I've been waiting weeks for X2 prices to drop and the Core 2's to come out and I'm glad I did. Here's my rig including shipping prices(It seems like a lot of other people on this forum are buying the same components):
Asus M2N-E $103.5
Centurion 5 $66 -- To be modded
SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write and LightScribe Black ATA/ATAPI Model SH-S162L $33 --Don't know much about optical drives so I just chose one with Lightscribe, dual layer, and lots of good reviews.
Seagate Barracuda 320 GB 7200.10 Perpendicular $95 --Wasn't originally going to go with this until I read reviews that it's faster than the raptors.
Corsair XMS2 2GB 5-5-5-12 $177 --Went with XMS2 because it is supposed to work well with M2N-E
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, UL $68 --Good reviews, good looks, 550W, how could I resist? But I'm a little concerned about Rosewill's PSU's.
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ $154.5 --$154.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EVGA GeForce 7600 GT $156
Total $853
I'm not going with Conroe because the only motherboards that are capable of decent overclocking are like $200+.
I'm gonna overclock the cpu. DDR2 has tons of bandwidth that isn't useful unless you pair it up with a really fast cpu, right? So I might as well not overclock it and keep the warranty.
I'm gonna build a watercooling system. (Homemade waterblock, heater core, maybe a pump from a fish store, as cheap as possible)
I want to overclock the processor to as far as I can get it for bragging rights and then bring it back down to 2.5-2.6 (assuming I can even get it past that)
Issues? Bottlenecks? Suggestions? Comments?
Asus M2N-E $103.5
Centurion 5 $66 -- To be modded
SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write and LightScribe Black ATA/ATAPI Model SH-S162L $33 --Don't know much about optical drives so I just chose one with Lightscribe, dual layer, and lots of good reviews.
Seagate Barracuda 320 GB 7200.10 Perpendicular $95 --Wasn't originally going to go with this until I read reviews that it's faster than the raptors.
Corsair XMS2 2GB 5-5-5-12 $177 --Went with XMS2 because it is supposed to work well with M2N-E
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, UL $68 --Good reviews, good looks, 550W, how could I resist? But I'm a little concerned about Rosewill's PSU's.
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ $154.5 --$154.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EVGA GeForce 7600 GT $156
Total $853
I'm not going with Conroe because the only motherboards that are capable of decent overclocking are like $200+.
I'm gonna overclock the cpu. DDR2 has tons of bandwidth that isn't useful unless you pair it up with a really fast cpu, right? So I might as well not overclock it and keep the warranty.
I'm gonna build a watercooling system. (Homemade waterblock, heater core, maybe a pump from a fish store, as cheap as possible)
I want to overclock the processor to as far as I can get it for bragging rights and then bring it back down to 2.5-2.6 (assuming I can even get it past that)
Issues? Bottlenecks? Suggestions? Comments?