My first computer build, suggestions/approval?

[bcake]

I've been thinking of building my own computer. Already thought of the parts. All that is left is suggestions and approval from the pros =)

My main concern is if all the parts are going to work good with each other. If not, by all means recommend some other ones.
Otherwise i just want it to last for a couple of years as a good computer.

The only limits are:
1. Nothing from ATI - i'm more of an Intel person
2. The system should be 32 bits.
3. Price limit should be somewhere around $1500-2000 - i'd rather not go to $2000


Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3,0GHz s775 with fan

CPU cooler: Zalman CNPS9500 AT

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q-E

RAM: Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 PC10600 1333MHz 2GB + Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 PC10600 1333MHz 1GB
3GB total

Video Card- one of the following:
ASUS GEFORCE GTX 285 1GB
ASUS GEFORCE GTX260 896MB
ASUS GEFORCE GTX280 1GB

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 640GB SATA2

Power Supply, Case & Optical Drive: (Recommend a cheap one)


I appreciate any help, thanks in advance =)

/Arvin

 

[drokkon]

1. Nothing from ATI - i'm more of an Intel person

I think you mean "AMD," but I guess they're one-in-the-same now. For what you're looking for, I think you can lower your budget drastically. I'm only up to speed on the i7 CPUs (haven't built since single-core days), so I can't offer much advice, but for $1500-2000, you could really build a top-of-the-line i7 system. If you don't plan on gaming or other heavy use, stick with a less powerful rig with a budget MUCH lower than that!

I know the other folks here will be happy to comment further.

 

[hecto]

It would be easier to give recommendations if you were more specific about your intended usage. I assume it's for gaming based on your video card selection. What is your target screen resolution? Do you plan to overclock? Do you want SLI, or at least the option to SLI in the future? A Core 2 Duo build would probably be OK for a couple years (as well as costing you below $1000), but it may be a better option to go with a Core i7 since you budget would easily accommodate it.

On your current parts list:
1. There are better CPU coolers than the Zalman. The Ximgatek Dark Knight is a good alternative.
2. Your motherboard supports DDR2 memory, not the DDR3 you selected.
3. A Western Digital Caviar Black HDD is a better performance option, compared to the Green.

 

[bcake]

I think you mean "AMD," but I guess they're one-in-the-same now. For what you're looking for, I think you can lower your budget drastically. I'm only up to speed on the i7 CPUs (haven't built since single-core days), so I can't offer much advice, but for $1500-2000, you could really build a top-of-the-line i7 system. If you don't plan on gaming or other heavy use, stick with a less powerful rig with a budget MUCH lower than that!

I know the other folks here will be happy to comment further.

Well AMD too, but no i meant ATI. Nono i'm planning on intense gaming. All i want to do is make smart decisions to save the money. Also i could get i7 but in that case i want a strong dual core rather than a weak quad core, which i cant find.

Thanks for your help

 

[Helloworld_98]

for the money you're willing to drop on this system, get an i7 and a Corsair H50, and an ATi 4890 for now and later an ATi 5870.

I know you said nothing from ATi but they are far, far ahead of nvidia, by around 3 to 4 quarters. and since it's AMD, you know it'll be cheap, around $250 for the gfx card. and just to add, that 5870's (1 GPU) specs would put it's performance close to the GTX 295 (2 GPU's), it would probably beat it by a fair margin when oc'ed for a lot less $, lower heat output and lower energy usage.

For the i7, the reason is that, i7's overclock better than dual cores, by a good bit, that corsair H50 should get you to 4.7GHz with ease, try 5GHz if you're willing to. In comparison the same cooler would get that E8400 to 4.4-4.5GHz.

 

[bcake]

It would be easier to give recommendations if you were more specific about your intended usage. I assume it's for gaming based on your video card selection. What is your target screen resolution? Do you plan to overclock? Do you want SLI, or at least the option to SLI in the future? A Core 2 Duo build would probably be OK for a couple years (as well as costing you below $1000), but it may be a better option to go with a Core i7 since you budget would easily accommodate it.

On your current parts list:
1. There are better CPU coolers than the Zalman. The Ximgatek Dark Knight is a good alternative.
2. Your motherboard supports DDR2 memory, not the DDR3 you selected.
3. A Western Digital Caviar Black HDD is a better performance option, compared to the Green.

Yes it is for gaming. I was thinking of going for a Full HD 23" monitor sometime later this year, so 1920x1080 Otherwise i would like to play games like Crysis with at least 1280x800.
No i would not like to overclock. Instead I would like to use the money wisely in order not to overclock.
As for SLI, i'm not really sure what it means.
I looked for Core i7 but could only find a quad core, which i dont want. I want a strong dual core rather than a weak quad core since i heard its better for games that way.
As far as i know i'm not even sure if they have a dual core i7, all i know is that i live in Sweden so supplies are limited

Would a Core i7 be compatibe with everything that i have?
What is the big differance between DDR2 and DDR3? Is it worth changing motherboard for?

As i said, i dont want to spend $2000, only if i feel its absolutely worth it. Lets keep the price at $1500 for now.

Thanks =)

 

[hunter315]

Even the lowest i7 out performs any dual core at EVERY task. With your budget you really should get an i7 920 build as the i7 does more per clock cycle than any other chip out there and easily beats chips clocked at over 3GHz before overclocking.

For an i7 you are going to need a different motherboard and ram and it is definitely do able within a 1500 budget.

 

[bcake]

for the money you're willing to drop on this system, get an i7 and a Corsair H50, and an ATi 4890 for now and later an ATi 5870.

I know you said nothing from ATi but they are far, far ahead of nvidia, by around 3 to 4 quarters. and since it's AMD, you know it'll be cheap, around $250 for the gfx card. and just to add, that 5870's (1 GPU) specs would put it's performance close to the GTX 295 (2 GPU's), it would probably beat it by a fair margin when oc'ed for a lot less $, lower heat output and lower energy usage.

For the i7, the reason is that, i7's overclock better than dual cores, by a good bit, that corsair H50 should get you to 4.7GHz with ease, try 5GHz if you're willing to. In comparison the same cooler would get that E8400 to 4.4-4.5GHz.

Dont ATI require 64-bit system?
And according to 3dsmark06 GTX 285 is better than 4890.

 

[bcake]

Even the lowest i7 out performs any dual core at EVERY task. With your budget you really should get an i7 920 build as the i7 does more per clock cycle than any other chip out there and easily beats chips clocked at over 3GHz before overclocking.

For an i7 you are going to need a different motherboard and ram and it is definitely do able within a 1500 budget.

Could you recommend something good?

I'd prefer an ASUS motherboard and Kingston RAM

 

[Outlander_04]

Well AMD too, but no i meant ATI. Nono i'm planning on intense gaming. All i want to do is make smart decisions to save the money. Also i could get i7 but in that case i want a strong dual core rather than a weak quad core, which i cant find.

Thanks for your help

Its not a smart decision to to ignore the possibility of AMD and ATI which offer better value than intel in your price range .

Its also not smart to buy C2D when thats at the end of its product life and is being phased out

 

[bcake]

Well i just dont want to have a 64 bit system. And AMD lives off 64-bits, so thats my concern.

Thanks for some vaild points =)

 

[hunter315]

You dont HAVE to have a 64 bit system, as all processors support 32 bit modes. However, in this day and age there is no good reason for refusing to get a 64 bit processor and a 64 bit OS as you cant use more than ~3.2GB of ram otherwise. Here is what i would suggest getting on your budget, someone else can suggest an after market cooler.

Asus p6t/i7 920 $480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216037

6GB OCZ Platinum CL7 $116
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227366

WD Caviar Black 1TB $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Corsair 850TX PSU $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&Tpk=corsair%20850

Antec 902 Case $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058&Tpk=antec%20902

2xXFX 4890 1GB @ 900MHz $220 each
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150368

Comes out to $1446 without shipping or rebates, if you insist on no ATI for some strange reason then you can also get 2 GTX 275's for $210 each but the 4890's will out perform them
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150387

 

[bcake]

You dont HAVE to have a 64 bit system, as all processors support 32 bit modes. However, in this day and age there is no good reason for refusing to get a 64 bit processor and a 64 bit OS as you cant use more than ~3.2GB of ram otherwise. Here is what i would suggest getting on your budget, someone else can suggest an after market cooler.

Asus p6t/i7 920 $480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216037

6GB OCZ Platinum CL7 $116
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227366

WD Caviar Black 1TB $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Corsair 850TX PSU $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&Tpk=corsair%20850

Antec 902 Case $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058&Tpk=antec%20902

2xXFX 4890 1GB @ 900MHz $220 each
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150368

Comes out to $1446 without shipping or rebates, if you insist on no ATI for some strange reason then you can also get 2 GTX 275's for $210 each but the 4890's will out perform them
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150387

Thank you for the effort.

So far i really dont see the point in getting 2 video cards. I'm not gonna use them both. Same with RAM, i'll get 3gb

Also as far as i know, in 3dsmark06 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 got 12482 points while ATI Radeon HD 4890 got 10778.

http://service.futuremark.com/hardware/graphicsCardsList.action

Lastly, everything else you suggested sounds great, but some of the products arent available in Sweden =(
I'll post an updated decision soon.

 

[Outlander_04]

Well i just dont want to have a 64 bit system. And AMD lives off 64-bits, so thats my concern.

Thanks for some vaild points =)

all intel processors are 64 bit now too , but just like AMD they run 32 bit without problems .

And of course with a 32 bit version of windows you will run into the RAM limit very quickly . Your computer will be able to see and use only about 3.3 gig of RAM INCLUDING THE RAM ON YOUR GFX CARD .
which means your gfx card selections strangle system performance even more .

All 32 bit applications run fine on 64 bit OS's so there is no reason to not plan a 64 bit OS computer , and there is no reason to rule AMD out of the picture

 

[hunter315]

You do realize you are using a synthetic benchmark to compare in game performance right? Look at benchmarks for the games that you want to play and see which card performs better in them, for example the 4890 beats a GTX 275 in Fallout 3 at 1920x1200 with max AA and AF but loses to it slightly in Farcry 2.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-2009/Fallout-3,1173.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-2009/Far-Cry-2,1177.html

What sites in sweden are equivalent to newegg so that i can give you one with accurate prices.

 

[bcake]

all intel processors are 64 bit now too , but just like AMD they run 32 bit without problems .

And of course with a 32 bit version of windows you will run into the RAM limit very quickly . Your computer will be able to see and use only about 3.3 gig of RAM INCLUDING THE RAM ON YOUR GFX CARD .
which means your gfx card selections strangle system performance even more .

All 32 bit applications run fine on 64 bit OS's so there is no reason to not plan a 64 bit OS computer , and there is no reason to rule AMD out of the picture

So what exactly is the downside to 64-bit systems?

I heard that there are a lot of compatibility problems. That if you're looking for a program you will have to find it for 64 bits.

You're telling me that this isnt true?

 

[bcake]

You do realize you are using a synthetic benchmark to compare in game performance right? Look at benchmarks for the games that you want to play and see which card performs better in them, for example the 4890 beats a GTX 275 in Fallout 3 at 1920x1200 with max AA and AF but loses to it slightly in Farcry 2.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-2009/Fallout-3,1173.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-2009/Far-Cry-2,1177.html

What sites in sweden are equivalent to newegg so that i can give you one with accurate prices.

www.netonnet.se is the best store here. I also live close the the warehouse, so i dont pay extra costs.

 

[hunter315]

nope, there were initial issues with windows xp 64 bit, but vista and windows 7 64 bit fixed those issues. You have to get 64 bit drivers, but you always have to carefully select your drivers, and 64 bit programs will run better but there are no more compatibility issues with a 64 bit os than with a 32 bit one. Windows 7 RC 64 bit has been quite stable for me so far.

 

[Outlander_04]

So what exactly is the downside to 64-bit systems?

I heard that there are a lot of compatibility problems. That if you're looking for a program you will have to find it for 64 bits.

You're telling me that this isnt true?

You dont need 64 bit programs . All the 32 bit programs run fine .

If you have older peripherals like say printers and scanner more than 2-3 years old then you might not be able to find a 64 bit driver . The manufacturers didnt write them because almost no one had 64 bit versions of windows .
Its very unlikely you would run in to that problem with any printer you bought today , but its a simple thing to check that a 64 bit driver is available for download .

 

[bcake]

Heres a new list i thought of after hearing some good comments.


CHOICE 1:

Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2 X58

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz

RAM: Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 PC10600 1333MHz 2GB + Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 PC10600 1333MHz 1GB

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD4890 1GB GDDR5

CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Red Scorpion S1283

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA2

Case: Antec 902


CHOICE 2:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz

Motherboard: Asus M3A78 PRO

Video card: Radeon HD4890 1GB GDDR5

RAM: 4GB Kingston 800Mhz

HDD: 2x Western Digital Caviar Green 640GB SATA2 (green= quiet)

Case: Antec Three Hundred

Power Supply: Axpertec Xion 630W Version 2.20 SLI Ready


I should warn that a 64-bit system might make me use Xp, which has problems with 64-bit. Windows 7 isnt out yet in Sweden.


Give your opinions.

 

[hunter315]

That PSU is a no no, get something of a better brand like antec, seasonic, corsair, PC Power and Cooling or OCZ.

And that isnt even a choice, the second build has a chance in hell of catching up to the first because it is PHYSICALLY INCOMPATIBLE. You cannot put an i7 on an AMD motherboard, sockets arent even close.

 

[drokkon]

I'm not sure what the RAM market looks like in Sweden, but here in the US you can get a 6GB (3x2GB) kit for $100 or less. The i7 architecture has three RAM channels, so you want 3x1GB, 3x2GB, 6x2GB, etc. THG basically says that you won't see much benefit after 6GB, but I definitely wouldn't settle for 3GB on your budget (and would avoid 4GB like the plague).

 

[bcake]

That PSU is a no no, get something of a better brand like antec, seasonic, corsair, PC Power and Cooling or OCZ.

And that isnt even a choice, the second build has a chance in hell of catching up to the first because it is PHYSICALLY INCOMPATIBLE. You cannot put an i7 on an AMD motherboard, sockets arent even close.

How can i change it in order to keep 64-bit system and the CPU?

And about the PSU, how many watts should one get these days?

Could you recommend one that will fit for both choices?

 

[bcake]

I'm not sure what the RAM market looks like in Sweden, but here in the US you can get a 6GB (3x2GB) kit for $100 or less. The i7 architecture has three RAM channels, so you want 3x1GB, 3x2GB, 6x2GB, etc. THG basically says that you won't see much benefit after 6GB, but I definitely wouldn't settle for 3GB on your budget (and would avoid 4GB like the plague).

Yeah its pretty much as u mentioned it here in sweden too.

What i dont want is 6gb of RAM, because i will never use it. Whats wrong with 4GB?

 

[bcake]

Does the ATI video card work in the first choice?