New rig advice: Keeping it cheap

[kauza]

All right. Looking to buy a new rig--I've, amazingly, had the one that I'm using now since 2003, and I've only changed the hard drives and the GPU because the first one failed.

Anyway, I'm definitely on a budget, and I wanted to keep it below 500, but I don't think that's possible. I'm mostly looking to have a rig that'll perform well enough on highish settings in games, and something that is upgradeable for the foreseeable future. Anyway, I was hoping to get some advice. I've been out of the processor loop lately, so I'm definitely looking for some advice there. The GPU I took from recommendations on newegg (and because it comes with a free copy of The Witcher!). Everything else also came from newegg reviews.

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower $49.99

GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$66.99

MSI N9600GT-T2D512 OC GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
$164.99 ($20 MIR, free "The Witcher")

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail
$134.99 (104 after $30 MIR)

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E4500 - Retail
$124.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail
$44.99

Arctic Silver, of course.

Total before MIRs: 592.93

Also considering: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
26.99

As a side note, I already have two hard drives from my old compy that I'm going to move over to the new rig. I've been running a raid 0 array since my old mobo had a built-in controller. It doesn't appear that the new mobo has a raid controller. So I'm thinking I'll just reformat the disks and keep one with XP, keep one free for vista when I decide to bite on that.

So, I suppose my questions are as follows:

1. Does anything seem seriously wrong here? Performance bottlenecks? (Especially in terms of the processor) Incompatibility? (I'm pretty sure I've checked that out thoroughly, but it never hurts to check.)

2. Is there anywhere that I could cut costs and get comparable performance?

3. Is there anywhere that I could increase performance dramatically for only a minor price difference?

4. Do you think that processor fan is necessary? I'm not sure if I'll decide to overclock yet, but if I do, would it be foolish to NOT have an upgraded fan?

5. Is that power supply overkill?

Any and all opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

go with this PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
and this CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036
performance will be fine.
Ditch the motherboard and get this one instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

 

[0gab0ga]

get the mobo and maybe the cpu (oc. it) suggested by ghostdragon. i would get more than 430w psu and with more than 1 12v rail. this way you wont have to worry if you want to upgrade in a few years or make a completely new build. if you want modular the corsair 620 hx is an alternative to yours for 5-10$ more on buy.com and zipzoomfly.com (after mir)

 

[cisco]

Actually I would agree with Ghostdragon except for the PSU. I am a firm believer in getting a good power supply. PC Power is one of the best makers and this 610w will outperform most of the 750w on the market including the one you have chosen. It will give you enough head room to run a better card or a quad core in the future. I have built a lot of systems and can tell you that a good PSU is one of the important pieces to a reliable system. You want more amps on less 12v rails. Lesser manufacturers use more rails which can lead to overtaxing any given rail while other rails are under utilized, it is best to have one big rail to give you more 12v stabilization. I give another vote for a motherboard that uses the P35 chipset like the one Ghostdragon listed. I generally try to avoid micro atx board all together, they generally have less features and don't perform as well as their ATX brothers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

 

[kauza]

Thank you all for the advice. The CPU looks fantastic...from the user reviews, the thing can really scream for a processor in that price range. I'm sold.

P35 chipset mobo looks quite nice too. Well worth it for the extra 20 bucks.

I also like the PSU suggested by cisco. I definitely want something with the added power just in case upgrades down the road require it.

Any other advice before I bite?

 

[chuckm]

Better deal on better ram;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148183
E2180 CPU for $50 after MIR, better hurry on this, it's gonna sell out;
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3505668
Corsair VX550 PSU is all you'll need;
http://www.buy.com/prod/Corsair-VX-550W-Power-Supply/q/loc/101/205852646.html

 

[cisco]

Here is another excellent choice for a motherboard
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005412
and a review
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3169

It might be out of your price range though but I thought I would throw it out there. The lasted issue of Maximum PC has a step by step build that might help if you need it. They used that same PSU in their $1,500.00 build and it powered a Q6600 with a 8800 GTS so that lets you know it's got some power.

G.Skills is a pretty good budget ram another one you could look at is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146118

Mushkin has been around a long time and makes excellent ram. It is slightly faster to boot. GSkill- 5.5.5.15 Mushkin-5.5.5.12
Or this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220174
Patriot is on the about the same level as G.Skills and is the same speed as the Mushkin but is 27.99 after rebate, that's a pretty sweet deal.

And finally this is the fastest of the ones I've included
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144062
Ideally timings of 4.4.4.12 is a good quality ram.
I would probably go with the Patriot ram and spend the extra on the motherboard or video card.
Good luck on the build!

 

[kauza]

Sounds good. I switched over to the Patriot RAM. Pretty sweet deal indeed.

All said, it looks like I'll be able to make it under 500 after the MIRs. Never thought that'd be possible.

Thanks to everyone who provided advice. I think I'll order this stuff up tonight.

 

[chuckm]

If you haven't ordered the e2180 I linked, it's to late they're gone. I had to run some errands after I replied to your post, came home and was all set to order one and I waited to long! Should done it last weekend instead of the PSU and ram.