[pbM]

im building my first comp. i looked around for awhile online(mostly newegg - which is where im expectin to buy the large majority of my hardware from) and i dont know really whats compatiable and what isnt. whats worth the extra money and wut isnt. etc. lookin to spend $1400-1700 U.S. i also wouldnt mind spending a bit more or less depending on if a peice of hardware is really worth the extra buck or if i should stick with lower versions/models of said hardware. anyway onto what ive gathered so far. any help would be GREATLY appreciated. thx in advance -

ah yes, and ill be using this comp primarily for gaming. specifically CS:1.6, CS:S(maybe..), WOW, wc3. so im not going to be playing any really highend or gfx intensive games but i still want a decent rig for once

and sorry for adding so many details if it proves to be too much reading. i just figured id provide u with as much info as possible so that i can get clear/concise help because i really wanna make sure im spending my money correctly.

Updated Notes:
- there were tons of xp products and variations of the OS and wuts shipped and included. is this the version i want? what i want is to put my parts together, install the OS and play- did i choose the right Windows XP product to do that?
- RAM voltage is 2.1v instead of the normal 1.8v-1.9v i have seen. is this an issue?
- added XP, processor fan and changed mobo- revised total
- is the psu enuff power for the gfx card? and this card does run rather hot. any good cooling options u know of(heatsink/fan)?
- couldnt find a decent dvd dual layer burner for any cheaper(tho admittedly i didnt look very long) so i stuck with the one i had before but if ur kind enuff to link me one id love u forever =]
- any other compatability issues u might see. id hate to get all my peices and not have them fit or work together


and heres wut i got so far:

Tentative Total: $1745.58 U.S. + tax

OS:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16832116056

$94.98 [89.99 + 4.99 (s/h)]

Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM

Monitor:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824103203

$201.69 [169.99 + 31.70(S/h)]

CTX EX951FB-1 Black 19" CRT Monitor D-Sub - Retail
Dot Pitch: 0.24mm Diagonal (0.21mm Horizontal)
Horizontal Refresh Rate: 30kHz - 96kHz
Input Video Compatibility: Analog RGB
Maximum Resolution: 1600 x 1200 @ 75Hz
Power Consumption: 110W Maximum Recommended Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 85Hz
Regulatory Approvals: CE, UL/cUL, FCC, CB, CNS, MPRII, Nemko, 3C, TCO'99
User Controls: On-Screen Menu Controls: H/V Position Control, H/V Size Control, Bri/Ctrs Control,
Pincushion, Pin Balance, Trapeziod(Keystone), Parallelogram(Tilt), Rotation, Reset,
Color Adjustment, Regulations Moire, Multilingual, Manual Degauss
Vertical Refresh Rate: 50Hz - 160Hz
Viewable Size: 18"
Model #: EX951FB-1
Item #: N82E16824103203
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813188017

$116.40 [$109.99 + 6.41]

EVGA 122-CK-NF66-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i Ultra ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
AGP Slots: None
CPU Type: Quad-core / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium
Dual Channel Supported: Yes
FSB: 1333/1066MHz
Maximum Memory Supported: 8GB
Memory Standard: DDR2 800
Number of Memory Slots: 4×240pin
PCI Express x1: 2
PCI Express x16: 1
PCI Slots: 3
Model #: 122-CK-NF66-T1
Item #: N82E16813188017

Processor:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115003

$230.00

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
64 bit Support: Yes
FSB: 1066MHz
Hyper-Threading Support: No
L1 Cache: 32KB+32KB
L2 Cache: 4M shared
Manufacturing Tech: 65 nm
Multi-Core: Dual-Core
Processors Type: Desktop
Series: Core 2 Duo
Vista Ready: Yes
Model #: BX80557E6600
Item #: N82E16819115003
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
Free 3 Business Day Shipping

Processor Fan:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835106069

$50.98 [45.99 + 4.99]

Thermaltake CL-P0257 Blue orb II CPU Cooler for LGA775 & K8 - Retail
Air Flow: 77.85 CFM
Color: Transparent
Compatibility: Intel Pentium D (Socket LGA775) Intel Pentium 4 (Socket LGA775) Intel Celeron D (Socket LGA775) AMD Athlon X2 (Socket 939) AMD Athlon 64 FX (Socket 939 / 940) AMD Athlon 64 (Socket 754 / 939) AMD Sempron (Socket 754) AMD Opteron (Socket 940)
Fan Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 24.3mm
Heatsink Material: Copper Core & Aluminum Extrusion (140 fin)
LED: Blue
Noise Level: 17 dBA
Power Connector: 3 Pin
RPM: 1700 ±10% RPM
Type: Fan&Heatsinks
Model #: CL-P0257
Item #: N82E16835106069
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

Memory:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820145034

$159.00

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail
Cas Latency: 4
Features: EPP (Enhanced Performance Profiles) and also SLI certified
Heat Spreader: Yes
Labor: Lifetime limited
Parts: Lifetime limited
Recommend Use: High Performance or Gaming Memory
Timing: 4-4-4-12
Voltage: 2.1V
Model #: TWIN2X2048-6400C4
Item #: N82E16820145034
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Free 3 Business Day Shipping

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822144701

$69.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: Cool operating temperature
Form Factor: 3.5"
Labor: 3 years limited
Parts: 3 years limited
Model #: WD2500KS
Item #: N82E16822144701
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Free 3 Business Day Shipping

DVD-Burner:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827152079

$38.63 [32.99 + 5.64(S/H)]

Sony NEC Optiarc DVD Burner
Model AD-7170S-0B
Performance: DVD-ROM Access Time - 160ms, CD-ROM Access Time - 140ms
Cache: 2MB
Write Speed:DVD+R 18X, DVD+RW 8X,DVD-R 18X,DVD-RW 6X,CD-R 48X,CD-RW 32X,DVD+R DL 8X,DVD-R DL 8X,DVD-RAM12X
Read Speed: DVD-ROM 16X, CD-ROM 48X
Physical Spec: Form Factor - 5"
Panel Color: Black
Load Type: Tray
Interface: SATA

GFXcard:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130080

$416.12 [409.99 + 6.13(s/h)]

EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 576MHz
DirectX: DirectX 10
DVI: 2
Memory Clock: 1700MHz(effective)
Memory Interface: 320-bit
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0
Stream Processors: 96
TV-Out: HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO: No
Model #: 640-P2-N825-AR
Item #: N82E16814130080
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

Soundcard:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16829102006

$81.82 [74.99+6.83(s/h)]

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Audio Chipset: X-Fi
Digital Audio: 24-bit
Line In: Yes
Line Out: Front/Rear/Center/Subwoofer/Rear Center
MIC In: Yes
Sample Rate: 96KHz
SNR: Stereo Output 109dB Front and Rear Channels 109dB Center, Subwoofer and Side Channels 109dB
SPDIF In: Yes
SPDIF Out: Yes
Model #: 70SB073A00000
Item #: N82E16829102006
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

Case:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129021

$129.99

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
120mm Fans: 1 x 120mm TriCool rear fan with 3-speed switch control 2 x 120mm TriCool blue LED front fans with
3-speed switch control to cool HDDs
80mm Fans: No
Expansion Slots: 7
External 3.5" Drive Bays: No
External 5.25" Drive Bays: 3
Front Ports: Power & reset button with blue LED 2 x USB 2.0 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire, i.Link) Audio In and Out
Internal 3.5" Drive Bays: 6
Motherboard Compatibility: ATX / m-ATX
With Power Supply: No
With Side Panel Window: Yes
Model #: Nine Hundred
Item #: N82E16811129021
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817371001

$129.99

Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails - Retail
Dual +12V: 3 x +12V
Efficiency: Up to 85%
Fans: 1 x 120mm low noise cooling fan
Input Voltage: 100 - 240 V
Main Connector: 20 + 4Pin
Modular Cabling Support: No
Over Voltage Protection: Yes
PCI-E Connectors: 2 x 6Pin
PFC: Active
SLI Support: nVIDIA SLI certified
Model #: TP3-650
Item #: N82E16817371001
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

Media Drive Reader:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820223072

$25.99

Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive - Retail
Dimensions: 5.66" x 3.99" x 1.00"
Features: High Speed USB2.0 transmission All-in-one card reader Fully compliant with USB 2.0 specification
Color: Black Support Windows 98/98SE/2000/ME/XP; Linux 2.4; Mac. OS 9x or higher
Installation Type: Internal
Slots: 2
Support - Compact Flash: Yes
Support - Memory Stick: Yes
Support - MMC: Yes
Support - SD: Yes
Support - SmartMedia: Yes
Model #: RCR-FD200
Item #: N82E16820223072
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


sorry for the huge read but again i wanna make sure im pleased with how much i spend and the performance i get for that money.

thank you again

Edited by pbM, 05 May 2007 - 08:55 PM.

[Advertisements]

Alright first off to answer your questions.

-Sound cards are worth it some times. All the good MOBOs now come with good onboard sound now though. It is not going to be something you will be required to get. If you don't get one I don't think you will regret it. The MOBO you have picked out has onboard sound that should be sufficient.

-The biggest mistake I made with my first build was buying a cheap case. It doesn't have to be that expensive to be that high of quality though. This is what I used for my last build: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119106. It was very nice especially for the price. Everything snaps in and has a nice cooling system.

-If you don't plan to overclock or maybe just a little bit then the stock fan that comes with CPU will be fine. My last build with e6400 ran at 28-30C idle with the stock fan and artic silver grease.

-You will have to buy a copy of Windows for it if you plan to game. Right now there are a lot of games that are not vista compatable. I would still recommend XP. It will come with a Vista coupon but I'm not sure for how much. Windows XP costs around $90.

-All the wiring you will need to know will come with your MOBO manual.

-There are a few good brands and its essential that you get a good one. Really cheap PSUs put your whole system at risk. Thermaltake and Antec are the brands I usually go with. I would reccommend atleast 550 watts.

If you are looking to game I highly reccommend a LCD monitor. You can get a LCD monitor of the same size for the same price or even cheaper. Also make sure it supports DVI or DVI-D.

You can also get a DVD-R 20X for nearly the same price as the 18x you have picked out.

Cutting out the sound card should make room for the 8800 .

[Titan8990]

Alright first off to answer your questions.

-Sound cards are worth it some times. All the good MOBOs now come with good onboard sound now though. It is not going to be something you will be required to get. If you don't get one I don't think you will regret it. The MOBO you have picked out has onboard sound that should be sufficient.

-The biggest mistake I made with my first build was buying a cheap case. It doesn't have to be that expensive to be that high of quality though. This is what I used for my last build: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119106. It was very nice especially for the price. Everything snaps in and has a nice cooling system.

-If you don't plan to overclock or maybe just a little bit then the stock fan that comes with CPU will be fine. My last build with e6400 ran at 28-30C idle with the stock fan and artic silver grease.

-You will have to buy a copy of Windows for it if you plan to game. Right now there are a lot of games that are not vista compatable. I would still recommend XP. It will come with a Vista coupon but I'm not sure for how much. Windows XP costs around $90.

-All the wiring you will need to know will come with your MOBO manual.

-There are a few good brands and its essential that you get a good one. Really cheap PSUs put your whole system at risk. Thermaltake and Antec are the brands I usually go with. I would reccommend atleast 550 watts.

If you are looking to game I highly reccommend a LCD monitor. You can get a LCD monitor of the same size for the same price or even cheaper. Also make sure it supports DVI or DVI-D.

You can also get a DVD-R 20X for nearly the same price as the 18x you have picked out.

Cutting out the sound card should make room for the 8800 .

[pbM]

ur answers raised a few questions and im glad cuz ur givin me valuable info i need thx again

- power supplys: going with antec since it seems most ppl recommend them and u did as well so i feel secure in going with them. lookin thru newegg these seem to be my options. which route should i take? i understand 650W may be overkill for my system but i would prefer to have overkill power/cooling to keep my system running smooth and cool. if the 650W is the same quality of psu as the 550W just with more power than i think id rather opt to spend the extra cash.

+Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817103941
-$109.99

+Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817371002
-$99.99

+Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817371001
-$129.99

- cooling. i would love to keep my system running as cool as that. whats artic silver grease and any other good cooling suggestions? i was looking at corsairs RAM fans as well as heatsinks. any of these viable?

- casing. i dont want to buy all my parts and then have them not fit =/. i noticed ur suggestion has 1 more External 5.25" Drive Bays, while the one i picked out earlier has more 1 External 3.5" Drive Bays and 3 Internal 3.5" Drive Bays and they both have 7 expansion slots. what goes in each of these? which are better to have more of? and also would there really be a problem fitting both a soundcard and a 8800 in my case? i may skip the soundcard for now as u suggest but im sure ill want it in the future. itd be a shame if i couldnt fit it.

- compatability. since u didnt raise any issues i assume these parts will all work together? the drives will fit in the tower, the software will work, ill be able to boot it up without any issues etc? just wanna make sure

- im a CRT man =] i know LCDs are gettin better but i still like the refresh rates of CRTs. u gotta spend a lot more to get a LCD with equal refresh rates

- and ill look for a new burner thx

[Titan8990]

If you have the extra money to get an extra 100watts it definatly won't hurt anything. I have that 550w Trupower Trio you have listed there. They are awesome PSUs.

Going into more cooling option is really not needed. If you plan to overclock then it will be something you will want to consider. Whenever a heatsink is intalled on CPU or GPU a layer of "grease" or thermal compound must be applied to reduce surface and help transfer heat. Most stock coolers come with a ceramic pad. Artic silver is simply just a grease that performs slightly better than standard silcon or ceramic compounds. It costs around $10 a tube and I believe I got 5 applications out of my last tube. I will tell you that it can be a mess. Have a look at the wiki definiton of thermal coumpound: http://en.wikipedia..../Thermal_grease

It is highly unlikely that you will use 7 expansion bays. The 5.25 bay is used mostly for CD/DVD burners and the 3.5 for floppy. A HDD is also 3.5 but won't fit in all floppy spots. There are some toys such as fan controllers that are made to fit in those expansion bays but I have never used them for anything off the wall. The case I showed you only has room for 3 HDDs and on the 3rd and your pushing it on the PSU cables reaching. That was something I noticed about the case but was insignificant to me and my friend who I was building for.

Everything was compatable. Much better than my first try at a build .

[james_8970]

I just want to add something here.
The new 8900 series isn't coming out till the end of the year, on the 15 of may the 8800ULTRA is coming out, but it'll be around 850$. The card is only a extremly overclocked version of the 8800GTX.
Stay out of the graphics card arena as long as possible, because if you have an alternative card great, if not go DX10. But there are no benchmarks at this moment to state whether or not a DX10 card today actually performes well in DX10.

If you get the sound card, only get the Xtremegamer forget the fatal1ty version, it's not worth the extra $$$$ and it' z-ram. Also unless you have a 5.1 suround system it's not really worth it, you won't notice a huge difference if any at all. However it takes the audio load of the CPU which causes as much as a 15% increase in performance.

As for PSU, if you plan on getting a really high end graphics card down the road be sure it has a 2x4pin cable. The new HD 2900xt from ATI will require a 2x3 and a 2x4 pin cable to function, also ATI recommends 750W or more. Again only worry about this is you plan on buying a high end graphics card in the future

Also if you don't plan on overclocking you can cut costs by getting lower clocked ram.

James

Edited by james_8970, 03 May 2007 - 08:06 AM.

[Titan8990]

That is not the first time I have heard that about metalic greases. If you have a comparision I would like to see it. I know on my own CPU the switch from silcon to metalic based grease was am insignificant difference if any. I would pay the extra $5 just because I find it easier to apply. I remeber reading somewhere that metalic+sockect pins=screwed while with silcon grease it is a fixable problem.

Edited by Titan8990, 03 May 2007 - 02:25 PM.

[Hemal]

I'm going to have to second the dx10 comments being made, I would suggest building the rig now but if possible, I would hold out and get some type of filler-card until the new dx10 cards start coming out in the summer (which is only a month away) -- some of these cards will be sporting HDMI ports and of course they will be faster/more powerful and have a lot of other new bells and whistles

[pbM]

updated the notes to cover most of my current concerns and comments

updated the overall price so far

updated the components - new case, added psu, added gfx card, couple other adds/swaps

ill think about the dx10 comments. i understand the validity of them- its just that i dont care about most of the cutting edge games/programs that would use dx10 anyway. i just want a card that will destroy my dx9 games like counter-strike and wow and wc3 so its that my purpose than it doesnt matter much if i get the expensive card now does it? but ill consider it for sure. saving money for now is definitely an appealing option since i am reaching the limit of what i want to spend with the current build im using.

please keep the info/advice coming - i really want to be 100% positive my money is going to the right parts/rig before i spend a ton of it

and ty again

[Titan8990]

Can we see the new parts you picked out?

[pbM]

its all up in my original post. i thought id just edit it instead of making continued lists. the most recent list should be up there


hm. my links appear broken imma fix tht rt now

Edited by pbM, 03 May 2007 - 10:19 PM.

[james_8970]

Don't like the motherboard, if you can spend a few extra $$$ this motherboard would be your best bet since I has great upgradability options. At the end of the year Intel is lauching a revision of the core2duo processors and this is one of the few board that will be able to accept them. It has excellent overclocking if that what you do want to do later on as well. You choice, I'm just not a huge Asus fan because of the numberous problems I hear all the time.

Also if you can wait till the end of may, there is a card coming out that'll be priced around 350-400$ and will perform quite a bit better then that graphics card. But again if you change to this route your going to need a power supply with a 8pin (2x4pin) connector. I think it'll be worth it in the end and it'll cost about the same yet you'll get more performance.

Overall everything looks good to go, the only situation you'll have with running XP and DX10 is that XP cannot run DX10. This should be a problem for now, but next year this time you'll have to buy vista if you want to see all the eye candy in todays games.

James

Edited by james_8970, 04 May 2007 - 08:58 AM.

[pbM]

im a bit confused on a few parts of ur post.

first off ive heard good stuff about asus but i really dont know all tht much. ur saying u dont like the motherboard and say i should spend a bit more but dont say towards wut. are u talking about a different brand or a higher model of the one ive picked out? and then u say "this is one of the few board that will be able to accept them. It has excellent overclocking" are u referring to the board i picked out or the mobo u are suggesting? and if it is the one ur suggesting link it plz <3

i am planning on buying this towards the end of may after a couple more paychecks, and hopefully some prices will drop by then. ill look into wut ur talkin about(the gfx card and 8pin psu) tho, thx for the advice.

and about the OS should i just spend the 50 or wutever extra and get vista? vista runs all old games/programs fine im assuming so i can still HL/CS/WOW/Wc3 and use all my other random progs without any problems correct? if so i prolly would just get vista

well i started lookin for a new mobo in case thts wut ur talkin about
i always heard tht abit mobos were really nice so i looked for an abit and found this one
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813127011
its only 15 bucks more or sumthin so wouldnt be a big deal and if its a better card its worth the extra cash.

lemme know wut u think of it

Edited by pbM, 04 May 2007 - 10:43 PM.

[james_8970]

Sorry I must have been asleep, found a cheaper version of the motherboard I like.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813188019

The reason why I don't like Asus is because they have to many dead on arrivals (DOA's). If you get a working they're great but reliability isn't very high with Asus. Prices should drop by the end of may on graphics cards.

Yes vista will be compatible with older games, for now frame rates will be slightly lower, but as drivers mature this should change.

If I missed something let me know, but I will be gone till Sunday night to answer any more questions.

James

[Titan8990]

James is right about ASUS and there are many people on here that would advise against it but I don't have any personal experiences. If you are looking to go James' route with the EVGA I think you could go cheaper with this one: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813188017. It is basically the same thing only with one less PCI-E slot and a chipset that doesn't support Nvidia SLI (which is a marketing gimic anyways).

The only way I think that ASUS would be worth it is if you actually have use for the onboard WiFi. That paticular board you have picked out is well established amongst overclokers though.

Edited by Titan8990, 05 May 2007 - 05:06 PM.

[pbM]

hm gettin a quality board like tht for 100 bux is very tempting

i do have a nintendo DS tho and it would be cool if i could use the WiFi on the board i chose, however im gonna be using a switch and im pretty sure the DS needs a wireless router

anyhow i think ill trust ur guys experience and go with an evga mobo thx ill update the list now