Yet Another Build

[blades]

Hey All,

Since I've already managed to acquire or order all of my parts, I'm not so much looking for a review of my build as just opinions on things that might crop up to bug me.

So, here's the list:

Case: Antec P190 (Yeah, I know some of you dislike it, but I really want the extra size, and I managed to pick it up for a rather competitive price, so I went with it.)

MoBo: GigaByte GA-P35C-DS3R (A little future-proofing with the P35 chipset.)

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6420 (Picked it up cheap a while ago, been sitting on it while I combed for the rest of the build.)

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2-800 (One of the last things I needed, managed to get the amazing deal over at NewEgg, for 70 bucks after rebate.)

GPU: Leadtek nVidia 8800 GTS 640MB (Also one of the last things I needed, picked it up on eBay from a tech review site for a nice price. At least I know it won't be dead on arrival)

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB, 7200.9 (A bit of a compromise, I was tempted to get a raptor now, and add a high-capacity HD later, but I was reading around the net and it seems that HD's don't affect performance in a meaningful enough manner to be worth the price.)

HSF: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (This is one thing I'm actually worried about; I don't know if this will clear the 200mm fan on the side of the P190. I couldn't find a definitive answer either way. If it doesn't, would it be best to seek a different cooler, or simply remove the fan?)

Optical Drive: Pioneer DVD/CD-ROM (A decent looking optical drive, it'll burn things it'll read them. I don't think it'll be of any issue...)

Anway, if you've been reading the comments you'll probably notice I'm a perverse combination of spending money excessively (P190) and saving money (GPU off of eBay).

Nevertheless, I obviously plan to game, otherwise this would all be quite a pretty paperweight, neh? I also plan on overclocking. Nothing major, just up it to 3.2 Ghz, to match it 1:1 with the RAM, which I understand isn't too important with the C2D series, should I go higher? I'm pretty sure I'll be able to.

Anyway, comments, thoughts, anything else you might have as a reaction to this pile?

-Blades

N.B. I've linked to NewEgg where I could, just to be helpful if anyone needs a refresher.

 

[yay]

Looks like a pretty good choice. but a p35 board will not future proof it, as ddr2 and ddr3 use a different notch in the bottom of the slot, therefore disabling an upgrade to ddr3. SO if you want ddr3 wait, otherwise buy a p965 board for less.

im on your side with that case, gamers do need extra space, especially for large cooling towers for cpu. watch out with ram as the more you pay the more you can overclock, also watch if that mobo self scales ram:cpu ratio as it can cause problems with that ram.

Most gamers go rapter, but i cant tell the difference between 8 ms and 14 can you?

Thats my 2 cents.

 

[xciter]

Raptor would be nice. If you want cheaper and larger solution just go for RAID 0. Two drives in RAID 0 that is.

 

[The_Prophecy]

Necessary Changes:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA

DVD Burner: LG GSA-H62NK SATA DVD Burner

I put these here because of the lack of a second PATA port on the board you picked. Plus, there's not much point in getting PATA components anymore. SATA devices are all getting really cheap now.

 

[mgtech]

I think it will do him just fine. Crucial uses micron d9 chips. His motherboard supports both DDR2 and DDR3. It is a Gigabyte P35C DS3R.

 

[blades]

Thanks for the comments so far.

With regards to the IDE DVD-R and HDD, in the motherboards specs it states that it can support up to two IDE devices.

I'm rather reluctant to order SATA versions if I don't have to. Is it possible for me to have both of the drives working off of my MoBo, or do I *HAVE* to get at least one of them in SATA version?