Critique my build

[El_Roberto]

Over the next 2-3 months im building my new pc and just want to make sure i make a good investment in it. Here are the specs so far (note im on quite a tight budget);

Corsair HX520watt psu -Allready have

Pentium dual core e2160 - Apparantly this will overclock higer than other e2XXX due to L2 revision

Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R - Apparently quite a good overclocking board, even works with crossfire

Silverstone SST-LC17 htpc case - goes well with my amp and speakers

4-8GB of Apacer DDR2 800 - Cheap ram (around $80US for 4gb) i know but it has lifetime warranty so...

500GB HDD - Allready have, might get another for RAID

ASUS Quietrack SATA DVD writer - Allready have

8800GTS 512 - need help choosing one from here Ascent Technology | New Zealand Computer Hardware and Software Online Shop , or should i wait for a good 9 series card?

CNET wireless pci adapter - Allready have

Need help finding good air cooler from same site as above, might end up with custom water cooling

Will run using Vista ultimate x64 and 22" samsung 226BW

will a sound card increase gaming performance noticeably? and if i one is usefull what is a good one that has optical/coaxial out?

[surgeVel]

First off, why are you going for the e2160? You are spending a lot of money and getting some pretty good equipment, yet you skimp on one of the most... erm, the most important part? Go for a Core 2 Duo with good overclock-ability. Sure the e2160 can be OC to 3.0GHz, but you can get the other Core 2 Duo's to go even faster than that.

You shouldn't need a sound card. The onboard sound is enough for all but the ones wanting to use their PC for a home theater system. Also, you should consider Vista Home Premium x64 instead. It has everything you will need and it is cheaper. Go with 4GB of RAM as anything more with your system would be overkill and you would not see much more improvement with any more RAM.

This is the only GTS they had on that site and it is very expensive:
Product Specification | Ascent Technology : New Zealand Computer Hardware, New Zealand Computer Software, New Zealand Online Shop, Wellington Computer Hardware, Wellington Computer Software, Wellington Online Shop

And here is the best cooler you will find:
Ultra-120 Extreme

[El_Roberto]

I will probably get that cooler then, you may be right about the cpu but ive heard that at high clock speeds (3.4ghz) it is just about as good as some of the better core 2 duo's, i might get a e8400 instead, but i dont know when it will be in stock, do you think i might be able to get it to 4ghz?

ps the prices are NZ$ so that isnt really very expensive when you consider that a 8800ultra costs $1000 here

[surgeVel]

Oh wow, big price difference. So you can get the 2160 to 3.4 GHz? The highest I had seen as 3.0Ghz. I'm sure that the E8400 or other cards could be over clocked to 4GHz or at least near to that. With that cooler you could get pretty dang close if not higher. I'm not an OC expert, though, so maybe someone else could recommend a good cpu for you.

[Invisible]

with that nice budget i would get a q6600
i only have a e2180 because i plan to get a quad in the next year
and PLZ PLZ don't get 8gb of RAM, 4gb is too much but will speed up vista a bit

[luke992006]

iv been hearing some things about games recomending 4 gigs of ram, i don't know if its reliable but it might convince some to get 4 gigs,

[vernong1992]

Originally Posted by El_Roberto

Over the next 2-3 months im building my new pc and just want to make sure i make a good investment in it. Here are the specs so far (note im on quite a tight budget);

Corsair HX520watt psu -Allready have

Pentium dual core e2160 - Apparantly this will overclock higer than other e2XXX due to L2 revision

1. the M0's overclock better, and those are found in the ones produced after July 22nd 2007

Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R - Apparently quite a good overclocking board, even works with crossfire
[b]
2. good choice, I think the Arctic Freezer pro plus this board got a good overclock for an e8400\

Silverstone SST-LC17 htpc case - goes well with my amp and speakers

4-8GB of Apacer DDR2 800 - Cheap ram (around $80US for 4gb) i know but it has lifetime warranty so...

3. the Apacer RAM all overclock CRAPPILY my current system has a couple of those sticks, and you can't mush another MHZ out of it

4gb is recommended for gaming... and its slightly overkill


500GB HDD - Allready have, might get another for RAID

ASUS Quietrack SATA DVD writer - Allready have

8800GTS 512 - need help choosing one from here Ascent Technology | New Zealand Computer Hardware and Software Online Shop , or should i wait for a good 9 series card?

CNET wireless pci adapter - Allready have

Need help finding good air cooler from same site as above, might end up with custom water cooling

Will run using Vista ultimate x64 and 22" samsung 226BW

will a sound card increase gaming performance noticeably? and if i one is usefull what is a good one that has optical/coaxial out?

no it won't

[nOcLuE98]

and you can easily get the e8400 to 4ghz.
no need for soundcard
uhh.... go xp and get 2gig of ram. ? why vista? if you want to upgrade later, just reformat and add 2 gig of ram. will be less expensive as time goes on.

[vernong1992]

Originally Posted by nOcLuE98

and you can easily get the e8400 to 4ghz.
no need for soundcard
uhh.... go xp and get 2gig of ram. ? why vista? if you want to upgrade later, just reformat and add 2 gig of ram. will be less expensive as time goes on.

there are games like Hellgate London that recommend the extra RAM

[darksideleader]

ram is pretty cheap now a days, 4GB is like 100ish. 2GB is like 40ish