My very first system. Hopefully everything's right?

[Theresmorgan]

Hey guys. Never put a system together, so here's my attempt at a build.

Please don't hesitate if you have any input/comments/criticism on this. Like I said, I'm not too knowledgeable about all of this stuff. I plan to use this computer for music production and hopefully some gaming, as I've never had a system good enough to play anything better than starcraft with a good fps rate.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=8024305

The parts list (For those who don't want to go through the wish list):

Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Specs: ATX Mid Tower, ATX/m-atx motherboard compatibility, 5 external 5.25" bays, 1 external 3.5" drive bay, 5 internal 3.5" bays, 7 expansion slots, 3 120mm fans. Dimensions: 20.7" x 8.4" x 19"ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45
Power Supply: Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Specs: Type: ATX12V 2.0, Max power: 500W, 80mm cooling fan, 2 +12V rails, pci-e connectors: 2x6pin, crossfire ready, SLI certified, >80% efficiency, 4 SATA connectors, 2 PCI-E connector

Mobo: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Specs: 8-Phase Power Optimize Stable Overclocking CrossFireX (whatever that means), CPU socket: LGA 775, FSB 1600/1333MHz, 4x240pin, memory standard DDR21200, dual channel, 2x pci express 2.0x16 slots, 3 pci express, 2 pci, 1 pata, 8 sata 3gb/s Dimensions 12.0" x 9.6"

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Specs: 4gb (2 x 2GB), DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000), 5 cas latency, timing: 5-5-5-15, Voltage: 20

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
Specs: CPU socket: LGA775, 3.16GHZ, FSB: 1333MHz, L2 Cache: 6MB, voltage: .5

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Specs: 1TB, Sata 3.0gb/s interface, 7200RPM, 32MB cache, avg latency: 4.16ms

DVD: LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM
Specs: 2MB cache, lots of write speeds.

Sound: Turtle Beach TBS-3300-01 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Montego DDL Sound Card - Retail
Specs: 7.1, 96KHz rample rate, 24-bit digital audio, line in, pci interface

CPU Fan/Heatsink: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Specs: 92mm fan, 900-2500RPM, 45CFm airflow, .9sone noise level, 4pin power

Video: GIGABYTE GV-R485ZL-512H Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Specs: Gigabyte brand, PCI Express 2.0x16 interface, ATI chipset, core clock 625MHz, 800 stream processing units, 1920 mhz memory clock, DirectX10.1, openGL2.1, 2 dvi ports, HDTV/Svideo out, 400MHz, max res: 2560x1600, crossfire suporter, RoHS compliant, built in cooler, 6pin power connector, HDCP ready




What I'm most concerned about is the OEM DVD drive and the OEM Hard Drive.. will I need to buy something else to compensate for that? Also, the sound card: Anyone have any better recommendations? I'm into music production. As you can see, I've put some time into this.

 

[Proximon]

It's a fine build. I have a few suggestions, but they are minor and your build will work well as-is:

MB: The P5Q Pro has been the best selling board for some time, but Gigabyte has produced this new board that is better all around, for the same price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
it's out of stock at newegg... and that tells you something. It should be back soon.

Power supply: Again, you chose a good one. The only problem is that it's just enough for your build. Get one that will cover upgrades, including the second 4850 you may want to add in the future. Even if you do not upgrade this system, get a PSU that will last through a build or 3.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

You'll have the cables you need with either motherboard.

CPU cooler:
This is fine if you are not going to overclock. If you want better, at only a bit more cost:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
That's the highest rated CPU cooler made. Cools about 6C better than the AC Freezer, as I recall.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257075-31-what-parts-choose
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257547-31-personal-list-parts

 

[omar954]

how bout q6600,p5q-e, XIGMATEK HDT-S1283

you can overclock like crazy
quad is better for music production than dual
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

mushkin 4GB is better http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

get sapphire 4850 for $130 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

harddrive and dvd drive are fine

as,for,sound,i,know,creative,is,a,good,brand
p5q-e,motherboard,has,8-channel.

 

[Theresmorgan]

Thanks for all the advice

What about this PSU? It's cheaper than yours but seems about the.. same?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

 

[Proximon]

"as,for,sound,i,know,creative,is,a,good,brand
p5q-e,motherboard,has,8-channel. "???

Good point, I missed the RAM.

If the programs you use are coded for multiple cores, OR if you multi-task a lot, then yes a quad is better.

 

[Theresmorgan]

Why is quad better for music production? Excuse my ignorance, but i thought quad was just better for multitasking....

 

[Theresmorgan]

And how's the Mushkin ram better? It's 800, where the other is 1000. Is there something I'm missing?

 

[Proximon]

I own the Corsair, and it's an excellent unit. I point out the PC P&C because it's the higher quality of the two, and the price makes it a good choice.

I can point you to various sources if you like, or you can have a look at my guide I linked above. If you want to save 10 bucks, the Corsair is more than fine. I would say the PC P&C is the better deal.

 

[aevm]

You can drop the Freezer and downgrade the RAM to DDR2-800.

No clue about the sound card, sorry. I believe it's necessary, since you're into music production, but I don't know which models are best for that.

If your music software is smart enough to use quads properly, a Q6600 or Q9550 would serve you better than an E8500.

Upgrade the PSU to Corsair 650TX. That would allow you to add a second HD 4850 later if you need it. That's a killer combination.

Very good choices in general.

Again, I don't know about music production, but does it involve huge wav files on the hard disk, being processed somehow and saved again as more huge files? That sort of thing works A LOT better with two hard disks, if you can convince the software to read from one disk and write to another.

Nothing wrong with the OEM drives. You'll get the SATA cables with the motherboard, so it's OK if they're OEM and don't include cables.

 

[Theresmorgan]

You think I should drop the freezer completely?

Will changing from the E8500 to a Q6600 significantly affect gaming and music production? I don't personally know how it'd affect either :/

Why downgrade the ram? Is the difference in 800 and 1000 negligible?

 

[Proximon]

Why is quad better for music production? Excuse my ignorance, but i thought quad was just better for multitasking....

It would depend on the applications involved. Some make use of multiple cores.

And how's the Mushkin ram better? It's 800, where the other is 1000. Is there something I'm missing?

You do not get benefits of any significance by running your RAM at more than 2X the Front Side Bus (FSB), in this case. AMD and Intel i7 are a bit different.
So, you only really NEED 667Mhz RAM if you do not overclock. It's very simple to raise your FSB to 400Mhz and get a good bit of performance boost from your E8500 (OC to 3.8Ghz)... so 800Mhz RAM can be handy (and it's cheap). Your processor would easily overclock further in fact... making higher rated RAM a possibility as well.

Regardless, you want lower voltage RAM whenever possible. Here are a few other choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231194

 

[aevm]

If you get a "retail" CPU you can drop the Freezer completely. AFAIK the E8500 and Q9550 are only available retail, i.e. with coolers included. If you get a Q6600 "OEM" (i.e. without cooler) then the Freezer would be useful.

In Flight Simulator X and video compression a Q6600 is way better than an E8500. In other games the E8500 wins by a small margin. Either is just fine for games anyway. In your case I think the CPU decision should depend on the music production software. Call support at whoever wrote it and ask them if it's multithreaded. If it is, get a Q6600. If not, the E8500 will be better.

The Q9550 is a quad like Q6600 but faster and more expensive and it adds SSE4 support. That's another question for support. If your software supports SSE4 then the E8500 and Q9550 have a big advantage over the Q6600.

Yes, the difference in the PC's speed is negligible whether you use DDR2-800 or DDR2-1000. Of course, if the price is very similar then sure, why not, get the DDR2-1000. Just don't pay a lot more for overclocking RAM if you're not overclocking.

 

[Theresmorgan]

You kind of lost me.. But I'll change ram to the G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (The first link).

I'm kinda torn between the two processors though :s

 

[aevm]

LOL, and here I am talking about THREE processors. Tell us the name of your music software. I'll try to find out if it likes quads or not.

 

[Theresmorgan]

I just found out that FL studio supports multithreading.. And I'm sure anything better does as well.

I want to be able to play games for the first time.. Ever. I can't afford the Q9550, so I think I'll have to stick with the Q6600. Does OCing void warranties? Can people still get good performance with new games? Will newer ones prefer the quad core processors?

 

[Theresmorgan]

Okay, I have everything.. Done I think. I swapped it out for the Q6600 because of Tom's Hardware - Benchmark. Does everything on the wishlist (It's the most updated. It took forever to organize the typed list) look good? I'm still a bit nervous about not getting the extra cooling stuff. Will I be able to overclock if I.. attempt to try to, and it still work well without the freezer deal?

 

[aevm]

OCing does void warranties, yes. On the other hand, it's hard to tell if you did it.

Yes the Q6600 does just fine in new games. Here are some benchmarks.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=775&p=2

Newer games are expected to prefer quads, yes, but it might take a while until they actually do it. It's very difficult to program a game to use 4 cores, and some companies simply won't have the skilled people who can do it. Basically, for now, Microsoft is the only company who really succeeded, and only in one of their games.

If you're going to overclock then
(1) read about it until you know what you're doing, don't rush
(2) get a Xigmatek HDT-S1283. It cools better than the Freezer 7 Pro.

 

[Theresmorgan]

Awesome. Well hopefully the wishlist will be the final build then. Any other comments?

You guys have all been very helpful

 

[Theresmorgan]

Just want to be positive.. This is a rather large investment for me.

 

[Proximon]

This all looks fine. I presume you have reasons for that specific sound card.

 

[clumsypyro]

Sound card: AuzenTech 7.1 Prelude trust me on this one

 

[Theresmorgan]

Ha might have to upgrade with that one dude.

I've been looking around on Newegg.. I haven't been able to find one of those media card readers.. Kind of like what comes with most dell systems? Any ideas on that?

 

[Proximon]

You must be searching wrong

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=69&name=Card-Readers