Critique my first build, please

[Backslash]

I've been lurking the forums here for quite a while now, but I think it's about time I register.

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After several months of researching for my first build, I'm finally ready to begin building in a few weeks.

My requirements: a near silent system (since fan noise aggravates my tinnitus) that will hopefully last me up to five years without a major upgrade. This computer will be used mainly for web + word processing and occasional gaming, 3D rendering, and audio production. I'll be doing some mild overclocking, though I'll also be undervolting at the same time to keep the heat down.

The budget is $1800, including tax and shipping costs. That's the absolute upper limit of what I'm willing to pay, though, so I'm trying to keep costs under $1700 or $1600 if I can. I'll be building from the ground up, so the budget must also include a new monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Well, here are the parts I've chosen for my build so far. Remember, my budget includes tax and shipping. All prices are current at the time of this post and include CA sales tax and shipping costs.

Case - Antec P180, $125.91
Power Supply - Seasonic S12-430, $88.41 (already purchased)
Motherboard - Undecided, northbridge cooling must be passive, onboard wireless is a plus
CPU - Undecided, leaning heavily towards Core 2 Duo, price cuts are making socket AM2 CPUs look more attractive though
CPU Heatsink - Scythe Ninja, $71.54 bundled with AS5 and ArctiClean and purchased with six Yate Loon fans
RAM - Corsair XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 TWIN2X2048-6400, $172.36 after $40 MIR (already purchased)
Video Card - Gigabyte Geforce 7600GT Silent Pipe II, $169.83 after $20 MIR
Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic, $87.93 (already purchased)
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB WD2500KS, $81.58 after $10 MIR
Optical Drive - BenQ DW1655 - Retail, $47.41
Monitor - Viewsonic VX2025WM, $367.52 (waiting for a good deal on these right now, this price is a little too high)
Keyboard - Logitech Ultra X, $30.25
Mouse - Logitech MX1000, $57.20 (my friend is trying to convince me out of this one )
Other - PA2V2 Headphone Amp, $60.00

With these parts and prices, I have about $440.06 to spend on the motherboard and CPU. So, any suggestions as to which motherboard and CPU I should purchase? Comments/critique on the parts I've already chosen will be appreciated as well.

Thanks!

Here's the plan for system once it's built:

All components (CPU, GPU, northbridge) will be passively cooled except the power supply. The airflow plan is to have two Yate Loon D12SL-12 fans undervolted to 5v as exhaust fans, with another 5v Loon as an intake and to cool the GPU. I'll also be using aluminum tape to seal up the PSU vents in the case for better airflow.

The hard drive will be suspended with Stretch Magic.

I'll be doing some mild overclocking, although I'll also be undervolting at the same time to reduce heat. The video card will be undervolted/underclocked in 2D applications.

How does that sound?

[breunor]

I have the ASRock 939 Sata2 motherboard right now. It allows for a nice upgrade path if you have decent parts currently that you want to use. It has AGP and PCIe slots, socket 939 and the AM2 slot. It performs well and doesn't cost much. Assuming new cpu designs don't sprout and render AM2 useless.

To have a PC that will perform well for more than a few years you either spend thousands on bleeding edge, or accept that you won't be upgrading any software during that time. Software bloat is very tough to avoid. If you can get a machine that will allow you to upgrade like the ASRock, you aren't forced to buy the latest and greatest. Get 90% of the speed for 40% of the price now, and again down the road you can get something faster and still come out ahead on the budget.

[stromgald]

It looks like a good build overall, but I'd recommend getting a SOLO instead of a P180. Its almost as good and it'll save you some $$. I'd also recommend against the MX1000. The MX610 is a very good cordless mouse and is a good $10 cheaper. Unless you're doing hardcore gaming, I don't think its worth it, and if you are planning on hardcore gaming, I'd recommend the G7 over the MX1000 (but that's $10 more). I'd also recommend against a retail optical drive. I've bought three OEM drives so far without any problems (ASUS, NEC, and Sony). Optical drives are simple to figure out, and Windows usually recognizes them. More refined, hardware specific drivers can be easily downloaded from the manufacturer's website.

With the money you save, I'd try to get a 500GB hard drive. 250 might seem like plenty now, but three to four years down the line, it'll be restrictive.

For the mobo and CPU, I'd wait until Intel's Core 2 Duo hits the shelves and probably 1-2 months after that so prices settle. If you're willing to wait, I think a cheap ASUS or ASRock board paired with an Core 2 Duo E6600 or E6400 would be excellent. You can check out the article for some possible motherboards. Most of your stuff (case, fans, CPU heatsink, etc.) aren't very time sensitive so getting them now wouldn't be too bad, but if you wait a few months you might want to reconsider your hard drive or graphics card.

If you're not willing to wait and don't want to upgrade in the future, I'd get a ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe motherboard (its passive) along with a dual core Athlon64 X2 3800+ (Windsor). The total for that would be about $420 from NewEgg.

Five years without major upgrade is tough. Good luck.

[mb2]

Welcome to SPCR!
..as a poster at least..
as can be seen in the xbit labs 6300 article, the 6300 (marginally more expensive than the 3800 x2) is faster, overclocks better /cooler.. just 'better'. so, assuming you're thinking about going dual core (and u really should be if you want to keep the PC for 5 years..), i'd definately go for CD2. it can OC to ~3ghz (from 1.83) on stock voltage, (and may even undervolt, i doubt they tried), only constrained by the multi and the mobo. i'd think with a ninja u'd probably be fine to OC right to that without any adverse affect on the noise.. but i wouldn't bother waiting, aslong as u can get it for a price close to intel's /1000 price; i don't think they will drop the price for a while.. they probably will introduce cheaper, lower speed ones however..
also, its your lucky day.. that monitor is on sale at newegg this weekend for $329, if thats good enough.
..i'd never pay that much for a mouse.. and i'd think about tgetting he 500gb WD.. i'm note sure about that one (the 250's platter density) but remember higher platter density also improves performance (sustained throughput atleast..)

edit: also, looking at the tech report review, system power draw from a X6800 C2D (the top end, at 2.94ghz, is just 3watts more than a 3800 x2 EE (ie, 'engery efficient', 35W IIRC.. and costs more than the standard X2), so a 6300 at stock would be less.. and very similar perhaps even overclocked to almost 3ghz..
does look like the C2D mobos are pretty expensive though.. so that'd either take a little hunting/waiting.. or may be the only thing that would make a x2 interesting again..

[wasrtrider]

Mouse - Logitech MX1000, $57.20 (my friend is trying to convince me out of this one )

I bought a Logitech MX1000 half a year ago and I think it is an incredibly good mouse, there is one niggle however in that sometimes once having placed the mouse into its cradle I noticed it wasn't charging. It can sometimes be difficult to place the mouse correctly. However all is not lost as it is possible to develop a knack for it

[jackylman]

Newegg is having a weekend sale on the Viewsonic VX2025WM. Quick, grab it I have one and I love it.

[Backslash]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

I've found a better deal on the VX2025WM at J&R: $339.99 + $31.90 shipping (!) - $50.00 mail-in rebate = $321.89 total price

I would have jumped on the deal at Newegg if it weren't for the $25.50 sales tax, though.