Another "New Build, Help Me" post

friday0164

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I am planning (after scouring this forum and others) and believe that what is below is a good build. I am a moderate gamer (NFS:3/4/PU, Morrowind, Oblivion, Caesar 3/4, SimCity 4, some sports games, Doom 3, unreal (Quake 1/2, Doom 1/2 if I could make them run on XP/Vista, any ideas?)),moderate surfer and and document/spreadsheet creator for work projects with an occasional PowerPoint and Access Db.

Here's the list:

MB -> GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail $89.99
CPU -> Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - $174.99-$5.00 Instant $169.99
MEM -> A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit $84.99
OS -> Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM $109.99
HSF -> COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler - Retail $29.99 -$8.00 Instant $21.99
Subtotal: $476.95

I have a case/PSU/video card/optical drive/card reader/HDD/Ext HDD that are in good shape and fairly new. So, for what I need, do y'all think I've hooked up the right parts?

Thanks in advance. Kevin.
 

akhilles

Splendid
Depends on the video card, mostly. I think it'll be fine since it's powering your old rig.

Ditch the hsf if you don't overclock. The Hyper TX2 isn't much better than the Intel stock cooler. Depending on what your gpu is, you might want to pick up a new gpu.
 

resonance451

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Why on earth would you have Vista 64-bit? Bad choice. It has less driver support than the other versions and your hardware really can't take advantage of it.

Another note, 667MHz ram is an odd choice for the mobo you have, and the mobo you have is strange in itself. It supports up to DDR2 1066 and sports a 1333FSB... yet has only one PCI-E x16 slot.

If you want to stay with almost the same build, if I would axe the DDR2 667 and go for DDR2 800, like this G-SKILL set, which is only $5 more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

I'd also bump the processor up to 2.66GHz and switch your windows version to Vista 32-bit.
 

friday0164

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OK, OK...This IS my first Intel build in 12 years (AMD user since 96), so bear with me through my learning curve.

■I was kind of looking for a 1:1 ratio on the CPU/RAM, as I have read elsewhere in these posts (FSB/2).
■Also, not a BIG gamer, so this board, with it's 1 16x slot, as I have seen through many, many posts here and other forums, is a good board for the truly budget minded.
■And 64bit Vista supports 4Gb+, right? Does the 32bit Vista?

Just more things to learn....Intel is pretty much foreign to me now...So I do appreciate the input...
 

friday0164

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Decided to go this route as it seems economical and will accommodate what I do, since I am not a power gamer, nor power user:

1 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail $89.99
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $169.99
1 mushkin 550200 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail $84.99
1 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit $74.00

Total: $462.98 (- $50 in rebates) = $412.98
(I figure this build out should keep me somewhat current for a year or two....)

I want to thank those in this forum for all their input on my build, plus all those I gleaned knowledge from in all these other posts.

Also, two quick system building questions:
-->After loading the OS (WinXP SP2 32-bit), what particular order should I install/update the OS, MB, Chipset drivers/utilities, GPU drivers/software (HD2600XT), Audio drivers/utilities, Anti Virus Software and MS Office to avoid any potential problems?
-->And, should I flash the BIOS before I do any of this?

I have never been quite able to lock this down to avoid all problems. Something has always kept me from a "perfect" load out.....

Once again, thanks in advance.....
 

akhilles

Splendid
1. The order of driver installs doesn't matter very much. Just click from top to bottom on setup from the cd. Restart when asked.

2. If you flash the bios, make sure you have a plan B. I think Gigabyte can recover from corrupt bios by booting up the cd. Check it out in the manual.
 

friday0164

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True, the PSU is cheaper there, but I decided to go for a single source purchase. The overall cost for everything is lower than had I gone here and there...But will keep buy.com on my mind the next time I plan on a purchase.
 

resonance451

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To answer your Vista question, XP supports 3gb, 32-bit Vista support 4, and 64-bit Vista supports 8gb. You won't need 8gb for anything, and in addition there are lots of driver problems for Vista 64-bit at the moment. So if you really badly want DX10 support, I'd go with Vista. If you're going with the 1x16 slot on the mobo and 2gb of ram right now, I see no reason to bother with Vista. Just use XP and get an extra two 512 sticks of RAM to keep the dual channel, and you'll be set.