First Time Build - Input Appreciated

[Pegleg Joe]

I have never built a system before so I would like some input. I’ve used arstechnica hot rod buyer’s guide, the andandtech holiday buyer’s guide, and the most recent sharkey extreme build as starting points. I’m using the PC mostly for gaming. I would also like to future proof it kinda well so I can recycle parts in later builds. I’m trying to aim for the sweet spot in terms of part cost so I have money left over in the future to upgrade (I have around 2500 total). I already had a Samsung 226BW 22” lcd, keyboard, mouse, and speakers so this is only for the tower and it’s accessories. I need to buy some of this stuff soon because the rebates are only good if I purchase before 1/31 so some feedback would be great. Also the stuff from CompUSA (PSU and APC backup) is non-refundable because they are going out of business so I need to be sure I that those are a good choice before I purchase them.
Thanks in advance for any help I can get.

Edited List:
Case – Antec P182 Gun Metal Black $90 w/ $50 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025
Power Supply – Antec Truepower Trio 650W - $40 w/ $40 and $30 off if bundle w/case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371001
or
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W - $78.90 w/ $15 rebate
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006757
Motherboard - abit IP35 Pro – $150 w/ $30 rebate (2/15)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030&Tpk=abit+IP35+Pro
Went with the P35 because DDR3 is expensive, heard PCI express 2.0 isn’t that big of a deal, and by the time I want to utilize those things it will probably be time for a new motherboard anyways.
Processor - Core 2 Quad Q9450 $ 316
http://hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTE5OTU5Mzc0MXJrZ2duMTlEUllfMV84X2wuanBn
I know it’s not out yet but I couldn’t bring myself to get a Q6600 when this is coming so soon, will only be slightly more, and has higher GHz and better efficiency.
Video Card - new 8800 gts 512 mb (G92) $330 w/ $20 rebate and free crisis
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130312
Went with the 8800 gts because a GTX is too expensive and they are soon to be replaced. Went with evga because of the lifetime warranty, the step up program, and free crysis.
OS - Vista Home Premium X64 $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116204
Don’t need anything in Ultimate/Business
Soundcard - Soundcard - X-fi xtreme gamer $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006
Want an x-fi for how it makes mp3’s sound better and for gaming
DVD/CD Drive - Samsung SH-S203B $28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153&Tpk=SH-S203B
Heard they’re fast on buying guides.
Hard drive - Samsung SpinPoint T166 HD501LJ SATA 3.0Gb/s 500GB Hard Drive – $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152052
Anandtech said they are quiet and fast.
Toolkit - Rosewill 45 Piece Tool Kit - $15
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261003
Cause I’m a newbie.
UPS - APC Battery Backup 750 VA (450W) $80 CompUSA
To protect my investment.
RAM – A Data 4GB (2x2GB) 5-5-5-18 $68 w/ $20 rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211188
Or
Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB (2X2) 5-5-5-12 $70 w/ $35 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220227

Basic Total (w/o shipping and after rebates though most is free) - $1418 (1456.90 w/ Corsair PSU)

To add later -
External 500 gb Hard Drive – $130-170
To get for backup purposes whenever I see a deal

 

[tel0004]

Looks like a pretty good build.

Cases are just personal prefrence, but I think its tough to justify 150 on a case, when there are ones that are just as good and a lot cheaper, but everybody's taste is different, so go with the one you like. I have the cm-690, and if a 50.00 case is that good, I can only imagine what they could do on a 150.00 case.


Most people reccomend corsair powersupplies over antec, and I would have to agree.
This one is only a dollar more after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004


You can buy the 32 bit windows disk, then upgrade to 64 bit for 20.00 or so. I don't have the website now, but I'll give it to you tonight if nobody beats me to it.


You don't need the toolkit. The antistatic wrist strap is nice, but that can be found much cheaper. As long as you have a non magnetic screwdriver, you really have all you need.


Also, you will probably want to get an aftermarket heatsink for your CPU, esp if you want to overclock. The way the stock heatsinks mount is enough reason just to get a different one. I thought it was a pain in the butt to mount the heatsink, so I threw it away. An aftermarket one should be quiter and run cooler as well.

I'm by no means an expert, so I leave further analysis up to people smarter than me.

 

[Markyip1]

It's a good build, although if you are planning to overclock, the currently available Q6600 will have more headroom than the Q9450 due to the Q6600's higher multiplier.

 

[tiraides]

If you don't think that you would need all of the space that the Cosmos provides, then you may want to choose a cheaper case. As long as the case cools all of your parts well, you can pretty much choose whatever case you want.

Here are few ideas for under $150:

Cooler Master Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $40
Cooler Master Centurion 532 ATX Case - $45
Cooler Master Centurion 534 ATX Case - $50
Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $65
Cooler Master Mystique RC-632S-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $70
Antec NSK4480 ATX Case With Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU - $70
Lian Li PC-7B Plus II Silver ATX Case - $90
Antec P180B ATX Case - $109
Antec Sonata III ATX Case with Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU - $110
Antec P182 ATX Case - $110
Antec P180 ATX Case - $115
XClio Windtunnel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $120

If you need case fans for any of these cases, choose Yate Loon 120mm (either the low-speed D12SL-12 or the medium-speed D12SM-12) fans. They can be found at several places for between $3-$8 each.

The Cosmos is a tool-less design, but for the majority of these cases, all that you really need is a screwdriver (and a table/desk/non-carpeted floor to assemble everything on).

You won't get a huge improvement in (stock) performance by choosing the Q9450 over the Q6600. The differences between the Q9450 and the Q6600 are in the mulitplier (8 vs. 9), the FSB speed (1333MHz vs. 1066MHz), the voltage (the Q9450 runs at a lower voltage than the Q6600), and the L2 cache amount (12MB shared vs. 2x4MB). If you are considering overclocking, either now or at some point in the future, the Q6600 is still the better option.

If you're going to choose an Antec power supply, choose one from its EarthWatts line. You're correct that you don't really need more than 500 watts to power your current setup. Other PSUs to consider are the Corsair HX/VX series, the XClio GoodPower/StablePower series, and the Seasonic S12/M12 series. (All of the PSUs listed, save from the XClio models, are made by Seasonic.)

Here's a list of power supplies recommended here (up to 750W, though you really don't need that much power):

Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU - $45
Silverstone ST400 400W PSU - $50
XClio Goodpower 500W PSU - 55
Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU -$57
Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU -$70
Corsair 450VX 450W PSU - $76
Corsair 550VX 550W PSU - $94
Corsair 520HX 520W PSU - $109
Corsair 650TX 650W PSU - $143
Corsair 620HX 620W PSU - $145
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU - $160
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad - $162

I'm not a big fan of mail-in rebates (speaking of which, don't include them in your totals since you still have to pay the full retail price up front), but at NewEgg, you could purchase several 2GB kits for under $50 -- and that's before rebates. A-DATA and G.Skill are good choices for a 2GB kit. Since you have the money, why don't you go ahead and get a 4GB kit? Again, you can find several kits from NewEgg (including A-DATA and G.Skill) for under $100.

Speaking of which, if you are considering (now or in the future) purchasing 4GB of memory, you might as well get the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium now (it's only $2 more). 32-bit operating systems can only read a total of 4GB of memory, and you would only see around 3.2-3.5GB of system RAM available.

The motherboard is fine (actually, all of you parts are fine), but if you don't need all of the features that the IP35 Pro provides, check out the "plain" IP35, the Gigabyte GA-P35 series, the Asus P5K series, or the DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL. Again, choose a board based on which features that you want on it.

 

[Pegleg Joe]

Large edit after looking some stuff up:

Thanks for all the replies. I revised the case after measuring and figuring out the COSMOS was friggin' large. tel0004 thanks for the PSU heads up. I was gonna go with that, but then I saw the deal with the Antec if I bought the case. Is the extra $40 worth it to go with the Corsair? I also decided to go with x64 Vista after checking the forums a bit and seeing it working for people. Thus I want 4 GB of ram so I put up two options that I need to decide with. I'll probably go with the A-Data as tiraides recommended but the Patriot has slightly better timings so I thought I'd check. I looked up ram timings and these kits are only slightly slower (compared to the 4-4-4-12 of before) so I thought that wouldn't hurt speed much. I was going with the Q9450 cause I doubt I'll overclock as I have bad luck with technology and thought the slight price difference would be worth it in terms of speed (2.4 GHZ vs 2.6) and energy efficiency. Do you think that isn't correct? I'll probably overclock only once my computer is reaching the end of warranty and is behind in the tech curve. That's also why I was going with the stock fan. I read on various forums people are having mixed results with the new E8xxx Wofldale so should I be concerned about compatibility? Also I had looked at the Gigabyte boards but the pro is only a little bit more with the rebate and worth the few extra features.

Again everyone thanks for all the help, it's really appreciated.