First build, suggestions

[asim8787]

Hey everyone, first time posting here but I've been reading up on the suggestions here for high-performance parts for a while. I have looked at couple other tech forums and you guys here really seem to know what you're taking about. I'm out to build my first desktop and was hoping for some guidance. I do have a budget, its around 1500 but any ways to save money on my current build would be much appreciated.

This desktop is going to be oriented towards games and multitasking with no problem. I want this to last for a while without having to upgrade, but I do want an easily upgradable system. The parts are as follows:

Case:
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 RC-532-SKN1 Black Aluminum bezel, SECC chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Mobo:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Graphics Card:
Newegg.com - EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail

PSU:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

GPU:
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

RAM:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

HD:
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Monitor:
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

CD/DVD:
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology - OEM

Cooling:
Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS7000B-AlCu LED 2 Ball Cooling Fan - Retail

Speakers:
Newegg.com - Logitech X-530 70 watts RMS 5.1 Black Speaker System - OEM

Subtotal: 1380

A couple things I am concerned with:
- Is the power supply going to be efficient?
- What other sorts of cooling will I need?
- I thought the monitor was a great price for the specs offered but wanted a second opinion.
- Thirdly, is it necessary to have the 640 over the 320? I have the money, and yes I would like to play games out right now and in the future on high settings...
- Also, do I need a sound card? I've heard if you have the right motherboard you don't need one.
- Should I go ahead and get Windows Vista with this build, or go ahead and just load my old copy of XP? Also, will there be a price drop in the near future with graphics cards/intel's dual core chips? Because I can afford to wait a couple more weeks before ordering
- Finally, and I know this is a bunch of noob questions (but I am in fact a noob at this), I was hoping someone had a suggestion on the speakers I have picked out... I have heard a bunch of different reviews. If there were a replacement they would need to be the same price range.

I really do appreciate the help, thanks.

[vernong1992]

the build is fine, but unless u have a 20'' or bigger monitor stick iwth the 320 mb otehrwise ur set

[vernong1992]

stick with xp for now.... add an arctic freezer pro 7.. sound is unneccessary integrated ones is fine... ur PSU is fine too, we have a knowledgeable builder here at tech forums

[siddanth3]

u should wait till july, when there is a price drop. ur monitor link doesnt work, but if ur monitor is below 20 inch then the 320 mb will be fine for a gpu. go with the xp, vista is not that good right now. u wont need a sound card, unsless u want one.
u could save some money and go with the e6320, which is basically the same thing. and for the gpu, get the regular kind, not the superclocked, u can always overclock
that is an awesome. but i u wanna save some money, go with the rosewill.
Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, UL - Retail

[asim8787]

I appreciate the help. Here is a link to the monitor I was thinking about. Is the PSU I have adequate for any overclocking I might eventually do?

Newegg.com - ViewSonic Optiquest Series Q20WB Black 20" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 - Retail
(Monitor)

[siddanth3]

ya the psu u chose is one of the best psu out there and will handle anything u throw at it. the one i sugested is also good but not as good as the one u chose. u should wait a couple of days and see what other people say about ur build, and then u can order it. IMO ur build looks awesome.
a couple of more things. dont get that video card. get this one, its the same thing and its cheaper, and u can always overclock later, so why pay more for them to overclock it when u can overclock it for free.
Newegg.com - EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
and dont get that cooler. it is good, but there are better. the artic cooler 7 is the best bang for the buck, and the tuniq is amazing.
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
or if u have more money then
Newegg.com - Tuniq T-120-LFB 120mm CPU Cooler - Retail
one last suggestions, see the cooler that i sugested, if u wanna save some money, try ewiz.com or svc.com and they have the same cooler for like 22$.
and try zipzoomfly.com and search ur psu, the corsair one, zipzoomfly.com for some reason has lower prices on psu.

[asim8787]

Thanks a lot. I made some changes to the build with the suggestions you had; I went with the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 over the Tuniq only because money.

About sticking with XP for now, wouldn't it be smarter to go ahead and get Vista while I'm building a new system so I start fresh with it?

Also, any opinions on the speaker system?

[siddanth3]

so did u also consider my suggestion about the gpu?
well, depends on u, coz vista is coming out with their service pack 1 edition later this summer, so u might as well wanna wait for that. i mean if u have to buy xp , then definately get the vista, but if u have xp already then dont waste ur money on vista right now, coz trust me, its not wort it. i am using the ultimate edition, but i like xp a lot better.

[luke992006]

you have probably already bought your pc but i would suggest the 8800gt 512mb gpu, and if your going to be multi-tasking i recomend the AMD Athlon 6000

[Fat.clown]

/runs in fear

ahhhhhhhhh i see a zombie....thread