First new build in 5 years - Am I on the right track?

[Nyanga]

Hi all you tech-wizards

I need a little feedback on what I hope will become my new super-PC. I finally scraped up the money and the time to retire the old box of pcb's thats currently sitting under my desk. But before I waste all that time and money, maybe you would be kind enough to comment on the proposed setup:

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4 GHz BX80557E6600
MB: EVGA nForce 680i SLI 122-CK-NF68-AR
RAM: OCZ Platinum 2 x 1 GB OCZ2N10662GK PC2-8500CL5
GPU: EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS KO ACS3 640MB 640-P2-E827-AR
HD: WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150 GB
Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS 9500 LED
Case: Antec Performance One P180B
PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower Cable Management W0116 750W
Monitor: LG L2000C-SF 20" (4:3) 1600 x 1200

I would especially like to hear if you have had any problems with a similar setup.

Johnny / Denmark

 

[prof_chaos]

It all looks good and should make a sick setup, but i'll throw in my comments anyways.

cpu - July 22nd = major price cuts. E6750 will be as much as that E6600 is now; if you're willing to wait.
cooler - zalman 9700 is only $4 more than 9500 on newegg.
monitor - If you're only using a 20" monitor you might as well get a GTS 320MB.

 

[tvfreak]

It all looks good and should make a sick setup, but i'll throw in my comments anyways.

cpu - July 22nd = major price cuts. E6750 will be as much as that E6600 is now; if you're willing to wait.
cooler - zalman 9700 is only $4 more than 9500 on newegg.
monitor - If you're only using a 20" monitor you might as well get a GTS 320MB.

I have the 9500. What is the difference between the 9500 and 9700? It looks the same.

 

[andybird123]

monitor - If you're only using a 20" monitor you might as well get a GTS 320MB.

that's great advice... until DX10 games actually come out and use more than 320mb of video memory for high textures

someone told me the exact same thing in nvidia 6xxx days, I bought the 256mb version because the 512 was "not worth the extra £30", then a month later GRAW game out using 280mb of textures and my 256 card ground to a halt forcing me to play with medium textures

 

[dobby]

Nice if it been 5 years, however if you dont need Sli, Dont get a SLi board, get a Intel chipset there more relibel, cheaper, and better OC'ers, Get a Gigabyte DS3, just do it.

Also get a 320Mb, the 640 isnt worth the extra price really, game just need it.

And i always prefer the CNPS 7700 Cu, its a much better cooler. Also you should look at the THG article at the moment on Good RAM, i would recommend a Corsair instead.

 

[Nyanga]

My main focus with this setup is gaming and maybe some video-editing, I plan to get a second GPU later and try SLI, which is the reason for both the 640MB version GTS and the big PSU.

Do any of you have experience with this particular case and coolers? I've heard people complain about limited space etc.

I'm considering switching the RAM to the Corsair XMS2 Dominator Xtreme Performance TwinX Matched TWIN2X2048-8500C5D

 

[deadhead_matt]

Hi all you tech-wizards

I need a little feedback on what I hope will become my new super-PC. I finally scraped up the money and the time to retire the old box of pcb's thats currently sitting under my desk. But before I waste all that time and money, maybe you would be kind enough to comment on the proposed setup:

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4 GHz BX80557E6600
MB: EVGA nForce 680i SLI 122-CK-NF68-AR
RAM: OCZ Platinum 2 x 1 GB OCZ2N10662GK PC2-8500CL5
GPU: EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS KO ACS3 640MB 640-P2-E827-AR
HD: WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150 GB
Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS 9500 LED
Case: Antec Performance One P180B
PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower Cable Management W0116 750W
Monitor: LG L2000C-SF 20" (4:3) 1600 x 1200

I would especially like to hear if you have had any problems with a similar setup.

Johnny / Denmark

Skip the Raptor and go with 2 sata drives and RAID 0 them and save a few $$$$$ and get a lot more free space.

Just my two cents

Deadhead

 

[cbhm]

id say stick with the 8800 640...you can get these for 300. anyway, i suggest getting the a1 revision of the motherboard. if you plan on upgrading later on to a quad core, the a1, unlike the ar, will support quad core OCing. However, if you have your heart set on the ar, you can just RMA it through evga and get the a1 revision, but going through all that trouble is not worth it.

 

[dobby]

yes i very much advise your switch in RAM, and YES some poeple have had problems with t CNPS 9700 and space, which us why i alway recommend the CNPS 7700, as it cooler better to

 

[Daredevil_8]

Skip the Raptor and go with 2 sata drives and RAID 0 them and save a few $$$$$ and get a lot more free space.

Just my two cents

Deadhead

I second that.



And the 640mb video card is VERY capable in games, and if you don't want to have to upgrade when dx10 games start coming, then it probably isn't too bad of an idea to keep it.

Also, if you wait till the price cuts, you definitely can get more CPU for the money and the 8800 will probably have dropped in price a bit more.

 

[Nyanga]

The general opinion seems to be that my chosen PSU is overkill. But then how much is enough for this kind of setup, keeping in mind that I might upgrade to either a GTX or a second 640MB GTS in SLI?

I've decided to skip the 150GB Raptor and just get a 76GB raptor and a 400GB seagate instead at almost the same price

Also I've switched the RAM to Cosair XMS2 Dominator TWIN2X2048-8500C5D

Thanx very much for all your help so far, its been really helpful. I properly am going to wait and see what kind of price cuts Intel makes in a month or so, but I dont want to wait forever... It's been five years and my fingers are starting to itch for something new

/Johnny