First time PC Builder

Hi. This summer I'm looking into building my own PC for the first time, and I would like to have some advice:

These are my current plans for it:

Budget: I'm looking into $1000 or lower for the PC

Uses: I'm planning on returning to PC gaming, however my laptop's performance would not be able to play some of the newest games out their (e.g. Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, etc.) Also I'm a college student in engineering, so I'm planning on using it for other applications. Also I may use for video playback, especially with HD movies. Overall I to have this PC last long and be upgradable with minimal effort.

Plans: From what I've read, I'm settled on a Intel Core 2 Quad Core Processor. I would have gone with the 2 core, but knowing I want this to last long, and since I'm going to have other uses for it besides games,it would make sense to use a good quality quad core processor. I'm thinking about overclocking, but I would like to have some input on it first.

The motherboard, there are so many platforms that I cannot decide on which one would work for me. But I know for sure that ASUS is not what I'm going to use. The same goes for a graphics processor with so many platforms and yes I may plan on overclocking it. Also I'm not sure if running dual graphic processors would be better than running a single processor.

Otherwise, I've only though as far as the CPU, GPU and the motherboard. I have not considered a power source, hard drive, memory, case, cooling, etc...

Ok I would say go for a X38 motherboard (I recommend gigabyte) with a q9450 (or above) processor. Corsair TX-series PSU. Whatever case you like that has decent cooling. Wait for 4xxx-series Gfx cards from ATI. Get 2x2gig of RAM (Corsair or Ballistix), see which ones your motherboard supports on MFG website. 7200.11 is good. HDT-S1283 for cooling

^Quality of Intel boards are good, but they don't usually come with good OCing ability. Imo, a C2D not OCed is a waste.

My recommendations:

(Assuming no SLI)
P35-DS3x(P35 chipset)/P5K P35 chipset)/P5E (X38 chipset)/X35-DS4(X38 chipset) * Try to stay away from DDR3+ DDR2 combo motherboards

Q9300/Q6600/E8400(esp. if gaming mostly)

Corsair 550/520/620 or PP&C 610 or better (better as in quality, not the # of Watts)

8800GT/9600GT/(G92) 8800GTS all with at least 512MB RAM

WD/Seagate 7200.11 HDD

2GB+DDR2 800 RAM (RAM natively igher than DDR2 800 seems to have compatibility issues)
Good HSF if OCing and everything else you need/want.

Nvidia chipsets are only necessary if doing SLI. Imo, X38/P35 have better OCing ability then 780i. The E8400 will perform better in most games since raw speed over comes the # of cores. If using video editing,etc go with the quad core.

160 gb is way to small in my world. it is also smaller than the 7200.11 goes. the .11 is desirable in large part because of its large cache hat boosts speed.

a 3450 must be a typo. its on par with high end OBG. did you mean a 3850?

I've just heard about the ATI's news 4XXX series, so I'll wait on that since I'm not planning on building it until the summer due to school (I'm waiting for my financial statement from Drexel)

As for the hard drive, what would be a good size hard drive for gaming?

Here is what I have so far:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 199.99

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail 198.99

Graphics: GIGABYTE GV-RX365512H Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail 72.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 79.99

Disk Drive: SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N - OEM 33.99

CPU Cooling: ?

Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail 59.00

Power: Antec NeoPower 650 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail 139.99
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – Retail 119.99

Total Price: 904.93

I have no clue on a good cooling solution and what brand for the CPU (liquid cooling is over my budget)

Also, I like to have some opinion on Thermaltake's products, especially their quality and reliability.

BTW I was about to switch to a much cheaper P35 from Gigabyte, but then I realized that it didn't support the PCI express 2.0 slots, and that would effect any future upgradability.

I switched from a quad core to a dual core because I think it has a good value, but I wonder how long will they last before games that support quad core processors begin to come out?

And groo, I think you have excellent input on all this. Thank you.

what about if I hook it up with a second 3650 in crossfire mode?

were this my money and build, I'd get 4 gb of ram and spend more of the budget on graphics. $150-$200 seams to be the general point of diminishing returns for graphics cards

all PCIe 2.0 cards are backward compatible with PCIe 1.0 boards, and probably always will be. PCIe2.0 only gives more bandwidth. right now the performance gain of the additional bandwidth is negligable, the highest estimate I've seen is a 10% framerate boost. that was also probably low, with higher resolution it should have less of an impact.
the performance difference will most likely go up with future upgrades.

to put it in very basic terms; the CPU tells the GPU what picture to draw. if the GPU is drawing complex picture it cant draw them as fast. if the CPU cant figure what pictures to draw quicly enough, the GPU is sitting around waiting for instructions.
bandwidth only realy comes into play when the CPU has all sorts of instructions and the GPU is drawing very quickly. usualy either the CPU or the GPU is the limiting factor.
Were high bandwidth will become more important is with something like nVidias Hybrid Power (a powersaving feature that turns off the graphics card when it isn't needed and uses OBG. not availiable to intel at this time) were the GPU will do the rendering, then send it back to the motherbard before it goes to the monitor.


you never mentioed OS. I'd go with Vista 64. I think more and more stuff will start being optimised for 64.

this is a better PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005

If you're pushing your budget, you could cut back on the case. although a good case is nice to have, and I spent more than that on my last case.

if you think you will be upgrade CPU soon, you could cut back on your initial CPU.

your CPU is only 65watts. stock cooling may be good enough. give it a shot first.

with 2 gigs of ram, your better off with 32, but 64 will let you plug in 8 gigs down the road.

if you plan on ever running engineering software on this machine, definatly get 64.

some versions of vista give you a license thats good for both versions. I don't think the builder version does that anymore.

Home premum is the OS I chose. I have never had a reason to regret it.

the new dual core pentiums are C2D, basicly they are the new cellerons

DONE....I've placed my order. The build is the same as above, however I added a Gigabyte wirless adapter to the order. Including shipping, the cost was about 1082 US dollars. Anyway thank you all for the help at this point. i hope to post my progress on this build here.