Movies, Internet & Office PC - First time build, need to finish ASAP

[steve9207]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: ASAP

BUDGET RANGE: $200 – $250 (for remaining parts needed) After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Watching movies, surfing the internet and MS Office 2007. Would like to plan to use this as a HTPC in the next 2 years or so.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, hard drive, DVD-RW drive

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Really prefer in-store options since I just bought a new chip & MoBo & only have 15 days to test it out to make sure it works... Otherwise, I prefer Newegg or TigerDirect, since I’m familiar with them

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Does not matter to me

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference, just reliable

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe down the road, but not now

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: My MoBo supports it, but will likely not use

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Just bought the Biostar T5XE CFX-SLI with the Intel i7 860

I also bought the TT ISGC-300 Cpu Cooler (normally $50 at Frys, got it for Free after rebates).

I have a 320gb SATA WD 7200rpm drive to use for the HD, planning to replace with a 750gb shortly.

POWER SUPPLY: I need advice on what Power Supply to get. I was planning to go to MicroCenter tomorrow, they have a Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 600W ATX Power Supply (RS600-PCARE3-US) for $40 on sale, but I want opinions on this as I don’t know much about Power Supplys…

VIDEO CARD: Need something basic, but with HTPC in mind down the road. Was looking at… GIGABYTE GV-R435OC-512I Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support

RAM: Looking at CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9. $95 at Newegg.com, but would like to find in store somewhere.

SOUND CARD: N/A – onboard 7.1

CASE: I don’t need anything fancy, could care less about the looks of it. Should I just go with an inexpensive ATX case or are there certain things to look out for?

 

[g725s]

I'm not a super geek but I'd say that deal they have at Fry's on the 650w Antec Earthwatts for $59 +tax minus the $20 MIR would be a great supply if your not doing the SLI or Crossfire. The Antec PS deal is in todays Orange County Register Fry's ad insert.

Check that other thread you posted at for Sonic-Boom's recommendation on memory. That's the route I went. Want to get this up and running before the 15 day return policy ends.

For me I'm going to pop in a cheap graphics card I have laying around just to get things going and will upgrade later.

Also just going to use the stock Intel heat sink for starters. I was so overwhelmed with all the activity at Fry's and keeping an eye on my 9yo that I overlooked getting that deal.

 

[sonic-boom]

Antec(not basiq) or Corsair PSU only. Best budget case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137&cm_re=cm_690-_-11-119-137-_-Product

 

[steve9207]

I ended up finishing the PC - here's what I ended up going with and some pics of the final product. Everything works great. The timings, voltages, etc on the RAM were set fine by default. The temp seems to be pretty low (Real Temp indicates it's around 25 C). But, I haven't been leaving it on 24/7. I've only turned it on for a few hours at a time thus far, but it's never exceeded 30 C.

I'll probably eventually use this with a Home Theater set-up, but for now it's my computer for the bedroom and the laptop remains my primary computer for around the house / traveling.

Thanks for everyone's input and suggestions!