Are these good parts?

[carnageX]

Well, I was thinking about building a new system. Here's the parts I've picked out so far:

Revised list: 6-24-07
Case: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Mobo: Newegg.com - MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
RAM: Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Heatsink/fan: Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
(will get some Arctic Silver 5, as well) - don't need apparently, with the HS/F I picked xD.
GPU: Newegg.com - EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
OS: Windows XP Pro
PSU: 500w Antec SmartPower
HDD: 320GB SeaGate SATA

I'm giong to use my existing HDD (320GB SeaGate SATA)/optical drives/PSU (500w Antec SmartPower) from my current comp.


So, I have a few questions...

Would this make a pretty decent system? When is the price drop on the C2D's? Sometime in july, isn't it (I'm not planning on building this right away anyway, as i want to wait/build up some more cash). Would 500watts be enough for this system, or does the C2D draw much more power/force me to get a larger one? I know the PSU is one o fthe most important components...but I'm just wondering if I can use my current PSU or not. Any suggestions on parts?

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it =).

 

[psp_crazy1]

go down to a e6420/6320 and get a 8800gts 320. that card is day and night difference between the 8600gts.

 

[Jorsoft]

Agreed, huge difference and well worth a slightly slower cpu.
The intel price drop is supposed to happen July 22nd I believe. Not sure how much cheaper your proc is going to be, though. I'd say 10-20% tops.

 

[rx7i2]

Don't get windows 64-bit if your computer doesn't take advantage of it, you'll have a load of driver problems, and you don't have to get AS5, the pad on the Arctic Cooling 7 will give you the same if not better temps, you can also drop the power supply to a budget one, like the Fortron 400w and get a e6320 like psp said, that should give you enough for a 8800gts

 

[veg1992]

buy that combo deal at the bottom with the centurion 5.... u get a RP500 PSu from Rosewill, with a 10$ discount... nice deal... part with the 8600gts and the e6600 and get an e6420 or e6320 and get an 8800gts, ull notice a lot more video performance... and u can easily push the CPU's to the e6600 speeds....

 

[carnageX]

I already have the PSU, so I don't need one =P. I'm just gonna take it outta my current comp. Well, I guess I have some revising to do on some parts then. Thanks a lot for the help guys, I appreciate it =).

and you don't have to get AS5, the pad on the Arctic Cooling 7 will give you the same if not better temps

Ohhh, so there's already a "heatsink compound" on that one? Cuz I always thought that you should get HS compound.

 

[Sora]

I highly agree to downgrade to an E6320/E6420 and upgrade to an 8800GTS 320 as you will see much better performance in gaming. The E6420 clocks just about as high as an E6600 and the E6320 also is no joke.

 

[carnageX]

Ok, well I may do that then. But..I've heard that the 8600 is better with general media than the 8800? Because, I do more PhotoShopping than gaming. I've just heard this, dunno if it's true or not?

 

[Sora]

No way a card with the same architecture yet less powerful will do better on anything...I find that hard to believe. The 8600GT/GTS will handle photoshop enough but the 8800GTS is very powerful so I would just get one.

 

[UA_Iron]

You could save some money by going with the E6320 and a somewhat less expensive mobo and buy 4 gigs of ram total.

64bit XP is kind of a hassle with all the drivers and stuff. I would do a dual-boot with 32bit XP.