Getting Ready to pull the trigger- first rig

[nuke27]

Ok, so starting my very first build, Unfortunately it will have to be severely budgeted however. So I’ve gone ahead and scoped out parts I feel will not only be good enough per se, but within my budget of around the $350 ballpark. I’ve narrowed it down as much as I can, first and foremost let me just point out to you that this machine will NOT be used for any kind of gaming what so ever. it will mainly be used to encode and edit videos using programs such as sony vegas and converxtodvd, downloading LARGE files like movies and other media, multi tasking running big apps, and of course web browsing and youtube vids. OS will be XP pro 32bit. So here goes..



i've got around $100ish (maybe a tad more, depends) to buy a cooler and mobo. and Of course I’d like as much speed as I can get away with for the money!! heres what ive got so far, any suggestions recommendations are very welcomed, i mean thats the whole point of this isnt it?...

CPU: got the Q8200 $97 (looking to o/c this puppy to about 3gz or more if i could get away with it).

MOBO: any suggestions ? hopefully one that has integrated video and o/c capabilities to some extent. g31-es2l maybe? if you do recommend a board with no video chip, pretty please follow that up with a cheap vid card.

COOLER: any suggestions ? (hear the q8200 can o/c up to the 3's)

RAM: corsair 450w psu $45 A/R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

PSU: corsair ddr2 TWIN2X4096-8500C5 $34 A/R (i hear OCZ is a real hassle about rebates,but thanks for you suggestion anyway n-ster )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145215

CASE: COOLER MASTER Elite 341 $29.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0305925

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640 GB WD6400AAKS $53.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

OR

Seagate Barracuda ST3500418AS 500GB @ $59.99
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barrac...1154644&sr=1-1

 

[Onus]

That's a tough budget. Any wiggle room? Is that $100 for the mobo and cooler in addition to the $350 total, or must be part of it? It makes a big difference.
The Q8200 isn't a great choice for video work. The benchmarks here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=52&p2=76 shows the Q9400 is a lot better; an AMD 940 would be better too.
You can build an AMD 940 on a 760G or 780G for about $460, or an Intel 9400 on a G31 for $20 more.

 

[evongugg]

This has onboard video, but is at the prioce limit for you.

ASUS P5Q-VM LGA 775 Intel G45 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131345

Top 5 heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cooler-charts,1967-12.html

Top 5 Low Profile Heatsinks on Frostytech

http://www.frostytech.com/top5_lowprofile_heatsinks.cfm

 

[evongugg]

You could get the G45 motherboard and overclock with the stock cooler until you have money for a good cooler.

You need a DVD drive too.

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

 

[xthekidx]

Get this PSU instead, it doesn't require a rebate. Half of the time rebates don't come anyways:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703017

 

[nuke27]

thanks guy for all your input.

UPDATE: i went ahead grabbed this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003 PSU, got it for 39.99!!. i also have purchased the Q8200 for $89 + tax, though it didnt come with a cooler ( i would like to OC it to 3.0 ghz), i really wanted the q6600 but its about $80-90 more so i settled with the q8200 instead. i already have dvd burner too.

items left to get are:

RAM - one question about that however, whats better to go with, the 1066 or 800 ?) remember, i plan to OC..
looking at these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148212

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

cooler - (hopefully someone could recommend a solid inexpensive one)

motherboard - think i'll be going with the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P, given its great reviews, it appears it'll be hard to go wrong with this choice. i'll need a video card since this board doesnt carry integrated video. any recommendations on a decent video card for somebody who does NOT game?

HDD: its still a toss up between the Western Digital Caviar Blue OR Black 640gb

and the

Seagate Barracuda ST3500418AS 500GB @ $59.99



suggestions,recommendations are welcome!!!

 

[Onus]

I like this RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731. mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $54. It's not the cheapest, but it is excellent RAM and will easily OC to better than DDR2-800 speeds. It does offer a $10 MIR, but I don't count those.

 

[xthekidx]

wow you found some excellent deals on that PSU and CPU, well done.

Unfortunately, that CPU has a LOW multiplier of 7x. That means for a ~3ghz OC, you are looking at a FSB of 428, which means using a 1:1 ram ratio, you will be running at 856mhz. So if you want to make sure that you don't get a ram limitation when you overclock, you should look at getting DDR2-900 ram or better. Neither of the ram kits you are looking at would be my first choice, as they are running at fairly high voltages to start with. These would be some good and reasonably priced options:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231194&Tpk=ddr2%204gb (probably more than you need but this is creme of the crop ram...DDR2-1100, CL5, 1.8v)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231241
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Here is the ram jtt was referring to: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731 This ram would also be a decent option and probably wouldn't be the limiting factor in your OC, I would imagine it can run up to 900mhz or so. If you get DDR2 800 ram, you need to pick a kit that has low timings and low voltage to make sure that it can overclock well, these are indicators of high quality ram.

3ghz OC also means a rated FSB of 1700 on the MB, so a good overclocking board is a must. The UD3P is probably the best option for you.

 

[Kill@dor]

Look for the G31 Gigabyte boards on newegg. They are sick!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%2050001314&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Pagesize=100

 

[xthekidx]

Good relatively cheap cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029&Tpk=s1283v

Cheap GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121250

HDD: Go with the Black.

 

[xthekidx]

Look for the G31 Gigabyte boards on newegg. They are sick!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%2050001314&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Pagesize=100

not for overclocking.

 

[Onus]

I "accidentally" initially oc'ed my Mushkin to DDR2-960, and ran like that for week or two before I noticed that my ratio wasn't 1:1. I hadn't run any stability tests, but my system was otherwise stable. That was probably on 1.8V also.