My 2nd Build

[Captain A]

Well, three years ago I created my first build with help from the wonderful people here and its worked wonders. However, it is now time to upgrade to the next step. I've been out of the loop, but I think I have a general grasp on everything again. Here is what I'm looking at.

Antec TX1050B Black ATX Mid-tower (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129158)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003)
ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131070)
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130071)
OCZ Platinum Revision 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 800
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227139)
WD Raptor 74GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136033)

I already have my sound card, and hard drive for pics/movies/music, and optical drives. Its gaming centered with a little bit of photoshop stuff. Mild overclocking. I want to stay in the $1000-$1200 range, but I don't know where my money should be allocated. Should I go a little less on the mobo and put that money into the memory? etc. etc.

Thanks for any advice. :)

[doubledragon5]

Id go with the Seagate 7200.10 there just as fast as the raptors 10,000rpm drives. What about a optical drive? Go with the Lite-On sata drives there better than the standard IDE and more reliable.. What about a monitor? Other than that it looks good..

[Captain A]

Whoops knew I forgot something..I already have the optical drives. As well as monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers etc. I'll look into the Seagate drives.

[Freakitchen]

Your list looks good, just a couple of thoughts. You say you have opticals / hard drives that you want to re-use, but keep in mind that the P965 chipset boards have only one IDE controller, and even that's a not-so-good third party inclusion. I'd advise you to go all SATA if possible.

Re: the memory - 2GB is fine for now, and buying faster modules with tighter timings is unnecessary. If you're not planning on overclocking, this Corsair DDR2-667 is perfectly adequate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145098

Finally, the case & psu combo. Antec power supplies are normally good, but the one in that case is a Smartpower unit that I wouldn't be wholly comfortable trusting to a powerful video card. Consider buying a case without a PSU, and this top quality Corsair unit separately:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

EDIT: OR.....there's always this - the brand new Antec Sonata III case. This one comes with a 500w Earthwatts power suppy, which are top quality also

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

[Captain A]

I've been doing some shopping already, and have a SATA optical. The memory is only $20 difference..and it leaves me open to more OCing in the future. As for the case, I could of swore I read on the Antec site it was an Antec PSU; but I am going with that Sonata III now. :eek:

[Freakitchen]

the Smartpowers ARE Antec power supplies, and are quality units compared to most. But they're not as good - in terms of quality and power - as the higher-end Trio and Earthwatts units.

How about this memory - same speed and even cheaper than the OCZ, after rebate. I've heard comments about compatibility issues with OCZ memory recently - can't say the same about the Corsair stuff.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590

[Captain A]

I like the looks of that Corsair, I think I will go with that. Thanks!