Budget P35 build - please critique

[sajordan]

Antec P180 case - $129.99 ($40 MIR)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R - $129.99
EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB GDDR3 - $149.99 ($20 MIR)
SeaSonic S12-430 ATX12V 430W Power Supply - $94.99
E6420 - $186.00
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $113.00 ($30 MIR)
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $52.99
Vista 64bit OEM - $89.99

Total - $946.94 (-$70 MIRs)

1. PSU enough for system?
2. Vista - 32 or 64 bit?
3. Suggest CPU cooler?

Thank you for any input/feedback/critique.

 

[sajordan]

Forgot to mention - build mostly for gaming (Oblivion, FEAR). Don't need the "highest" specs, but want a smooth gameplay experience. Willing to upgrade CPU, RAM, GPU, etc. in future.

Thanks again.

 

[senor_bob]

If you want to play Oblivion, ditch the 7900GS and get an ATI X1950Pro instead for about the same price. ATI owns nVidia at Oblivion (other than the GF8800 series). Either will run FEAR OK.

I like the Thermalright Ultra120 eXtreme CPU cooler. Whether it's right for you depends on how much you want to overclock, you can get some overclocking just using the cooler that comes in the box with the C2D.

If you have to get Vista, I'd get 32-bit Home Premium. XP will give better gaming performance, at least for now. I personally like Vista better for general use, but dual-boot to XP for gaming. Home Basic is junk, don't waste your money on that. IMHO, Home Premium is worth the extra $20, but Ultimate is not worth the extra $100 or whatever it runs these days.

Your PSU is marginal, especially if you plan future upgrades. I'd go up to the next power level, which conveniently enough adds modular cabling and comes to the same price after M-I-R (link). Seasonic makes nice PSUs, good choice in brand.

 

[FallenSniper]

I agree with Bob on this one. Congrats on picking my favorite Mobo.

I actually think you should get the 64 bit Vista though (im not familiar with the specific version so I can't help you there.) With the 64-bit It will recognize more Memory if you upgrade to 4GB in the future or something.

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro OR a Tuniq Tower

 

[senor_bob]

I actually think you should get the 64 bit Vista though (im not familiar with the specific version so I can't help you there.) With the 64-bit It will recognize more Memory if you upgrade to 4GB in the future or something.

True, but the 64-bit drivers are worse than the 32-bit ones now. I would only use 64-bit at the moment if I had more than 3 GB of RAM. It's a tradeoff, like everything else.

 

[FallenSniper]

Well I didn't know about the drivers. But heck, i'll admit, I don't know much about Vista. I had it on my machine. Took it off two weeks later. No comments on that.

Listen to Senor_Bob on this one.

 

[Daredevil_8]

Looks good. Up the PSU, possibly get a different video card (as Senor_Bob suggested)

Also..if I can add correctly..you have $90 in MIR, not $70