First time build - advice please

[jr2408]

This is going to be a first time build for me. I plan to do heavy multitasking and some games - esp flight sims.

I will be overclocking for the first time, hopefully to around 3ghz (e.g. beyond the level of the E6700).

I plan to upgrade to a more powerful graphics card when the DX10 cards are released - this choice is just a stop gap measure.

Can anyone give me some help in understanding:-

- Is E6600 the right choice? I originally planned to go for the E6700 but I am reading that it is not good value.
- Is this motherboard a good choice?
- Have I got my memory choice right?
- As a newbie to build & overclock (but pretty savvy with PC's and tech stuff in general) how difficult is it going to be for me to build & overclock and end up with a stable system?
- Will this cooler & case be good choices in terms of cooling and also keeping noise down?
- Will I notice the difference the Raptor makes, or should I substitute it for a Seagate?
- Is it worth getting a sound card to reduce CPU cycles?

Core 2 DUO E6600
Gigabyte GA_965P_DQ6 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
EVGA GeForce 7600 GT KO 256MB
Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Coolermaster Wave Master - Black
Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0 PSU
Mitsumi FA 404M 7in1 USB 2.0 Floppy & Media Drive - Black
NEC ND4571 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Silver) - OEM

Your help appreciated!

[shaithis]

I've owned raptors but never really noticed the difference and sold them on......don't bother anymore, especially when hard drive space is so limited on them.

Your spec looks good, I personally don't like Gigabyte board but then others swear by them.....personal choice I guess.

E6600 is a good chip, E6300 would probably clock further though due to the nature of the Intel 965/975 chipsets (lowering the CPU multiplier increases the north bridge core speed).....but you do lose half the cache.....I guess it depends on what you value....more cache or a few hundred MHz (and some cash ).

[Clunk]

what i would do is...

as for the raptor, leave it for now and add it in later as an upgrade, that way you will see an increase in speed, whereas if you add it now, your whole system will be a lot faster, so you wont notice the raptor as much.

yeah, e6600 can be had for about 220 at the moment, so thats a bargain.

i dont like gigabyte either...cheap and nasty overpriced rubbish in my opinion.
the best of the bad bunch at the moment seems to be the asus p5b deluxe, its not free from issues, but its pretty stable at reasonable overclocking levels, half decent set of features and slightly better build quality than the gigabyte, but not much.

i would ditch the antec psu, get something like a seasonic, tagan, enermax. psu is possibly THE most important part.

the rest of it looks fine

[amjedm]

I saw the motherboard at a computer fair and it looked wicked (not sure if that helps you though )

As recommended by Clunk, I wouldn't go for the Neo in the Wavemaster case. The Neo fan could ramp up exhausting the heat. Go for a Seasonic IMO.

I wouldn't go for a Raptor as per other posters comments.

I think the Seagates can be noisy - just in case you're after a quiet system.

[s_kinton]

Is E6600 the right choice? I originally planned to go for the E6700 but I am reading that it is not good value.
- Is this motherboard a good choice?
- Have I got my memory choice right?
- As a newbie to build & overclock (but pretty savvy with PC's and tech stuff in general) how difficult is it going to be for me to build & overclock and end up with a stable system?
- Will this cooler & case be good choices in terms of cooling and also keeping noise down?
- Will I notice the difference the Raptor makes, or should I substitute it for a Seagate?
- Is it worth getting a sound card to reduce CPU cycles?

In my opinion:
Drop the raptors, coz they simply arent worth all that extra money for the performance
- Getting a sound card is a good desision, but the main advantage is sound quality, you probably wont even notice any extra fps from having it over onboard
- The 6600 is a much better choice over the 6700, as youre planning to overclock you will take the 6600 past 6700 speeds anyway
- It should be pretty easy for you to overclock and get a stable system. Just do your research, read plenty of guides and post back if you need help!

[harry1]

since when do they make a 6700? especially when he said 7600 which is the new faster better value version of the 6600?

[MSIC]

since when do they make a 6700? especially when he said 7600 which is the new faster better value version of the 6600?

Sorry Harry1, i feel like i'm ragging on you at the moment (it's not personal).
Intel have been making an E6700 for a while now. It's their top non-'extreme' CPU.
As for the 7600 / 6700 / 6600 thing, either you have mis-typed or I have mis-read.

Edit - just realised, harry1 is talking about an nVidia 7600 (as in GT, GS). I think he is the only one talking nVidia - everyone else is talking Intel.

[harry1]

lmao i thought he was on about a gfx card

[cotswoldcs]

Sorry Harry1, i feel like i'm ragging on you at the moment (it's not personal).

Come on boys, play nicely now!

[s_kinton]

You had me doubting myself for a minute Harry1 I had to go and check the 6700 did exist and that i hadnt dreamt it up!