Balanced build...?

Hi All,
Another build - this one is for the father-in-law. Once he has it, it'll probably need to last another 6 years or so, like his aging P4-2Ghz. Can you check it's reasonably well balanced please?

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550, S775, 2.33 GHz, 1333MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18
22" Hyundai IT X220WA Black Widescreen LCD, 1680x1050, 1000:1, 300 cd/m2, 5 ms, Speakers, VESA
Coolermaster RC-330 V2 Elite Black Midi Tower Case w/o PSU (New Improved Version)
Samsung SH-S203N/BEBN 20x DVD±R, 12x DVD±DL, DVD + RW x8/-RW x6, SATA,Lightscribe, Black, OEM inc Nero
512MB MSI 8800GT OC, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1900 MHz, GDDR3, GPU 660 MHz, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I, HDTV
Abit IP35-E, iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 667/800, SATA II, ATX
320 Gb Samsung HD321KJ Spinpoint T166, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 9 ms, NCQ
550W Xclio Greatpower Modular SLi U-Quiet 14cm Fan 87%+ Efficiency ATX2.2Trio+12v EPS 4SATA 6x PCI-E
Microsoft Windows XP PRO Edition SP2c- (Release 2) OEM - Single Pack
Logitech Comfort Desktop EX110 Cordless Keyboard, PS2/USB 1/2.0, + 800dpi Optical Mouse, Black

I think it's reasonably well balanced. I've gone for a cheap case as once it's in, it won't be moved/upgraded often, if at all. I've chosen a modular power supply to make things a bit neater inside.

Any comments?

Just my view but 4 GB is perhaps an over kill and can cause problems unless you go for XP 64 bit or Vista 64 bit.

Also you will probably not see all 4Gb in any 32 bit windows.

What's the PC gonna be used for ?

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Originally Posted by daniel.phillips

What's the PC gonna be used for ?

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I think balanced means that the PC will be used for everything (that you would expect a home user to do)...

I would go for 4x1GB Corsair Ram to save money and then get a 500GB hard drive and a Corsair 520W PSU instead... Also I would get Vista Home Premium as SP1 is almost out (so Vista will be no longer like a beta release :p)

Thank for the replies so far:

@teachmech: It'll probably go to Vista 64 bit eventually, but even if it can only see 3.5GB the difference in price is negligable.

@daniel.phillips: Probably a bit of everything. He plays a few games Company of Heroes, LoTR BfME etc. He's just bought a digital SLR - so probably a bit of photoshop, and general Internet and office bits.

@SiM - the problem with 4x1GB is there's no room for expansion at all. I would give him Vista, but I'm still on XP, and I don't want to have to support an OS I don't currently use!:telephone:

On new boards with 64 bit cpu 64 bit vista will see all 4 GB some people already using 6 Gb and 8Gb. Google and you'll see.
Its only 32 bits that can not use the 4 Gb.

Sorry, didn't make myself clear. I meant I know that XP can only see about 3-3.5GB. I know Vista 64bit can see more. My point was that given it's so cheap at the moment, I may as well stick 4GB in there now.

im upgrading at the end of january too, ill also be going for 4 gb seeing as the price as you say is worth going for! just a quick off topic question, with 32bit there are no problems with having 4gb except just not seeing it all, am i correct?

I'd probably spend the extra £15 and get a E6750 for the higher multi if you plan on overclocking. I'd also bite the bullet and go Vista 64 if I had to buy an OS. The machine will have to last so might as well get the latest OS for same price as XP.

I'm looking to replace mobo/cpu/ram soon, but I'm waiting for the E8*00 chips and I'll stick 4gb ram in simply because it's so cheap even though I will use XP.

I would say memory is NOT cheap in UK and have about 30~40% of margin to drop. You will be shocked to see USA memory price which you can almost buy 4GB there for the price of 2GB here. For general purpose PC 2GB is more than enough.

I think HX450W is a better choice for your setup, and NO, you don't need >500W PSU. Your system tops at 350W even with some heavy overclock.

@iranu: It's not going to be heavily overclocked - like I say this thing will have to last for at least 4 years without (much) intervention from me. As I said, the reason I'm not going Vista yet is that there's no compelling reason, and I don't want to have to support something I'm not running myself.

@ arthurleung: I know what you're saying, about memory, but it's ~ £30 difference in price. For that, it's not even worth my time to go over there and plug it in.

Re the PSU - good advice - thanks...

Looks like a good build, I would change to a 500GB drive though, samsung are extremely quiet

never used an xclio PSU before.. so I can't comment on that but I would go for a corsair 450w VX, maybe push to a 520HX if you want modular. Xclio's might be alright though.

4GB of RAM is a good choice imo.. as you say its so cheap why not..

£10 - £15 extra isn't bad for the E6750

On the psu front I have one of those running my system and have found it to be reliable and it has worked well.

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Originally Posted by b0redom

I don't want to have to support something I'm not running myself.

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That makes alot of sense. Troubleshooting is a PITA at the best of times. It would be even worse being unfamiliar with the OS. Over the :telephone: click on the start button. What start button?! Arrrghh!

I'm also yet to see a compelling reason to upgrade. DX10 isn't worth having yet, there's a minor performance hit in gaming, and I'll be running Vista Business (got MS Action Pack) rather than Ultimate anyway, so I'll loose the media functionality.