[NaughtiusMaximus]

Hey folks I'm thinking of putting together my next PC to replace the 7 year old machine I'm using now. Mostly I'm looking to save a little money over a pre-built machine by only getting the components that i need. I don't really see myself overclocking or anything so am mostly looking for components that will play nice together right out of the box without TOO much tweaking. Anyway here is what i was thinking:


GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model AW-Q170A-B2

Antec Sonata III Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply

2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Atech Flash Xm-4U 11-in-1 USB 2.0


And I'm going to use an nVidia 7600GT video card i have from an old machine. You guys see any compatibility issues with those components or anything that i'm missing? It's going to be a dual boot machine (Windows/Linux) thus the two harddrives. I'd like it to be able to play new games but it's not a total gaming machine. I mostly will use it as a day to day machine as well as for semi-serious photo editing.

Anyway any thoughts would be much appreciated before i pull the trigger on this stuff.

Thanks!
Chris

[b1gapl]

Hey NaughtiusMaximum


Motherboard - Gigabyte P35-DS3R

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz

^^^These parts are better recommended.

[thirdshiftdj]

I think I speak for everyone when I say get the Gigabyte-p35 and a q6600 G0 from clubit. Or I could be totally wrong.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

THANKS for the advice. I meant to get a P35 board but just messed up on that one. What's the reason for the processor recommendation though? Is it just a cost vs performance issue? Or does the Q6600 perform better?

Thanks!
Chris

EDIT: Most programs won't take advantage of the quad core right? So is it mostly for running several apps simultaneously? Does photoshop CS2 take advantage of multiple cores?

[Grievearz]

CS3 is optimized for multiple cores. I've noticed it loads SO much faster than CS2 on my Q6600. Before I switched to the Quad, they loaded about the same amount of time on my old PentiumD. I also agree with getting the P35 chipset.

[maroon1]

If you don't want to get Q6600, then get E6750 because it is $120 cheaper than E6700

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

[cloud]

i'd get a different power supply too, other than the one that comes in the case like this one:

Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Originally Posted by maroon1

If you don't want to get Q6600, then get E6750 because it is $120 cheaper than E6700

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

I'm all for quad core as long as apps take advantage of it. Since it sounds like Photoshop CS3 will make use of it i'm sold. And i imagine more and more apps that come out will begin using multiple cores. So i'm sold on the quad.

Chris

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Originally Posted by cloud

i'd get a different power supply too, other than the one that comes in the case like this one:

Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail

If I go with a different PSU then is there a different case that would be better? Doesn't seem to make sense to buy a case that comes with a PSU that i'm not going to use.

Chris

[b1gapl]

Yep...buy a different case, that doesn't have a PSU included.

Something like the Antec 900 or this Cooler Master 690?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2bmaster%2b690