What else? Seeking advice on a new build

[wiley15]

Hi All,

My 4-year old Dell is starting to show its age (argh, boot times!) and I'm putting together a new custom build. I will primarily be using it for gaming (various RTS', Oblivion, etc.) and software development. I'm hoping a mild-to-medium overclock. Enough preamble, on with the list:

Core2Duo E6300 (thinking about 4300, but 6300 only $15 more)
Arctic Cooling Alpine 7
2048MB DDR II 800 Mhz Ram
ASUS P5B Deluxe MotherBoard w/WIFI (only $14 more)
ATI ASUS 1950Pro 256MB
Western Digital 320GB 7200RM SATAII
550 Watt ThermalTake PSU with dual fan
NZXT Apollo Classic Steel Case
22'' Dell E228WFP monitor (special for $290)

Which works out to $1590 which is just
I'm thinking the o/c should hit 2.3Ghz (333 FSB * 7) but wouldn't mind the full 400Mhz FSB to hit 1:1.

Any thoughts on where this goes horribly wrong? Or where slight tweaks might help alot? Thanks for all the info.

 

[akhilles]

Unless it's TT Toughpower, I'd get something better from this list:

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=1491365#1491365

 

[wiley15]

Thanks for the reference, however that's one think I don't get about most of the o/c advice. If the cooler costs $100+ (all on the list do), why not just use the extra money to get a 6600 instead of a 6300?

 

[akhilles]

What are you talking about? cooler? cpu cooler? You could overclock a cpu with stock cooler. No extra cost. But your overclock would be very limited. The one in your list is alright for overclocking.

If you're talking about psu, well, doesn't matter whether you overclock or not, you want quality parts? No? you want a good psu to last a long time? If you're running the setup at stock, you can pick up a Hiper psu for $50 something.

 

[wiley15]

Sorry, head was somewhere else when I replied. Now, I understand, switching the Sunbeam to a recommended (on the link) PSU -- Antec NeoHE 500. Thanks for the advice.

 

[NamelessMC]

Core2Duo E6300 (thinking about 4300, but 6300 only $15 more)
Arctic Cooling Alpine 7
2048MB DDR II 800 Mhz Ram
ASUS P5B Deluxe MotherBoard w/WIFI (only $14 more)
ATI ASUS 1950Pro 256MB
Western Digital 320GB 7200RM SATAII
550 Watt ThermalTake PSU with dual fan
NZXT Apollo Classic Steel Case
22'' Dell E228WFP monitor (special for $290)

Which works out to $1590 which is just

Any thoughts on where this goes horribly wrong? Or where slight tweaks might help alot? Thanks for all the info.

E4300 for $179 with Free shipping
Better than the 6300 because it has a 9x multiplier which allows more free settings allowing you to hit post 3 ghz with DDR667 ram.

ASUS P5B P965 for $131 with Free shipping

HannsG 19" Widescreen 5MS for $179.99

Corsair XMS2 2x 1 gb DDR800 Performance $220 + 30$ rebate

ASUS is a great Mobo brand, but go with Sapphire on the 1950Pro. Don't use an ASUS Video-card.

Sapphire 256MB 1950Pro $184.99 + $20 rebate

Try to get a Freezer 7 Pro cooling solution for your CPU and some Arctic Silver.

Also, $299 is good for a 22" monitor, but 19" with 5MS for only $179 is a much better deal. I have a 19" widescreen, trust me, 19 is good enough. My eyes hurt when I play for a while and I'm sitting 3+ feet away. The quality is amazing.