First Time Build--The everyday PC

[Kana]

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STATUS:
__COMPLETE. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
__PICS added with recent post
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Hi everyone, I'm getting ready to take the plunge and finally build my first computer.
I'm still reading on the building guides and what to do after booting; in the meantime, I would like help picking out parts for my very first build =)

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
__Living room tower PC for family, guests, and LAN parties
__Gaming, though nothing past the graphical requirements of games like Call of Duty 4, Left 4 Dead, C&C: Red Alert 3, and past-year games. mostly retro gaming
__Everyday usage, including web browsing and watching dvds
__Photoshop, 3d Max
__It will be in use 6+ hrs everyday of the week

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
__$900-800 or less (not including tax and shipping)

3) Where do you live?
__Northern California

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
The bare minimum, and then some (no peripherals/monitor/input devices needed):
__Motherboard + CPU
__Power supply
__dedicated graphics card
__RAM, of course
__A single Hard Drive (320GB is a lot for its purposes)
__One or Two optical drives (nothing fancy required)
__Case
__Media card reader (SD cards and camera memory sticks)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
__n/a

6) Will you be overclocking?
__No, for the time being, it will not be my personal rig. But, Yes, I would eventually Overclock
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
__Single 24" monitor, supports HDMI/DVI/VGA, 1900x1200 resolution for everyday tasks; 1600x1050 usually for gaming

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
__Before mid-July 2009

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
__I would greatly appreciate it if the motherboard will recognize CPU out-of-box
__Built-in port for ethernet would be great


10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
__No, I would like to run Vista (and Windows 7 in the future) Acquired Win7 RC 64-bit + old copy of WinXP home premium 32-bit

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I am considering these parts, but I would like advice on product quality and compatibility; pricing comes last:

____CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 920 Quad-Core Processor - Retail (Link) ~$190.00 ORDERED
____Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard (Link) ~$75.00 ORDERED
____COMBO Special X4 920 CPU + RC-690 Case: ~$213.00 (Link)

____Power Supply: CORSAIR 650TX 650w (Link) ~$99.73 ORDERED

____Internal Hard Drive: WD Caviar WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM (Link) ~$63.89 ORDERED
____Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner (Link) ~$25 ORDERED

____Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (Link) ~$43.00 ORDERED
____Video Card: Sapphire 1002245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512 (Link) ~$110.00 ORDERED

____Digital Card Reader: Rosewill RCR-IC001 (Link) ~$13 ORDERED

____Operating System: Windows 7 Release Candidate (May 5, 2009)

____Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690 (Link) ~$80.00 ORDERED

Total: $469.94 + $38.77 tax + $11.18 shipping = $519.89 + $99.73 (PSU) + $63.89 Internal HD = a grand total of $683.51
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Comments:
__I'm very open to suggestions, as I'm still learning
__I would NOT prefer a heavy gaming-oriented setup as an everyday computer I want to avoid a power hungry build
__Living room gets warm (80+*F~), it is on a second floor with 2-3 other towers running
__Would I have to "cut" or alter the computer case for any reason?
__What else may I consider? or might not have considered?

Thank You!
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[thrawn86]

-for a few more bucks you could get a 4870 or a gtx 260 core 216 (I even saw a 4890 for 160$ after rebates the other day)

-corsair hx and pc p&p psu's are my favorites

-stock hsfs are always wimpy, but it will probably work. for 30$ you could pick up a freezer7 pro or something. they're dead silent and cool amazingly well.

-what do you mean by "not" heavy gaming oriented? if you're playing games at that res, you're going to need a pretty beefy card...



edit: you might consider a bigger hard drive. you can save a lot of $ per gb by going with a bigger drive.

 

[Cmustang87]

- A GTX 260 should be fine if you're not doing anything extremely high end at that res. Remember, higher resolution with lower textures will look better than higher textures lower resolution.

- If you can get a Corsair 550VX for a good price, here is the link from the egg for simplicity... usually you can get these from www.buy.com for less. Corsiar 550VX. If you have the extra money to pay for the modular premium price the HX520 or 620 isn't a bad bet either! ($$$$)

- The freezer 7 pro was a good cooler, I have had great cooling results with my SDT1283 Xigmatek, install it with it's matching bracket for a breeze installation. I don't suggest using the stock cooler.

Would I have to "cut" or alter the computer case for any reason?

The Antec 900 is a fairly large case, if you want some more elbow room with a ton of space for extra fans, the Coolermaster RC-690 was excellent for my build. I have big hands and was able to fit my 4870 in there with some room leftover.

You can save quite a bit of money on your motherboard since you don't need all the other pizazz. Consider the EP43-UD3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380

As the above poster said, you can save a lot of money per gig by going a little larger with your hard drive, the 6400AAKS or the black model AALS (?) from ZZF for under $60, which is a blazing hard drive! If it's that hot where you're computer is, I wouldn't put a super insane video card in there. With my A/C in my room and my PC running I have to open my window, otherwise I will sweat. ( I use my PC as a heat source during the winter lol).
.

I hope this helps and we can get some more bodies in here with other opinions!

-

 

[Kana]

- Wow, thanks!

-

-what do you mean by "not" heavy gaming oriented? if you're playing games at that res, you're going to need a pretty beefy card...

- - Oh, I mean the ability to play current games would be nice but I would much prefer less of an energy-hog.

- Changed the RAM from 1066 to 800, would this reduce overall performance much?

- Guess I'll jump on the bandwagon of replacing stock CPU coolers

- Updated with estimate pricings and links

 

[Dangman]

- Changed the RAM from 1066 to 800, would this reduce overall performance much?

Nope. No performance difference whatsoever.

You have a very broad time period. Why is that? Any build you come up today will be outdated by Sept. Can you narrow down the period of time when you can build the PC?

 

[450]

Since your budget is $1200 now, couldn't you just go quad-core now? I don't see why a Q9550 wouldn't be able to fit in your budget.

 

[Cmustang87]

FWIW, if you get the EP43-UD3L and the RC-690 case, that saves you over $65, and you could bump your CPU up to a beastly quad core, further extending the life of this PC.

Are you buying this all from the egg because of their financing options? You can get the 6400AAKS for a better deal at ZipZoomFly. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008688&prodlist=celebros keep an eye on it, it will drop!

 

[Kana]

You have a very broad time period. Why is that? Any build you come up today will be outdated by Sept. Can you narrow down the period of time when you can build the PC?

---Oh, well for the most part, no one in my household will need that powerful a PC to use. Outside of web browsing(email, youtube), there isn't much the build would be used for. Arguably, a cheap $500 prebuilt from any B&M store would be enough to last 1-2, even 3, years. I originally planned for my first build to be a Core 2 duo or equivalent--and then have the luxury of being able upgrade it to a quad in the future because I wouldn't have to replace the motherboard.
I'm mainly shooting for experience here, but if that's not enough reason to build I'm open to that opinion.

Actually, I would prefer to have it built by May 27th of next month. I shortened the build time to before July; I suppose if I do not get to building it before then, I will have to consider a different build setup.

Since your budget is $1200 now, couldn't you just go quad-core now? I don't see why a Q9550 wouldn't be able to fit in your budget.

---Yeah, it would absolutely fit into my budget; at the same time, it would be a waste in my opinion since all that power would go unused. But I will definitely reconsider it again!

FWIW, if you get the EP43-UD3L and the RC-690 case, that saves you over $65, and you could bump your CPU up to a beastly quad core, further extending the life of this PC.

---yeah, I'll get right on it, minus the quad core part for the time being

Are you buying this all from the egg because of their financing options? You can get the 6400AAKS for a better deal at ZipZoomFly. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...dlist=celebros keep an eye on it, it will drop!

---Oh, awesome! Actually, I didn't want to order from so many separate vendors. My list is mainly Amazon and Newegg at the moment, but yes I would definitely go for the better bargain!

 

[Dangman]

---Oh, well for the most part, no one in my household will need that powerful a PC to use. Outside of web browsing(email, youtube), there isn't much the build would be used for. Arguably, a cheap $500 prebuilt from any B&M store would be enough to last 1-2, even 3, years. I originally planned for my first build to be a Core 2 duo or equivalent--and then have the luxury of being able upgrade it to a quad in the future because I wouldn't have to replace the motherboard.

I'm mainly shooting for experience here, but if that's not enough reason to build I'm open to that opinion.

If no one in the household, including yourself, doesn't need that powerful of a PC, then no need to build it. If you want experience, you can get a similar experience by building a $400 PC.

Also, as an upgrade path, C2D is pretty much a dead end. A Phenom II or a Core i7 setup would be better in terms of upgrade paths.

---Yeah, it would absolutely fit into my budget; at the same time, it would be a waste in my opinion since all that power would go unused. But I will definitely reconsider it again!

3DS Max and PS does take advantage of quad-cores. L4D and RA3 takes advantage of quad-core CPUs as well.

 

[Kana]

If no one in the household, including yourself, doesn't need that powerful of a PC, then no need to build it. If you want experience, you can get a similar experience by building a $400 PC.

Also, as an upgrade path, C2D is pretty much a dead end. A Phenom II or a Core i7 setup would be better in terms of upgrade paths.

Oh, alright.

I'll make the leap to a quad core, putting the Q9550 on the list unless there's an objection.
Should the motherboard stay, in this case?
I also looked at the Gigabyte EP45-UD3L motherboard and am wondering what it has over the Gigabyte EP43 that was recommended to me.

Is the power source (CORSAIR 520HX 520w) enough for this setup? The calculators I used say I have more than enough, but I could never be too cautious.

Finally, would it be beneficial for me to have auxiliary fans? I was looking at the ones other board members have installed in their cases (especially on the top of the case).

 

[Sway]

All I gotta say with the budget you are giving yourself. You could get into a core i7 build and have the option of tons of system upgrades in the future.

i.e.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128386 GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI 210$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 Intel Core i7 920 279$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220367 Patriot 6gb ddr3 123$

Once again, you are heading into core i7 land. Its not a dead platform and your budget looks like it could handle it.

 

[Dangman]

Oh, alright.

I'll make the leap to a quad core, putting the Q9550 on the list unless there's an objection.
Should the motherboard stay, in this case?
I also looked at the Gigabyte EP45-UD3L motherboard and am wondering what it has over the Gigabyte EP43 that was recommended to me.

Is the power source (CORSAIR 520HX 520w) enough for this setup? The calculators I used say I have more than enough, but I could never be too cautious.

Finally, would it be beneficial for me to have auxiliary fans? I was looking at the ones other board members have installed in their cases (especially on the top of the case).

I concur with Sway: With the budget you have, don't bother with a Core 2 Quad setup. A Core i7 or Phenom II build would be your best bet. However, you haven't made this clear yet: DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED THIS PC? If you don't need it, don't build it. If you need/want experience, then stick to a $400 build. Building for experience is not enough to justify a $1200 build. If you will actually make use of this rig, then build it. So answer that questions please.

There's no difference at all between the EP43-UD3L and EP45-UD3L. The Corsair 520HX is enough but in terms of price to performance, it is not a good choice. The Corsair 750TX can be had for the same price as the 520HX from Amazon.com yet offers more power. The stock fans is enough. If you want more quiet or more cooling, then yes buy new fans..

 

[Kana]

I concur with Sway: With the budget you have, don't bother with a Core 2 Quad setup. A Core i7 or Phenom II build would be your best bet. However, you haven't made this clear yet: DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED THIS PC? If you don't need it, don't build it. If you need/want experience, then stick to a $400 build. Building for experience is not enough to justify a $1200 build. If you will actually make use of this rig, then build it. So answer that questions please.

--Yeah, probably not. My goal is to replace the 4 computers in the living room used for workspace in order to also have gaming capability. It would be a waste to jump to i7 from Pentium3. Similar waste to build a $400 system unless it meets gaming demands.

On the other hand, The E8400 Core2Duo CPU + a 9800 GTX+ is more than enough for me or any other person in household. For what it is used for--it can easily last 2-3 years. And yes, we could always use a better computer.

I am lowering my budget to $800 or less and see what I can do; otherwise, I can always postpone the build

 

[Dangman]

--Yeah, probably not. My goal is to replace the 4 computers in the living room used for workspace in order to also have gaming capability. It would be a waste to jump to i7 from Pentium3. Similar waste to build a $400 system unless it meets gaming demands.

On the other hand, The E8400 Core2Duo CPU + a 9800 GTX+ is more than enough for me or any other person in household. For what it is used for--it can easily last 2-3 years. And yes, we could always use a better computer.

I am lowering my budget to $800 or less and see what I can do; otherwise, I can always postpone the build

Wait, you're planning to replace 4 PCs with one PC?

You can build a decent gaming PC for around $400:
$60 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 CPU
$55 - Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 AMD 740G mATX AMD Motherboard
$43 - G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM
$64 - VisionTek 784090022400 Radeon HD 3850 512MB PCI-E Video Card
$60 - Samsung Spinpoint F DT HD502IJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner
$55 - Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU
$45 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
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Total: $407 plus tax and shipping

And as I have said multiple times: a C2D build is a not a good choice in terms of upgrade paths.

From a price to performance perspective, the E8400 + UD3L is not a good choice since you can get the quad-core Phenom II 920 + mobo for $50 less:
$202AMD Phenom II X4 920 and Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 ATX Motherboard Combo

 

[GN85]

With the great price/performace ratio of the Phenom II CPUs, it's hard to justify going C2D or C2Q, especially for a budget build. Get an X3 710. For gaming you won't notice much difference between it and an E8400. 3 cores are also better for everyday use (multitasking).

 

[Cmustang87]

Wait, you're planning to replace 4 PCs with one PC?

You can build a decent gaming PC for around $400:
$60 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 CPU
$55 - Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 AMD 740G mATX AMD Motherboard
$43 - G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM
$64 - VisionTek 784090022400 Radeon HD 3850 512MB PCI-E Video Card
$60 - Samsung Spinpoint F DT HD502IJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner
$55 - Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU
$45 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
-----
Total: $407 plus tax and shipping

And as I have said multiple times: a C2D build is a not a good choice in terms of upgrade paths.

From a price to performance perspective, the E8400 + UD3L is not a good choice since you can get the quad-core Phenom II 920 + mobo for $50 less:
$202AMD Phenom II X4 920 and Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 ATX Motherboard Combo

I would take his advice Kana, if you're getting by right now with a P3 system, then this rig Danny has recommended will blow you away with performance. Not to mention he has you at 1/3 of your original budget!

 

[Kana]

Wait, you're planning to replace 4 PCs with one PC?

Oh, I see where my wording went off--oops. I plan to replace each computer sooner or later with a new one. I was hoping to build at least 2 computers to put at home because they are quite old; this thread being about the 1st one.

From a price to performance perspective, the E8400 + UD3L is not a good choice since you can get the quad-core Phenom II 920 + mobo for $50 less:
$202AMD Phenom II X4 920 and Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 ATX Motherboard Combo

Oh wow. I guess I'll go with this.

Thanks, I will definitely consider your sample build!

Updated the first post

Total for Option 1: $539.93 + $44.54 tax + 7.92 shipping = $592.39 + $89.99 (PSU) + $69.16 Internal HD = a grand total of $751.54

If there are no objections or further suggestions/opinions, I can actually order this week/next week rather than wait until June/July

 

[450]

List all the parts you intend to buy so we can confirm/double check.

 

[Kana]

List all the parts you intend to buy so we can confirm/double check.

Sure

____CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 920 Quad-Core Processor - Retail (Link) ~$170.00
____Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard (Link) ~$75.00
____(OPTION 1)COMBO Special X4 920 CPU + RC-690 Case: ~$199.00 (Link)
____(OPTION 2)COMBO Special CPU + Motherboard: ~$202.00 (Link)

____Power Supply: CORSAIR 550TX 550w (Link) ~$90.00

____Internal Hard Drive: WD Caviar WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM (Link) ~$64.00
____Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner (Link) ~$25

____Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (Link) ~$43.00
____Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB (Link) ~$85.00

____Digital Card Reader: Rosewill RCR-IC001 (Link) ~$13

____Operating System: Windows Vista 64-bit for system builders (Link) ~$100.00

____Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690 (Link) ~$80.00

Current estimate Total: (OPTION 1) ~$669.00 or (OPTION 2) ~$705.00
Total for Option 1: $539.93 + $44.54 tax + 7.92 shipping = $592.39 + $89.99 (PSU) + $69.16 Internal HD = a grand total of $751.54

 

[Dangman]

Both combo options will be about the same since no matter what you will have to pay shipping on that Gigabyte motherboard. Flip a coin.

 

[450]

Personally I think you should not buy Vista and just use an old XP license and then get Windows 7 upgrade/OEM when its released.

Otherwise I think it looks good.

 

[Dangman]

A couple of things to nitpick:
- Get the HDD from Amazon.com. Same base price there plus with free shipping. ZZF.com still charges us CA residents tax.
- The 550VX costs way too much at $90. Maybe at $85 but not $90. You can get the 650TX for just $10 more at Amazon.com
- Are you willing try out a beta OS? If yes, are you willing to reinstall about 2-3 times (once for the Windows 7 Beta, once for the Windows 7 RC, and once for the actual Windows 7 retail)? Are you willing to wait about two weeks until the Windows 7 RC is released to the public on May 5th to be able to actually use your PC?

 

[Kana]

Personally I think you should not buy Vista and just use an old XP license and then get Windows 7 upgrade/OEM when its released.

That's a very good point. Unfortunately, I do not have a Windows XP install disc

- Get the HDD from Amazon.com. Same base price there plus with free shipping. ZZF.com still charges us CA residents tax.

A good nitpicking at that. Will do.

- The 550VX costs way too much at $90. Maybe at $85 but not $90. You can get the 650TX for just $10 more at Amazon.com

Wouldn't hurt to get more value then, I suppose.

- Are you willing try out a beta OS? If yes, are you willing to reinstall about 2-3 times (once for the Windows 7 Beta, once for the Windows 7 RC, and once for the actual Windows 7 retail)? Are you willing to wait about two weeks until the Windows 7 RC is released to the public on May 5th to be able to actually use your PC?

-Yes
-Yes
-Yes

Will there be a substantial time gap between the time the Release Candidate expires and the actual retail release? If not, then I certainly can wait for the Win7 RC.

Thanks

 

[Dangman]

Will there be a substantial time gap between the time the Release Candidate expires and the actual retail release? If not, then I certainly can wait for the Win7 RC.

If the release of Windows Vista RC2 was a sign, the Windows 7 RC will last for about 2-6 months after the retail release of Windows 7.

 

[Kana]

A few final questions before I order the motherboard and cpu:

1. What is the recommended method for connecting more case fans? I notice the motherboard has only 2 case fan connections. I am considering getting a power splitter cable for the sys fan connector rather than connecting fans directly to the PSU. I am unsure how reliable that would be; I certainly do not want a fan or two running on full power all the time.

2. The ATI Radeon 4770 released recently and I am considering that over the 4850--any objections?

 

[Dangman]

A few final questions before I order the motherboard and cpu:

1. What is the recommended method for connecting more case fans? I notice the motherboard has only 2 case fan connections. I am considering getting a power splitter cable for the sys fan connector rather than connecting fans directly to the PSU. I am unsure how reliable that would be; I certainly do not want a fan or two running on full power all the time.

2. The ATI Radeon 4770 released recently and I am considering that over the 4850--any objections?

1) I just hook it up directly to the PSU when I can. You can also get a fan controller.
2) Yes: The HD4850 is a much faster card than the HD 4770 and only costs about $10 to $20. So the HD4850 is the far better value.

 

[Kana]

UPDATE

*Received the last of my parts yesterday so I went ahead and put it together
*Will have to clean up the wiring better when I get to it again
*Ran Prime95, 3dmark, memtest86--all green
*Side Fan makes a slight "screeching noise" on higher rpms--might move it to bottom of the case

THANK YOU EVERYONE for helping!!!

now for pics:

http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02357nkk.jpg

http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02358n.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6499/dsc02364pnp.jpg

http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02363x.jpg

Again, THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

 

[Dangman]

You're welcome

And nice pics!

 

[mutantmagnet]

Definitely looks nice with the fan controllers and the overall components are good.