Critique my build

[LucIyer]

I'm relatively new to the silent computing world, and this is my first post at SPCR.

I recently sold my loud and obnoxious computer, in the hopes of buying a new one that wouldn't be so annoying. So, my budget is ~900, up to about 950.
I think that core 2 duo is the way i want to go, and since i get them for 50% off (my dad works for intel) i would see it as more price effective. Right now i am looking at the e6400 for $120. This would mean i need a 775 CPU cooler, and the ninja would be the obvious choice, but i am really skeptical of the rev.B with the pushpins, and i can't seem to find the original ninja with backplate and screws anywhere. perhaps xp-120?
I am also really into gaming, so i am thinking something in the 7900 series, such as 7900gt or gs with zalman cooling. I really don't want to spend more than 200-225 on a vid. card because i just couldn't justify spending a third of my budget on a videocard.

I also know for sure i want a P180B, since the consensus around here is that it is the best!

So, any suggestions on the rest of the hardware? harddrive? power supply (was looking at s12-430)?motherboard(i was looking at the asus p5b deluxe, but i really don't know, since it seems you need 1.8v ram and there seem to be other bugs)

Is a relatively high-performance and quiet setup possible on my budget? should i save up some more before i try for this? Suggestions? Ideas?

[Howard]

C2D E6300 (for a target clock of 2.8GHz) - $100

G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2-667 1.8V - $200
ASUS P5B - $135
Samsung SP2504C 250GB - $71
Samsung SH-S182D - $30
Shipping from newegg.com - $12-15 for UPS 3 Day

ASUS X1950 Pro - $200, free shipping

AC Freezer 7 Pro - $16
Antec SLK3000B - $30
Shipping from provantage.com - $22

Seasonic S12-430 - $75 + ~$8 shipping

According to Elite Bastards, the X1950 Pro cooler should not be overtly loud. However, since you have a little more in the way of budget, you could get your Zalman VF900, or better yet, the Thermalright HR-03.

[LucIyer]

i'm not really in need of 2gb's of ram. that said i could probably go for 2X512 and perhaps up the motherboard to the P5B-Deluxe?

I really like the hard drive and video card, thanks for those suggestions howard.

So at this point i'm looking at something like this:
p5b-deluxe
allendale e6400
1.8v ddr2 667 ram
the harddrive howard sugggested
the video card howard suggested
and a p180B

How do you guys feel about the zalman 9700LED? It seems a little out of my budget for the moment, but i could upgrade to it later perhaps? worth the money? better alternatives? and perhaps the vf-900 for the video card?

[Howard]

i'm not really in need of 2gb's of ram.

That's what they all say. sample bench

How do you guys feel about the zalman 9700LED?

I'd wait for more reviews.

Did you just up your budget or something? P180B, E6400, P5B Deluxe, etc. What gives?

[LucIyer]

e6400 = 120 shipped
i added the p5b deluxe in the thinking i wouldn't really need 2GB's of ram (as only having 1gb would save me about $100)

[Howard]

Is there something that the P5B Deluxe has that the P5B doesn't AND is something that you want? The only useful thing I can think of is the DTS Connect, and I'm guessing you don't need that.

[LucIyer]

Hey, Howard and others. Didn't want to start a new thread, so i'm reviving this to get another opinion on another motherboard.

I was thinking that perhaps the gigabyte 965p ds3 would be a better way to go for these reasons:

It is cheaper, and therefore works with my budget and would allow me to allocate more money to other components (likely videocard)

EDIT:
i searched a bit more and found a thread or two that confirmed that it would work! woohoo!

-p180b
-s12-430
-allendale e6400
-gigabyte ds3
-1gb wintec ampx (ugh, i know, but it is guaranteed to work and i will upgrade it later)
-7950gt(passive XFX)
-wd se16 250gb
-samsung optical

since i got the case for 90 shipped and the 6400 for 130 shipped, the grand total of my system is about 920 shipped, and as i did up my budget to about 1000/1050, that allows for something like a ninja or ultra-120!

[Howard]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822152045

[LucIyer]

quieter? more reliable?

[Howard]

quieter? more reliable?

Quieter. No idea about reliability.

[nzimmers]

Just wanted to mention that I heard that while a passivly cooled graphics card is must for a quite system, I've read a few complaints that they can be flakey and overheat without enough interior airflow....and even then some passively cooled cards are still unstable. Make sure to find some user opinions of the card you want to buy to see if many are having heat related issues (also cards that utilize heat pipes are sometimes sensitive to whether you have the computer oreintated like a desktop vs a tower....hope that makes sense)


you build looks great! I recently put together a Asus P5B with 2x1GB sticks of kingston DDR2 667 (cost me a tad over $200) and with a E6400 I was able to clock it up about 2.7Ghz... but usually just run it at 2.4 or so

it seems many are preferring the 965 chipsets over the 975

have fun!

[LucIyer]

hey, thanks guys.


I was thinking of ducting the case in such a way that the graphics card is isolated from the cpu airflow, actually a lot like chris thomson did in his core 2 duo build. I am thinking that as long as i can get some decent airflow (yateloon at 5/7v) i can keep relatively low temps on the videocard. My ambients are pretty low (18c) especially in winter, as this computer will be in the basement. Although, if heat is a problem i'll probably opt for a vf-900.