New to forums, first build in several years

[Shodann]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping to get some feedback on this build.

Motherboard:
Asus P5N32-E SLI

On newegg.com, they claim to have both a 650i and 680i version, is this actually the case? And is it worth the extra money for the 680i version?

CPU:
2.4 ghz Core 2 Duo E6600

RAM:
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Vid Card:
Foxconn GeForce 8800GTS 320MB

HD:
2x Western Digital Caviar RE WD3200YS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA

Case:
Sunbeam Transformer full tower
It's a cool looking case, but apparently some people have run into some tight fits. Would this work just fine or are there better cases out there?

PSU:
OCZ GameXStream 600W
I'm not sure about what to get for the PSU, this one seems to be well liked and reading the PSU 101 sticky just confused me more than it helped. Would this be enough to hold this rig up for future upgrades (Going SLI, Quad-core, over-clocking, etc)?

That's what I've come up with so far, how does it look? I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

 

[raven_87]

Your PSU is just fine.

NO to the case. I bought one seeing that it was the cheapest full tower on newegg. Its crap. front mounting brackets for the "transformer" face plate are really shotty, its not a solid design and yes there were some space issues.

look at other full towers.

In regards to the motherboard. Do you plan on doing any serious overclocking?

If that is your main concern then you might want to spring for the 680i.
If not, then any decent 775 chipset will do nicely.

 

[akhilles]

Agreed ^^^. The psu is good, but not the case. Find a case that has at least a 120mm intake & exhaust.

P5N-E SLI = 650i
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1474&l1=3&l2=11&l3=473

P5N32-E SLI = 680i
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1459&l1=3&l2=11&l3=397

Striker Extreme = 680i
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=397&model=1439&modelmenu=2

The diffs are in the specs. Both chipsets overclock like crazy with good cooling.

 

[Shodann]

What do you think of this case?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146029

This one looks interesting but there's no reviews on it. Any thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811103011

 

[cutthroat]

The most popular cases around here are the Antec P180 and the Antec Nine Hundred.

Case is really a personal preference, but think about what you need before you buy (space, noise, HDD space, etc.). Looks are not necessarily the most important thing in a case.

 

[akhilles]

Gen-speak, the smaller the fan, the louder it is. As in dba. i.e. 60mm fan is louder than 80mm. 80 louder than 120. The bigger the fan, the more air it moves. As in CFM. The higher cfm & lower dba, the better. 250mm would be a killer fan. With a fan speed control, it's a winner.

http://www.xclio.com/product/wind_tunnel/wind_tunnel_page.htm

Speed controls for both 25cm exhaust fans. It seems to pull cool air from the right side & top side.

NZXT Zero has 7 120mm & 1 80mm fans. In theory, it should be louder than XClio Windtunnel. And there are NO fan speed controls.

Since you're not overclocking, you should take a good look at:

http://www.compusa.com/products/products.asp?N=0&Ntt=p180&Ntk=All&Nty=1&D=p180&Dx=mode%20matchall

$100 vs $130 at newegg

 

[pongrules]

I'm partial to full towers because they're so much easier to build in and the extra spacing helps with airflow. But you have to have the space for it. So depending on your preference, the Antec 900 is a great choice as someone else pointed out. I absolutely love my Thermaltake Armor full tower and I have a build similar to yours.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154