Looking for that warm and fuzzy

[foz]

Hello All!
I am about to replace my 3 year old P4 system and am afraid of buyers remorse!
This is what I am about to buy:
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz $175.00
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel $132.99
EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB $299.99
SILVERSTONE SST-ST60F ATX 600W (42amp12V)Power Supply $129.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2800 C4 $234.00
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA $89.99
Scythe SCNJ-1100P 120mm CPU Cooling Fan $39.99
Windows Vista Premium OEM $119.99
(I will reuse optical drives and Case)

Subtotal: $1,221.94
All from NewEgg

This is pretty much my budget. I have a new 22inch monitor with 1680x1050res, which is why I am at (over) my budget limit. I am looking to OC to about 3200mhz. The games I play are Half life2, NFS Carbon, and am looking forward to play CrySis in a few months. I am not worried about the vista bugs, this will be the best way to learn, trying to figure it out. I picked the EVGA 8800GTS 320mb so I can use the step-up program in a couple months, maybe the GTX will be cheaper then.
Any comments/suggestions welcome!

 

[cutthroat]

Looks very nice, I think you'll be quite happy with it.

 

[akhilles]

You've taken all the right parts. Overclock this beast & you'll save much more money. I assume you want this ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034

In case you haven't seen it, this is a very newbie-friendly c2d o/c guide:

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/Guide-Overclocking-E6300-E6400-DS3-Mobo-ftopict201220.html

 

[CmdPT]

Excellent choices in parts. The E4300 will overclock pretty decently. As for windows vista, you should wait until SP1 for it comes out, lots of people are having problems with it right now with drivers for your 8800 GTS/GTX. So you should maybe stay with Windows XP for a little while longer.

 

[danp129]

The RAM is 2.1v, you may need to borrow a stick of 1.8v from another computer to boot the first time and up the voltage to 2.1 and then swap the RAM. I don't own that RAM and don't even own the board yet as it's being shipped so maybe you should wait for more input about the possible RAM issue.

It looks like atleast some people are getting rev 3.3 of the mobo from newegg but the specs do not indicate it would be 3.3 (it would list 1333 fsb) and newegg sales rep I talked to was unable to verify when I called them.. So I purchased mine for $125 from ClubIT.com where the sales rep guaranteed I'd get 3.3. It seems they're a small enough company that they can communicate with the shipping dept.

ClubIT also has a slightly faster 8800GTS for $296

and cheaper price on the PSU http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A6208000 $104

I never heard of clubit before last week so I checked them out and was impressed http://www.resellerratings.com/store/ClubIT.

While I normally try to get everything from one place to save on shipping, I ended up saving about $80 on my last build by purchasing from both companies.

 

[foz]

cutthroatThanks for the warm and fuzzy!

akhilles- You are right about the ram ,its the cas 4, only cost a little more than
the cas 5. I also found out they use the same micron chips as the corsair PC8500 cas5 ram. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/ddr2-800_2.html

CmdPT- I will load a copy of XP till I know all the hardware is good, (I dont want to troubleshoot hardware and software at the same time) But then I'll load in Vista. The drivers will work, just not perfect. I will still have my current computer every time vista screws up.

danp129- About the ram: This ram has its SPD set at 5-5-5-15@1.8v, the EPP (Enhanced Performance Profile) is programed at 4-4-4-12@2.1v I have also read some reviews about this ram working out of the box with the DS3, but if it doesn't work then I'll just buy some other ram to install it, then return it.
About ClubIT: They do have some great prices but I have been shopping from NewEgg for about 5 years now and they have always been good to me.With the shipping it would probably still be cheaper from only one source as I work for the US Army in Germany and have to use the Army Post Office (APO) That is cool that the ClubIT Rep could guarantee the revision, I wish NewEgg would do that. I hope I get the 3.3 version, But I will be happy as long as the F10 Bios is preloaded.

 

[akhilles]

I wouldn't worry about ram voltage higher than 1.8. OCZ is notorious for having high voltage ram. Most boards will boot out of the box, but to make the most out of it (i.e. booting into windows), the bios vdimm has to be set to specs.

I believe the ram makers have learned their lessons when there were tons of voltage issues with AM2.

 

[r0x0r]

What sort of monitor are you using?

If you want a warm and fuzzy feeling you should buy a cat and wash it with fabric softener (N.B. PLEASE DO NOT WASH A CAT WITH FABRIC SOFTENER!)

Edit: Spelling error

 

[r0x0r]

Sorry, I missed the bit down the bottom where it says:

I have a new 22inch monitor with 1680x1050res