New Build, first time builder

[apatel9]

Im building a computer and I just wanted to make sure everything is compatable, and is a good selection. I dont think I'm forgeting any parts, but please let me know if I am. I already have a 650watt power supply, and a full tower (got for my birthday). It will be used for mostly gaming.

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-05 - OEM -$41.99

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM -199.99 (plus $30 mail in rebate)

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail -$389.99 (plus $30 mail in rebate)

CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5D - Retail -$264.00 (plus $40 mail in rebate)

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail -$199.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail -$227.00

Microsoft Windows XP Professional X64 Edition with SP2B 1 Pack - OEM -139.99

ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
Item #: N82E16835118004 -$48.99


Some things Im not sure about:Is this build "futureproof"? Are the companies I choose okay? Should i buy a warranty from Newegg (I know the parts have a warrenty but just to make sure)? Is the power supply enough if i plan to OC a little bit? Do I need to buy anything else with the fan, any special tape or anything like that? Any improvements with the build? Im pretty flexable on the build, but would like to spend about 1500 on the computer.

Sorry about all the questions, but this is ALOT of money, and want to make sure everything is alright. Thanks in advance

 

[alcattle]

Two things stick out to me.
Raptor is a good drive, but for the price, you can get a TB of storage. I suggest a 80GB OS drive and a 500GB data drive.
The RAM is way overboard, you will not overclock enough to use the speed on that set.
Is there a reason you chose XP 64bit? You can access more memory, and if the program you use access the added features, it is fine. Otherwise might be more trouble then it is worth.

 

[dsidious]

100% agreed. A few less important points now:

Lite-On is not that good, I would personally choose an LG or even Sony instead.

Extended warranties are usually just a way for companies to improve their profits. Personal finance books recommend NOT getting them, especially when what you're buying already has warranties from the manufacturers.

That motherboard is great, but there are some Gigabyte models that cost much less and would be fine. On the other hand, that model includes a network card and a sound card and overclocks well.

DDR2-800 would be fine and probably cheaper.

64-bit XP may have driver issues, the 32-bit version is safer.

Good luck!

 

[akhilles]

Corsair sure knows how to make a killing.

I'd get this for much less & it's the same thing micron d9:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820150054

They overclock the same, but cost differently. It's up to you.

2nd thing I'd change is the hsf. Anything like freezer, typhoon, geminii, infinity & ninja is quieter.

What's the brand & model of the psu?

 

[apatel9]

yeah, I figured it was a bit of an overkill. IS buffalo a reliable company as far as overclocking and overheating is concerned? the psu I have is: http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=12, any thoughts? As far as cooling is concerned, any suggestions on which do I need to buy a fan and a heatsink separately? Is processor a good choice? Thanks

 

[akhilles]

1st, I don't usually comment on good choices.

There's a misconception out there that anything wrapped in a bling package must be reliable. Buffalo is as reliable as anything else. The only thing different is the user's experience. If a newbie comes here, they will most likely pick OCZ/Corsair as their ram of choice. If any experienced overclocker comes on, they will give choices that you never heard of or are unfamiliar with.

What ram to buy is up to you.

The psu link is no worky.

If you o/c, yep, get a quieter hsf. If you don't & you get one later one, it'll be a waste of time to remove the mobo from the case & install the hsf. Most good onces require you to do that.

 

[alcattle]

You added a comma on the link. His PSU is a Antec TP Trio 650W

 

[apatel9]

What do you mean by the psu is no worky? So I need to replace it? Also, I decided to go with the buffalo ram, and im looking for another cooler, looks like the ninja or the big typhoon are suppose to be good choices.

 

[akhilles]

typhoon would be better than ninja. google reviews.

your link isn't working. click it. Have to remove the comma, thanks al.

The psu is pretty decent. 52a on +12v rails combined.

 

[oolong]

The PSU you've picked is sweet as. More than enough to power the system you've got picked. I'm running the following off a 430W Antec NeoHe:

ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe
AMD X2 4600+
XFX 320MB 8800GTS
1G Corsair DDR2-533
250GB SATA-2 Seagate HD
2xASUS DVD+RW blah blah blah

Your Core2 is more efficient than the AMD X2's.... and the 640MB version of the 8800GTS only draws marginallly more power. It's not overkill if you want to overclock or have SLI. And Antec is a solid build company generally.

I agree witht the others: Ditch the LiteOn drive for a better build company [you'll regret it eventually otherwise], flag the ram in favour of DDR2-800 and save yourself some bucks, and flag the 150GB raptor. Get a smaller raptor for your OS if you need it and then get a phat arse 500GB drive for storage. Still probably cost less.

Hope that helps in anyway.

 

[apatel9]

Alright I took all of ur advice, and I made a new build (it alot cheaper, so im happy about that)

LG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black IDE Model GSA-H42LK BK - OEM $32.99

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $159.99plus $20.00 Mail-in Rebate

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $79.99

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 $389.99 plus $30.00 mail-in rebate

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ - Retail $132.99

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $129.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail $226.00

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail $59.99


Some things Im worried about are: Is this a reliable motherboard for OC'in, and for the price? Is this a better cooler than my original ( ZALMAN CNPS 9500)? I wanted to buffalo ram, but newegg is out of order so is this ram good? Lastly, I didnt know what to do with windows, I dont know the difference between the 64bit and 32 bit or the home edition and the ultimate edition, can someone please help me with deciding? According this this website the R600 video card came out, but I havent seen it, is it worth waiting, i can spare a few weeks if it will make a difference in quality of the build.

 

[yaksman]

Great MoBo for OC'ing at the price. Just remember, in the BIOS there's a weird thing where you have to press CTRL + F1 (I believe is the combination) to give yourself all of the extra options once inside the M.I.T. menu (forget what it stands for, but it's the menu for the OC'ing options).

GSkill is well reviewed especially for the price. You made the right choice with ddr2 800, because with the e6600's 9x multiplier, you're not going to OC much past the 400MHz FSB range, if at all (400 x 2 = 800 <-- your RAM, 400 x 9 = 3.6GHz <-- your processor). I'm not 100% sure you'll be able to get it up to 3.6 with that cooler, but it's a pretty good cooler.

I just got my thermalright ultra-120 extreme today, so I'm going to try to OC my e6600 on a DS3 to 3.6 or above later.

Oh, and 64 vs. 32, the 64 bit version can recognize 4gigs of RAM, whereas the 32 bit can't. There's a lot more to it than that, but I don't know enough about it to explain it.

 

[akhilles]

Holy crap. That is one of the best ram as well. The reason Firestix is sold out may be that it's the most sought-after ram.

G.SKILL HZ, BUFFALO FIRESTIX, MUSHKIN HP2/XP2 or Crucial Ballistix are the best micron d9 ram for a price MUCH lower than the equivalent of OCZ/Corsair.

As for Freezer, it doesn't cool as well as Zalman 9500/9700, but it's WAY quieter. The others are loud. You can't sleep with them at full speed in the same room. To o/c, you need to run them at full speeds or your o/c will be limited.

Almost forgot. Re: Vista, I'd get Ultimate if I could afford it. It has both 32 & 64-bit on 2 separate DVDs. The Home Premium would be the minimum. BTW, Gigabyte has Vista drivers.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx?wt_svl=10033VHa2&mg_id=10033VHb2

 

[apatel9]

Alright so the ram, should I wait for the firestix to get into stock or is what i have the same thing? . And ill get the vista ultimate edition, with that should I install the 32bit one until I get 4gigs of ram? Also what is LightScribe? IS LG a safe company to use? Am i going to get a bottleneck effect on the vid card (I hear people talking about this)? And does anyone know if anything big is coming out soon as far as processors or videocards are conderned? Is this montherboard a good choice or should i pay $30 or so more to upgrade?

 

[adnoto]

I wouldn't pay $59.99 for the Freezer 7 Pro if I were you. Not when one can be had for $19.50 + shipping.

Edit to add: Assuming you are in the US that is.

Also click here for learning about Lightscribe. It isn't necessary and the actual discs are a bit more expensive but it is alot better than the old "label makers" IMHO. Pretty cool actually. I am going to be buying this Samsung soon myself.

 

[alcattle]

G.Skill is great RAM.
INstall the OS you want to run and work with the issues so you do not have to repeat the process to upgrade versions.
LG makes good DVDs, just not as well known.
Lightscribe is a added feature in some DVDs that will burn an image onto the disk. Take a special disk and the color is only light/dark, kind of bronze the ones I saw. For disks you want to keep around, it is a nice way to label them. It takes a little time but you don't have to write on them or use labels(bad idea)
You have a top line setup, they are talking about low-end dual core and single core cpus.
AMD/ATI will bring out their dx-10 card, hopefully in 1-2 months. Intel will drop prices again in Q3, mostly high-end like Quads and extremes.
The DS3 is an excellent MB, you will be very happy, they have one of the best manuals also (great for beginners as they go step by step on the whole build.

 

[apatel9]

Any recommendations on a cooling system? I want something that is quiet (it will most likely be running while Im sleeping, but can cool very well because Ive had stuff overheat before and it cost me tons of money.

 

[alcattle]

Very Quiet and good cooling Noctua
Noctua NH-U12F High Performance Cooler
Out of stock, and $65 but in the top 5 for both cooling and quiet.
Then at some Scythe case fans
Scythe Silent Fans

 

[akhilles]

I'm not dissing zalman. Their hsf's have the BEST lap job. They're best run at auto or controlled by mobo. So they'll be quiet most of the time. Not at full load.

Freezer 7 Pro's MSRP is $34 US.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu1.php?p=4&disc=

Scythe is quiet. You could hook up a 2nd fan to it to increase cooling. My case is too small for that. My rear fan takes up almost the rest of the space for a 2nd fan.

The best & quietest would be Al's suggestion: Noctua.

Personally, I wouldn't get anything else other than:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103026

My cooler once again is dumped on me by my friend. No complaints. He got the Geminii with 2 over 130cfm fans. lol. He's nuts about cfm. The Geminii cools cpu, ram & chipset. The down side is it'll be hard or even impossible to install ram once the cooler is in in a small case. See the Geminii doesn't come with any fans so you could pick anything you want.

Don't worry about overheating as long as you overclock it right & run stability tests for hours on a stretch. The tests make sure it'll run fine under full load. You could always lower the oc.

The micron d9 ram I suggested are EXACTLY the same thing. So an experienced overclocker would pick the cheapest d9 available.

I don't know if you can upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit vista. I'd stick with 32-bit for now for its better software compatibility. 64-bit is there when you need it.