Help my new home build

[ruunik]

Hey all!

I have decided to build my first system in a LONG time - last time I built my own I purchased a Celeron 300Mhz! My current box is a Dell 2.8GHz P4 with nVidia 6600GT (128mb) AGP, 200GB IDE drive, etc...

I have been reading THG and the associated for forums for a few weeks now. I think I have my build figured out, but wanted to make sure. Any help would be appreciated!

I am trying to build a decent gaming machine - but it doesn't have to be over the top. I play EQ2 (may move to Vanguard soon), but my time is pretty limited so I end up doing a lot internet surfing/email/Quicken mostly.

I am thinking of overclocking - but not to any extremes. Maybe add 10% type of thing.

Here is what I have picked out:
Case w/ power supply: Antec PERFORMANCE TX TX1050B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129158)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128012)
Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590)
Graphics Card: MSI NX8800GTS-T2D640E (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127225)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140)
DVD Burner: LITE-ON 20X DVD+R (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106050)
O/S: Windows XP

:?: What am I missing? :?:
Do I need to purchase a separate fan for the CPU?
Is this memory compatible?
Is the power supply big enough?
Can I scale back to a E6400 and still have enough CPU speed for the video card?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[alcattle]

Welcome to the forums :!:

Do I need to purchase a separate fan for the CPU? not usually until you try a bigger o/c

Is this memory compatible? Yes, XMS is overpriced.

Is the power supply big enough? Iffy, you got a smart power 500W wit 2 +12v rails @ 17A and 19A. The 8800 might need more.

Can I scale back to a E6400 and still have enough speed for the video card? Yes and with the mild overclock it will match to speed, but you lose the extra cache.

Other parts rate near the top, no problems there. GL

 

[lostandwandering]

I would recommend a different case. Go with the Antec P180. It looks better and has better cooling and it costs the same.. It doesn't come with a PSU, but thats ok since you would probably have had to get a new one. A PSU with 32A on the +12V rails is recommended. Included PSU's are usually low end and crappy.

If you plan to overclock, you can drop down to the E4300 or E6300 and have no worries. Both overclock really well. If you overclock then you won't have to worry about bottlenecking the card. It usually only occurs with the GTX and Core2's.

The memory should be fine with good room for overclocking. And you probably won't have to switch the HSF if you go with the P180.

 

[ruunik]

A PSU with 32A on the +12V rails is recommended.

I have been searching all over Newegg for a PS with 32A on the 12V rails, but can't find anything. The highest I have been able to find is 18A. For example,

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341001


Am I looking at the right/wrong thing? Is there one that you would recommend?

Also, I have seen some PS that have 4 rails. Do I need 3 or 4? Or does it not really matter?

 

[lostandwandering]

All that matters is the combined Amperage across all of the +12V rails. That PSU has 18A on each rail with four rails. Now common sense tells you to multiply 18 X 4 to get the total Amps, but thats not right. You need to find the total watts the +12 rails supply and divide that by 12. When you do that it comes out to a little over 48 amps. As far as the number of rails goes, it doesn't matter as long as the total is over 30 (to be on the safe side). Some people say that one rail with all of the amps is best but it shouldn't really matter. That PSU should be plenty for your system. If you want more info on PSU's go to the cases and power supplies forum here at Toms and read the PSU 101 sticky. Mpilch, the guy who wrote it, really knows his stuff so listen to what he's saying. Hope this helped.