First Build - Suggestions?

[henryguy]

Been working on a new build. I have a q6600 already and the allendale is to put in my old comp and to give to my parents =P

1 NZXT LEXA BlackLine Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$99.99 -$10.00 Instant $89.99
1 ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$219.99 -$25.00 Instant $194.99
1 EVGA 512-P3-N802-A1 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$289.99 $289.99
1 OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail
$149.99 -$20.00 Instant $129.99
1 Intel Pentium E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2160 - Retail
$81.99 $81.99
1 A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1B16K - Retail
$127.99 -$45.00 Instant $82.99
2 Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$49.99 $99.98
1 SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black PATA Model SH-S202G - OEM
$25.99 $25.99
1 Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
$111.49 $111.49
1 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
$5.99 $5.99
1 ZALMAN FC - ZV9 2 Ball VGA Cooler - Retail
$44.99 $44.99
1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
$36.99 -$15.00 Instant $21.99

Subtotal: $1,180.37

If you have any suggestions or comments about my build feel free to pick it apart =P Rather spend my money wisely and look like a fool in this forum then spend it poorly and be a fool =P
P.S. I plan on overclocking the cpu and gfx card so any further cooling ideas would be awesome. I wanna keep it running cool AND quiet. I wouldn't mind spending an extra 100$ to make it run cool and quiet.

 

[akhilles]

You don't need any more comments/suggestions. That's a solid build right there.

You don't need the Arctic Silver TIM. The Freezer 7 Pro comes with some on the bottom.

The stock fan on 8800gt is loud. Get Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 & a Scythe 60cfm-ish 120mm case fan. You have to screw the fan on the cooler & the cooler's fins will be stripped. Not a big deal. It cools like mad & is very silent. I'm gonna get that combo soon.

 

[henryguy]

Is the ZALMAN FC - ZV9 2 Ball VGA Cooler not a good fan for the 8800gt in combination with that Arctic Cooling Accelero S1? And do you mean buy a 120mm case fan and screw it onto the cooler for the gfx card instead of placing it in the case somewhere.
I read somewhere it was pretty good and I use to have a zalman on my old x1650. I appreciate the advice and I did not know the 7pro came with some of the thermal compound on it already. I also didn't know if the case would be a concern or if it was considered by any as a bad case. I'm looking for more budget top of the line performance and I wanted the asus motherboard in case I decide to sli the 8800gt. (full x16 mode)

 

[nhobo]

Unless you are going SLI - which I don't recommend - get a P35 mobo. No SLI, then the PSU is overkill. I'd also keep XP and let M$ keep Vista. The Zalman fan is 3-pin, which means it can't be controlled by PWM (SpeedFan or the like). It will run flat out and you might be annoyed by the noise.

[akhilles] Funny, I just strapped a small Scythe fan onto a VF900cu heatsink on a 8800GT. Seems to work great, very quiet with max temp 52 C.

 

[henryguy]

K appreciate the input I changed some items to:
Motherboard -> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128048
Memory -> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820220227
VGA Cooler + Fan ->
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835186016
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835185006
For a new total of: $1,168.37
Slightly cheaper then before and I read about the p35c and it's support for DDR2 1066 and DDR3 as well as the 45nm support in case I decide to upgrade my CPU in the future. I decided to keep the PSU as is just because I'd like to have more power then less power even if it is overkill, plus the 600w gameXstream is only 30$ less then the 700w. I like vista as well with my experience with it and the 64bit is just to future proof the system a tad bit. Plus I have read a lot of the driver issues that were earlier associated with 64bit vista are almost non-existent but of course I could be reading wrong or there could be other problems with the 64bit OS's that I don't know about. SLI is something I can definitely live without but I have read that if you run in larger resolution's it offers a nice performance boost (again I don't know if it's worth the money) seeing as how I plan on getting a 24"+ monitor, possibly the 28" HannsG monitor for 499$.
Also would you all recommend I stick with DDR2 800 4gb (2x 2gb) or go with DDR2 1066 2gb (2x 1gb)? Is the performance boost worth the loss in memory? I am almost certain it isn't but again I'm not entirely certain.

 

[akhilles]

Sorry I totally missed the zalman gpu cooler. Stick with it.

I meaned to screw the fan on the gpu cooler.

You don't have to listen to anything I say or anyone says here for that matter. Just go with what you like.

The P35C is a very nice hybrid board that does both DDR2 & DDR3, but the next-gen Intel cpu won't work in socket 775. So it won't matter too much. The new core 2 cpus will still work in socket 775. End of 2008 is a big change.

64-bit drivers before 64-bit XP release were lackluster at best. It was a miracle to get a modern pc up & running with all proper drivers. The scene is changing now. You can get 64-bit drivers from pretty much every major mobo maker. Gigabyte was one of the first.

Go with 800mhz ram. You don't get any boost if you don't overclock.

 

[nhobo]

The strap-on solution:

 

[henryguy]

Ah ok. I assumed that since the new Quad core extreme were 45nm that the new cpu's will be as well (i'm sure they will) but that they would also fit in the same socket. Is there a performance difference between the P35C and the P35?
And I chose your solution because nhobo stated "The Zalman fan is 3-pin, which means it can't be controlled by PWM (SpeedFan or the like). It will run flat out and you might be annoyed by the noise." But I do notice in that pic that the setup is rather large and bulky.
Also my case is red lit and I think that would look pretty sweet so I wanna lit it up a bit more with a red cold cathon light tube but I don't know anything about these, good brands, where they are mounted and all that.
Thanks for all your guys help, I appreciate it. I know I don't have to go with anything you all say but this is my first build and I am just trying to get everything perfect. Most of the things I talk about I have read or talked to people I know about or just through my general interest in computers. I figure that the people who post here are much more experienced in this area then I am and I would rather go with something I don't necessarily like and have a more stable, efficient system.

 

[Shadow703793]

^For CCFL I recommend LOGISYS, the mounting depends on the case etc. Its pretty simple to mount the CCFL.

 

[Blowback]

Does anyone know if the patriot extreme ram you plan to buy is good for overclocking?

I was considering buying it for my build but I just wasn't sure. I'm was thinking about doing an e2140 overclock until the mid-level penryns come out.

 

[henryguy]

If you read the reviews on newegg it is not the best for overclocking. Some people say they love it for overclocking but the majority of people say that it can overclock but barely. Upwards of 860MHZ from it to be expected. At its standard rating of 800 it does really well though. I'm still deciding what ram I want though.