My First Ever Build

M

MrChampion

n00b
Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Messages
9
Just some general background real quick... I am a student in College and I am majoring in Media Authoring. I have been an avid gamer since I was a little kid but have stopped my more manic obsessive gaming runs over the last few years in turn for a more casual stance. I figure now that given how much time I spend now and plan to spend in a career on computers I should have a better understanding of the hardware in my machine. This is why I am planning on building my own rig for gaming and media usage.

Answering the stickied thread questions on my own build thread...

1. I will be using this desktop for anything and everything that my laptop that I use now does. I.e. gaming, word processing, web surfing, and movies. Because my laptop is verging on two years old its specs are a little outdated for software programs like cs4 and possibly Maya that I also plan on running on my newly built pc. As for gaming I am not planning on doing anything intense such as Crysis, I really only play Orange Box, and am planning on buying Left4Dead. However I feel that a good Vid Card is necessary now as something that can allow me to play more graphic intensive games in the future.

2. I would like to not go too far over a $1000 spending limit. This includes shipping and taxes, however if it is necessary I can go as high as 1100 dollars.

3. I live in Washington State

4. Parts required in build: Everything excluding a mouse and LCD display. I need: CPU, Case, PSU, RAM, Harddrive, Mobo, Vid Card, Operating system, disk drive, and keyboard.

5. I will not be reusing any parts.

6. I personally know nothing of over clocking. I would like to though in the future.

7. I recently purchased an ASUS VK246H 24" from Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236048&Tpk=asus vk246h

8. I would prefer purchasing the computer very soon, before I have to return to school. My university is located in a *real* college town (boondocks) and if I end up needing help in building the computer I will be stuck out there with no computer repair/retailers anywhere close by to help out.

9. I am not quite sure what is best in purchasing a mobo, All I figure is that a PCI express 2.0 is necessary for the 4870 I plan on purchasing.

And finally for the build I have come up with...
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $80
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017 $185
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296
VidCard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247 mobo and vidcard bundled at $335
RAM x2 (8gig total): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $80
Harddrive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320 $70
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 $120
DiskDrive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135176 $20
OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $100
Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175104 $30

Final price is 1056.
If I am forgetting something important please point it out. and help/feedback is greatly appreciated!
 
I wouldn't buy that quad for general purpose. Your better off with a faster dual core. Unless your doing stuff that's optimized for quad core, which your not, a faster dual core will give you better results. q6600 is not as good as everyone here wants you to believe. Also, I think the GTX260 216 core is faster and can be had for the same amount.
 
GTX260 216 is not faster... It will win out in some game as would the 4870. Your build looks good,
 
Probably inviting some arguments here but a question on video cards...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127361 @ $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247 @ $240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130372 @ $255

Thoughts on these cards? I know there is a difference on opinion between the 4870s and gtx 260; at 15 dollars more is the NVIDIA that much better/ different? Also where would I expect to be in performance difference if I saved 40 bucks and went with the MSI card if any?

One last question I forgot to add to the original post. Is the CM 690 case i am thinking on buying able to easily fit these cards? After reading reviews there seems to be some people saying such cards only fit with modifications while others say they have enough room to begin with, have you guys heard/experienced anything of the sort?

again, thanks for any feedback.
 
I'm going to recommend a few changes, but you could keep the operating system, RAM, keyboard, and video card.

Get the Centurion 690 case from Provantage rather than NewEgg. There, it's over $20 less before shipping -- and, depending on Provantage's shipping costs, it may be even less. You should also pick up at least two 120mm case fans. I recommend either the low-speed Scythe Slipstream fans or the Yate Loon D12SL-12 fans.

To help keep everything near or under $1000 shipped, I recommend that you omit the second 4GB set of RAM for now.

The 24-pin main ATX connector on the P5Q-E is near the center of the board, which creates problems with cable wiring and (possibly) airflow. I recommend getting the P5Q Pro instead... and take advantage of this bundle deal:

$295 - Intel Q660 & Asus P5Q Pro combo

If you don't anticipate taking advantage of CrossFire, which both Asus boards support, you can cut cost by going with a cheaper P43-based motherboard, like the Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L or the MSI P43 Neo3-F.

I believe that the entire Adobe CS4 suite and Maya 3D are optimized, in some way, for use with multi-core systems in general. However, you'll see no difference in gaming performance between the Q6600 and the E8400, as most of today's games are largely driven by the video card. The long story short is that you should pick whichever processor you feel comfortable with.

For only $10 more, you could improve the performance of both your hard drive and your optical drive. Swap out the Black 500GB hard drive for the Blue 640GB HDD. Though it has a 16MB cache, the WD6400AAKS has been proven to perform as well as the last-gen Raptor X. And you could get a SATA DVD burner, like the Samsung SH-S223F, for $25 with free shipping.
 
MrChampion said:
Probably inviting some arguments here but a question on video cards...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127361 @ $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247 @ $240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130372 @ $255

Thoughts on these cards? I know there is a difference on opinion between the 4870s and gtx 260; at 15 dollars more is the NVIDIA that much better/ different? Also where would I expect to be in performance difference if I saved 40 bucks and went with the MSI card if any?

One last question I forgot to add to the original post. Is the CM 690 case i am thinking on buying able to easily fit these cards? After reading reviews there seems to be some people saying such cards only fit with modifications while others say they have enough room to begin with, have you guys heard/experienced anything of the sort?

again, thanks for any feedback.
Click to expand...

The only differences between the EVGA GTX 260 and the MSI GTX 260 are that the EVGA card is overclocked slightly, has a free copy of FarCry 2, and comes with a limited lifetime warranty (as well as some of the best customer service that I've heard of). The HIS 1GB HD4870 would perform slightly better than both of those cards, but it would also perform about as well as the GTX 260 with 216 stream processors (both of those GTX 260 cards have only 192SP).

If you want this system to be as cheap as possible, and you don't mind playing games at medium or low visual settings, then you could get away with using the MSI GTX 260. Personally, I believe that you're fine with the HIS HD4870, but if you want the EVGA GTX 260 (with the free copy of FarCry 2), choose this model instead.
 
tiraides was thinking the exact same thing I was thinking. For under $1,000


CPU/Video Card - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 + HIS Hightech H487F1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB($10 MIR) both for $400 + $9.39 for 3 day UPS ground shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.149197

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L for $85 w/free shipping
http://www.buy.com/prod/giga-byte-s...rd-intel-p43-express/q/loc/101/208344187.html

Ram - 2X 4gig G. Skills DDR2 800 for $80 40/each w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB for $75 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Optical - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R Sata DVD Burner for $25 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

O/S - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for $100 w/fre shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Keyboard - Saitek PZ30AUR Red 104 Normal Keys 4 Function Keys USB Wired Slim Eclipse for $30 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175104

PSU - BFG LS-550 550Watt with 40A on the +12V for $66.49($20 MIR) w/free shipping
http://www.buy.com/prod/bfg-tech-55...-eps12v-power-supply/q/loc/101/207955009.html

Case - Coolermaster RC 690 for $56.40 + $20.70 gound shipping to Washington
http://www.provantage.com/cooler-master-rc-690-kkn1-gp~7COOL023.htm

Total: $947.98

You should be under $1,000 even with tax and shipping included.
 
Nope, the LS-550 is a very good quality power supply with good amperage of 40A. Most 550 watt PSU don't deliver this much amperage on the +12V rail. This is more than enough to power your system with no problems. This PSU is capable of powering a Geforce GTX 280 1gig also.

Review of BFG LS-550
 
I recommend these changes to your original build:

I also recommend going with the Q6600 over any dual-core CPU, since CS4 and Maya benefit immensely from the extra cores.
 
Rage_3k_Moiz, though your recommendations are sound, they won't save the OP any money. For starters, mail-in rebates don't translate into instant savings; the OP would still have to pay the before-rebate prices at Checkout.

The Q6600 can be overclocked to around 3.6GHz, which is easily obtainable with DDR2 800 RAM. We recommend faster RAM only so that those who wish to overclock won't have to adjust the RAM's settings (much, if at all) while working with the processor. (I also mentioned earlier that Adobe's CS4 suite and Maya recognize multiple cores.)

The BFG LS-680 is just as powerful as the modular HX620, and modular power supplies are comparatively more expensive due to their removable cables.

If the OP has no plans of using RAID or a dual-card CrossFire setup, he could save some money by going with the cheaper GA-EP43-DS3L.
 
I haven't heard anything good on other forums about BFG PSUs, and this is the only forum where people actually recommend them. I've never even heard of Fore Point, the OEM they use on the LS-680. And yes, the HX620 is expensive for its modular cables, but is a high-quality Seasonic-built model compared to the LS-680, which uses rubbish-quality Jun Foo secondary caps if I remember correctly. If I were to recommend alternatives, I'd recommend the Corsair 650TX and the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610.

Also, I'd like to think the option to go Crossfire is good, but that's up to the OP.

Lastly, yes, I know how rebates work. That is why I have posted the price after the rebate and the amount of the rebate itself.
 
JonnyGURU (as well as [H]ard|OCP and anandTech) knows his stuff about power supplies, so I take his reviews more seriously than others. But if I see more indications of the problem sthat you've mentioned, I'll reconsider the recommendation.

I agree with you about the CrossFire option, but I don't know what the OP plans to do.

Many people here -- specifically, a lot of the first-time forum members -- assume that mail-in rebates equal instant savings. That's why I "corrected" you. Again, the recommendations that HardwareGuru and I made were more in the interest of saving money than buying well-known components -- but, believe it or not, we do try not to recommend components that are garbage.
 
The BFG LS-680 does use the JunFu branded secondary caps and it is actually built by Fore Point. Panyu is just the PCB manufacturer. So, Rage 3k is right on that. But, man I'll take my chances on the BFG anyways :p. No PSU is indestructible.
 
HardwareGuru said:
But man, I'll take my chances on the BFG:D. No PSU is indestructible.
Click to expand...
QFT. But buying a good-quality one can save you money and ensure your components aren't being damaged over time by excessive ripple etc.

@tiraides, I didn't insinuate that you and HardwareGuru recommended garbage components. You recommended them based on your experience, and I did the same. We've probably had different experiences with them is all. I apologize if my comment on the rebate came off as being rude.
 
Rage_3k_Moiz said:
@tiraides, I didn't insinuate that you and HardwareGuru recommended garbage components. You recommended them based on your experience, and I did the same. We've probably had different experiences with them is all. I apologize if my comment on the rebate came off as being rude.
Click to expand...

No worries... we can agree to disagree here. (PS, YGPM.)
 
OP here, thanks for the input.

I have ordered the case and thanks for the find
http://www.provantage.com/cooler-mas...p~7COOL023.htm

and my build as of now looks like...

CPU and Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.149197
OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
HardD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
Diskdrive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

Torn between two PSUs...
http://www.buy.com/prod/bfg-tech-68...-eps12v-power-supply/q/loc/101/208292268.html
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-650...ply-corsair-tx-cmpsu/q/loc/101/206178324.html

And am wondering about the mobo. I do not know alot about these GIGA-BYTE boards (though I guess the point of this thread is my inexperience in the hardware to begin with). Im interested in it over the P5Q just because of the price. As for the Crossfire capabilities is this solely a benefit for overclocking? If so Id like it to be known that I do intend to OC sometime in the future, when I can possibly do it myself or find someone I trust enough to do it for me. What is the real difference in these boards? I also do not plan to ever set up RAID.

http://www.buy.com/prod/giga-byte-s...rd-intel-p43-express/q/loc/101/208344187.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
 
Both boards are great boards. The Asus P5Q Pro has the Intel P45 chipset which has more features than motherboards with the P43 chipset. Here is a comparison between these 2 boards

Asus P5Q Pro with P45 chipset
-8 x Sata ports
-6 x USB 2.0 ports on rear panel
-Raid support
-2 x PCI-E slots
-Firewire
-S/PDIF Out: 1x Coaxial

Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L with P43 chipset
-6 x Sata ports
-8 x USB 2.0 ports on rear panel
-No Raid support
-1 x PCI-E 2.0 slot
-No Firewire
-S/PDIF Out: 1x Optical, 1x Coaxial

If you don't need the extra features on the Asus P5Q pro board, the Gigabyte board will do nicely. It's sold out on NewEgg because it's such a good value mobo
 
As far as the PSU, just go with the Corsair TX650. The build quality is better than that LS-680 PSU.
 
good luck and have fun.... remember if it doesnt work the first time dont panic or do something stupid.... take your time and use your head and it will be a fun and enjoyable process...

do not expect it to fire up the first time and just work... you might have to tinker with settings in the bios, reset the cmos, unplug all non-essentials and trouble shoot a little bit....

also, never put the case side back on until your turn it on..... this will inevitably mean that it will not boot and you will have to remote the case side again :)
 
Well I guess Ill bite the bullet and order this bad boy once I get the mobo figured out. Thanks for all the help to everyone that posted ideas/reccomendations. My final build now is as follows

CPU and Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.149197
OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
HardD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
Diskdrive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
PSU: http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=208292268

And as for a motherboard I am confused by something. It seems that gigabyte http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=208344187 is a good deal and I am sure as a beginning builder the PQ5's extra features wont be necessary but there are things that I as a inexperienced builder am wondering about.

1. does the board have to have the memory standard DDR2 800 to be compatible with the RAM I have selected or can a higher memory standard run that RAM as well?

2. This will probably sound stupid but if I am using 4 sticks of 2gb RAM connected in my mobo dont there need to be 4 different slots to fit them into? looking at the pictures of either the PQ5 or the Giga-Byte I dont see enough slots to fit the RAM (sorry, theyre probably there but I dont recognize them)

3. I only need 1 PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot for the 4870 vid card correct? I have heard some video cards require two slots. Maybe I dreamed this lol or it was something entirely different, just want to be sure.

Does everything look like it should work together?

Other than this everything seems to be in order. I just want to be thorough on researching these pieces before purchase, because this a huge expenditure on a student's dismal amount of savings. Thanks once again for all the help!
 
You need to fix your links... but could you also list out which specific parts you're getting?

As for the GA-EP43-DS3L....

1. Officially, the board can support RAM speeds of up to DDR2 1066. But the Q6600 only needs DDR2 RAM in order to obtain a good overclock.

2. There is four RAM slots on the board. Trust me on this one. ;)

3. You only need one PCI-E x16 slot for the HD4870. However, because of its dual-slot cooler, it will block another port -- in this case, it will block one of the PCI-E x1 slots.
 
Sorry about that, fixed the links. Basically when it comes to the motherboard i would like it to have a maximum of 16gb of RAM, so I dont think I am considering the http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=208344187 . After thinking about it I would like a mobo that allows me to easily overclock seeing as I would like to learn how to do this. It seems like the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296 would be a good choice.

Are there any other boards that would be suitable? Id really like to get the most out of my Q6600 reasonably so OC is probably necessary. Am I missing any mobos that could take four 2gb sticks and allow for easy OC of my CPU?
 
The DS3L supports 16GB and its easy to OC with. However, if you plan on going higher than 400Mhz, you'll need better NB cooling. Though, with a Q6600, there's little reason to go above 400Mhz FSB. ;)

Wow, the P5Q-E is now cheaper than the P5Q Pro?!!? wtf?! lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top