New E5200&HD4850 Budget Build!

[eroc]

1 x ($43.99) CPU COOL ZEROTHERM|ZEN FZ120 R - Retail
$43.99

1 x ($74.99) PSU OCZ|OCZ600SXS 600W RT - Retail
$74.99

1 x ($189.99) MNTR ASUS|LCD 22" 2MS VW224U RT - Retail
$189.99

1 x ($78.75) MB ASUS P5Q PRO 775 P45 RT - OEM
$78.75

1 x ($149.99) VGA ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M RT - Retail
$149.99

1 x ($82.99) CPU INTEL|PDC E5200 2.5G 2M R - Retail
$82.99

1 x ($58.99) MEM OCZ 2x2G OCZ2F10664GK R - Retail

Already have Antec 300 + HDD + DVD BURNER which i plan to reuse. & XP as the OS for now, planning to get Vista 64-bit soon.

Total comes to around $700 w/ tax + shipping
If all the rebates come through; $550

 

[shortstuff_mt]

There's really no need for DDR2 1066 RAM. That RAM needs 2v to get very loose 7-7-7-20 timings. I'd pick up a quality DDR2 800 kit with tight timings instead. The DDR2 800 kit will actually be faster due to timings.

mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731 $45.99 - $20.00 MIR

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 $49.99

I just bought the G.Skill PI Black kit and I'm very happy with it.

You're taking a pretty big risk buying "Open Box". I'd save up a few more pennies and buy the full retail version.

 

[eroc]

the e5200 & ram are a combo deal, which is why i went for it. comes out to under 20 if you factor the $15 discount & rebate.

my first choice in motherboard was the p5q se plus, which is about the same price (after rebate) with only 1 pciex 2.0 slot, so i'm gonna chance getting the open box p5q pro for crossfire capability.

thanks for your suggestions though. and hopefully trying to save a few dollars on the mobo won't come back to haunt me!

 

[eroc]

well i got some of the pieces today, no mobo or cpu cooler.

ups estimates they'll arrive 12/30

 

[eroc]

well, finally i was able to put everything together and i'm up and running.unfortunately it seems the temp sensor on core0 of the e5200 is stuck, it reports an idle of 32C on both cores stock on a zerotherm zf120. at load core0 stays @ 32C and core1 rises to 39C. core temp, real temp, hwmonitor all report the same thing. as long as i get an accurate load temp i guess thats all that matters. bothers me a little though. i'm eager to start overclocking it tomorrow, p5q has loads of bios options.

 

[alcattle]

Run memtest and Prime95 overnight and see if everything is stable before you start overclocking.