E7200 + X38 + 3870, build what do you think?

Core 2 Duo E7200 2.53GHz 65W $139

Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 $199

Visiontek ATI Radeon HD3870 OC 512M $179

Seagate 250G sata already had dont remember price

Thermaltake golden orb 2 $35

Patriot 4G pc6400 DDR2 $120 bought at xmas when price was a little higher

BFG Tech BFGR800WPSULE 800W psu $109 and a $30 mail in rebate

2 80mm Ultra case fans $10

Cooler Mster NB cooler fan ?$10?

all round data cables $15

generic DVD RW and CD ROM already had dont remember price.

Sounds like a good setup though it depends on the prices your getting the items at aswell?

Are you going for silence with with PC 'coz the Thermaltake golden orb 2 is about the same as a stock Intel cooler cooling wise, but only 17dBa?

Roadrunner took his to 4Ghz on just a lapped Actric Freezer 7!!

I'd say if you're not planning on going Crossfire in the coming months you're wasting too much of your budget on an 'enthusiast' X38 board. Get a P35 -DS3L, -DS3R, or -DS4. Use the money you save to get an E8200 or E8400. Games love more cache (much faster access than ram). Your PSU is a lower tier and is overkill big time, unless you're going Crossfire or looking for a silent solution by only taking up ~40% of the capacity.

PSU resources:

Tiers -
http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiere [...] ngs?t=anon
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088

Jonny Guru -
http://www.jonnyguru.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1460

Rail Ratings -
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=205763

David Hammocks Guide -
http://forums.extremeoverclocking. [...] p?t=136602

I would say a Corsair 520HX or 620HX would be fine for your system (with plenty of headroom). Ultra fans suck, get Nexus or Scythe. Instead of a TT HSF, get a Xigmatek S963 or S1283 (much cheaper and performs better). Make sure the HDD you get (if Seagate) is a .11 drive (they perform better than the .10 series, although it's pretty close compared to non-PMR drives).

Decent start, but definitely needs more thought put into it. Please let us know your intended use (including resolutions). I just assumed you'll be gaming, if this is not the case, please let us know as that would massively change the suggested equipment.

oh yeah, think of what i have now. An old Asus with a 945G chipset. I cant go beyond a pentium D. It is from an HP so i cant update the bios. I have gone as far as i can with the old HP.

HP never again. I save on some things and spent on future on others.

I replace my case fans often. But, i will get better fans on my next purchase. I buy 3 to 5 case fans at a time and replace them at the first sign of wear. I did notice this batch of fans seemed cheaper than usual.

Good point, With the cost of ram coming down, i will probably go with higher speed ram. The X38 is for some future. I know intel will be changing sockets in the next couple of years, but the x38 should give me some growing room with the 775.

I am using what good hardware i have to save some cash. I will upgrade that stuff near fall. Might wait until this years black friday. Or when i see a good deal.

X48 & P45 are the last S775 chipsets. The Nehalem chipsets will be launched in Q4 of this year. It's days are numbered and the perspectus on new 775 CPUs are few. Pretty much, the baddest CPUs for Socket 775 have already been released (E8500 and QX9650, and maybe E8600 in Q3/4), so you know what's left for your system in terms of upgrades.