New build for may

[kilorth]

I'm looking to change my almost 3 years old PC and this will be the 1st build I do on my own so I'll like to know if my build is going to be good or not.


I checked lot of place to buy and lot of hardware and came to the conclusion right now that those are the cheapest and the best pieces I can get for the money. Also I'm in Canada, so no newegg for me. All come from DirectCanada, which i bought a 8800 gts fast and free of shipping. All shipping is free with more than 300$ and less than 100lbs.

I will also change that cpu and give to gf in summer 2009 with a new build that will cost over 2k probably ( since i can't put so much in a build right now and that gf will eventually need a rig so I can play with her =) )

This is for gaming under XP.

Processor Intel E8400 213,20 $


Memory Mushkin HP2-6400 996533 51,08 $

over

Crucial Ballistix BL2KIT12864AA804 73.50 $


Power Supply OCZ gameXstream 600W 95.63 $


Motherboard Gigabyte P35-DS3L 86,05 $


Case Antec nine hundred 95,99 $


2 X Antec TriCool 120mm 6,89 $ for the case
( looking for something better for the same price, the sound is not an issue )


Cpu Cooler Fan Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 18,38 $

or should I put a bit more in the cooling since I'll be overclocking


Hard Drive Disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 88,99 $


DVD Writer Samsung SH-S203B DirectCanada 25,88 $
( cheapest I found in Canada )


Graphic card ( already owned ) BFG 8800 GTS 512 mb


Also looking to get a kit of z-5500 speakers for this xmas.


So what do you think? Total is 734,28 $ with shipping and taxes. ( excluding graphic card )

 

[oushi]

Looks fine to me. Go for it.

 

[akhilles]

ncix.com is having a sale. The 8800GTS 320MB can be had for $115 after rebate. A lesser card than GTS512, but for cheap!

How much are you overclocking the e8400?

 

[jay2tall]

Build for MAY? don't price stuff yet, you know it will change alot till then. I don't price stuff until i have cash in hand ready to check out.

 

[kilorth]

@akhilles: I already have the 8800GTS. Probably going near the 4.0ghz for the e8400, maybe a bit less.


@jay2tall: I know it's still in a little bit, but I already have enough money for it, just not sure if I buy right now or wait a little bit, may is actually the lastest date I'll get it, I might get it before. It's sure if I wait longer it'll be cheaper, but I need to buy it someday.

Since I started checking, I changed a couple of piece ( like RAM and cooler ) and my build did came down by like 200$, just looking if im going the good way.

 

[jay2tall]

My thought is, buy the dang thing when you want to. If you wait sure the prices will be less but then something better will be out anyways. It's a never ending saga and unless a price drop is a few days away don't bother waiting.

My suggests to your list are:
-Don't get PC6400 memory with the e8400 if you plan to overclock. You will hit the 1:1 ration at 400MHZ and the e8400 can go way beyond that. Get PC8000 or PC8500 memory to be sure it will be fast enough memory.
-The Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro is a good cooler. I had it, actually I still have it. It was GREAT until i hit a hump with my e6400 that caused me to bump the voltage up alot and had to get something better. REALLY it would have been fine I just wanted to make sure it stayed pretty cool. You should be fine with that cooler, it solid.

 

[boonality]

Also with the GA-P35 board you will need another LGA775 CPU to update BIOS before the E8400 will work.

 

[Zenthar]

Also with the GA-P35 board you will need another LGA775 CPU to update BIOS before the E8400 will work.

If the DS3L board comes with BIOS F7, he will be able to plug his E8400 right in without BIOS updates; I had no problems at all with my E3110.

 

[akhilles]

True that overclocking e8400 requires better than 800mhz ram. You don't want the ram to be the bottleneck. 1066mhz ram at the minimum. See:

445 x 9 = 4ghz; 445 x 2 = 890

The ram will need to run at 890mhz for 1:1 ratio. I believe the Ballistix 800mhz can be maxed out to about 1000mhz. Your mileage may vary.

 

[kilorth]

For the memory, i did check and actually crucial seem to top at around 1050 while the mushkin around the same too.

I'll probably be running it to around 400-450 mhz for the processor, so I guess i'll be good.


Since in it's may, price may vary.

So should I really go for 1066 RAM, while the performance would be enough for the price?

And if like i go for let's say 500FSB ( and if RAM doesn't support), I can downgrade de ratio to like 6:5 for the RAM
(will like let's say 425-450 FSB same memory be faster than 500 FSB - 417 RAM??? )

 

[mihirkula]

Its for May isn't it...wait till may...its a good build, but wait till may... the penryn quads would be available...the e8400 would be cheaper as well...

 

[akhilles]

Well, you heard right. Mine did over 1100mhz.

Like I said, if you ram is 1066 or faster, it won't be a bottleneck for a while. And you can keep reusing the same ram over and over every time you upgrade the cpu, but I think it's the last s775 cpu you'll get.