First build, any problems and overclocking potential?

[Sczee]

Hi I'm about to buy a new computer but before I pay for anything I'd like to know that everything I'm going to buy are sensible choices and what speed I could overclock to. The components are:

CPU: E6300
Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe
Memory: Corsair XMS TWIN2X2048-6400C4 (2x1024MB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12)
Hard Drive 1: Seagate 320GB 7200.10
Hard Drive 2: Seagate 300GB 7200.7 (I already have it)
Graphics Card: ATI X1950 Pro
Optical Drive: Gigabyte GO-W1616B - link
Power Supply: ThermalTake 700W ToughPower - link
Case: Gigabyte Poseidon - link
Monitor: ViewSonic VX922 (I already have it)
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 (I already have them)

I'd like to be able to easily get to 2.8 GHz (400MHz FSB). Is this possible with stock cooling and this setup? Or would getting an E6400 be more of a guarantee of getting 2.8 GHz. Is the RAM good enough/overkill, could I get away with 5-5-5-12 timings (still DDR2-800)? If I go with the 5-5-5-12 RAM and an E6400 I'd save $30. Would this be a good idea or should I go for 4-4-4-12 and the E6400 and pay the extra $40 it'd cost me?

Also I'd like to upgrade the GFX card in the future to something like a 8800 GTX. Would this be possible in this setup (i.e. would it fit)? And if you think I am wasting money anywhere please tell me because I am on quite a tight budget (this is about the max I am willing to pay, its 2325 New Zealand dollars for what I have left to buy).

Oh yeah and the only thing which I'm likely to use the computer for which will actually need all of the processing power is games.

Thanks

 

[yas]

I think you answered your own question on getting cl5 ram and a E6400. you might wanna get a gigabyte s3 to save money. ALso even for a 8800GTX 700W is still overkill. get 600W to save money and still be safe. If you plan on getting a DX10 card in the futur then you might wanna get a 7600GT for the next year or so.

Hope this helps and I think Ive saved you a fair amount of money in all of that

 

[chiefgabbai]

Yas, forgive my ignorance, but can you please spell out your suggestion on the 6300 vs 6400 and CAS 4 vs CAS 5? I am not quite sure what it is that you are recommending. Thanks.

 

[Sczee]

I think you answered your own question on getting cl5 ram and a E6400. you might wanna get a gigabyte s3 to save money. Also even for a 8800GTX 700W is still overkill. get 600W to save money and still be safe. If you plan on getting a DX10 card in the future then you might wanna get a 7600GT for the next year or so.

Hope this helps and I think I've saved you a fair amount of money in all of that

Hmm I think it'd be a while before I got a DX10 card and the 1950 Pro is almost twice as good as the 7600 GT(in FPS) in the VGA charts so I think I'll stick with the 1950 Pro.

I like the feature set on the P5B deluxe more than I like the savings I'd make getting an S3.

For the power supply you're right 600W would be fine, my only worry is that the 600W Toughpower has 48A combined on the 4 12V rails where as the 700W version has 56A on its 4 12V rails. I have no idea whether 48A is enough or if I need 56A?

For the CPU + RAM I have 4 options: (in order of price, cheapest to most expensive)
- E6300 + cl5 RAM
- E6400 + cl5 RAM
- E6300 + cl4 RAM
- E6400 + cl4 RAM

Obviously the latter combination is the best, but how much better would it be. As I said I want to overclock to 2.8 GHz +. Which is the cheapest of these combinations with which I could do that easily? And could I do it with stock cooling?

Thanks again