First time builder, need advice.

[Kaanin]

First time building my own PC.

Looking at a total budget of $1500-$2000
Going to be a Gaming PC. Needs to last me a few years.
I don't want anything to bottleneck my system, videocard, cpu, motherboard...

Heres what Ive got picked out so far...

Video Card: GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB - $320
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 - $190
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L - $90


Does this look like a good combination so far?
Any suggestions as far as changes I should make?

I have no clue what to get as far as memory is concerned.

 

[HamRadio]

The 8800 GT is a better card and it is cheaper too

Now, not a lot of games use 4 cores, because not that many people have 4 cores and the technology is new. In time, most or all of the top games will be able to take advantage of all the cores. Reading the posts here, most of the experienced builders think the Q6600 is a better choice since it is not that much more $, is OC-able, and is better future-proofing than a dual core.

The Gigabyte card is good, but most of the experienced people here choose the R version of the card. It is not that much more $ . I am not 100% sure why the R is preferred. Perhaps it is the ultra durable solid capacitors (perhaps better at withstanding heat or lasting longer) or the extra SATA ports, I'm not sure why it is the favorite.

 

[Kaanin]

Whoops I actually meant to put to put GT SSC.
Now a friend of mine suggested the GT SSC. I really don't know the differences among the various cards in the GT line. Anyone care to enlighten me? Or maybe suggest something?

"not that much more cash" from what I see the Q6600 is $280 on Newegg compared to the E6750 which is $190 thats a $90 difference.

Now I'm not complaining if $280 is what I'm gonna have to pay to get a decent processor that will be able to keep my compy up to speed then so be it. I'm just making sure that we're both talkin about the same CPU here.

Ok so I'm Lookin at...

Graphics Card:
Video Card: GeForce 8800GT SSC 640MB - $320
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 - $280
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L - $90
$810 - $1310 For the rest.


And you know what while were at it, being my first PC and all. Overclocking, from the sounds of it, seems to stretch your dollar by making your CPU run faster without having to go and spend the money to just go and get a pricer one. Yet ive glanced over a few how to guides, and it seems like a pain in the butt...is it?

 

[HamRadio]

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R seems to be the favorite of experienced builders.

If you can follow the recipes in a cookbook, you should have no trouble following the OC guide. And if you have questions you can always ask. Things always seem more complicated than they really are until you do them. This is not Mensa.

Read the OC guide over once before you buy things (and maybe list the rest of the parts here for your build for the experts to comment on) to avoid any problems. For example, if you are overclocking, you will want to look for DDR2 memory that lists the timings as "4-4-4-12" rather than 5-5-5-x (the lower the better for timings). Crucial Ballistics seems to be a favorite memory for OCing. You will find the timings listed under the "specifications" tab at newegg.

Nvidia is supposed to be releasing a new version of the 8800GTS (?) video card next week that is supposed to be significantly better than the current card (I think one notch down from the 8800 Ultra). If the price is significantly similar to the current 8800GTS (?) you may be better off getting that card.

The Antec 900 case seems popular and it is on sale at the moment. Another favorite seems to be the PC Power and Cooling 610W power supply.

Where are all the experts that are supposed to be explaining why the R version of the Gigabyte card is better, especially for OCers ? Maybe I'll go search the motherboard forum some more but I can't seem to get the search function to work right today.

-HR

 

[eddy051]

The R version has 8 SATA connections and has Raid support.

But if you don't need that, you can get the same board for $40 less which is the one you have picked out.

 

[Kaanin]

Ok for the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Anyone got any suggestions on what memory would be good for it?

 

[aevm]

Can you wait until January? The new 8800 GTS G92 will be better than the older-generation GTS 640MB. The new Penryn CPUs will be better than the E6750. Also, prices usually drop after the New Year, once holiday shopping stops.

 

[edenruro]

VGA:the diference beteewn the diferent 8800gt VGA cards it that some of them are Overclocked like the Evga SSC(Super Super Clocked) get a standard version and overclock it
BTW remember to raise the fan speed to 50% at least

Memory; it depends in how much do u want 2gb or 4gb 2gb for XP and 4gb for Vista crucial, corsair or G.skill
Case:the antec 900 is a nice case

PSU: get a 600-700 no more than 750w, getting a high wattage PSU (750-1200) is a bad idea if you are not running an SLI with 4 cores and everything overclocked to the limmit with 10 HDD and a pletier (however it is spelled) running at 100% load 24/7
AKA get a PC power and cooling 610 or a a corsair HX620

About OC ing is not that hard as long as you get a good motherboard and some good memory sticks and of course a nice cpu cooler, which cooler did you choose??

Just wondering what do you mean with $1310 for the rest it looks a bit high to me

Hope it helps and sorry for bad english

 

[Kaanin]

aevm
Sorry but, not really, I'm asking for parts for Christmas. So Dec25 is the deadline.

edenruro
Thank you for explaining the VGA differences, it all makes sense now...
The $1310 is just taking into account my full budget for a PC and what I can afford to spend. So after what I've picked out so far, that leaves me $1310 dollars for the rest of the computer.

Ive done a bunch of work and I just about got a complete system...

I still need suggestions regarding what memory I should get!!!

Heres where I stand so far...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tower Case: Antec 900 Midtower ATX Case – $70
PSU: PC Power & Cooling 610W - $120
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L - $90
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz - $280
RAM: ???
Graphics/video card: GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB - $290
Internal Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM - $85
Sound System: Logitech X-230 32 watts RMS 2.1 Black Speaker System - $39
Keyboard: Das Keyboard II - $80
Mouse: Logitech G7 Laser Cordless Mouse - $73
Monitor: SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - $270
CD/DVD Drives: LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner with Lightscribe - $31 X 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Price So Far - $1459
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Kaanin]

Bump

Still looking for a good suggestions on what RAM to get for a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L?

Anyone got any?

 

[AnonymousGuest]

I am building my first system as well and i picked these because they seem popular(Winner of Customer Choice Award - Desktop Memory) and is relatively CHEAP

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098

also, if you aren't firm on your choice of pc case. i want to recommand this,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119137

matter of personal taste... and good luck with 8800gt. i got tired of seeing "out of stock" sign and ended up getting this,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102714

 

[Nastro]

OMG. I wish everyone would read up on PCIe 2.0 and not just blindly buy the most recent card! The 8800 GT's get great rating b/c they're PCIe 2.0 which is twice as much data transfer as PCIe x16! There is no P35 mobo with PCIe 2.0 slots! Only x38 boards have PCIe 2.0 slots right now and they only support crossfire! nVidia hasn't even made drivers for their cards on a x38 mobo b/c there's no nVidia support. PCIe 2.0 is backwards compatible with PCIe x16, but what's the point? The card has all this potential, but its just potential! The only PCIe 2.0 setup worth having is a x38 mobo with an ATI 3870 PCIe 2.0 card(s). That's the best of the best right now. The 8800 GT is probably better, but like I said no support for nVidia. Do some research before buying or advising.