New Core 2 Build - Advice

[farm]

OK, here’s my installment of “Give me advice on my build”.
I’m upgrading components, not the entire rig.

I’ll keep it short and try not to be verbose, but I would appreciate any comments.

My current important system components (I hope you're sitting down):
Athlon XP 2400 Barton OC’d to 3200+
1GB Ram
Radeon 9800 Pro

My situation:
I don’t game too much anymore.
I do a lot of work with Photoshop and some video editing/creating from DV sources to DVD (I’m getting ready to archive all of our home movies to DVD, which prompted this upgrade)
I multitask like crazy.
I don’t really have a budget per se, but I don’t want to get ridiculous with cost either.

I’ve read and researched a lot so please don’t give me the “just search for it on the forums and figure it out yourself”. I’ve done enough research; I’m just interested in opinions and helpful advice.

My conclusions:
I need a fast dual core processor, a decent amount of ram, a mid range graphics card to “keep up”.

My questions:
Would the 4MB cache of the e6600 be a noticeable improvement over the e6400.
Can I easily OC the e6400 to 3-3.2 GHZ and negate the benefits of the the e6600.
Can I OC the e6600 as easily as the e6400?
Would the added expense of the e6600 vs. e6400 and higher speed ram needed if I did OC (expensive right now) be cost prohibitive?
Would a RAID setup noticably affect my multimedia work load?

I'll use my current case P180B for this build.

Here are the components I'm considering.
CPU
e6400 OC’d to 3-3.2 GHz vs. e6600 (may or may not OC)
CPU Cooler
Zalmon 9700 vs. Thermaltake Big Typhoon
Mobo
Asus P5B Deluxe vs. eVGA 680i
RAM
Depends on CPU, but something based on the D9 chip
Video Card
Something Mid Range – 7900 GS, Radeon X1950 PRO, or 7950 GT
PSU
At Least 500W (OCZ GameXStream 600W, Roswill 600W, or PCP&C 610W...)

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[WR2]

Would the 4MB cache of the e6600 be a noticeable improvement over the e6400

Not if the E6400 is overclocked to E6600 speed. The E6400 would lead in performance if overclocked beyond the E6600.

Can I easily OC the e6400 to 3-3.2 GHZ and negate the benefits of the the e6600

Yes, BUT you could also OC the E6600 to surpass the performance of the OC'd E6400. E6400 multiplier is 8 and E6400 is 9. If you OC both by raising the front side bus to 400Mzh you'd have them running at 3.2Ghz vs 3.6Ghz. If you OC'd the E6600 to 360FSB (a mild overclock for a C2D) you'd have that CPU running at 3.24Ghz. Depending on the quality of the CPUs the E6400 might overclock by a slightly higher percentage, but the E6600 should reach a higher performance OC, all else being equal.

Would the added expense of the e6600 vs. e6400 and higher speed ram needed if I did OC (expensive right now) be cost prohibitive?

The price difference between 667 and 800 Cas4 DDR2 isnt all that great and so you're only considering the price difference between the E6400 and E6600. You are the best judge of your budget, or course. Try costing out a system both ways, using E6400 & 800 OC'ing RAM and E6600 and 667 RAM. Compare that to E6600 and the 800 RAM.

Would a RAID setup noticably affect my multimedia work load?

You could probably notice the increased speed of a RAID setup - IF you were paying VERY close attention. In everyday use, especially if you're multi-tasking I'd guess you really wouldn't notice the difference.
I think the Rosewill PSU would be a 3rd or 4th tier PSU provider with PCP&C being 1st tier and OCZ 2nd tier (but still a very good choice).

 

[farm]

From what I've read, the e6400 is much easier to OC than the e6600. Now, my overclocking isn't trying to squeeze every GHZ out of the CPU. I usually OC to a comfortable and stable level. I think this would be 3 GHZ for the e6400 and 3.2 GHZ for the e6600 (but I could be wrong).

Thanks for the advice on the Rosewill PSU. I'll wipe it from contention.

 

[qwazzy]

Forget the Rosewill PSU> I would really go with the P5B Deluxe, as I have it paired up with my E6600. Absolutely perfect motherboard, haven't found a problem with it in 2-3 months. I don't know about the 680i. Depends on how much you will OC, if any, I wouldn't get a 3rd party heatsink. The Intel HSF is great for minimal OC'ing. I have my E6600 at 3.0 GHz at about 50 C on full load, with a 70 F room temperature. For the video card you might need to get a 3rd party HSF because Nvidia's HSFs suck, and they are loud.

 

[farm]

Ok, this may be a silly question, but I'm not as familiar with OCing RAM.

If I go with the e6600, that has a 1066 FSB. To buy RAM that doesn't need OCing, I would just buy 1066 or PC28500 RAM, correct?

If I don't want to mortgage my house to buy that RAM, I could go with good quality PC26400 and try to OC it to 1066 speeds from 800?

How easily done is that OC for the RAM?

Newegg also has some PC28000 RAM (FSB 1000) for a good price right now, $279.99 after rebate

Thanks.

 

[farm]

OK, I've narrowed a lot of choices down:
Prices are from Newegg and I've taken shipping costs into account with some of the decisions.

Comments are welcome

CPU
E6600 - $309
Pretty certain on this one now over the e6400
I'll likely try to OC to around 3.2 Ghz

MoBo
Asus P5B Deluxe - $182
vs.
eVGA 680i - $250
Not sure that the 680i is worth ~$70 more

RAM
SUPER TALENT (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $280
vs.
Crucial Ballistix (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) - $285
Only $5 more for higher rated RAM. Both use the Micron D9 chips.

PSU
CORSAIR HX520w - $120
I've read a TON of reviews and my PSU calculations call for about 420W. I don't need a 700W microwave inside the case.

CPU Cooler
Zalman 9700 - $60
This is one of the more debatable parts. It's gotten good reviews and seems to be quiet, which I'm striving for. Alternatives would be Ninja, Infinity, TT Typhoon, Tuniq Tower (silly big). I'm not sure at my OC, that it will matter. I'm not going to squeeze every last Ghz out of my CPU.

HD
2 x 320GB Seagate - $95 x 2 = $190
Still the best drives for the money, barely beating out the 400GB versions in $$/GB.

GPU
eVGA 7900 GS - $160
X1950 PRO is a good deal too, but really close in performance to the 7900 GS and about $50 more right now. I don't game much, so I just need a middle of the road card to hold me over until DX10.

I'll be using my Sonata case or upgrading to a p180b, can't decide.

 

[farm]

Well, thanks everyone for all the input and assistance. I bit the bullet today and ordered everything through the Egg. I spent a little more on the case through them, but I've never had any issues with NE as a company and the shipping costs weren't too bad with the Paypal coupon (expires 12/15).

Here is the system:

CPU - E6600
MoBo - Asus P5B Deluxe
RAM - SUPER TALENT (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
PSU - CORSAIR HX520w
CPU Cooler - Zalman 9700
HD - 2 x 320GB Seagate
GPU - BFG 7950 GT
Case - Lian Li PC-A10B

This should blow the doors of my current system:
Athlon XP 2400 Barton OC’d to 3200+
1GB Ram
Radeon 9800 Pro