Check it, before I wreck it

[xerocool83]

So I think I have finally figured out the computer I am going to build for my gf's little sister. She will many be using this to game and do photoshop on. Please if you guys will take a moment and look over this. I also wanna thank jaguarskx for pretty much getting a template to work off of.
CPU- Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz - $227
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
MB-GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T - $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128012
GFX- SAPPHIRE 100168L Radeon X1900XT 256MB - $239
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102051
RAM-GeIL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820144027
Case w/ PSU-Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black & 450w PSU $89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129155
HD-HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 160GB - $54
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822145088
DVD-SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL - $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827131031
Extra Fan-ARCTIC COOLING AF12025 120mm - $6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186005

Total without Shipping or Tax: $920

My gf's sister wants to get her own keyboard/mouse and she already has speakers
So as of right now my questions are: Does everything look good so far? Do I need to buy thermal paste if I dont buy an aftermarket HSF? Does the PSU look strong enough? Does the PSU have the right connections?
I am also worried about teh MB I looked at some of the review on Newegg and they seem to be less then stellar....

Thanks again for everyone help,
~XeroCool

 

[1Tanker]

So I think I have finally figured out the computer I am going to build for my gf's little sister. She will many be using this to game and do photoshop on. Please if you guys will take a moment and look over this. I also wanna thank jaguarskx for pretty much getting a template to work off of.
CPU- Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz - $227
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
MB-GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T - $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128012
GFX- SAPPHIRE 100168L Radeon X1900XT 256MB - $239
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102051
RAM-GeIL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820144027
Case w/ PSU-Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black & 450w PSU $89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129155
HD-HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 160GB - $54
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822145088
DVD-SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL - $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827131031
Extra Fan-ARCTIC COOLING AF12025 120mm - $6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186005

Total without Shipping or Tax: $920

My gf's sister wants to get her own keyboard/mouse and she already has speakers
So as of right now my questions are: Does everything look good so far? Do I need to buy thermal paste if I dont buy an aftermarket HSF? Does the PSU look strong enough? Does the PSU have the right connections?
I am also worried about teh MB I looked at some of the review on Newegg and they seem to be less then stellar....

Thanks again for everyone help,
~XeroCool

Nice looking setup. Just a few points.
1. The PSU isn't that great, so if it were me, i would look for a case with no PSU, and buy my own PSU seperately.

2. Not sure how "into" games she is, and which ones, but 2GB of RAM would be a wise investment, especially if she ever decides to move over to VISTA.

3. It's only a few bucks, but i would get a small tube of Arctic Silver 5, or OCZ Ultra 5+....they are basically the same, and will work better, and make less mess, should you ever need to remove the heatsink. GL

 

[SidVicious]

That's a great, well rounded and affordeable system, you won't need thermal paste if you don't plan on removing the stock HSF once it is installed.

Don't worry about reviews on Newegg, the vast majority of them are from pissed off, cluess newbtards who were victim of their own stupidity.

To expand on what 1Tanker brought up about her gaming habits, a 7600GS/GT could be adequate, doing so would allow you to pop 2GB under the hood yet stay under the $1K mark.

 

[Logicsequence]

PSU is a little weak for that system, if i were you i'd look into a different PSU/case combo with a better PSU, or get the 2 seperately.

 

[xerocool83]

Do you guys have any suggestions on the case and PSU I should go for then?

 

[Logicsequence]

Do you guys have any suggestions on the case and PSU I should go for then?

Case is entirely up to you, but i'd pick a 600W PSU (or higher).

 

[shinigamiX]

In my opnion 600W is a bit too much - 500W will be more than sufficient! Of course, 600W couldn't hurt..

 

[xerocool83]

The cases says it can do 12 x 9.6 inches for the MB and the MB is 12 x 8.3
is that going to fit? I mean is 12 mean 12 and under or does that mean they will exactly touch and wont go in?
Thanks again,
X

 

[Milbo183]

Don´t worry.it will fit.as for the rest of the system,i don´t have a problem with Antec PSUs.But as SidVicious mentioned,according to which games she plays,you might consider the 7600GT and use the cash spared for an extra GB of RAM.

 

[Guest]

It will work with anything 12 and under. I've built countless systems in sonata's, they're not bad at all for the price.

Yes the PSU aint the best out there but it will be plenty for your build.

One last note about the sonata is no to try to hard to use that air duct for the CPU, it's almost useless and is a b*** to put back in and most of the time does'nt even fit properly!

 

[Doughbuy]

I just built something like that for a friend, with the Antec Sonata II. Its a good case, the PSU works well with that set-up, and take out the huge black exhaust shroud. Totally useless, since it hampers the rear 120mm fan exhaust. Otherwise, its a nice case. PSU's cables are a mess, but I just threw them on top of the CD-ROM drive... made it look as nice as I could, shrug...

I would suggest the E6300, since you can OC to a 6400 speed easily with minimal impact on heat or voltage, save you some bones... If you don't OC it, it should be speedy enough for most things anyways.

 

[xerocool83]

yes but cant the 6400 be oc'd later down the road for a bit more juice also?

 

[1Tanker]

yes but cant the 6400 be oc'd later down the road for a bit more juice also?

Yes, and more and more , with BIOS updates and better chipsets, the E6300's lower multipler will limit it's ultimate overclock. Right now the best chipsets are getting close to 500MHz FSB, and with an E6300, that gives you 3.5GHz. With an E6400 and some great cooling and nice RAM, that would net you 4.0GHz. Those are theoretical limits, but FSB's definitely are going up. FSB limits have been shown to hold back the E6300, but for the average overclocker, anywhere near 3.5GHz will do.

 

[xerocool83]

Is this ram good enough to get a bit more juice out of the CPU down the road?
X

 

[Guest]

Yes it will be plenty, anything above DDR2-533 will give you soem OC headrom.

With this ram your good to go up to 3.2ghz while running the ram at 1:1 ratio.