leads, artic silver, special cooler

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99 (£82.24)
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £67.99 (£79.89)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £65.99 (£77.54)

Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £36.99 (£43.46)
LiteON DH-18A1P-018C 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer - OEM £14.99 (£17.61)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00715) £63.99 (£75.19)
Sub Total : £319.94
Shipping : £8.95
Vat : £57.56
Total : £386.45

I will add to this my existing:
Jeantech JNP-500AP 500W power supply
GeForce 6200 128MB PCI card
Case, keyboard, mouse, speakers

Will also consider upgrading to X1950Pro but am also saving for a laptop.

Background:
Trying to persuade myself that I can do better than a Maxdata C2Duo for £379.96 from another site by building my own. I would like to try mild overclocking and hope to have a PC that will do the job for a good few years. We play a few games such as Sims, Guildwars, CivIV but nothing hardcore. I often have several office applications open and can use 100% of processor with some of my large Excel spreadsheets and Visual Basic.

 

[shine]

If you going to attempt overclocking then change the memory to this it clocks really well.

Also you may want to consider an after market cooler (if you want to overclock), I've got the Noctuna and recommend it although you may find it a little pricey - alternatively try the Arctic Cooling Freezer.

 

[Namsnik]

Thanks Shine, I'll go for that memory then unless I can get more bang for bucks (once moderately overclocked) - see below. I'll also switch to DS3P as from what I can make of posts here it seems to offer slightly more for very little cash (I don't understand what though!).....
Yep, that cooler seems a little pricey - I assume that with only moderate overclocking the Artic Silver will be fine.

So presently I am planning:

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard 74.99 88.11
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail 65.99 77.54
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) 63.99 75.19
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) 15.99 18.79
LiteON DH-18A1P-018C 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer - OEM 14.99 17.61
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM 36.99 43.46
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00715) 63.99 75.19
Shipping 9.95 11.69
Total 346.88 407.58

I am a little confused about processors. Would any of these be significantly better price-performance wise and with which memory? I only want to up the budget for a significant performance gain.

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £54.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail £49.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £107.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail 94.99

 

[Cupra]

i think the e4400 is the best overclocker with its 10x multi but for a decent head start the e6320 is a cracking cpu with 4mb cache and a 1066 fsb

 

[Namsnik]

Thanks. Would the E6320 need different memory?

Assume that as FSB is the same, the memory I have chosen would be ok for E4400.

But in any case your advice appears to be go for the E6320. My rationale for going with this over E4400 would be that once overclocked I will get the same/better speed and the cache might be of help with Excel calculations and if we get into video/photo editing in a heavy way.

Quick panic: will all my old games and Office 2003 run ok under vista or should I go for XP?

 

[Will_3rd]

Thanks. Would the E6320 need different memory?

Nope

Assume that as FSB is the same, the memory I have chosen would be ok for E4400.

Yep

Quick panic: will all my old games and Office 2003 run ok under vista or should I go for XP?

Should do, won't know for sure till you try, google some of your concerns etc

 

[Namsnik]

Many many thanks. I will order tonight.