First build, need assistance

UGH I just posted my entire message but it said something about "not having a title for my poll" even though I didn't want to post a poll (Edit: must of hit new poll my mistake)... when it sent me back my message was toast . I'll keep it short and sweet now.

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I'm looking to upgrade from my 6 year old dell. I'd like to stay around or below $1,000 Canadian. Here's what I've got so far:

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM
$29.99

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$71.99

Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$59.99

MSI R4870 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$311.99

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail
$59.99

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$155.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
$197.99

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I'm also going to need power & cooling... will these do alright?

OCZ 500 Watt StealthXStream
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler-MIR 120mm fan, rifle, 4 pin, 12V DC

Is the onboard audio/network fine?

OS Vista Home Premium 64bit?

Thats everything I'll need, and they'll work together?

If you look on newegg.com you can get the E8500 cpu for the price you have listed on the E8400. It is a nice step up. You can also save a few bucks by going with a raidmax case. They have some very nice designs. A nice feature some of them have is a fold down motherboard tray. Some of the models come with decent power supplies too. That particular board is made for DDR2 1333 RAM. You may want to consider upgrading to that. G.Skill is good memory and should work, but it isn't on the list of supported memory. OCZ is a good quality with reasonable price, you should be able to get some 1333 for about the same price. I would definitly go with XP pro or home over vista as well. Microsoft is scrapping vista and putting their recsourses into a new OS. They never put much effort into fixing vista. Everything you have listed should work fine together. I think you would see a performance increase with the upgraded RAM and CPU though. If you haven't visited newegg.com, I would strongly suggest doing so before purchasing. Hope this helps.
aford10

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with essentially everything aford10 said.

1. Newegg.com doesn't apply since the OP said he lives in Canada
2. Raidmax may make decent cases, but their PSU's should be avoided at all costs unless you like sparks and burned hardware.
3. The board isn't "made for DDR2 1333 RAM". The RAM rating on a board is just the maximum supported speed. You're better off keeping the FSB and RAM at a 1:1 ratio anyway. That means that even DDR2 800 RAM will push the E8400 to 3.6GHz without even overclocking the RAM. That G.Skill PI RAM is about the best RAM on the market IMO. You can't really beat DDR2 800 RAM that runs at 4-4-4-12 timings at 1.8v.
4. 64-bit Vista is the only way to go for a new build IMO. A 32-bit OS can't even fully use 4GB of RAM, so there's not even the option of adding more RAM later. I personally use 64-bit Vista and it's a very stable OS. The only BSOD I've ever seen was caused by pushing an overclock too far. I haven't run into any compatibility issues and it runs very fast on my system. I'd never consider putting XP on a new system. Most of the people still bashing Vista haven't ever even tried it. They usually "heard it was crap". Check out www.mohaveexperiment.com to see how Microsoft called out people like that.

Okay how about this combo (this takes care of the psu):

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
OCZ OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
$280.78

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And about the graphics card. Should I go for this one:
MSI R4870 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$311.49

OR

SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$239.59

EDIT: I thought they would be shipping from inside Canada. For the above build this it what it would cost to send:

Handling: $126.21
Shipping: $51.67

Yikes. Then I'll probably be hit up for $100+ import duty.

Yep I'm going to go with NCIX thanks. Looks like I only have to pay 5% PST and shipping is <$50.

Just trying to finalize the components (will post them here to make sure everything will work and i have what I need).

If I purchase all of the components at once will I have trouble getting the mail in rebates?

Not sure if you're in range of the Lower Mainland or not, but if so then you can pick it up yourself (they have 4 outlets) and save the shipping cost too... Your delicate components will love you for it!

How does buying at the same time affect mail-in rebates?

Okay here's what I've got.

The Vendetta 2 is out of stock now, as well as the G.SKILL 2x2GB RAM

If someone could give it a look over to make sure a) everything is compatable and b) I've got everything I need, I would really appreciate it.

Samsung SH-S222A/BEBS 22X DVD+-RW IDE DVD Writer Black OEM
$22.99

NCIX XION2-BK Black ATX Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT 2X120MM Fans 450W W/ LED Fans & Window
$70.53 (w/ rebate applied)

Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 770MHZ 512MB GDDR5 2XDVI PCI-E Video Card
$238.99 (w/ rebate applied)

G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
$49.99

Gigabyte EP45-UD3P ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 2PCI-E SATA2 RAID HD Sound 2GLAN 1394A CrossFireX Motherboard w/ FREE Gigabyte GM-M6880 USB Laser Gaming Mouse 1600DPI 3000FPS Black ($24.99 value)
$155.99 (w/ rebate applied)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail
$192.99 (price match)

OCZ GameXStream 600W ATX12V 24PIN SLI Ready Active PFC ATX Power Supply 120MM Fan Black
$69.99 (w/ rebate applied)

Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Direct Touch 3 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 LGA775 S754 S939 S940 W 120MM PWM Fan
$37.53 (price match)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
$139.93 (price match)

"Heavy Duty Shipping Box"
$5

I wanna put it together myself so I'll save the $50.

$1,047.75 including rebates but not including shipping (w/ insurance) and tax.

If there is something I missed, something isn't compatible or if there have recommendations (going cheaper) don't hesitate to reply!

Edit: I'm thinking I might aswell go with a sound card while I'm at it... Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE PCI 7.1 Surround Sound Card (OEM)? or is the EP45-UD3P onboard sound as good or better?

Edit: Might aswell stick with that one and replace the 450 w/ the 600. Otherwise I'll have to get the fans separate, plus I like that one.

Yes it does... and thanks.

I dumped the sound card and went back to the Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 (went to the 4850 when I ).

Heres the "final" list:
(Again, if someone could double check that I have what I need... and that it's all compatable, that would be great)

- Samsung SH-S222A/BEBS 22X DVD+-RW IDE DVD Writer Black OEM

- NCIX XION2-BK Black ATX Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT 2X120MM Fans 450W W/ LED Fans & Window

- Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 770MHZ 512MB GDDR5 2XDVI PCI-E Video Card

- G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit

- Gigabyte EP45-UD3P ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 2PCI-E SATA2 RAID HD Sound 2GLAN 1394A CrossFireX Motherboard w/ FREE Gigabyte GM-M6880 USB Laser Gaming Mouse 1600DPI 3000FPS Black ($24.99 value)

- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail

- OCZ GameXStream 600W ATX12V 24PIN SLI Ready Active PFC ATX Power Supply 120MM Fan Black

- Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Direct Touch 3 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 LGA775 S754 S939 S940 W 120MM PWM Fan

- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM

- Thermalright LGA775 BOLT-THRU Kit for Ultra 90/120 & HR-01 Retail Box

- Arctic Silver 5 HIGH-DENSITY Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound 3.5 Gram

Though I too would prefer the SATA variants, if it's an issue of pricing volatility and you've hawked your bicycle to pay for this, then you could get away with the IDE version. Note where Gigabyte has placed the IDE connector--it's the lime green port on the edge of the mobo closest to the top optical drive bays. Not a great distance to go and not really interfering with any key points of airflow. Just bundle and zip tie the excess ribbon cable and you'll be alright.

Damn that sinking Loonie!

Let 'er rip

You are correct in that the OEM drives come bare (in electrostatic bags only), so handle carefully by the edges. Not to worry, however, as the UD3P mobo comes with the necessary SATA cables so you don't need to buy anything extra.

One final and minor improvement, if you can spare a little extra budget: move up to the WD Caviar Black HDDs as they are faster than the SE16 models. Smallest one is 500GB at $30 more, or if you can, 640GB (it has higher platter density and hence, speed) for $35 more. This suggested change has no compatability issues, etc. but rather provides better balance against the rest of your system's components.

I realize that you're only using about 170 GB now, but it doesn't hurt to have more speed or space for the future, especially with Vista.

Otherwise, you're good to go!!!

I've been doing some reading and I think it would be smart to have a UPS, considering I'm putting all that money into the system.

TS1250B (600W) or TS1700B (900W)?

I'd need my PC and LCD monitor connected.

^I went for a 700 watt ups. I won't be using two monitors with it.

Everything but the UPS and OS arrived today. It took me from 6 PM to 3 AM (non stop... not even for food ), but I seem to have got it together.

The only thing I'm unsure of is my hard drive. How do I know if it's connected and powered on? because when I tried to install xp (temporarily until vista comes) I got this error:

pci.sys address F748E0BF

I have the SATA connected to the hard drive, but do I need anything else? a connection to the power supply too?

Also, I'm not sure if I installed the heat sink properly. All I did was apply the paste (that came with it) to the bottom of the heat sink. I didn't even use the arctic silver on the cpu... am I in trouble?

Yeah I was missing the power connection to the hard drive. I'm pretty sure thats squared away now, though now I'm getting a light vibration sound from somewhere... could the hd or one of the cables in there needs to be repositioned (I did move them around when I was in there connecting the hd power). I'll have to look into that later today.

So should I leave the heat sink thing for now and if it's a problem just re-do it with the arctic silver? I've had it on the BIOS screen for up to 10 mins and the temperature is usually around 32 C.

It's probably best if I showed the inside so anyone could take a look and tell me if I should fix something up immediately.

#1
#2
#3
#4
Should I put the fin on the heat sink and point it down towards the ram?
#5
#6
#7
#8
Yeah, I opened up too many panels. Should I tape them up or what? initially I was going nuts trying to figure out why the connections and motherboard wouldn't line up (the motherboard was too high), then realized that I didn't need the raisers in there because there were bumps in there already (right?).
#9
I used a velcro try thing to keep it more orderly and as far as possible from the motherboard.
#10
#11
Hard drive connection. Right spot?
#12
Sata (DVD) connection... right spot?
#13
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#15
#16
There was no bump there,,, so leave it empty right?
#17
I have no idea where that goes. It's coming from the front of the case.
#18

Hey, thanks for the reply.

Haha Crysis no... but Far Cry 2 is one of the games I play.

I finally got around to some of the things you recommended...

- Corrected the heatsink / fan and attached the fin facing down toward "Ultra Durable"
- Changed the hard drive sata cable
- Put some tape on the open back panels (temporary fix) ... I don't think the original pieces go back in, or I'm missing something, because I had to break them off in the first place for them to come out, and they definitely don't snap back in.

I didn't remove and replace the cpu paste yet because a) didn't have the stuff to remove it and b) it seems to be working okay for now. When I removed the heatsink the paste had slight "over spillageness" so I cleaned that up.

I absolutely can not find out where that one little cable thing goes. I think it's the start up "beep" audio.

So yeah, haven't had any hardware problems yet. Over the first few days I had a real hard time with Vista... from installing all my drivers and such, I had quite a few BSoD's on restart.

Oh and the UPS saved me once so far. A week or so ago I was on the virtual battlefield when the power went out. Was able to get the heck outa the game and shut down properly .

Thanks again.

Me again, having some trouble.

It's worked perfect up until now... but, I've had lotsa of trouble for the past few days.

When I go to turn it on, everything powers up, but the CPU and CPU fan won't get going. The phase led on the mobo lights up two red, orange and green. Sometimes I can get it to start (when I give the fan a little kickstart spin, but I do that every time), and it will run perfectly, until I turn it off again. I haven't got it to work at all today.

When I hit the power button, the fan does a little jerk, but doesn't continue spinning.

I took everything apart, and put everything back together, a few times now, but whatever the problem is, it still exists.

I tried with one stick of ram. I tried disconnecting everything but the video card and ram. Nada.

I tried the power source that came with the case and the fan that came with the cpu. Nothing.

Nuts... it ran flawlessly for 7 months, up until a few days ago... and I've even got a UPS, so there were no power surge issues. Totally random.

I'll probably just get a new one (I'm thinking asus this time) and RMA the GB, then keep the replacement they send as a backup.

...and here I am, back to using my Dell from 2002 (that has taken an absolute beating over the years). I guess they don't build parts like they used to.

Thanks

ram maybe? video card??

I might have enough new parts to build a new pc by the time I figure it out!

Fixed... ram!!!

Looks like I have a motherboard, cpu and power source to start a new build with!

Yeah, this is getting pretty ridiculous. It was working fine... I shut down and started again fine, 4 or so times. But when I went to go to sleep, I must of hit "standby" mode by mistake... when I looked back, the power led on the case was flashing and it wasn't shutting down. So the next time I went to start it... boom... bang, same problem.

So WHAT THE F*CK? Faulty power source f*cking up my hardware? this is f*cking ridiculous.

It's messed up man.

I just took out the new ram, and added one stick of the OLD - it's booting up and I'm in vista now.

The only thing different, other than the ram, is I removed one of the 4-pin ATX power connectors from the 8-pin power slot, and I remove the 4-pin ATX power connector from the main 24-pin power slot. So I'm running with 4-pin/20-pin power.

When it booted, it gave me a message about it losing power before data was saved. Then "Enter to continue".

Right now it's running normal, on the single stick of my old ram... BUT, I'm sure that when I turn it off, then back on, weather or not I add another ram in, it will go back to being a jerk. I'm gonna keep it on for a while though, to get some use and enjoyment out of it for a while today.

Are there any tests I can do right now, on my desktop, to check of whatever hardware problems?

Do you think it's the power source? and my ram maybe isn't toast afterall?