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Need help on 1st ever full build

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Last response: in Systems
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December 17, 2006 6:10:58 AM

Okay, for the last couple of weeks I've been reading as many posts and sites as I can to come up with the right components for my new build. In some ways, I'm still just as confused as when I started.

For all practical purposes, consider me a newbie as I've been buying corporate for the last five years.

The motherboard choice is actually the most difficult I've had. I want to be able to overclock where I can with the stock cooling (read, nothing too dramatic), but it seems like there are really too many choices, each with their own drawbacks. Here's what I've come up with:

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-965G-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...
$135 (I'm willing to spend $30-50 more if its worth it)

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...
$309

PS
COOLMAX CP-500T EPS12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CSA, TUV - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?DEPA...
$50

Case
XION Onyx XON-301 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Stylish LED Power switch and unique 140mm Green LED Fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...
$70

or
XION Hydraulic XON-566TB Black with Blue LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...
$80

Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682...
$75

Video Card
BFG Tech BFGR88640GTSE GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...
$450

I still need a recommendation on RAM. I'm looking for 2 GB of at least 667 MHz for $250 or less.


Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I'm open on just about everything but the processor and video card.

Thanks in advance!

More about : 1st full build

December 17, 2006 6:42:02 AM

Looks good except for the PSU, that one really sucks...

I can't believe that you've been watching the forums that much without picking up some good psu recommendations....

Corsair, OCZ or Mushkin are my favorite brands of ram, after that it's about the speed and timings. Get the highest speed, lowest timing ram you can afford.
December 17, 2006 10:05:25 AM

yeah, that psu suuuuuuucks this psu is about 1000x better then that insanely crappy coolmax psu.

as for the ram i have a suggestion, but its about $30 over your budget.

this stuff is great, low timings and pretty fast, has the high quality Micron D9 chips and is comparable to the highend corsair stuff.
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December 17, 2006 10:36:19 PM

Wow, I didn't expect the power supply to be taken so poorly. The reviews on it from New Egg were pretty good compared to most of the others I read.

Thank you both for the keeping me from making a mistake.

The Enermax looks great, but at twice the price, do you know of one that may be, say 50x better (read $50-75 price range)? I don't plan on doing SLI, so I don't need quite as much juice, but stability and a PSU that isn't going to fail after 6 months are both high on my list.

On the Super Talent RAM, some people are saying it started out good but the quality level has been dropping; however, most people are thrilled with it. Have you heard anything about that? It's running $258 after a $20 rebate, and definitely has the best listed timings in this price range. If its money well spent, then that's the way I'll go.

I also heard good things about the G.SKILL memory in another post. I found the following, any thoughts?

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682...
$226 without rebate

Thanks again for the advice. Keep it coming.
December 17, 2006 10:56:23 PM

NEVER, EVER believe the reviews on Newegg. Always take them very wearily.

That G.Skill RAM is fine.

If you want a better PSU that won't break the bank, look into OCZ GameXstream 600w.
!