Budget gaming comp config review

[macgamesrule]

A (online) friend of mine is looking to build a new gaming system to replace his old system. He wants to play some modern games under XP, and won't be upgrading to Vista until late '07 at the earliest. He will be overclocking somewhat, but only on air cooling. He already has a case and some other odds and ends, but his budget for buying new stuff is as close to $1000 as possible. After some discussion we came up with these components. I'm putting these here for you all to look at; if anyone sees any possible compatibility problems or knows of better hardware for the same prices, please let me know. Thanks

Asus P5NSLI nForce 570i

Core 2 Duo E6300

Enermax EG565W PSU

OCZ Platinum DDR2-800 2x1GB

Seagate 7200.10 160GB SATAII

GeForce 7600GT 256MB

LG L1752TX 17” LCD

Logitech USB keyboard/mouse

Total: $1,085

Something else we hadn't really discussed yet: he'll probably need upgraded HS/F for ocing. I'm going to look around for those, but recommendations on good C2D HS/Fs for <$40 appreciated

[GrimReaper]

Originally Posted by macgamesrule

A (online) friend of mine is looking to build a new gaming system to replace his old system. He wants to play some modern games under XP, and won't be upgrading to Vista until late '07 at the earliest. He will be overclocking somewhat, but only on air cooling. He already has a case and some other odds and ends, but his budget for buying new stuff is as close to $1000 as possible. After some discussion we came up with these components. I'm putting these here for you all to look at; if anyone sees any possible compatibility problems or knows of better hardware for the same prices, please let me know. Thanks

Asus P5NSLI nForce 570i

Core 2 Duo E6300

Enermax EG565W PSU

OCZ Platinum DDR2-800 2x1GB

Seagate 7200.10 160GB SATAII

GeForce 7600GT 256MB

LG L1752TX 17” LCD

Logitech USB keyboard/mouse

Total: $1,085

Something else we hadn't really discussed yet: he'll probably need upgraded HS/F for ocing. I'm going to look around for those, but recommendations on good C2D HS/Fs for <$40 appreciated

replace the P5NSLI nForce 570i with a P5B DLX

will 160gb be enough better make that a 300

here are some changes that I made

P5B DLX or ABIT AB9 Pro

Core 2 Duo E6300

Enermax EG565W PSU

Crucial 2x1 PC8000 Ballistix or G.skill 2gbhz

Seagate 7200.10 300GB SATAII

X1950 Pro 256MB

LG L1752TX 17” LCD

Logitech USB keyboard/mouse

It might go a bit over $1000 but this is surely worth every cent

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/scniplre6hep.html

here is a good aftermarket cooler

[macgamesrule]

Thanks for the info. I've done some searching a bit ago and according to Bit-tech's review (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...p_test/1.html), the Arctic Silver Freezer 7 Pro is pretty good, and it's only $18 at eWiz. Dunno if he'll want to go $200 on the mobo and/or grfx card but I'll mention it to him.

[Rastalovich]

Originally Posted by GrimReaper

replace the P5NSLI nForce 570i with a P5B DLX

will 160gb be enough better make that a 300

here are some changes that I made

P5B DLX or ABIT AB9 Pro

Core 2 Duo E6300

Enermax EG565W PSU

Crucial 2x1 PC8000 Ballistix or G.skill 2gbhz

Seagate 7200.10 300GB SATAII

X1950 Pro 256MB

LG L1752TX 17” LCD

Logitech USB keyboard/mouse

It might go a bit over $1000 but this is surely worth every cent

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/scniplre6hep.html

here is a good aftermarket cooler

Tbh, I`d probably leave the harddrive until last when u`ve sourced everything else and u have a balance of $$$ left over. Then take a look at the market. Drives are stoopid cheap and an extra 60g can be only a matter of $10/$20. And the thing is, even if u got a "for now" drive, they`re equally easy to source and replace.

Isn`t it bizarre how easily/cheaply u can aquire a C2D and mobo. So soon after release (relatively). I`ve seen bundled stuff on UK sites for ~£150, which includes some memory. Mad. (scratch that m8, it was an AMD, but even so)