Need help with first build

[Lightsim]

Hello Everyone

My laptop just died and I have decided to finally build myself a system. I'll order the components sometime in the next week or so. For now, I only need the computer for browsing the internet, but I want to have a future proof PC. When the second generation DX10 cards and Vista come out I want to be able to easily upgrade. So I am thinking about getting a top of the line motherboard, case and PSU. A cheap video card and 1 GB of RAM should hold me over til I complete the build.

My budget is about $1400 and after Christmas I will have enough for Vista, more RAM, etc...

Basically, I need help picking out parts that will let me play games like Crysis on full settings eventually (prob Feb).

Thanks

 

[mad-dog]

http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?fr=ybr_sbc&p=future%20proof%20pc
Good luck with your future proof pc...

 

[Lightsim]

Ok, I read through a lot of those articles, but most of them are dated before 2005. It looks like they suggest getting a great motherboard and then you shouldn't have a problem upgrading.

So here is one I'm looking at...is it worth the money?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247114&prodlist=pricegrabber
It says it is quad core and quad SLI ready so I shouldn't have a problem there.

Now two questions:
I hear various opinions about PSUs and need to know how much power I need to run a quad core, DX10 SLI, 2 GB RAM. Would a PC&C 1KW Turbo-Cool be overkill? I don't want to take any chance of having to buy another PSU anytime soon.

...and I'm a little worried about the Vista license. Can I really not reinstall Vista if I need to (virus, hardware upgrade, etc...)?

 

[purdueguy]

From what I read, that mobo is suppose to be used as a workstation. Do you use a lot of graphics programs such as AutoCadd, Unigraphics, Pro-E or the such? If not, don't bother getting a mobo like this.

If you try to future proof your PC, you're just going to spend too much money. You would be able to have 2 PC's when you are done with buying everything.

Here's my suggestion at the moment (assuming no overclocking involved and only main components):

CPU: E6600 - $315
Mobo: Abit AB9 Pro, ASUS P5B-E, or Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. They are all around $150. Pick whichever has the most options that you will need. They are all good overclockers. Check out Anantech and Tomshardware for reviews.
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB Perpendicular Driver SATA 3.0GB/s.
Video Card: Zipzoomfly has the Sapphire X1950Pro for $199 but its out-of-stock for the moment. I'd wait to see when they get more in and get this card. Or wait for the DX10 cards to come out from NVidia on the 8th of November and see what deals you can find then.
Memory: With no OC'ing, you can pick up the DDR2 533 or 667 which is cheaper than the 800 version. PQI Turbo 2x1GB DDR2 667 for $183. Better to get 2 sticks now, it'll save you around 40 bucks or more than if you buy than separately.
PSU: Any Enermax above 500W that supports SLI. If you are looking for something that is quad-SLI ready, it's expensive and to me not worth it. But that's my opinion.
Case: Get a Lian-Li case that meets your budget. I was going to suggest the B-20B but it's gone up 20 bucks from last week. If you can find one for 170 somewhere, it would be a very good case to get. Another option is the Antec P180B for around $140.
Monitor: Viewsonic VX922 for $270.

Total: Around your $1400 budget depending on the case and PSU that you get. You can get the E6400 to save yourself almost 100 bucks for other things like an OS, mouse, keyboard, sound card or whatever else you need.

It's something to work from. If you can specify any components that you can reuse, this would help in being more specific.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lightsim]

Thanks for the response. I have been doing a lot of research and read a lot of opinions and put together a system. Could someone tell me if these parts are compatible?

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154
PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817703005
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121016&ATT=13-121-016&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r
RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145153
Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143049
Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701
CD/DVD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101131
Monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001072

 

[mad-dog]

Everything you picked out is compatible....
You could upgrade the graphics card to take advantage of that SMOKIN CPU and that TT Armor is a HUGE case, i have one and it is a "Super Tower".
Unless you have a hanful of 5.25 devices you need a place for then it will look awfully bored.
The front mounted fan takes up 3 bays, the power and reset switch take 1 more and the storage tray consumes yet another.
I mounted the 3.5" floppy drive in the power and reset switch panel and used up 3 more bays with a DVD/CD burner, DVD/CD ROM and a Zalman fan controller............this case still has 2 open slots at the top which i guess i will have to block so the airflow is forced to come in thru the lower front and exit thru the upper rear.
It also has a separate HDD rack which holds 3x320GB (960GB) HDD's in RAID 5 and mounts directly beside the PSU and has it's own 90mm fan pulling air over the HDD's.
It's really a very nice HUGE case ..........

 

[Lightsim]

Nice to hear

I was thinking about upgrading to a DX10 card when they come out. Is it a problem that the PSU is EPS and motherboard is ATX?

Also, when I install Vista and then have a virus or install some new hardware and need to reinstall the OS will it let me? I've heard bad things about the Vista license...

 

[Dr_asik]

Yup, the video card is weak compared to the processor. With that kind of CPU I'd definitely aim for some kind of Radeon X19xx. See this list if you haven't heard of it yet. The video card will make the most difference in a game like Crysis.

Upgrading later is always an option but no one knows if the very first DX10 cards will be worth your upgrading money. We might find out by then that the best values will be top-grade DX9 cards. That's just a theory but it's quite realistic. Remember the first DX9 cards? I wouldn't base my actual choices on future hardware except if it's coming out like next week.