My new setup

[McDragon]

Hi All,

Having done a bit of research I figured I would post my results and hopefully get some good criticism/comments. I'll try to adhere to the sticky notice on what info to include!

The PC will be placed in a spare room in my basement, meant to be used as a gaming room and probably Home Theater at some point. Specifically I'm planning to get a real racing setup using something like this.
Noise is definetly a factor for me.

My budget is not set in stone (somewhere between 800$ and 1500$), but I want good value.

I will be buying all items in Denmark, where I live.

I have no brand preference, but a vague distrust of ATI GPU's.

I plan on re-using my case (5y old noise-padded ATX tower from a german company (SilentPC.de, I think)), as well as DVD-RW, and I will probably be using a borrowed DLP projector to start out with...Then if that works well, I'll get my own, otherwise a big display of some sort.

I might try overclocking it, but only at stock voltage, since noise is a concern...And I expect out-of-the-box performance to be more than enough (for now...)

I will order components in about 2 weeks.

Here goes:

CPU: Intel E8400
MB: ASRock P45R2000-Wifi
HSF: Stock
Memory: Corsair XMS3 2x1GB DDR3 1333
GPU: Inno3D GF 8800GT Accelero S1M (Fanless)
HDD: WD Caviar Green WD5000AACS 500GB
PSU: Seasonic S12II-380

OS: Vista Home Premium 64bit
Input: Logitech G25 (Wheel, Pedals and stick)

I'm aware that the stock cooler is not the best for overclocking, but I got the impression that the new Wolfdale cooler is pretty low-noise.
The 380W PSU might seem a bit low, but I tried an online PSU calculator and found good headroom...And SilentPCReview recommends the small Seasonic.
I've also heard people say DDR3 is not worth it, but for me it was only around 50$ more, and the mobo seems pretty well-featured for the price...


I look forward to any and all comments!
McD.

 

[sonnygdude]

Dude, Take the DDR3 money and buy 4GB of DDR2-800 (DDR2-1000 if you're planning on aggressive OC'ing) instead. You'll never get that processor up to where you can take advantage of DDR3 bandwidth, and from what I can tell Vista can be a resource hog - 4GB will pay off if you intend to do any serious gaming

 

[Roguestar]

Bear in mind the ATI 4850 offers 8800GT-beating performance at the same price as the GT. It's finally time to give AMD a little credit for one of their products.

Don't buy the DDR3.

Get a slightly beefier PSU like the Corsair 520HX (you'll really only need around 400W but there's some headroom in that for a year or so yet and it's modular too).

Consider getting the E7200 for slightly less and overclock it a little on the stock cooler. It's very easy and very safe.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Roll with the punches, keep your DDR3!!! but lower timings are noticeable so keep that in mind.

 

[Roguestar]

I disagree with the use of the word "noticeable" but a set of faster sticks is always better, in DDR2 or DDR3.

 

[sonnygdude]

You won't need the DDR3 until your next upgrade cycle, and the lower timings of the DDR2 will serve you better. At any rateI would say you need 4GB - especially running 64 bit, so let your choice be determined by what you can afford 4GB of.

Don't listen to the redleg - too many years of muzzle blast and concussion have numbed his brain!

 

[Nizology]

Go with 4gb. You'll definitely notice the improved snappiness of your rig. I went from 2 to 3 @ 667 and there was an obvious difference.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Nizology
I went from 2 to 3 @ 667 and there was an obvious difference.

Was the obvious difference that you now have two more DIMM slots filled?

 

[McDragon]

4GB! I hadn't thought of that at all...If I go DDR2, it will max out the mobo, though - I would have to switch to DDR3 to upgrade to 8GB...
But who cares, if there's a performance gain from 2 to 4, it's a modest price hike, especially if I go DDR2 at the same time...2 x 2GB Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Performance (DDR2-800, 5-5-5-18) is only slightly more expensive than the DDR3 I had in mind...And for non-agressive overclocks, wouldn't that be fine?

The 520HX PSU looks very nice indeed...A bit pricier, but I think I'll go for it.

Thanks for all the replies, they are much appreciated.
McD.

 

[DSF]

The solution to that is not to buy a crappy combo board. My advice would be to get a DDR2-only board for now.

 

[McDragon]

That's an option, but this board is actually very full-featured, more so than the DDR2 alternatives I would have gone for...I think I would actually have to pay more to get the same features in a DDR2 board!
I'm also thinking I could probably live a long time with 4gb...