Advice on new build please.

W

WilsonH

n00b
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
31
Hi all,

Haven't put together a pc in years.. Long long time, so looking for a little help on one I would like to put together for xmas as a gift for my wife.

1. Has to be stable 24/7, it will be her work computer throughout the day.
2. Mild photoshop, possibly little video editing
3. Mild gaming. Currently WoW, maybe more down the line

Current monitor is an old 21" CRT, most likely will upgrade to 24" wide LCD later.

Budget is: $1,100 which has to include OS

Won't be Ocing

Video card: 8800GT. Still trying to figure out where to order at a decent price and get it soon? Any ideas?

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail 279.99
Wasn't entire sure between this or a Duo 3.0 for just about the same price?


ABIT IP35 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 129.99
Pretty much up clueless on this one, so any thoughts here appricated.

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail 47.00
Ok? Suggestions?

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply 90 84.99
Wasn't entirely sure here either.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 69.99

SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 35.99

Windows XP Pro 139.99

Case I am kind of up in the air about.
LIAN LI PC-A05B Black Aluminum 89.99
or
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC 29.99
Might depend on budget, was also wondering about cooling/room in the Lian li?

Also, anything else I need for this build? Any extra fans that wouldn't be included in case or heatsinks? Any conflicts or something I might miss? Little nervous since I haven't put one together in so long..

Appreciate any help and replies.
Thank you
 
For an unsure guy, you chose some great parts! ;)

The board might be cheaper from mwave.com, so check the total after rebate, tax and shipping. I have that board, and my only gripe with it is its double boot -- not a big issue really, and supposedly there's a BIOS fix for that -- I havent had a chance to check though.

You've got new hardware, why not go Vista 64-bit? Its actually a pretty stable OS as long as you don't have any old sw/hw.

Case fans you can always order later, if you find out the case didn't come with enough and your system is running hot.
 
Thanks for the reply.. Reason to stick with xp pro is because that is what the wife is use to and knows. I don't want to cause any new things that she's going to blame the PC cause she isn't used to Vista :) I'd rather just get it on another comp in a bit for her to see if she likes it, trust me it would be worth the extra on that front :)

Checking out mwave now on the mb, thanks again

Still clueless about where to get the 8800gt though. Might have to give in and pay a little more at newegg just to get it here.
 
Last I checked, there are no 8800GT cards left at newegg.

Yes it is a pain in the ass to find one. I bought my card from Dell, though it won't ship till 12/10/2007 if thats any indication of stock levels.

You might want to make do with a HD 3850 or HD 3870 if you need a card soon.
 
Ah, you seem to be right. I didn't see the Out of stock on them all now. Doh.

Guess i will hunt around and see if i can get lucky before xmas. Going to start ordering things this week.

Thanks again
 
About to pull the trigger on everything above within a couple hours.. Going with the coolmaster case..

PSU big enough? Everything else good? Better replacement? Need something else? Little nervous :)

Thanks!
 
Hey Danny,

Thanks again for the help. Going to snag that HD and most likely that PSU since i didn't realize neweggs went out of stock..

you rock
 
Well new build seems to have gone well, up and running all night.

Only questions I had..

Power Led is a 2 pin close together.. Mobo is 2 pin with a space, what's the easiest fix for that?

HDD Led never turns on, is this something with SATA Drive?

Board is a ABIT IP35 LGA 775

Also what programs should I get to test out anything? Only thing I have ran so far is memtest.

Thanks again
 
WilsonH said:
Well new build seems to have gone well, up and running all night.

Only questions I had..

Power Led is a 2 pin close together.. Mobo is 2 pin with a space, what's the easiest fix for that?

HDD Led never turns on, is this something with SATA Drive?

Board is a ABIT IP35 LGA 775

Also what programs should I get to test out anything? Only thing I have ran so far is memtest.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

Odd. Did you plug in the HDD led from the case properly on to the mobo? I also never had that problem plugging in the power LED as well.. that coolermaster case must have interesting LED connectors.

For programs:

Stability: Prime95 for CPU/overall stability, run 4 threads and leave it running for several hours. It's a great tool to determine whether your OC is stable.

Memory Testing: run memtest86 to make sure the RAM you just got is fully functional without any errors shipped.

For Temps: Use either CoreTemp, Everest Ultimate or SpeedFan.
 
Gaiden133 said:
Odd. Did you plug in the HDD led from the case properly on to the mobo? I also never had that problem plugging in the power LED as well.. that coolermaster case must have interesting LED connectors.
Click to expand...


I rechecked the HDD led a couple times, seems correct. The power switch and reset work fine. The power led is basically impossible to plug in, from the case its 2 pin next to each other and the mobo has pin<space>pin for pled connection.

thanks for the program advice as well
 
Which case did you go with? Do you have an old case you're not using that you could steal a 3pin housing from? or I could send you a 3pin housing for a dollar :p PM me if you're interested.

If the polarity is correct on the HDD LED, yet it won't light up, then your LED/wire must be bad. Try flipping it, and if it turns on, you just had the polarity switched.
 
i went with the coolmaster.. Do have some old cases, somewhere. Will check those for 3pin, didn't even think about it.

Tried switching the hdd led a few times. still nothing on it.

thanks
 
Pull an LED from one of the other cases and try it.

As for removing those housings, here's a pic of me using a pin:

header_pin_removal.jpg


if you look closely, you can see how the pin raises the fragile plastic tab that holds the connector-pin in place.
 
thanks for the replies.. i was able to get a 3 pin housing from another case, and also replace the hdd wire.. which i guess was bad. can't really see the hdd light since the other kinda overpower it.. but everything working now..

thanks again
 
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