My Computer Build... need some advice and help

[phearr]

Hey guys this is my first time here and this post might be a long one so read and plz help this will be my first ever built computer .

So far this is all the stuff im planning to get and will get all by September.

Case - Cooler Master Centurion 5 (Already Have It)
Power Supply - Mushkin 550 Watt (already have it)
HDD - Seagate Barracuda (ST3320620AS) 7200.10 320GB SATA NCQ 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache (OEM)
Video Card -XFX GeForce 8800GTS nVidia 8800GTS Chipset (560Mhz) 320MB (1300Mhz) DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-Express
Sound Card -Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Surround 24 Bit 96KHz EAX2.0 Sound Card (OEM)
DVD Burner x2- LG GSA-H62L SATA LightScribe DVD-Writer 18x DVD+R/-R 8x DVD+RW/6x DVD-RW 10x DVD+/-R9 Dual Layer 48x CD-R 32x CD-RW

Those are the ones i know for sure im getting the rest i have always changed and i cant make up my mind on which to choose so i hope you guys can help.

Ram - Thinking of getting a Mushkin 2GB kit of 1GB Each. The thing is i don't know if i should get it because i keep
hearing OCZ, Corsair, and all those popular brands of memory are good. So what is the BEST memory for gaming? I want to get at least 2GB no more or less than 2GB for now. Iv looked at Mushkin alot because i think its a good brand and i hear good reviews about it. What is the best Mushkin Series of memory for hard core gaming? I think ill be using a motherboard with PC- 6400 so make sure the memory is PC - 6400. And about mother board ill get to that last.

CPU - Hmmm the most important thing in a computer and more expensive. I know i want a Intel CPU so no AMD plz. The thing is iv been looking at the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz Socket 775 OEM Processor and waiting on the price drop. Should i just stick to this and get the Q6600? I really dont know much about choosing CPUs because there is alot of choose and lots of different models. What is the best CPU out there for gaming? I don't plan to OC because its my first build and i want to see how good it is before i start thinking of over clocking. I dont know much about Intel Core duo series but i know they are one of the best CPUS out there. So help me decide if i should stick to Q6600 or get one of the E seies. What is the E Series btw? is it that extreme one? i know there is 3 series extrme, quad, and i think the last one is duo. I dont need extreme becuase they cost like 1000+ So should i stick to Q6600?

CPU Fan - If i get the Q6600 ill be getting this fan. Zalman CNPS9500-Cu-LED Heatsink with 92mm Ultra Quiet Fan *For Intel Socket 775 and AMD Socket 754/939/940.

and finally the last one...

Motherboard - Out of all the things i said ill be getting what is the perfect motherboard for this build? iv been thinking about the XFX nForce 680i LT SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / SLI Ready / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID here is the link http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-detailsInactive.asp?EdpN o=2959594

ok i think that is all the things you need to start up a computer ill be using Windows XP Home because i hear vista is not good and ill be waiting for the SP1 til i decide to get it now i have a few questions before i go.

1) iv been seeing XFX, EVGA, BFG in front of video card models and i want to know if they mean anything? What is the best one to get? can anyone tell me what one is the most good for gaming or do they all have cons and pros?

2) this is a noob question.. the case i have has a reset button.. what dose reset do? dose it work like a restart function? or dose it erase your hard drive.

ok i think thats all the questions i need to know so far.. ill post more if i come up with more anyways ill be getting all thses parts at Canada Computers and tiger direct because i live in Canada so i cant go to newegg. anything i should change or anything im missing plz tell me. thanks for all the help srry for the long post i just dont want to make serpeate topics about cpu, and all the things i asked help for thanks.

 

[mysticarcane]

I'll try and give my thoughts here.. and make it as orderly as possible.

RAM - Corsair is a favorite of mine. Middle of the road in cost for high end RAM producers, generally very stable and they produce good out of the box timings. That said, Patriot and Ballistic have some impressive products out and have been gaining in the gaming segment pretty rapidly, but they tend to cost a bit more.
- I noticed you said you weren't going to initially OC, so I would go with Corsair for the best out of the box price/performance.

CPU - If you have the spare change, the Q6600 would be nice, especially with the recent price drops on it.. shop around, you'll probably find a pretty good deal. If cost is more of a concern(and I mention this because of your initial Video card choice), would could probably do really well with a 6320 or 6420(low end dual cores with the upgraded 4mb cache)... the start at the low end on the pure Mhz range, but they are highly overclockable for down the road... I just built a friend of mine a machine with a 6320, and he rips through Supremem Commander at max settings without a problem.

CPU Fan - Zalaman is a safe bet all around, they have great products and Tom's here generally puts them pretty high on the price/performance scale. If your case has the room, you might think about the 9700 though, bigger sink and fan, not much louder and more room for temps.

Motherboard - I've never used XFX products, but they seem to be pretty stable. Again, I am going to follow Tom on this and go with a Gigabyte or Asus or EVGA board. You're picking a pretty pricey, well featured board, considering your other hardware choices. If you aren't going for a SLI in this rig, for around the same price, you could check out the Asus P35 deluxe, or Gigabytes P35C. Newer chipset, generally good OC room.. but not really great on the SLI support(not enough PCI-e channels).

Hard Drive - I have always been a fan of Seagate. good solid products, good support... that said, Western Digital has made leaps and bounds to recover from being a poor manufacturer, to a top notch one. You can probably get a WD drive cheaper than the Seagate and be jsut as happy with it.. or spend the same and get a few extra Gigs.

Video Cards - The letters in front of the cards are the Manufacturers. For the most part, unless you are hunting for manufacturers overclocked boards, most companies have been sticking to the reference designs, so they are all pretty similar.. going with cost on this is okay, but if you want to have the added bonus of good tech support/customer support, stick with EVGA, BFG, or Asus cards. I have been a huge EVGA fan for a while, and their support for the video cards has been excellent.

-- Reset buttons are connected to the motherboard, and generally doa hard reset, does not necessarily effect your HD(though a hard reset in an active windows environment can potentially cause some file corruption). Usually, in the BIOs or Windows, you can set the button to do a variety of things.

Also, one last note... unless you are going to be using this machine as a general entertainment center(connect your home stereo and TV to it), adding a sound card isn't really needed. The built in Audio stuff on most newer MBs are pretty nice, unless you spend a couple hundred on a high end Midi card and do some serious audio work, you'll never know the difference.

Good luck!

Cheers1

 

[phearr]

WOW thanks for the reply so u think i should go for corsair RAM? i agree because i hear they are good and amazing. iv decided to keep some stuff as it is tho.. the HDD, CPU Fan, and prob videocard. and ill list the changes i wnat to change and tell me waht you think plz.

RAM - Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz E.P.P. Memory (2 x 1024)

Motherboard - WOW now that u told me what is the best for my rig i have a couple to choose from.. i will list all that i can find from tiger and canadas computer plz tell me what is the best one for the money and overall.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=0 14218&cid=MB.157
I really like this i think this would be the best choice for the money but i want your guys thoughts.

Im stuck with the asus models there are so many p35 differnt models from tiger and canada computers and idont know what to choose but i picked a few and i want to know if its worth getting over the gigabyte one for prices.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=0 14695&cid=MB.157
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&am p;cmd=pd&pid=014022&cid=MB.157
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php ?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=014629&cid=MB.157
http://www.canadacompu ters.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=014019&cid=MB.157

th ose are all the ones i found from canada and they are all from tiger too so what is the best choice out of the 4?

ok thats all for now. i want this comp to last at least 1-3 years before upgrading or building a new one. any last comments before i start making my final choice on motherboard?

 

[phearr]

bump

 

[mysticarcane]

Hiya Phearr.

I like your first choice MB. If I were to buy right now, thats what I'd get.. Supports DDR2 and DDR3, generally good set-up and gigabyte has gotten some pretty good reviews for OCing here at THG.

Ditto on the RAM. Corsair is still at the top of my list for its price/performance.

If you can't get a hold of the Gigabyte board, the Asus P5K-C is very similar in features and around the same price... and Asus has a great track record for dependability and service(well, like all companies thier service record has gone up and down.. but you know).

Ohh.. one other thought. With the GTS 320 card, you may end up upgrading it sooner than most of your other parts. Since no DX10 based games have hit the market yet, there aren't very good tests to see just how robust that memory level will be, but for any game out today, it should do you just fine!
Good luck!

Cheers!