Another New PC Thread.... (please rate/advise!)

[Squad_Walker]

Ok... what I've got:

* 19" Samsung 940B (1280x1024) monitor. I love it, it's not HUGE, but for gaming it's great.

* Creative gaming keyboard, & logitech mouse.

(that's it so far)


What I want:

A gaming PC that will be capable of smoothly running games for the next couple of years (mostly real time strategies). Something that I can also upgrade (cpu, ram, vid. card) if need be.

This is my first build, I'm trying to read as much as possible when I can to make my build a proper one. I'd also like to try my hand @ overclocking at some pt. (much reading left to do on that).

After some thinking & discussion w/ some buddies, here's my to get list so far:


* E6600 C2D proc.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115003

* ASUS P5N32-E 650i motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131153

* EVGA 8800 GTS 320 MB vid. card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130082

* Mushkin 2 GB RAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820146673

* Seagate Barracuda HD 7200.10
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148140

* LG 18X Super-Multi DVD Burner w/ 12X DVD-RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827136108

* OCZ GameXstream 700W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817341002

* Windows XP Home
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16832116056

* Antec Nine Hundred Gamer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129021

Totals ~ $1,650

Please feel free to comment on any of the items I've selected & let me know if you see any compatibility issues with these products. If you see a better product for roughly the same cost, please let me know.

Also, is the 700W PSU overkill? If so, what would a good PSU for this system for price?

Will I have proper cooling with these items for OC'ing? Should I consider a possible water cooling system in lieu of the air cooled case? Or, will the case & CPU stock fan/heatsink be sufficient?

$1,700 is my budget, please allow for this in any recommendations that you make.

Thank you VERY much.

 

[akhilles]

:trophy: Good job at picking the right parts.

No, you don't need any more fans for the case which comes with 3 120mm front & rear fans & 1 200mm top blowhole fan. However, you might want to replace the stock cpu cooler with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185038

This will help you overclock much further than the stock one.

Some will say the psu is overkill. There are always problems with a psu that doesn't meet the system requirements. I've never heard of computational problems with overkill psus.

 

[jeff_2087]

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/Building-system-Read-ftopict226328.html

Why the Asus board? And 700W is a lot more than you need for this, but that's not really a bad thing. The RAM is nice though more expensive for what you get than something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087

Also if they have the EVGA Superclocked version of the card, it's usually a lot more performance for only a few dollars.

Watercooling is a lot of hassle for what you get out of it. The stock cooling is fine for mild to moderate OC.

 

[jeff_2087]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185038

This will help you overclock much further than the stock one.

An aftermarket cooler will certainly increase the maximum OC somewhat, but not by huge amounts. Especially for the Core 2s, which have pretty decent stock coolers. Take a look at the chart:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2937&p=6

That particular cooler doesn't seem to be listed, but it shows a bunch of common coolers all the way up to the $70 Tuniq Tower- even it only increases the maximum OC by 170MHz.

So while you may still think it's worth it, you should know not to expect a big overclocking boost out of an aftermarket air cooler.

 

[Squad_Walker]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Jeff_2087, I picked that ASUS board only b/c a buddy recommended it. He said that it features some type of "Auto" OC setting... I'm fairly oblivious when it comes to OC, so that's as much as I know. Please excuse my ignorance... but, at least I'm learning...

After looking at the ratings on that Gigabyte 965P-DS3, it looks like a good bet... especially for $100 less.

Will also go w/ the 'overclocked 8800 GTS.

Thanks again!

 

[Squad_Walker]

Oh yeah... should I consider getting that Silver Contact Paste that I've heard about? Is it worth using?