Suggestions For My Build

[Refl3x]

My main concern is if everything to compatible with each other...and if I need anything else. For example...if everything comes with the nuts and bolts it's suppose to and if the PSU has enough connectors for the video card/everything else and if the videocard is able to fit into the case. I would like suggestions also. My main concern is I don't want things I don't need...like 2 gpus or 2 hdds. I just see that as useless and useless heat added to the system. Am I missing anything?


LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 - OEM

$22.99

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

$109.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$69.99

Acer AL2223Wd Black-Silver 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support - Retail

$229.99

EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

$269.99

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

$90.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

$104.99

Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard - Retail

$49.99

Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail

$36.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

$59.99

EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$219.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail

$319.99

Subtotal: $1,585.88

Thanks!

 

[zero3one]

You could probably do without the soundcard and use the onboard sound on your mobo Everything else looks ok though.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The first thing to do is ditch the IDE DVD Burner for a SATA model. You said you're not interested in SLI/crossfire, but picked an expensive SLI motherboard. You could save a lot of $ by going with an Intel chipset. I would also take a close look at the ATI 4870 GPU.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345 $104.99 - $15 MIR

Here's a list of 512MB 4870's:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048%201068310557&Description=4870&name=512MB

I would highly recommend the 1GB model:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048%201068320729&Description=4870&name=1GB

Check out this article on the 4870 1GB model.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3415

Look at the games you will be playing and the resolution your monitor supports. You will see that the 4870 beats the GTX 260 in most games for around the same price.

You would also be much better off trading the hard drive for the WD6400AAKs. The 640GB model is quite a bit faster, has more storage, and only costs $5 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=wd6400aaks

 

[dirtmountain]

Good calls by shortstuff

 

[gildedlink]

You list heat as a main concern (or rather, said anything extra is unnecessary heat, meaning you want it to run as a cool system), so pick up some arctic thermal grease for the CPU instead of just using what comes on the processor already. Also look into any fans included in the case itself, maybe pick up an extra if budget permits.

 

[Refl3x]

Thanks for the suggestions! I switched the dvd drive out with a SATA one and I took your suggestion about the HDD. I think I'm gonna stick with the motherboard and video card though since price isn't that much of a concern and I dunno...I'm kinda biased towards nvidia while being open minded at the same time if that makes sense.

About the sound card...do I need one or is the onboard sound good enough? Taking it out would save money + space...what should I do with it?

Anymore suggestions?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I would ditch the sound card and try out the onboard sound. New motherboards have pretty good onboard sound. You can always add one later.

Don't let bias make a decision for you. Have a close read of the article I linked to above.

 

[geofelt]

Yes, everything is compatible.

Suggestions:

1) Ditch the ide burner. Sata is easier to install with cleaner wiring.
2) Antec 900 is a good case with "bling" An equally good cooling case is the Antec 300 which is much cheaper. No lights, though.
3) Hard drive is good.
4) Consider spending any savings on a better 24" monitor. It is the one computer purchase that you can make that is "future proof". You will be looking at it for a long time. The unit you picked has a 160/160 degree viewing angle. That means that if your head is not kept directly in front of the panel, you will see a washed out display. A good unit will be 178/178.
4) GTX260 is good. It is comparable to the 4870 and 9800GX2. Differences will be minor and depend on the game, resolution, and effects. I like EVGA for the potential "step-up" program, and good support.
5) Ditch the add on sound card. Any cpu savings are negligible with a Q9550. Sound cards can cause problems with drivers. You can always add one later if the onboard HD sound does not suit you.
6) OCZ 700 is a good unit at $70 after a large rebate. At the list price, I like the $99 PC P&C silencer610 better.
7) Saitek keyboard? I don't know. Have you seen it or tried it? Keyboards and mice are a very individual choice.
7) I use the MX518, and like it. Try one first if you can.
8) Any 4gb kit(2x2gb) quality DDR2-800 ram is good. You want the default voltage to be 1.8 or 1.9v. Don't pay extra for faster ram or better timings. +1fps is not worth it to me.
8) Don't pay extra for a motherboard with features that you don't need. The Gigabyte EP45-DS3L mentioned earlier is a good board, at less than half the price.
9) Q9550 is good.
-------------------------------------
Consider an oem cpu cooler. The stock cooler will get noisy when it ramps up under load.The Xigmatek S-1283 is a good one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
I also recommend the optional back-plate mounting kit. It offers a more secure mount than those fussy pushpins. AS5 or MX2 are good thermal grease options.

Are you in education? If so look for a cheaper academic license of vista-64.

---good luck---

 

[Refl3x]

Okay...so maybe I will "downgrade the motherboard"...I looked at yours and saw this one ->http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232

Is that one better...I'm trying to futureproof for SLI too even though I don't see SLI happening at all...but it's always a possibility.

And if I do downgrade the motherboard...I think I'm gonna upgrade the monitor to the 22" Samsung.

Also...do I really need to buy 3rd party coolors/thermal paste. I was thinking of waiting to see if this computer would even get hot and then order that stuff if needed.

 

[geofelt]

SLI has been a poor upgrade path in the past. It should be used only by
those who will not currently be satisfied by the fastest available single vga card
which is currently the 4870X2. The 4870, GTX260, or 9800GX2
offer very good performance for the money now.
To get SLI. you have to spend more up front for a SLI capable mobo,a
more powerful SLI capable PSU, and better case cooling. Upgrading a single card later with a
second equal card does not get you 2x increase, it is more like 1.1x to 1.5x depending on the game.
At that time, you will still be paying top dollar for a card that is closer to
being obsolete.
It would be better to sell the old card and use the proceeds
towards a better new generation single card.

No, you don't need an oem cooler.
If, however, you want one in the future, the only good way to mount it is to take the motherboard out of the case. For a few extra bucks up front, I think it is a good thing to do.
With the oem Intel cooler:

It is a pain, but the ONLY way to mount the cooler is to do it outside of the case.
1) The pushpins are hard to get down. If you try to do it with the mobo in the case, you will bend the motherboard and possibly cause other problems. Just put the mobo on a piece of cardboard.
2) You need to be able to look at the back of the motherboard to be certain that all 4 pins are through and locked.

First, look at the cooler, and play with the pins, until you understand how they work. Read the Intel instructions that came with your cpu. The trick is to push in a diagonal pair of pins at the same time.

---good luck---

 

[captaincharisma]

one thing i think we are missing is the PSU. sure it has enough connections but is it going to be able to power your new system? especially your new Graphics card whichever one you are going to get. Graphics cards are really power hungry so make sure the power supply is going to be able to power your new system or else when your playing a game you hear the power supply pop and might take your whole system out

 

[Refl3x]

REVISED:

ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T - Retail

$34.99

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

$109.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$74.99

SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

$259.99

GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS PCI Wireless Adapter - Retail

$16.99

EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

$269.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

$104.99

Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard - Retail

$49.99

Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail

$36.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ -

$59.99

ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$129.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail

$319.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 English NA Upgrade DVD - Retail

$122.99

Subtotal: $1,591.87

I thought that looked like a very good PSU for the price. Link to it is here if you want to look into it -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Is the setup looking better now?

Thanks for all your help so far guys!

And about static...what does it mean to ground the computer or whatever for antistatic...can't I just wear gloves and/or touch a piece of metal to take away static when building?

 

[gildedlink]

In regard to your question about static: not a risk worth taking considering the processor. That's the most static-sensitive part of the machine, and a $6 antistatic wrist band is definitely worth it's weight in gold for that task. I tried installing a CPU a few years ago by just touching the case to ground myself, and the CPU ended up shot nevertheless.