Budget E4300 Build ($1066)

[OneOfTheseDays]

Ordering everything from Newegg, they are close to me and have great return service.

Case: Antec Solo
Memory: Kingston 2GB PC2 5300
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale
HSF: Stock Intel
MB: Biostar TForce 965PT
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ES 320GB 7200RPM SATA
DVD/RW: Samsung 18X w/ Lightscribe
PS: XCLIO Goodpower 500W
Soundcard: Chaintech AV-710
Videocard: Leadtek Winfast 7900GS (HDCP)

My grand total w/tax and shipping is $1066. I plan on overclocking to 3Ghz. This machine will do very light gaming and heavy multimedia viewing (lots of HD content). The monitor I am unsure of at this point as I may use my Westinghouse 37" 1080P set or opt for a smaller LCD like a Dell 22-24". I think I've skimped everywhere I wanted to, but am open to suggestions. Thanks.

 

[perdomot]

Building a C2D rig myself so here is my 2 cents. Since you are getting the E4300 get some PC2 6400 ram instead of the 5300 and unless you are getting Vista, 1 GB should do fine. I got this one from Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820144027
Notice the timings of 4-4-4-12. I went with the Gigabyte S-3 mobo as it seems to have a slight advantage over the biostar one most reviews I've seen. I got the 320 HDD today at Tigerdirect because they have a $20 MIR on it making it $80.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

If I overclock to 3Ghz with a 1:1 memory divider that would place my memory squarely at 667, which is PC5300. Why would I need PC2 6400 ram?

And I think I'm better off with 2GB of ram instead of 1GB, more future proof.

 

[Operandi]

Asus P5B-E
Seasonic S12 380 watt

 

[Zebo]

Looks real good but I don't know anything about that PSU... I'm basically sold on Corsair and Seasonic because I know they work as advertised and are very very quiet...but who knows about "Goodpower "? I'm just a little leary of anything that has happy, great, good, lucky, dragon, star, clover, etc. in it's name. Usually they are the opposite of their namesake.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Looks real good but I don't know anything about that PSU... I'm basically sold on Corsair and Seasonic because I know they work as advertised and are very very quiet...but who knows? I'm just a little leary of anything that has happy, great, good, lucky, dragon, star, clover, etc. in it's name. Usually they are the opposite of their namesake.

I was skeptical too, but after reading every single one of the Newegg reviews there were all positive and glowing. I just didn't want to spend twice the money to go with a namebrand PSU.

 

[athfbum]

Don't let the price of the T965P fool you. It's an OCing beast!

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Sudheer Anne

Originally posted by: Zebo
Looks real good but I don't know anything about that PSU... I'm basically sold on Corsair and Seasonic because I know they work as advertised and are very very quiet...but who knows? I'm just a little leary of anything that has happy, great, good, lucky, dragon, star, clover, etc. in it's name. Usually they are the opposite of their namesake.

I was skeptical too, but after reading every single one of the Newegg reviews there were all positive and glowing. I just didn't want to spend twice the money to go with a namebrand PSU.

Yea looks real good after reading those reviews. I think you just found a bang for the buck PSU :thumbsup:Rosewill itself, neweggs brand, is pretty decent too in that range. I powered my first X2 for over 1.5 years heavily overclocked, 3HDD, an a7800GTX way OCed. But I don't see it there anymore. It had a single 36A12V rail and 120mm fan for $80 but dropped to $45 with free shipping often enough.

 

[thuganomics]

Get a P5B-E or a DS3, if you got the money get the P5B deluxe
Ram should be PC-6400 or better, e4300 is mainly for overclocking...
Get a P180 gaming case, its awesome even though i dont have one...

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Sudheer Anne

Originally posted by: Zebo
Looks real good but I don't know anything about that PSU... I'm basically sold on Corsair and Seasonic because I know they work as advertised and are very very quiet...but who knows? I'm just a little leary of anything that has happy, great, good, lucky, dragon, star, clover, etc. in it's name. Usually they are the opposite of their namesake.

I was skeptical too, but after reading every single one of the Newegg reviews there were all positive and glowing. I just didn't want to spend twice the money to go with a namebrand PSU.

Newegg reviews are useless, especially for power supplies. One'll get 5 stars if it powers up the system and isn't excessively loud.

 

[perdomot]

The e4300 easily gets to 3.4Ghz with a host clock of 380 minimum so you want ram that will get that high. Check out these links:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-e4300_3.html
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=610&p=2

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

I will only be overclocking to 3Ghz. 333 FSB. Memory at 667. No need for more than DDR 5300.

 

[tcG]

The X1900GT ($130) is better than the 7900GS.

The X1950Pro ($160) is much better than the 7900GS.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics....elx=33&model1=607&model2=584&chart=211

Also, better RAM can be had for that amount of money.

These will overclock to DDR2 800 (see Anandtech article), which makes your theoretical OC that much higher... 400 x 9 = 3600MHz

This PSU is the best to be had for $50.

 

[engiNURD]

I agree with tcG, go with the X1950Pro instead. The kingston sticks are fine for what you want. That Topower is a nice unit, too. However, the XClio is also nice. I've used it in several builds, and its pretty solid. XClio uses the same supplier as Antec's SmartPower2.0 line, CWT (ChannelWell). Supposedly, the recent run of bad PSUs from Antec were not supplied by CWT, though. Again, the only change should be the vidcard.

 

[tcG]

I just noticed the ePOWER 550W is on Newegg for $55; we all know Newegg reviews mean next to nothing, but for what it's worth, 89% 5-star at 28 votes is impressive.

engiNURD is correct about the RAM... it's fine. The video card and the PSU, however, should be changed.