Build Advice

G

GakToid

Explorer
I build myself a new PC about every 4 years. It's time to replace my aging Athlon and DX8 video card with something a little more modern.
I'm not interested in overclocking or a dual video card setup. The primary uses will be gaming (World of Warcraft, Half-Life 2, etc) and software development.
The goal is more of a bang-for-the-buck PC than a hot rod and I'm trying to make it reasonably quiet. (low speed 120mm fans vs 80mm fans)

case - undecided (Lian Li PC-7B plus II?)
power supply - SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550
motherboard - Asus P5B-E
cpu - Intel Core2Duo E6600
ram - Corsair 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 (PC2 6400) TWIN2X2048-6400
sound - on board
video - ATi X1950 PRO (probably Sapphire) -or- GeForce 7600GT (probably eVGA)
nic - on board
hard drives - 2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS
dvd-rw - reuse existing BenQ DW1640

This works out around $1300.

Now, my questions:
1) Is this a reasonable balance between cpu - video - ram?
2) I've read different opinions on the 'ideal' ram speed to get for the Core2Duo. Is DDR2-533 or DDR2-677 sufficient?
3) I was leaning toward a 500W power supply, but the 550W is only $10 more. 500W (or 550W) will be more than enough for this setup, but am I preventing a future DX10 video card upgrade due to power constraints?
4) Anything missing?

Thanks for your input and advice.

-Gak Toid
 

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R

Rackhir

Explorer
GakToid said:
Now, my questions:
1) Is this a reasonable balance between cpu - video - ram?
Click to expand...

The amount of video ram is pretty much irrelevant. It only really matters if you are trying to go balls to the walls performance. Which would require a SLI video card setup and a large (24"+) monitor. More RAM for the system is always good, but 2gb should be more than sufficient for the forseeable future. You'll likely be replacing the MB/CPU/RAM before you'll need more.

GakToid said:
2) I've read different opinions on the 'ideal' ram speed to get for the Core2Duo. Is DDR2-533 or DDR2-677 sufficient?
Click to expand...

With memory you typically need to go much, much faster to get any sort of significant improvement. 533 vs 677 might show a testable difference in benchmarks, but it will be essentially a wash in real world usage.

GakToid said:
3) I was leaning toward a 500W power supply, but the 550W is only $10 more. 500W (or 550W) will be more than enough for this setup, but am I preventing a future DX10 video card upgrade due to power constraints?
Click to expand...

You can't plan for that far into the future. Odds are that if the graphics cards keep their upward spiral in terms of power requirements, that they will move to either being external, with their own power supply or a new power connector which would most likely require a new power supply anyway.

GakToid said:
4) Anything missing?
Click to expand...
Multi-format memory card readers are nice, but you have covered all the basics.
 

XCorvis

XCorvis

First Post
Looks nice to me.

Higher end SLI cards will require a hefty power supply. Check the manufacturer websites for recommendations. You might not need as much power as you have spec'd out. Also, I'm not familiar with the brand, but seeing as how a bad PS can potentially ruin a large portion of your system, I wouldn't skimp on the quality.

I like the Antec P150 for a case. It's VERY quiet. My hard drive is literally the noisiest component in there. The power supply is a bit small (430), but very efficient. Also check out the P180. I don't think that one comes with a PS, and it's also designed with silent computing in mind. Check http://silentpcreview.com/ for more quiet/efficient options all around.
 

TogaMario

TogaMario

First Post
I have a DFI Lan Party UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert motherboard. It rocks out loud. I got a 650W power supply because of the SLI setup, and haven't had any problems yet. Looks like a pretty good lineup, though.
 


G

GakToid

Explorer
Rackhir said:
GakToid said:
1) Is this a reasonable balance between cpu - video - ram?
Click to expand...
The amount of video ram is pretty much irrelevant.
Click to expand...
Sorry about the poor wording. What I mean to say: Is this a good balance between the CPU, the Video Card, the RAM (and motherboard). I realize that pairing a Geforce 8800 with an Athlon 2400+ is a pretty poor idea and wanted to make sure I balanced my components.

GlassJaw said:
Get a better video card. I wouldn't get any less than a 7900 right now. The eVGA cards are nice.
Click to expand...
The X1950Pro is about the same as the 7900 series (better than the GS & GT, not as good as the GTX).

-Gak Toid
 

R

Rackhir

Explorer
GakToid said:
Sorry about the poor wording. What I mean to say: Is this a good balance between the CPU, the Video Card, the RAM (and motherboard). I realize that pairing a Geforce 8800 with an Athlon 2400+ is a pretty poor idea and wanted to make sure I balanced my components.
Click to expand...

Yes, you're fine. The Core 2 Duos kick ass as CPUs, you have a decent graphics card and plenty of memory. "Balancing" them really only kicks in if you are at one of the extreme ends of the scale. Which isn't the case for any of your hardware choices.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/31/the_best_video_cards_for_your_money/
 


L

LightPhoenix

First Post
I have a 19" Samsung LCD, and I'm enjoying it muchly. It tends to be a little too murky on default though - I had to turn the brightness on mine fairly high. I have the 930B, for reference.
 

G

GakToid

Explorer
Update

Some information I've learned:

1) The C2D naturally want a run a FSB of 266MHz. This directly correlates to DDR2-533. So if you're not going to overclock, that's the fastest RAM you'll need. Right now DDR-667 is cheaper, so that's an option too.

2) If you want to get the most performance out of your SATA hard drives, you should consider ones that support NCQ. The ones I've listed above do not. WD2500YS are the same price as the ones listed above and support NCQ. The other 'gotcha' is you'll have to use the F6 method during Windows installation to get the drivers installed. This means you'll need a floppy drive.

Hope this helps!

-Gak Toid
 

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