Newbie Build

T

Tiburon

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
84
Whaddup

I'm new to the whole DIY puter deal (and the forum) so take it easy on me when I ask dumb or repatative questions but from what I've read in the forums so far this seems like a really great community. To give you a hint on how newbie I am about a couple months ago I didn't know the difference between a PSU and a GPU :D. This will be a mostly a gaming computer with net surfing, playing dvds, listening to music, etc. I will be attempting some OC (hopefully with everyones help) and I want the price range to be around $1000 U.S. After some [H]ardcore studying here is what I've come up with:

OS
Case
PSU
Cooling product 1
Cooling product 2
Processor
Motherboard
memory
Video Card
Hard Drive
DVD drive

Floppy Drive
CRT Monitor

As far as the video card goes I'm really stumped here. I don't really think I need the new 7800gtx...so I guess its between the nvidia 6800 series and the ATI x800 series. There seems to be so many to chose from I'm really confuse as to which to get.
 
everything looks good, however if that fan you posted is for that heatsink it won't fit. also you might want to get an sata hard drive.
 
faster, are often more reliable. and since they're only a little more than ide drives theres no reason not to get one for a new build.
 
ok thanks bud. I updated the Hard drive...hopefully its updated to a SATA drive.

What about video cards? Any opinions?
 
theres not TOO much difference in speed right now...but a good plus is the very thing cable that connects it to the mb...helps keep ur case nice and tidy :)
 
The video card situation is not THAT complicated. From prices I've seen recently (athough they change all the time with rebates etc), I found the 6800 and 6800 GT ATI equivalents were more expensive. While the 9800 Pro was cheaper than the 6600 GT.
Still, the 6600 GT will easilly beat the 9800 Pro in some tests.
The 6800 is a mild step above the 6600 GT in some tests. The 6800 GT is sometimes the best deal for the price. And it's not too far away from the 6800 Ultra but without the heafty price tag. Cards, I might consider would be in this order:
9600 Pro (for real cheap computer)
6600 GT
6800 GT
7800 GT (when it comes out next month)

Now, look at the prices for those and you're ready to make a decision. There are lots of benchmarks at xbitlabs, click on video then scroll down and click on the 27 GPU tests.
 
Ok I was initially gonna go 6600gt or x800xl but fugg it right whats another 100 bucks :p. Video card is updated thanks bud. So anyone else see any other problems with the build? No conflicts? Any other cooling products I should buy like thermal paste? OEM v Retail? Is it reasonably futureproof? Is the PSU powerful enough for the overclocking I plan on doing?
 
Get the X800XL. Since you can get it for $260 at Monarch, it is a better deal than a 6800GT. The performance between the two is very similar, but the X800L is cheaper, what else can you ask for?

That ram is ok, it is good because with a DFI board you can give it over 3.0 volts (most ram only takes like 2.5-2.9) and tighten up the timings and increase the speed a lot (only if your proc is OCed to at least that range though). With a $1000 budget though, it is NOT a good buy. You need to save some money, so here's Crucial Value 512mb for $45:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146532
Don't mind what the specs say, it is a good overclocker. There are also 1GB Crucial Value sticks for $110: (you probably can't afford two of these though)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146545
The 1Gb stick can reach 235-250mhz (200 is stock) at 3-3-3 timings. That is really good for the price. And with 512mb stick instead of 1GB the overclocks can only increase!

The only difference between OEM and Retail is that retail comes with a heatsink and thermal paste already applied to the heatsink. You have a very good choice in proc right now! Don't change it.

Be sure to get the panaflo medium and AS Ceramique options on that XP-90. Another great choice!

Don't skimp on a PSU. Get a Seasonic S12-500. Seasonic is the best for quiet, efficiency/tolerancing, and they are equal to everybody else (no one company is really good in these areas) in the power provided and 36A on the 12v rails. That's all you need to ask for in a PSU besides price. But Seasonic is also inexpensive comaratively!
http://www.case-mod.com/store/seaso...-500-watt-atx-power-supply-p-1579.html?src=fr
$105 + shipping. Other places have it for $125-130!

good motherboard choice.

We need to change the HDD. For one thing Newegg ships their HDDs in a manner so as to invite damage en route (bubblewrap). And another, SATAII doesn't provide much improvement over normal SATA. Also, Maxtor drives 200GB and above can have 16mb cache. That makes them the fastest 7200rpm drives, and for the drives that you would normal buy for your computer, only the horribly price inefficient WD Raptor is faster (4x the price per GB, yikes!). Here's a 200GB 16mb cache Maxtor for $97.50 shipped:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100713-3
 
Some people don't like the heatsink that comes with the retail CPU because they want to do aggressive overclocking. But, the stock heatsinks are still OK for general use or mild overcocking.

If you get the OEM, you can choose which HSF (heatsink) you want.
 
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