New PC build for web designer - any good?

[badstar82]

Hey, was hoping i could get some opinions on this set up. The PC is going to be used mainly for web / graphic design applications with very little to no gaming. Lots of multitasking often with many programs open at once. Occasionally I may do some video editing and multitrack sound recording.

ok, here goes...

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2GHz Socket 775 800FSB 2MB L2 Cache OEM Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133386

Motherboard
ASUS P5K AiLifestyle Series iP35 Socket 775 eSATA 8channel Audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129125

Memory
2 x Corsair 1GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/93557

PSU - (Already owned, had no problems with pentium 4 3.0 prescott system so hoping to re-use)
Akasa Paxpower 400W ATX2.0
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1756.html

HDD
Seagate ST3160815AS 160GB Hard Drive 7200RPM SATAII/300 8MB Cache - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/122660

Graphics Card
Asus Extreme N6200TC/TD 256MB supporting 512MB DDR2 DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116452

Optical Drive - (Already owned)
NEC 3520A DVD-RW
http://www.trustedreviews.com/storag...-DVD-Writer/p1

Soundcard - (Already owned and very happy with)
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...2496-main.html

CPU Cooler - (Already owned)
Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu
http://techreport.com/articles.x/7795

Operating system - (Already have waiting)
Vista Business (32 Bit) - copy provided by my university

Case and Fans - (Already owned)
+ 2 x 120mm case fans in Antec ATX case (not sure which model) it looks like and might be this one:
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=91654



Any thoughts on this? baring in mind i do want to keep the cost down while getting a faster PC than i currently have. It also needs to be as quiet and hopefully energy efficient as possible.

Any opinions / suggestions would be great

Thanks

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by badstar82 Hey, was hoping i could get some opinions on this set up. The PC is going to be used mainly for web / graphic design applications with very little to no gaming. Lots of multitasking often with many programs open at once. Occasionally I may do some video editing and multitrack sound recording.

For what you plan to do you may want to look at the Core2Quads instead.

Originally Posted by badstar82 Any thoughts on this? baring in mind i do want to keep the cost down while getting a faster PC than i currently have. It also needs to be as quiet and hopefully energy efficient as possible. Any opinions / suggestions would be great/

Are you sure you only need 160GB of storage space? And I'd look for a hard drive with 16MB of cache.

For the CPU you have listed you're getting the wrong speed of RAM. All you need is DDR2 533 (PC2 4200).

You may want to get a SATA DVD burner instead of using your IDE DVD burner. The P5K motherboard uses a Intel chipset that doesn't have native support for IDE drives so it uses a third party controller which is said to be kind unstable and troublesome.

Make sure that Zalman will be able to properly cool whichever processor you finally get.

Cricket

[shadowpr]

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=189564

[Cricket]

Oh, didn't see it was a double post. Please keep everything regarding this new build in one thread. Thank you.

Cricket

[badstar82]

Sorry, i thought as its was different information it'd be better as a new post, my bad. will keep everything in this one from now on :-)

Thanks for the advice though, i appreciate it

For what you plan to do you may want to look at the Core2Quads instead.

One of those would be good but out of my budget really. If i did go for something higher would my 400w psu still be sufficient?

Are you sure you only need 160GB of storage space? And I'd look for a hard drive with 16MB of cache.

Yeah, dead sure as ive only half used the 80gb on my current drive. Would more cache on the HDD make a big difference?

For the CPU you have listed you're getting the wrong speed of RAM. All you need is DDR2 533 (PC2 4200).

Would this be better: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/63631

I'm pretty sure the zalman should be ok providing the new CPU doesnt get any hotter than the Prescott 3.0E ive got in there right now, and I doubt ill be overclocking it

[shadowpr]

If you're not overclocking, then stick to the retail heatsink.

[badstar82]

If you're not overclocking, then stick to the retail heatsink.

Are they not pretty noisy though? i know the last retail one i had was. I need it as quiet as possible

[shadowpr]

I honestly almost never notice any noise from my heatsink.

And by the looks of the case, you probably won't hear anything.

If it's that much of a concern, just use the retail heatsink at first for a while, and if you're bothered by the noise, then purchase the extra cpu cooler.

[badstar82]

If I were to get the following processor what speed ram would i need? and how would i find this out for any other processors?

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz 1333FSB Socket 775 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130485

[shadowpr]

You should get 667 ram, that will be 1:1. Most suggest getting ram that is one faster, thus putting you at 800 ram.

To figure it out, you take the fsb of the processor and divide by 2 (basically). The processesor is quad, while the ram is double.

[badstar82]

Thanks for all the help

So would these be ok ?:


ASUS P5K AiLifestyle Series iP35 Socket 775 eSATA 8channel Audio ATX Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz 1333FSB Socket 775 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-12) Heat Spreader

[shadowpr]

That would work.

Look at the e6750. I think it's only a few bucks more. But for what you described, like what Cricket said, look at the quads. It will probably serve you better.

[badstar82]

Cheers

I'll probably stick with a dual core for now, im sure that'll be fast enough for my needs

[flanzig1]

Would look for a different video card. The one you picked is a TurboCached card which means that it will use some system memory. Should look for one with all the ram on the video card and not split between the video card and system.

[badstar82]

Originally Posted by flanzig1 Would look for a different video card. The one you picked is a TurboCached card which means that it will use some system memory. Should look for one with all the ram on the video card and not split between the video card and system.

Thanks I didn't realise that.

would this one do the job:

Innovision Geforce 7300LE 256MB DDR2 PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119712

Or could anyone suggest any others from ebuyers website? I want to get them all from one place to save on postage, and something as cheap as possible

[badstar82]

Hey guys

I've altered my spec and just wondered if you think all this will work ok? Ive priced it at less than £300 inc delivery which is what i was aiming for...

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, S775, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
Abit IP-35E, iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 667/800, SATA II, ATX
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-5400 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12
256MB Asus 7300GT PCI-Ex16 Silent Mem 800MHz GPU 400MHz 8Pipes D-Sub/DVI-I/S-Video Passive Cooling
160 Gb Western Digital WD1600AAJS Caviar SE, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9 ms
Samsung SH-S203B/BEBN 20x DVD±R, 16x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM inc. Nero

Please let me know what you think

[Cricket]

I would change a few things...first, don't get CAS 4 RAM as it's been known to cause stability problems with Intel chipsets...get CAS 5 RAM that uses 1.8 or 1.9 volts. And you'll want to use DDR2 800 RAM instead of DDR2 667 with the E6750.

Don't use Samsung drives...reliability issues. Get a Lite-On if possible.

ABIT motherboards are good but can be fussy and sometimes difficult to get working right. I would stick with ASUS if this was my build.

Cricket