First Build - Buying Next Week, Advice?

[Sczee]

Hi,

I'm planning to build my first pc soon (I'll have the money next week) and before I spend the $$$ I'd like to check that everything I have chosen is sensible and compatible. Also it'd be good if it was decently future proof. I'd like to get a good two+ years out of it without any major upgrades (I know extra RAM might be a good idea if I get Vista sometime down the road but I don't consider that too major).

I will use it mainly for gaming and uni work but as uni work mainly consists of programming and simple simulations I'd say the gaming will be far more taxing.

What I plan to get is:

CPU: E6600 + Tuniq Tower
Motherboard: P5B Deluxe WiFi
Memory: 2x1GB Corsair DDR2-800 4-4-4-12
Hard Drive: Seagate 320GB 7200.10
Graphics Card: BFG 8800GTX 768MB
Optical Drive: Lite-On SHM-165H6S 16x DVDRW DL
Sound Card: X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power Supply: Corsair 620HX
Case: Silverstone TJ09B-W

I already have:

Monitor: ViewSonic VX922
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech Media Elite/MediaPlay Cordless
OS: Windows XP Pro
External HD (Backup): Seagate 300GB 7200.7 (I think)

The total of what I have to buy comes to about $2060 on Newegg but I live in New Zealand so I only give that as a reference to see if its a good system for the price (I have to pay 3884 New Zealand dollars 8O ). I am planning to overclock it (obviously since I have the Tuniq Tower). I'd like to get at least 3.2GHz stable which sounds like it should be simple enough with the parts I've chosen.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[alcattle]

awfully nice system, that GPU should rock! Let us know how it goes.

 

[Sczee]

awfully nice system, that GPU should rock! Let us know how it goes.

Yeah it should be (it better be ) awesome, especially since its an upgrade from this HP Pentium M 2.0 GHz laptop with a X700 graphics card which tends to overheat and shutdown if I try anything which taxes the CPU too much (Medieval Total War II & Supreme Commander Beta being the two culprits so far).

As for letting you know how its goes, I'm sure I'll have to ask about building/overclocking it so I doubt I'll be far from the forums .

 

[Gustafarian]

Don't forget to cool your HDDs. I'd put a fan in the front. It doesn't need to push large CFM, just make sure that some air goes over the disks. You wouldn't want to cook all your data would you?

I'd get another DVD drive too. It is always nice to have if you want to backup a DVD or keep your favourite game in one.

Does the Tunic Tower come with thermal grease? If not then you will need some. Go with any branded stuff.

I doubt you will have any trouble getting 3.2Ghz out of that machine. Good luck!

 

[jamiepotter]

You could always just create a copy of your favourite game and mount it. Buying an extra DVD drive seems a bit of an expensive option to me.

 

[Sczee]

Don't forget to cool your HDDs. I'd put a fan in the front. It doesn't need to push large CFM, just make sure that some air goes over the disks. You wouldn't want to cook all your data would you?

I'd get another DVD drive too. It is always nice to have if you want to backup a DVD or keep your favourite game in one.

Does the Tunic Tower come with thermal grease? If not then you will need some. Go with any branded stuff.

I doubt you will have any trouble getting 3.2Ghz out of that machine. Good luck!

There does seem to be quite a lot of ventilation around the HDD area but I could easily buy an extra fan if it seems too hot. Do you think it would be worth while getting an extra fan or two for the vent at the top of the case as well? (The case ships with the mid section graphics card fan and the rear fan. You can add two more at the top and one between the HDD bays).

I was thinking of getting a Bluray/HDDVD drive when the winner is decided (and the prices come down) so I think I'll hold off on the extra drive for now. I don't backup DVDs a lot and ripping them too the HDD doesn't take that long. And the Tuniq Tower does come with thermal compound and although it mightn't be quite the best the difference is only going to be a few degrees at most so I think it'll do.

Thanks for the advice.

Oh and one last question which is probably impossible for anyone to answer but me; should I get the windowed version of the case or not. For some weird reason the windowed version is $15 cheaper at the place I'm going to buy it from but ignoring that I can't decide which look I like more. Are there any disadvantages in having a window on the case in terms of noise? What are your opinions on windows? Anything to help me decide would be great.

You could always just create a copy of your favourite game and mount it. Buying an extra DVD drive seems a bit of an expensive option to me.

Yeah like I said above, I think one DVD drive will do for now.

 

[Gustafarian]

Does the mid-level intake definitely pull air over the HDDs? From the pic it looks like it bypasses it by going round the side. I am probably being over cautious but it is worth checking.

The grease that comes with the Tower will be fine.

I couldn't live without my second DVD drive but that is personal. They are pretty cheap in comparison to the rest of your system.

A window will add 500 to your 3DMark score. If you combine it with neons you will add 1000! So don't forget them!

 

[jamiepotter]

It only adds 200 in 3dMark06, unfortunately, so if you're planning on using that I would say go with the non-window version. :lol:

 

[brick88]

i have read somewhere that the x-fi xtrememusic doesnt have its own audio processor. can anyone confirm?

 

[Sczee]

i have read somewhere that the x-fi xtrememusic doesnt have its own audio processor. can anyone confirm?

Its exactly the same as the X-Fi Elite Pro (The top of the line model) except that it doesn't have the front panel box, the external box or the X-Ram. The sound processor is the same.

X-Fi XtremeMusic

X-Fi Elite Pro

Does the mid-level intake definitely pull air over the HDDs? From the pic it looks like it bypasses it by going round the side. I am probably being over cautious but it is worth checking.

The grease that comes with the Tower will be fine.

I couldn't live without my second DVD drive but that is personal. They are pretty cheap in comparison to the rest of your system.

A window will add 500 to your 3DMark score. If you combine it with neons you will add 1000! So don't forget them!

The vent doesn't pull air over the HDDs, I was just saying that the air is going to naturally move around a bit even with no fan so the vents should still help a little bit. I can add a fan between the HDD bays which gets the air moving if the temps seem too high.

I know DVD Drives are pretty cheap but I have to save money somewhere and I'm comfortable doing it here. Don't think I'll get neons seeing as the case will be in my room and I have to sleep occasionally. Still undecided on the window though.