Could someone review my system build?

This is what I’ve come up with so far, I know I’m missing the power supply, case, DVD R/W drive, but I want to make sure the “core” of my system is solid. I’m mainly building this for PS but will surf, word process, etc. And recommend a ’20 or ’22 LCD monitor under $400? Any drawbacks to widescreens?

Asus P5B deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131045

Patriot memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820220144

Samsung HD – To start with, my old system has enough room to hold backup images.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822152052

Intel Core 2 Duo
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115004

CPU Cooler- not the best but looks like a major improvement over the stock cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835101003

Video Card- I have no IDEA on what to look for so please let me know if theirs something better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130017

Thanks for your help!

--
I got to get out and shoot more.

If you get a widescreen, check that your videocard or video drivers will support the resolution of the monitor. Some don't.

gnet158 said:

This is what I’ve come up with so far, I know I’m missing the power
supply, case, DVD R/W drive, but I want to make sure the “core” of
my system is solid. I’m mainly building this for PS but will surf,
word process, etc. And recommend a ’20 or ’22 LCD monitor under
$400? Any drawbacks to widescreens?

Click to expand...

The sub $400.00 LCD market is packed with lot's of good choices but few great ones. Shop carefully and if at all possible do it in person so you can get a good comparison. Wide screen is fine if you can find the quality you like at the price you're considering, but you might find a better value in a standard orientation monitor. Seeing is believing.

gnet158 said:

Asus P5B deluxe

Click to expand...

That board sure is popular around here And there's no reason why it shouldn't be. I also like the P5W64WS-Pro for it's abundance of PCI-e slots which can be a real plus if you ever want to set up a RAID5 or similar array. Although it does cost more and may be just a bit more limiting for overclocking.

gnet158 said:

Patriot memory

Click to expand...

Nice memory. If you aren't overclocking you won't get any real benefit over slower - less expensive memory, though if you are overclocking and feel you can safely bring the fsb up to 400MHz, you'll probably like this memory a lot.

gnet158 said:

Samsung HD – To start with, my old system has enough room to hold
backup images.

Click to expand...

Not a bad choice. There are a fair number of good 7200 RPM drives around that capacity/price point. It's really a matter of which you feel most comfortable with. For system drives, the Intel Matrix RAID off of the IH7R controller of the Asus (and other) motherboards really does work nicely, at least in a RAID 1 or 0 setup with two drives. You might consider running two lower capacity drives under Matrix RAID if you have the space and can find them at around the same price.

gnet158 said:

Intel Core 2 Duo

Click to expand...

The 6400 is priced right and will be plenty fast for PS.

gnet158 said:

CPU Cooler- not the best but looks like a major improvement over
the stock cooler

Click to expand...

The stock cooler isn't too bad. As upgrades go, I've been really happy with the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7. It's a bit pricier (around $30.00) but it works great and runs very quietly.

Gadz! I just noticed that Newegg is now asking closer to $60.00 for this thing. Try shopping around at places like Xoxide, PerformancePCs, etc. if it interests you at all. I've purchased a few of them for around $30.00 over the last couple of months. There may well still be some out there at that price. $60.00's pretty steep for a fan, even a good one.

gnet158 said:

Video Card- I have no IDEA on what to look for so please let me
know if theirs something better

Click to expand...

That's not a bad price point. Compare what you can for around that price using whichever slot type you prefer that have Dual DVI and you should be able to find a a few good choices. Take a look at some of the Matrox cards too, at least for non-gaming applications like PS.

Have fun!

--
'Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey!'

Tom Young
http://www.pbase.com/tyoung/

gnet158 said:

This is what I’ve come up with so far, I know I’m missing the power
supply, case, DVD R/W drive, but I want to make sure the “core” of
my system is solid. I’m mainly building this for PS but will surf,
word process, etc. And recommend a ’20 or ’22 LCD monitor under
$400? Any drawbacks to widescreens?

Click to expand...

Widescreens reduce the ratio of VISIBLE FULL PAGES (for documents and webpages). But they are pretty great for lots of palettes for graphics programs, your call. After having a Mac w/ widescreen, I think I prefer standard ratio more from now on.

If photo PP and such is key to your workflow requirements, I'd say spend money on mobo, CPU, ram, psu, and monitor mostly. Since a monitor is what you look at all day, the Dell UltraSharps are about as good as they get, but more pricey. If I could do my build over, I'd've gotten one instead of a Philips 20" LCD. Better brightness, contrst, and dot pitch, with higher resolutions- all around winner even at higher price tag!

gnet158 said:

Asus P5B deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131045

Click to expand...

I'm not using Intel, I built w/ AMD Athlon X2 3800+, but this board should be a great choice for you.

gnet158 said:

Patriot memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820220144

Click to expand...

Personally, I love OCZ products, I think they are fantastic- I had a problem w/ a Patriot sD card that took over 3 months to get an RMA replacement. Just check to make sure your board supports the RAM you choose... Both the premium mobo and fast RAM are worth it IMO, allows overclocking, and better future upgradeability- good choices.

gnet158 said:

Samsung HD – To start with, my old system has enough room to hold
backup images.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822152052

Click to expand...

I think I read a review not long ago that these Samsung's were close on the heels of WD Raptor drives for speed & performance, solid choice- 400GB might be a better "sweet spot" for price, but no prollem with your decision here.

I just sprung for a 150GB Raptor to help my PS workflow speeds, extra ram (above 2GB and better gpu aren't really gonna help me).

gnet158 said:

Intel Core 2 Duo
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115004

CPU Cooler- not the best but looks like a major improvement over
the stock cooler

Click to expand...

I might suggest you consider the NZXT Zero case from NewEgg, it offers 8 case fans, and awesome build potential. With the INCLUDED case fans, I'd say you could save your money by NOT buying any 3rd party hsf- even if OC'ing your rig.

If you're gonna upgrade the hsf/cooler, I'd suggest something beefier, like a Zalman- otherwise stock is fine as other post noted.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835101003

gnet158 said:

Video Card- I have no IDEA on what to look for so please let me
know if theirs something better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130017

Click to expand...

If you shop around a little, you can likely find a 7900 GS/GS OC/GS KO/etc. for about $160 (after MIR). Depending on your gaming needs, but still a few bucks gets you 24 pixel pipes vs. 12 w/ 7600, and 256-bit GDDR3 ram vs. 128-bit w/ 7600. Plus, mem bandwidth DOUBLES from 7600's to 7900's. Check ZipZoomFly, NewEgg, and TigerDirect.

You do realize Photoshop (you're on dp forum, so I'm speculating your uses) pretty much does NOT use your video card. I've got a ATI AIW 256MB card w/ 4 pixel pipes and run faster PS times w/ my UNDER $2k FULL PC build a year ago than many that spent over twice my build cost.

gnet158 said:

Thanks for your help!

--
I got to get out and shoot more.

Click to expand...

Good luck on your build, it's worth doing yourself- you'll get better performance for your exact needs at a much better price!

I'd suggest at least a 520W Power Supply Unit, I like my OCZ PowerStream 520 ADJ-SLI, but a 520W-600W should offer plenty of room for upgrades. Sometimes a great rebate can be had, worth checking.

some links to peep:
my build in detail on my blog:
http://d3velop.com/blog/2007/01/my-dual-core-pc-build-reviewed.html

my Amazon reviews of my poor Patriot RMA experience:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A14J9L7NII9G5/ref=cm_cr_auth/002-8929433-8169666?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview

A worthy Photoshop performance benchmark test w/ results from LOTS of different users/rigs (mostly AMD users, I'm on pg. 19, not that it matters):
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=926660

Cheers.
david
My Flickr Sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/prodesma/sets/

I would get the E6600 CPU for a few bucks more. HD content chokes on the E6400. You don't need big video card if your not gaming much etc. I use a $55 card and it runs everything fine ( I have 20'1" NEC widescreen).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102565

"CPU Cooler- not the best but looks like a major improvement over the stock cooler"

Why. The stock cooler is good.

Thanks for all the replies!

I do plan on OC'ing my machine at some point. Although I don't game it's nice to know that I can. You got me thinking about bumping the RAM to 4 gigs. I've seen the cases you mentioned and do like a few but still undecided. I'm also still not sure what monitor to get, too many choices.

Thanks again for looking over my build and for your recommendations!
--
I got to get out and shoot more.

I agree with previous comment, go for the E6600 with the bigger cache, and as for the stock cooler, why buy another. The stock cooler holds my CPU about 10 deg C above room temperature no problem when quite extensively overclocked.
--
Brian
Uzi is Ezi

That CPU cooler is probably no better than the stock retail cooler.

I just put this one in a build and it's sweet:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106085

Make sure you're case is big enough.

I agree. I don't like the looks of that hs/fan. I would just use the stock Intel one.

I had planned on using the P5B board also, but after reading more I decided to switch to the GIGABYTE GA-965P-DQ6. There's a lot of info about it online. Take a look -- you might change your mind too.
--
Birk Binnard
http://www.birkbinnard.com/photography

good posts

Agreed.... If you're not gonna spend at least $30 on a cooler to get a good one, just stick with stock.

--
Joe B.
http://www.pbase.com/joebar

gnet158 said:

This is what I’ve come up with so far, I know I’m missing the power
supply, case, DVD R/W drive, but I want to make sure the “core” of
my system is solid. I’m mainly building this for PS but will surf,
word process, etc. And recommend a ’20 or ’22 LCD monitor under
$400? Any drawbacks to widescreens?

Asus P5B deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131045

Click to expand...

Nice board..maybe overkill though

gnet158 said:

Patriot memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820220144

Click to expand...

Patriot ram is ok...I prefer Micron as I have never ever had an issue...ever

gnet158 said:

Samsung HD – To start with, my old system has enough room to hold
backup images.

Click to expand...

Samsung make rock solid HDD's...also look at Hitachi...

gnet158 said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822152052

Intel Core 2 Duo
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115004

Click to expand...

Good cpu

gnet158 said:

CPU Cooler- not the best but looks like a major improvement over
the stock cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835101003

Click to expand...

ITs not bad..

gnet158 said:

Video Card- I have no IDEA on what to look for so please let me
know if theirs something better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130017

Click to expand...

Not bad...consider getting a fanless one though...noise is my pet hate...plenty of makes to pick from.

gnet158 said:

Thanks for your help!

--
I got to get out and shoot more.

Click to expand...

Monitors..Samsung are solid too..
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Before buying an aftermarket cooler, make sure that you check its weight against what the cpu and mobo limits are. If the cooler is too heavy, it may eventually cause damage to the mobo or cpu, particularly if your case mounts the mobo perpendicular to the floor and/or you move the case.

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CL