First Time Builder Questions

g0ne

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Jul 28, 2008
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I've been thinking about building a new PC for awhile now and since my laptop died the other day its time to purchase the parts. I would like to stay under $1,500 but if necessary this can be adjusted. I've been reading for a few weeks and have come up with a build. I just need some input on the parts; mostly as to whether they will be compatible with each other and if there all fine for a SLI build (only getting one graphics card atm but will expand).

Computer will mostly be used for gaming, nothing serious though, World of Warcraft and perhaps Age of Conan or something. (reason for duo, can always upgrade)

Anyways heres the build.

Newegg wishlist link: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8456912&WishListTitle=g0ne

Monitor: $249.99 -$20.00 = $229.9
Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009094

Power Supply: $179.99 -$60.00 = $119.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

CPU: $194.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

Case: $139.99 -$20.00 = $119.99
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

CPU fan: $36.99 -$5.00 = $31.99
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Hard Drive: $59.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

Motherboard: $249.99
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024

Sound Card: $29.99
Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102002

DVD Drive: $26.99
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151154

RAM: $124.99 -$40.00 = $84.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231148

Graphics Card: $175.99 -$20.00 =$155.99
EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319

OS: $109.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM

Subtotal: $1,431.35

There it is. Hows the graphics card? Is the mother board excessive? (I do want to eventually do SLI with 2 vid cards) Do I need a sound card? Thanks for any input ahead of time. Looking to buy very soon. Ive had experience with changing out things in my computer but this is my first time doing a full build. Let me know!
 

jasobnd

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Jul 24, 2008
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perhaps a full tower case would be better.. mids can be a bit fiddly for first time builder.

are you going to OC the rig? if you are then you will need a better CPU cooler

and this ASUS motherboard has built in memory heatsinks to aid OC'ers

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-259-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=808&name=Asus%20M3A32-MVP%20Deluxe/Wi-Fi%20AMD%20790FX%20(Socket%20AM2)%20PCI-Express%20DDR2%20Motherboard

you can get an AMD quad 9950 black edition for only £159.97

not sure about convertions but i reackon youd save some money with these to changes which would allow you to buy an ATI 4850 or maybe even a 4870 with a few extra quid

of course depends if newegg sell these items
 

g0ne

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Jul 28, 2008
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If I went with ATI for crossfire would I need to change mother boards (currently NVIDIA nForce 780i) and what ATI graphics card would you recommend.
 

omicron_15

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May 1, 2008
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If you want to go ati, I think a 4850 would be fine for your needs, go for a x48 or x38 board if you want to xfire in the future, I prefer gigabyte for my mobos, if you go for an intel x48 or x38 board the onboard sound should be fine.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
If I don't comment on it, I didn't see anything wrong with it at the time.

PSU: Not a bad one, but it seems like a bit much for what you want. A Corsair 550-650W would probably be a better fit, and help bring the price down to.

HDD: Again, not a bad harddrive, but is it enough? 320GB drives can be had for ~75, and even 500GB are less then $100. I don't know your harddrive usage, but I could never survive on a 250GB drive.

Sound card: Audigy SE? You would probably be just as well off with onboard. I also fail to see what speakers you'd be using. Unless you have a good set of speakers, you might as well use onboard. No point in hooking up a cheap set of 5.1/7.1 speakers to a nice soundcard, the speakers won't be capable of showing off the sound cards abilities. If the budget is tight, worry about sound later after you've saved up more money. Sound cards and speakers are easy to add, motherboard and CPUs not so much.

Mobo + CPU: Now for the hard stuff. I, along with most others around here are not fans of Nvidia chipsets. Yes, they are the only way of doing SLI, but there isn't much good to say about them other then that. Considering the current performance of Nvidia cards, this isn't a great thing anyways. Seeing as you are getting an aftermarket CPU cooler, you might as well get the 7200, and overclock it. I to would also get a x35/45, x38/48 motherboard. Better SATA transfer speeds, no corrupted SATA drives while overclocking, less painful overall.

What you have overall isn't bad. Its just not the best idea. I'd drop down in PSU, up the hdd, get a P35, drop the sound card, get the 7200 (or 8400 if you don't like overclocking, and get the 4850. I would not pay $155 for an 8800GT. (even if it is overclocked.) You can get a 4850 for the same amount, and even at stock it will be faster.
 

royalcrown

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4745454b has the right idea...if it was me, spend a little less on the case since it just sits there.Ditch that Audigy too.

A nice cooler master is 50-60 bucks, spend the extra dough on a better video cars like 4850, and or a bigger harddrive, 250 is puny, just vista with service packs is 18 plus gigs, and lots of games are 6 gigs a pop now.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Actually RC, if it was me, I would have got a different case to. For my last build I spent about $30 out the door on a case. (came with a 450W PSU which I removed as soon as I got the case.) Cases however are a personal choice, some people like them, others don't. If he has the dough ($1500 is enough) you can get an awesome case. If two years ago you only have $800, you don't.
 

g0ne

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Jul 28, 2008
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I also took out the sound card, I have a 100$ best buy gift card that i'll use in store for some speakers nothing crazy.
 

g0ne

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Jul 28, 2008
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I'm looking to purchase tomorrow so any more feedback would be appreciated. Maybe ill forget about an eventual crossfire setup because mostly everything I'll be doing won't require anything that powerfull. 474545b the mother board you posted has a great price but the reviews seem a little iffy. Also how much faster is the 4870 than the 4850? Would it be a visible increase in games such as WoW?
 

pcdoc1

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Jul 30, 2008
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very nice computer build you have there, the graphics card is fine, but yes you could do a little better on the cooler. I have the Big Typhoon on my PC and it works very well, it s a huge HSF so make sure that you have adequate space in your PC, get a full tower case to accomidate!....nice build though so far.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
I personally don't put to much faith in newegg reviews. First, they are mostly left by people who had issues. Many more boards were sold that people never complained about. Second, reviews can be left by anybody. ANYBODY. Even those who simply think they know what they are doing. (do I need to tell the story of my brother again? CPU - HSF + turn on = Dead CPU) As long as "real" review sites say its fine, don't worry so much about it.

I'm not married to that board, I was simply using it as an example. There are many boards out there, less then $200, that would work fine.

The 4870 is better then the 4850, but you do only really need it depending on what res you game at. 22" and smaller (1680x1050) will do fine with the 4850. If you game more at 1900x1200, then the 4870 is a better card for you.
 

g0ne

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I know im probably starting to become a pain, but if I get a 4850 I've heard that it runs extremely hot. Do I need a gpu cooler, if so which one, and what does the mother board need (2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots). I've upgraded the case to a full tower thats around the same price.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
No, they simply run a bit hotter. The 2900s ran really hot. There are some of us who believe that the temp problem might go away if/when we get the ability to adjust the fan speed. The fan speed runs at a low speed, we might see some cooler temps if we can clock it up a bit.

For the motherboard, you only need to PCIe 16x slots if you are running CF/SLI. If you aren't, then just make sure you have one PCIe 16x slot.