First Time Build, Comments Please :D

[GazMcfc]

hey everyone, this is my first build so i'd appreciate it if you guys could comment on my chosen components:-

Components i have bought:-
Graphics Card - 640MB Pallit 8800 GTS - £258.36
CPU - E6400 2.13GHZ 2MB Cache - £138.64
CPU Fan - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - £14.68
CPU Thermal Paste - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - £2.34
PSU - 700W Xclio X12S4P4 Modular SLi U-Quiet 14cm Fan 87%+ Efficiency Quad+12v EPS£64.57
DVD - Samsung 18X DVDRW DL - £20.56
Motherboard - Gigabyte DS3 - £75.20
Sound Card - Creative Soundblaster Audigy SE 7.1 - £19.98
Speakers - Creative Inspire P5800 5.1 Speaker System -£36.11
Case - Antec Nine Hundred - £68.41
Components i will order soon:-
Memory - 2GB Geil Ultra DDR2 PC6400 (800) (4-4-4-12) - £169.19
HDD - 250GB Western Digital Cavair 16MB Cache - £48.16

another question...do you the Memory is good? is Geil a good make, also i am planning to overclock in the future. Thanks everyone, take care!

 

[yas]

I just have to say, you have some niiiice prices mate A DS3 for £75!! I bought mine just recently for £105. GTS for £250!! Thats great but make sure you read some reviews about that model because it might have some problems like driver problems or cooling problems.

 

[gondo]

hey everyone, this is my first build so i'd appreciate it if you guys could comment on my chosen components:-

Components i have bought:-
Graphics Card - 640MB Pallit 8800 GTS - £258.36
CPU - E6400 2.13GHZ 2MB Cache - £138.64
CPU Fan - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - £14.68
CPU Thermal Paste - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - £2.34
PSU - 700W Xclio X12S4P4 Modular SLi U-Quiet 14cm Fan 87%+ Efficiency Quad+12v EPS£64.57
DVD - Samsung 18X DVDRW DL - £20.56
Motherboard - Gigabyte DS3 - £75.20
Sound Card - Creative Soundblaster Audigy SE 7.1 - £19.98
Speakers - Creative Inspire P5800 5.1 Speaker System -£36.11
Case - Antec Nine Hundred - £68.41
Components i will order soon:-
Memory - 2GB Geil Ultra DDR2 PC6400 (800) (4-4-4-12) - £169.19
HDD - 250GB Western Digital Cavair 16MB Cache - £48.16

another question...do you the Memory is good? is Geil a good make, also i am planning to overclock in the future. Thanks everyone, take care!

I would rethink the motherboard. I hate gigabyte. I love Abit and would highly recommend them. If in doubt Asus is always good but I hate them. DFI makes a nice board.

I'd go seagate over Western Digital unless you want a Raptor.

Geil makes good RAM at a good price. Although I am an OCZ fan.

I looked at an E6400 and an e6600 and it looks like the 6600 has twice the cache. Check it out, might be worth getting if this is true.

For the speakers I wouldn't recommend a cheaper 5.1 set. Get a 2.1 set which will sound way better at an equivalent price point. If your going 5.1 get a higher end logitech or Creative Gigaworks set. I love the high end Creative speakers. I stay away from cheaper 5.1 kits.

 

[akhilles]

DQ6 overclocks better than DS3/4. Some would swear by P5B-DELUXE. Also, take a look at Intel's bad axe 1 & 2. D975XBX & D975XBX2.

The Freezer 7 pro is not bad, but something bigger would help overclocking. Like the Tuniq Tower 120.

The setup looks bad-ass.

 

[GazMcfc]

thanks for all your replies, i already have the mobo so i cannot change this. i wont be overclocking this system so much as i dont know much about it so the arctic freezer pro 7 should be suffice. i will order the memory & hard drive tomorrow so when the parts come im good to go one drawback would be the operating system, i dont really want to spend much on an OS, ive heard that Linux is free? my preferable OS would be Windows XP but this software is still highpriced even when Vista is coming out soon.

PS. Do you think i should buy the Geil memory? Would you say its a good price for 2GB DDR2 PC6400 (800) Memory? Thanx again! Cheers

 

[yas]

i dont really want to spend much on an OS, ive heard that Linux is free? my preferable OS would be Windows XP but this software is still highpriced even when Vista is coming out soon.Sad

Thats where emule comes into all this my friend

Btw dont worry about your board its a great board and gigabyte is a great company so i dont know why someones making these biased comments

 

[GazMcfc]

thanks mate

also what do you mean by emule? lol

 

[akhilles]

Geil is a good brand. Perhaps, ask the store for compatibility with the board.

 

[gondo]

Don't worry, Gigabyte is one of the higher end companies. Definitely a pricey board. I've just had bad experiences in the past with all boards in the past while Abit was the high end with good capacitors, ect. Every Gigabyte I've used in the past had faulty caps. I always hated Asus for their non-conventional BIOS layout, and the fact that their website is frequently down not allowing you to download drivers.

I suppose nowadays most higher end companies are using better quality components, and their boards are better than in the old days. Most companies like Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, DFI, etc... are probably closer to Abit and what a board should be. Even still, I'm still biased towards Abit for several other reasons. Best RMA in the business, easy BIOS reset via onboard switch, external switch, or keyboard shortcut during bootup. uGuru rocks and makes everything so easy and available via a single installation package. The external guru makes a nice mod. good quality components mean the boards will last as long as anybody else. I still have Abit boards from 1997 kicking around with Celeron processors. Abit has wicked manuals, online support, forums, etc.... just overall I've had a way better experience with abit over any other motherboard manufacturer and I've tried them all.

As far as the memory goes Geil is a recognized brand up there with Corsair, OCZ, Mushkin, etc.... Not as well known but don't worry they are amongst them. I'd get the cheapest 2GB kit at 533MHZ or DDR4200 if you don't want to overclock. Also look at the timings. If you can get better timings for $10 more or so it's worth it. Most memory modules from these companies including Geil should include a heatsink and lifetime warranty. I guess the faster RAM is worth it in your case since you do plan on overclocking in the future.

If you do want to overclock you'll need cooling as your aware and unsure of the Arctic cooling heatsink you choose. Go to www.frostytech.com for all your cooling reviews. I love Zalman heatsinks, they are big, good looking, high performance, very quiet, and I think have the best installation in the market. They also release mounting clips for future processors so your heatsink might last longer than another companies. Might be worth checking out, unless you want to cheap out for now, then go watercooling down the road with a kit when you decide to overclock.

Good luck. Looks like a nice system.

 

[gondo]

i also need to mention about the OS. You don't want to spend the $100-$200 on Windows. Wait for Vista then choose the package you want, wince there will be at least 4 different versions available. When you do buy Vista make sure you get it OEM from online or a local shop. You get the full version not an upgrade and pay the lowest price.

In the meantime you can get a bootleg of XP to bail you out. Or you can install Linux. Linux is free, will look like windows when you install and use it, and will bail you out until you buy and install Vista. Only downside is you won't be playing games on Linux. You'll get on the internet and do everything else though.