Building my second system!

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to replace the machine I built two and a half years ago. New machine will be mainly used for multi-tasking, audio editing and a spot of gaming. I seek stability, durability and semi-quietness (well, lack of noisiness). That last point may relate to the fact that I'm presently shooting for a boxed CPU - might it make more sense to get an OEM + custom fan or is the bundled one OK in this regard?

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

Mobo: ASRock CONROEXFIRE-ESATA2 SKT775 945P PCI-E 7.1 channel audio ATX

Memory: Crucial 1GB 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered DDR2 PC4200

HDD: Seagate ST3160811AS 160GB 7200.9 SATA II 7200RPM Drive - OEM

PSU: Hiper 530W Black Type M PSU - ATX v2.2, Silent/Temp Control, Active PFC, SLI/Crossfire Certified

GFX: Sapphire X1950Pro 256MB 256bit GDDR3 Dual DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E

Case: undecided.

+ floppy/DVD etc.

Hope I pasted all of that right. Any and all comments are very much welcome!!

Get the Barracuda 7200.10, not the 7200.9.....10 is faster and really won't cost hardly any more

If you EVER plan on overclocking, then don't get a 945 motherboard, get a 965. But I doubt you'll be overclocking because your RAM won't take it. So in that case, that mobo is fine for your intended use.

DVD writer. Take a look at the Samsung SH-S182.....solid and cheap.

Floppy. Don't bother unless you have a very specific need or don't mind spending $4 LOL

Case. Get one with 120mm intake front fan if possible, and definitely a 120mm exhaust rear fan. Alot of people here swear by the Coolermaster Centurion for a budget case that's roomy and has good airflow.

PSU is good. Vid card is good.

Any questions, post back.

Thank you all very much for your input!

I can confirm that I will not be overclocking, and also that I have absolutely no intention of ever making use of CF/SLI. Might this mobo be a better bet taking into account my purposes?

MSI 945P Neo3-F i945P Socket 775 SATA 8-channel audio ATX

Thanks for the case/fan recommendations - I may well go with them, budget permitting.

Also, Skyguy, interesting about the 7200.10. What makes it faster than the 7200.9?

sailormonz, I have comparatively little need for storage, but I will consider opting for a larger capacity HDD.

Again, thanks!!

What's the joke? You're saying that .9 is "faster" than .10? So everyone here that owns and recommends a .10 is wrong? What am I missing?

Educate me, O Wise One.

haha funny

a change of 0.01 rounds per minute wont make a big difference.

anyways the stock cooler on the core2duo is noisy when it goes above 70% depends on how hot your system gets, but for my part the stock cooler was to noisy for me.

The only thing I see are the stock speeds. If you o/c the change you make should be relative to the stock speed. I think most people are saying instead of a e660 or e4300, they say get a e6400 when getting either one would work.
On the drive difference, I have read that Seagate upgraded some of the electronics to solve problems on the .09 series.
my .03 cents

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/prod [...] 754&kind=1

Doesn't support quad core.

OEM cpus have shorter warranty than retail ones. I'm not sure how short it is. Maybe 3 months - 1 year.

I've finalised pretty much everything in my mind with the exception of the cooler, and therefore the motherboard. There are a lot of people who have found their mobo to be incompatible with the 7700 Flower Cooler because it won't fit on, and I really don't want that. I do, however, want to use that cooler.

Zalman's website isn't a lot of help in this regard as the compatible mobo list was compiled in Feb 2005.

Bearing in mind the mobo I'm now considering is the Asus P5l 1394 Skt775 I945p Atx - Snd+gln+u2+1394 Fsb1066 Sata In, is there any way of knowing whether or not the Zalman CNPS7700-ALCU will fit?

Again, thanks for everyone's help so far - I couldn't have got this far without you!!