building my first system need advice

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x58noob

n00b
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
7
These are the components
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB Hard
Drive Bundle With Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit DSP OEM
DVD

OCZ OCZ800EXS EliteXStream 800-Watt ATX
Power Supply - SLI-Ready, SATA-Ready, 80PLUS

Sony DRU-V200S/BR DVD Rewritable Drive
SATA - 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 12x
DVD-R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD-ROM, 48x CD-R, 32x CD-RW,
48x CD-ROM, Black (2 lbs)

BFG GeForce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE Video Card -
896MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, (2) Dual Link DVI, SLI
Ready, VGA and HDMI Adapter, Component Cable, FREE Far
Cry 2 Game

Corsair XMS3 Tri Channel 6GB PC10666 DDR3
Memory - 1333MHz, 6144MB (3 x 2048)

Intel Core i7 920 Processor BX80601920 -
2.66GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, 4.8GT/s QPI, HyperThreading,
Quad-Core, Bloomfield, LGA 1366, Retail, Processor with
Fan

Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME Motherboard -
Intel X58, LGA 1366, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0,
CrossFire Ready, SLI Ready, Dual Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF,
Firewire, USB 2.0, HyperThreading
Can someone please let me know if all these components are compatible?
Am I missing anything?
Will this be a great system?
This is the first system I am going to build so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I will be playing wow on this system.
Thanks for any help.
 
Yeah you normally get better help in the general hardware section. Your build looks decent though you can probably make changes on quality/noise (quieter hdd, quality power supply). You can probably make some changes based on what you're going to do. If WoW is going to be your most demanding program, you probably don't need to get an i7 or a 260gtx. I have some questions that will give us a better idea of what to recommend.

What's your budget?
What resolution do you game at?
What other demanding programs do you plan to use?
When do you plan to upgrade/re-build?
Do you have a case/card reader/case fans?
 
my budget is 1500.
my computer is a stone age hamster wheel so the video lag for wow is so frustrating even after buying three different expensive video cards with no change in performance.My wife is letting me upgrade to a system that will last a while. no other demanding programs just world of warcrack. I plan to build in the next 2 weeks. Currently no case but i will probably go with atx midtower. Can you suggest a better power supply. whats wrong with the hard drive? whats a card reader? do I need a case fan as well. as the motherboard fan as you can see we are noobs so any help would be great.
 
You can make a i7 build with your budget, but it may or may not be worth it. It's currently the fastest CPU and will be more 'futureproof' when compared to a Core 2 Quad or AMD chip. However you're only going to be playing WoW, so an i7 is probably overkill. Plus you can save some money if you go with a C2Q, as that means you can get less expensive ram/mobo as well as a cheaper CPU. I'd imagine you could get a cheaper GPU as well I can't say which model to get as I don't play WoW.

As for which PSU to get, there are quite a few choices. You can't really go wrong with a corsair PSU, They're quiet, efficient, and are good under load. The hard drive you have is fine, but it's a bit on the loud side. If you want to sacrifice a tiny bit of speed for a quieter hard drive, i'd go with a Western Digital one. A card reader is a device that will read all your flash memory. You don't need to buy case fans, but almost all of the fans that come with cases are noisy.
 
All of your parts are compatible with each other. But with a $1500 budget, and no indication of the monitor (and resolution) that you'll be using for WoW, some of us believe that your money could be better spent elsewhere.

While there is nothing wrong with your hard drive choice, per se, the 640GB hard drives have been known to be able to compete with the last-gen Raptor models (and, though they still lose, put up a good fight with the VelociRaptor series). If you want to save some money in that regard, the WD Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS is a good performer that's available for a bit less. But again, there's nothing wrong with your choice in hard drives.

What I do have a problem with is your choice of Vista Ultimate for your operating system. Do you really need the BitLocker drive encryption software? Can you live without the networking and security features that are also a part of Vista Business. Do you consider a version of Texas Hold'em Poker sufficient enough to be a Vista Ultimate "extra"? Are you a college student (that could, likely, get Vista Ultimate for less than at NewEgg)? The long story short is that you may be better off with the less expensive Vista Home Premium instead.

Do you really plan on overclocking your processor? Just for WoW? Something tells me that you aren't. DDR3 RAM is a good start, but there are cheaper X58 motherboards that are now available. If you don't plan on using CrossFire or SLI -- which we often don't recommend unless you have plans on playing games like Crysis at high visual settings, with AA and AF, on a 1920x1080 or greater resolution -- and you don't have a need for more than 4GB of RAM, you could go with something like the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R. Or, to save some more money overall, go with a Core 2-based build.

Which monitor/resolution are you using for WoW? Are you planning on getting another/a larger monitor any time soon (like, say, within the next six to nine months)? While the GTX 260 is generally a good choice for gaming, depending on your needs, it may not be necessary.

Likewise the 800 watt power supply -- unless you plan on doing more with this system (or upgrading more) than you've told us, you can get by with a quality 500-700 watt PSU. (As a small aside, outside of its PC Power & Cooling line, I don't consider OCZ power supplies to be of good quality. But this is just one person's opinion on the matter.) A good all-around choice would be along the lines of either the Corsair TX650 or the Antec Earthwatts EA650. Sure, other, better choices are available, but you don't really need to spend an arm or a leg for them.

One commonly recommended case is the Cooler Master Centurion 690. It's a mid-tower case with plenty of room for everything (save for a water cooling kit) and it can support up to six 120mm case fans. We often recommend the Yate Loon D12SL-12 fans, as they offer excellent performance for a low price. You should get at least three fans: one for the front, one for the rear, and one for the top of the case.
 
You mean to say....

"no other demanding programs" YET. I can damn near guarantee ya, once you DO have a good system (which, $1500 WILL get ya), you will start getting more demanding games/programs. It just goes with the territory and just, seems to happen, heh.

Couldnt tell ya what a card reader is, perhaps thats some sort of computer talk mumbo jumbo, I dunno, but YES, HELL FA-REAKIN YES you will want some case fans. How many depends on the case you get and what connections your PSU (power supply unit) gives ya. A decent PSU gives ya plenty though, so that isnt much of a concern.

Also, let me tell ya.....do NOT skimp on the case that ya get. Do NOT think that one box is as good as any other. When I built my first system 3 years ago, I thought this way. All I wanted was a clean, straight forward black case, no frills or nothing. So, I bought a $25 black case. Although it had some fans in it, they were stock fans (came with the case) and not too long after, as I learned more and more here at the [H], I learned to start looking at temps more closely and knowing what was good and what was bad. I had some very high temps inside my case, which, after a short time, started to wear and tear on my components inside....namely, my video card. High temps = BAD BAD things. (Im not saying go and spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy case, but I do think you should be looking into cases around the $65 -$85 range.)

Thankfully, I had ordered an eVGA card and they were extremely helpfull with my problem and I got to RMA the card and got a better one in return. Which brings me to my next topic....

ONLY look at 3 brands of video cards.....

eVGA, BFG and XFX.....

My honest HONEST opinion is to go with eVGA as do A LOT of other [H]'ers, but some prefer those other 2 for various reasons. Just forget that card you was looking at...forget it even exists.

Also, I would highly recommend you to read thru these forums at each component topic.... i.e. Memory, Video Cards, Motherboards etc etc. At the top of each of those topic threads are some FAQS written by some extremely knowledgefull people here at the [H]. They give you the low down on the hardware, whats good, whats not and WHY, as well as what some of the acronyms really mean.

Dont just buy something to buy it.....buy it with knowledge!!!! I cant stress that enough dude.

Also, just to give you an idea here....

I too plan on building a computer here within the next few weeks for a buddy of mine. He gave me a budget of no more than $850. I just went over to NewEgg site, got every component he would need....im talkin from scratch, ground up. He has NOTHING, so everything would have to be bought including monitor, OS, ram...EVERYTHING.

I built him a system (on paper) that would just kick total ass and would last him at least 3-4 years without upgrading and the price for EVERYTHING came to $801. That even included a 22" widescreen monitor, which I told him, if he chose to do so, since I came under budget for him, he could upgrade that to a 24" monitor for bout 50 bucks which would put me at 1 dollar over his budget, heh.

So, that should give you an idea of just what $1500 can get ya.

Oh yeah....

Welcome to the [H]ard Forums :)
 
Here's a better idea of what $1500 could buy. With a few changes and/or omissions, you could make a Core i7-based system, including the operating system, for under/around $1500 before shipping/taxes.

For your needs, however, you could save more money by going with a Core 2-based setup. SAW brings up an excellent point in that an $800 build would probably be more than enough for WoW.
 
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