Suggest some computer parts
 

I'm thinking of building a new computer, now that quad cores have dropped to a reasonable price. I don't plan on playing the latest graphics-intensive games -- I just want a stable, fairly quiet system that's also powerful enough to run Firefox with 40+ tabs, Photoshop, BT, foobar, netlimiter, AVG, various messaging clients and a random video in MPC all at the same time. (Yes, that's what I do right now and my system can barely take it).

Currently looking at this MB, to be paired with a quad 6600:
Newegg.com - ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

I don't know much about processor fans and memory sticks, if there's any specific brands and models I should go for. I've heard good things about Zalman, for instance (although Thermaltake seems to be more widespread). And I'd most likely be picking up the usual Kingston DDR2 unless you guys have better recommendations.

Graphics card wise, I'm thinking a 8600 should be sufficient.

Any suggestions?

i've never built a PC before but for RAM, i use crucial; Memory upgrades, flash media, and usb storage at Crucial.com i've found them to be pretty cheap.

Um, wow, but that motherboard is a bit much if you're looking for just the capacity to run programs and not modern games. This Gigabyte model should handle your needs at a much friendlier price.

Thermaltake is good in my books. I've had one of their power supplies for almost a year and it hasn't given me any trouble. As to fans and heatsinks, the stock equipment with the processor should be good unless you plan on overclocking, in which case I agree with Zalman for replacements.

My only other recommendation is to consider saving up for an 8800 video card only to take advantage of greater and faster memory. This should help future-proof your computer for the next few years.

So you're telling me to splash more on the video card and save on the motherboard? I have to wonder about that...

Granted, X38 is excessive and a P35 should be enough for me. This looks pretty attractive:
Newegg.com - Open Box: ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
since I have a need for 1394.

(Edit: scratch that, Juan just told me to go for the Gigabyte model so I'll take his word for it. 3rd party 1394 controller here we go)


It seems that most of the new motherboards only have one IDE connector though :(

True, but replacing your optical drive(s) with SATA counterparts should be relatively cheap.

I currently use the Gigabyte P35 DS3L, although if you want more options the DS3R is a very nice option.

For Powersupples, here is a nice list Tiered PSU Listings - Tom's Wiki

Video Card, I wouldn't bother with the 8600. Either go with the 3850 or 8800GT (256mb versions), if you want video playback acceleration etc..

RAM - A lot of descent brands out there. With RAM being so cheap it might be worth getting 4gb to futureproof your system, but somewhat worthless if you are just loading up Windows XP. 2GB is the staple amount atm.

I agree with Zol about the cpu fan.. unless you plan to OC your Q6600 up to 3.2ghz+, I wouldn't worry.

I'm gonna agree with Garret on this one.

The 8600 is just not a great value for the money. Yes, it will play Source games, but that's because the engine is many years old.

If you are gonna get video card, the best money is on a ATI HD3850. They are sub $200, and they give you great performance for the money.

I think the 8600 is a viable option if you absolutely can't spend above $100 or so. But yeah, other than that, seems like the 38x0s and 8800GT are the only cards that matter nowadays.

64 or 32?

32bit.

Update: I eventually went with the P35 DS3P rev.2, just for the huge amount of ports (3 IEEE1394, 12 USB, 8 SATA).

And luckily I got a Zalman midrange fan, my CPU is idling at 47C when OC'ed to 3 GHz.

Thanks for all the suggestions, they really helped.

Out of curiosity, how much power does it draw?