I need to know whether these parts work together

[Jester2138]

Hello everybody! I changed some components for my new PC, and want to confirm that they are compatible. As far as I know they are, but the last thing I want is to order them and then to have a wrong part. Thanks in advance for the help!

Motherboard:
ASRock ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 LGA 775 Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Case:
Cooler Master Centurion 5 - Silver ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports

PSU:
Coolmax / CX-550B / Black / 550-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / 20/24-Pin

HDD:
Western Digital / Caviar SE / 160GB / 7200 / 8MB / SATA-300 / OEM / Hard Drive

RAM:
OCZ Dual Channel XTC 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz Gamer Memory

Graphics card:
GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB

CPU:
Intel Core2 Duo E4400 2.0GHz / 2MB Cache / 800MHz FSB / Conroe / OEM / Socket 775 / Processor

 

[KingCody]

compatibility-wise, everything looks OK to me...

...but I would recommend getting a better PSU. coolmax = garbage PSUs, I suggest you get a better PSU from a more reputible brand

 

[Jester2138]

Which one would you recommend? Is the $15 worth it?
Power Up / 550-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready
at $55
Ultra / X-Finity / 500-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI-Ready
at $40

And this looks interesting, but is it a good idea?
Ultra / X-Connect / 500-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / Modular Power Supply
at $50

And if there's anything else that you think should be changed, please say so, as there's no other way I'll figure out what's best

 

[raybay]

FSP Group makes excellent power supplies, as does Sparkle, and higher end Antec. But I have never had trouble with the high powered coolmax.
I would avoid the OCZ memory for the price. See www.zipzoomfly.com for memory... Crucial, Kingston, Corsair... all more dependable.
and hard drives where the Seagate drives have 5 year warranty as opposed to the WD three year warranty.
Looks like a good system that will be a lot of fun.

 

[Jester2138]

Ok thanks! I'll see what I can find.

 

[Jester2138]

I've been looking at some RAM, but can't seem to make much sense of the many different numbers... What 2GB DDR2 RAM under $100 would you recommend for gaming?

 

[raybay]

Tje ASRock ConRoeXFireSATA2 motherboard reportedly (by Crucial and Kingston) will take
DDR2 PC2-4200
DDR2 PC2-5300
DDR2 PC2-6400 (DDR2-800)
DDR2 PC2-8500 is reported as compatible, but I have not tried it.
Although the memory can be installed one module at a time, the best performance comes with using matched pairs, or kits, of modules. All modules should be the same for best performance, with a maximum of 1 GB (1024) per slot, Non ECC, 2.2V, SLI Ready 128 Megabytes X 64.
I would chose Crucial 2GB kits, Kingston, Corsair, or Infineon, and avoid the rest, which are available at www.zipzoomfly.com, www.directron.com, www.newegg.com, www.techdepot.com, www.outpost.com. www.zipzoomfly.com has free shipping and low prices.
Heat spreaders don't seem to make any difference, but if you have a see-through case, they look cool. Alternately, I recommend OCZ, Geil, and a few other brands. You want to avoid any memory that has the word "value" in the description. I would avoid Patriot, PNY, Ultra, and others not mentioned above.
A possible bargain right now is at www.zipzoomfly.com where they have Corsair Twin 2X2048-6400 2 GB kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance retail for $99, but it only $69.00 after rebates, if you are very diligent in following up on rebates, printing out the form, and sending everything in on time.
That price won't last past the weekend, if that long.
Next best prices are the Kingston for $61, the Corsair for $55, their OCZ for $509.90 each in kit form, then the Kingston HyperX for $74.
Remember, this is one person's opinion, so ask around. We install about 36 GB of memory a week, and we don't like to see it come back. We have found we can trust Kingston, Corsair, Crucial, and Infineon. We have had lesser luck with OCZ, Geil, Patriot, and so on. Apacer, and Avant are good. There is a lot of good memory out there. What you want to do is buy from an outfit that will take memory back without a 20% restocking charge. Some will not.
If you have more questions, fire away.

 

[Mirob]

OCZ rules man, it's the stuff. Their support is second to none. Heres some 4-4-4-15 DDR2 800 for $75 AFR.
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/5283407?site=sa:Hard Drives Memory:Spot4

It probably won't run the EPP setting on that mobo, but I'm sure SPD settings will work fine (if you play with the BIOS setting it will do better than the SPD's likely 5-5-5-15 DDR2-667 at 1.8v.)

 

[raybay]

Just remember, OCZ is a two year old company that is primarily a marketing company. They bought a small memory company in Canada, but they are a consortium based in Singapore. Already we are seeing major inconsistencies in memory from month to month. It cannot touch Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, Infineon, or Apacer in my opinion... just because OCZ makes a very few outstanding modules... which are possibly made for them... doesn't mean they are the end all for a lifetime warranty.

 

[Mirob]

http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/ - founded in 2000
They sold their first video card in 2001 - http://www.hardware-one.com/reviews.asp?aid=244&page=1
They have been selling PSUs for some time. They sell re-badged units like most PSU companies, even like PC power and cooling that OCZ now owns.

There global marketing and tech support are some of their strengths. Usually their products are priced competitively as well.

 

[raybay]

I suspect this is more marketing, as they now say they are "Part of the OCZ Technology Group, but the are still registered as a US Owned company .
PC Power & PC Power & Cooling • 5995 Avenida Encinas, Carlsbad, CA 92008 USA • 1-760-931-5700 • 1-800-722-6555 • Fax 1-760-931-6988 Company Doug Dodson is still listed as founder and owner since 1985.
On April 19,1985, PC Power & Cooling began operations in a small warehouse just outside of San Diego, CA. Founded by Doug Dodson, a commodity trader and electronic hobbyist, the company's first products were custom fans to cool and quiet computers.
In 1986, the company introduced its Silencer 150 and Turbo-Cool 200, the industry's first ultra-quiet and high-performance power supplies. Other high-end products followed, the reviews were great, and the company continued to grow. In 1991, the company moved to a modern facility in Carlsbad, CA. Over the last 22 years, PC Power & Cooling has produced many innovative products including: the first CPU cooler, the first PC heat alarm, the first independently-regulated PC power supply, the first redundant power system, the first NVIDIA-certified SLI supply, the first One Kilowatt computer power supply, and the first power supply with its own certified test report (Turbo-Cool 1KW).
PC Power & Cooling is an ultra-reliable product line, its professional and friendly staff, and its financial strength.
The OCZ power supplies are not (as of yet) made by PC Power and Cooling., as far as I can tell from tearing into several of them. They are rebadged from a number of producers. Some Good. Some not so good. The problem is, you don't know when and what.
OCZ was founded in 2000 from a consortium of seven asian companies, and not originally under the OCZ name.
The OCZ memory was made in Canada in 2002, as a Canadian company.
It is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a company founded in 2002, and has 100 employees. But its headquarters is now in Singapore.
Their memory was mostly first sold in the US just over two years ago, but was originally a small Canadian company, which did sell some memory in the US. The video card you mentioned was rebadged, made in Singapore.
This consortium is a marketing and financial managment company.
It is like the Will-O-The-Wisp... hard to get hold of.
Most of their products are "developed" by others. Huge differences in some memory modules. They still do not make their own video cards, but sell under that name.
Can you identify their quality control? I'll bet not.
Can you explain the significant differences in their memory. I don't suppose so. They are huge. Just take a close look, over time.
Their business plan is to take over all they can of the high end computer components, and market them to the highest possible profit.
How many of their 100 employees are engaged in quality control, and engineering design?

 

[Jester2138]

So, it looks like Corsairs XMS2 is the way to go. I found some for $100:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85025-5
Is this fast enough for todays (and tomorrows) games?

I just looked closer at all the different Intel Dual Cores, P4, PD, C2D... The price differences are significant. What would you recommend that is under ~$150?

 

[Jester2138]

I hear Flight Simulator X is very CPU heavy, and Flight Sims are among my favorite games. Does anyone know whether the Core 2 Duo E4400 at 2.0 GHz run FSX okay?