Building new pc

Mech1

Hi all,
Ive been reading this forum lately due to the fact that my dimension 8400 needs upgrading.
I have decided on a new build rather than buy again from Dell.
I use the puter mostly for photos / internet / bf2 gaming / hope to get more into gaming soon.
Budget isnt too important, but whats the point in spending more than i have to !!!

This is what i have already bought for the new puter:
Jeantech Phong 2 case
arctic 600W modular psu (pc world) (bought it before i read this forum hope it will be ok)
Creative X-fi Fatal1ty (with front panel) Sound card
BFG 8600gts oc Graphics card (same comments as for psu)

I already have and intend to use :
Sony SDM-hs95 19" monitor
Windows xp pro
logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 speakers

I intend to buy:
Asus p5k delux motherboard
samsung 500gb spinpoint T166 sata2 16mb Hard Drive
Intel c2d E6850

What memory do you recommend and what else do I need?
some mild overclocking is something i may try in the future.
any other advice on what i am doing would be very welcome
I may buy a oem version of vista to try.
Thanks in advance.

8T8

For RAM some Crucial BallitiX DDR-2 800 would do nicely, very reliable.

If overclocking well the low end Core 2's easily reach 3Ghz so frankly there is not much point in shelling out for an E6850 if you have plans for overclocking.

Get an E4400 with a Zalman or Scythe cooler and just overclock to 3Ghz by setting the FSB to 300Mhz, a RAM divider will keep the RAM speed in check at or under 800Mhz.

(Even the Intel stock cooler will suffice but those two are more effective and quieter in operation)

Mech1

But can i not still oc the e6850 maybe higher than a e4400?

what u think of the other components?

are there any brackets / cables / fans etc that i will need (case comes with 140mm intake and 120mm exhaust fans and speed controller)

8T8

Well you could overclock the E6580 to 3.4 maybe higher but the way I see it is that unless you really really need that speed for something it's not worth it & games don't really benefit all that much when at very high resolutions.

The easy overclock to 3Ghz will get you in the same ball park without having to do anything exotic and temps are very reasonable plus you save a bunch of cash.

As for the rest of the hardware looks fine.

dazftw

Get a Thermalright ultra extreme 120 as a cpu cooler! Very good cool I must say!

Mech1

For an extra €24.00 I can get pc2 8500 ballistix memory instead of the 6400 would this be any better or more future proof or better for oc etc? By the way Crutial say the asus board supports both types so no problems there.
many thanks.

awhir

ya the pc 8500 is worth it if its only 24e extra.

Offalycool

8T8 wrote:

(Even the Intel stock cooler will suffice but those two are more effective and quieter in operation)

I just picked one up and from what I can tell (I haven't opened it up, just looked at the base) the core of my stock cooler is aluminium, not copper. I have heard Intel have been shipping these with the new e2*00's. My temps are too high in TAT and Coretemp when overclocked to 2.6GHz.

Mech1

Hi offalycool,
whats your thoughts on the phong 2?
ease of build / tidy cables / cooling / size ie large enough for 8800/Thermalright ultra extreme 120 / installed fan noise etc.
Many thanks.

Offalycool

The cooling is topnotch. Really like the case, got to examin it in PC world and fell in love there and then.. loads of room for a big cooler but I think it would be a squeez for the GTX. Only complaint is having to remove the front to fit the DVD drive, all the plastic rivets poped out and it took me ages to find them again. It's not very flash, but its cool in an understated way. Cable managment was fine, except for the IDE cable but thats Gigabytes fault. I can not hear my harddrive.. at all. I was a little concerned about replacing the 140 mm fan if it failed, but I could allway attach a 120 mm if I had to. Would recomend it to a friend. You should go with a e4*00 chip and a good cooler, overclocking is a doddle.

Mech1

Ok i gotta small problem
i'm about ready to order from komplett but my wanted mb
is nowhere to be found!!

whats the difference between p5k deluxe wanted (not p5k3)and p5k_E?
i'm confused and cannot order until i'm sure.

Many Thanks.

8T8

The only difference between the P5KE and P5K Deluxe is that the Deluxe model adds a second gigabit LAN controller and extends the heat pipe to the south bridge chip.

Thats it and nothing really worth getting go with the P5KE.

somakasvh

jsut so you know, you wont see any performace difference between PC-6400 and PC-8500 unless you're overclocking and even then, PC-6400 would propably suffice.

You can pick up 2gigs of AData PC6400 for €64
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=337883

Intel quad cores are also quite cheap at the moment - cheaper in fact than the E6850
the Q6600 is 2.4GHz and can also be easily overclocked
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=330169