New build, help please

[Eridani]

I'm going to be building a new comp. for my wife for Christmas this year. So far this is what I have come up with. Any comments or advice would be appreciated.

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272

Antec EA650 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Noctua NH-U9B 92mm SSO CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608003

HP Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140031

Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009145


I already have 64bit Vista. This computer will be used mostly for gaming, WOW mostly and a few others she plays.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

If you're looking at the E7200 you might as well get the E7300. It's the same price - free upgrade!

You could save a bit of money by going with this cooler and bracket:

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003 $28.99 - $10.00 MIR

XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019 $8.49

Since this is a gaming computer, you might want to take some of the savings from the cooler and upgrade to the E8400. Games love the extra cache. The price just dropped a few dollars on them too.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 $159.99

 

[jthorn]

You obviously pay good attention to these boards and the TH articles. Your build is a very solid mid-range desktop. You should get long life and lots of performance/$$$. The 4850 is perfect for that 22 in LCD. Enjoy your nice rig.

 

[geofelt]

That is a good build which would work well as is. Here are some minor thoughts:
Shortstuff had some good ideas on the cooler, and possibly the E8400.

Corsair 4gb kits are $20 a/r:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

I find the Samsung dvd burners to be very quiet:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

See if you can't scrape up enough to get a 24" monitor. It is the one "future proof" PC purchase you can make today. You will be looking at it for a long time. A larger size is great for games.
It will be close to $300. The Soyo 24" monitor is available at officemax for $250. It has had some good reviews. I particularly like the spec of a 170/178 H/V viewing angle:
http://www.officemax.com/omax/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=21649600&cm_mmc=GBase-_-Technology-_-Monitors-_-LCD_Monitors&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=21649600

 

[Eridani]

Thanks for the feedback all.

I picked the Noctua cooler because all the reviews I could find agreed that it was one of the very best, and I planed to OC this rig.

The Samsung dvd burner looks good but the HP comes with Nero 7.

I'm looking into a 24" for my next build.