My First Build

[WillT]

I am planning on my first build.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Asus P5N-D Motherboard
Maxtor DiamondMax 21 500GB Hard Drive
450W Power Supply
Combo Disk Drive
2 X 1024mb 800mhz DDR2 Ram

PNY GeForce 8500 GT (My budget is $50 for a graphics card but i want a card that i can add more of.)


Will this configuration work?
Anything I should know before I buy?

Sorry if this is the wrong section

 

[ahslan]

which 450w power supply are you getting?
what is this build gonna be used for?
I'm guessing you already have a case?
what do you mean by "i want a card that i can add more of"? sli?

 

[WillT]

http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1289171&csid=_21 <- case and power supply

I'm going to use this computer for multitasking

Never mind the graphics card.

 

[hairycat101]

What is the total budget? And what are you hoping to use it for. We might be able to come up with better alternatives for your uses and your budget. One thing strikes me right off... Why the quad core? If your applications don't use all 4 cores, you might be able to save money and gain performance with a faster 2 core.

 

[evongugg]

Welcome to the forums!

Get a good power supply. It is important for the life of your investment. A cheap PSU can destroy your investment.
I would get a case without power supply and get the power supply separately.

Top Tier PSU:
http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiered+PSU+Listings?t=anon

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3359

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460

Silent PSUs
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html

AMD Certified PSUs (Single+Crossfire):
http://ati.amd.com/online/certifiedpsu/index.html

Certified SLI-Ready Power Supplies
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

It is not worth SLiing a 8500. Get a faster video card later on if you need it.

 

[WillT]

My budget is $700
I'm using the quad core for bragging rights.

 

[WR2]

It's the correct section;

The 8500GT is a very weak video card. It's fine for a general purpose PC - but a disaster for a gaming PC.
[:wr2:2] Even with two 8500GTs you'll just have a "double disaster" in my opinion.

You'd be a LOT better off by downgrading CPU & motherboard and upgrading video card if you can't increase your budget. You can get a 8600GTS for $60 after rebate E7200 2.53Ghz CPU ~$120

 

[WR2]

I'm using the quad core for bragging rights.

No one will notice the Q6600 - they'll be too busy laughing at the weak 8500GT [:wr2:5]

 

[WillT]

Well whats a better card? I was planning on hooking up to my 42" polaroid hdtv

 

[evongugg]

Choose your hard disk based on performance within your price range.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hard-disks/average-read-transfer-performance,658.html

 

[WillT]

What do you guys think would be the best option on my budget?

 

[WR2]

For a "no-gaming" PC.... you won't even need a video card. And you won't need a $150 motherboard.

GIGABYTE GA-G33M-S2L $95

GIGABYTE GA-EG43M-S2H $103

 

[ahslan]

...well as you probably have noticed, the 8500gt sucks...hard....its just wrong putting such a crappy video card along with a Q6600...If you're getting this for gaming, then I would agree with the others and opt for a fast dual core that would leave you with money to spend a nice video card...and I'm sure you could guess what brand of video cards I'd recommend...lol...

Please let us know what the purpose of this rig is for so that we can give you some better direction...

 

[ahslan]

btw...with $700, you can make a pretty freaking sweet computer...its not like the old days where you needed $1200+ to have a good rig...

 

[WillT]

Ahslan what do you think i should do? I build alot of 3d models for a game ive been working on for about 7 months

 

[WR2]

Also do you plan to buy from a specific source? Or are you open to shopping at other online stores?

 

[WR2]

Is that game Spore?

 

[WillT]

Anywhere as long as i can get everything from on place

 

[WR2]

Look over this suggested build:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15009/2

 

[ahslan]

Ahslan what do you think i should do? I build alot of 3d models for a game ive been working on for about 7 months

wow...props man...well lets see...I believe building 3D models requires A TON of GPU and procession power (hopefully someone else can reinforce this statement)...is the program you use to build these models optimized to use all four cores of the Q6600? because if it is, then it would be worth getting the quad core...

 

[WillT]

wow...props man...well lets see...I believe building 3D models requires A TON of GPU and procession power (hopefully someone else can reinforce this statement)...is the program you use to build these models optimized to use all four cores of the Q6600? because if it is, then it would be worth getting the quad core...

Honestly I don't know. Right now I'm using a lame freeware program called Blender. It runs extremely slow on the computer I have right now Pentium 4 2.80ghz 1gb of ram.

 

[ahslan]

well I went to their website and their optimal hardware setting says "dual CPU"...then again not too sure if that has been updated recently or not...btw, do you have any specific preferences of brands, like intel, ati, gigabyte, corsair, etc..???

 

[WillT]

Not really Ive just had problems with AMD in the past no offense.

 

[WillT]

Also I try to run my game client and the server at the same time but this little computer cant handle it.

 

[ahslan]

Not really Ive just had problems with AMD in the past no offense.

lol...none taken...

check this out...
http://blendernewbies.blogspot.com/2007/02/computer-upgrade-tips.html

its more than a year old but it does give some insight...

...imma work on a wishlist for ya on newegg...but I must admit, I'm not very familiar with intel mobos (but do know that they have great processors)...you should probably look up stuff on newegg rather than compusa or tigerdirect (newegg usually has better prices and WAY better customer service)