Advice for my First PC Build

[Alathald]

I'm planning to build a new PC over the next couple of months and have already selected everything I plan on using (using this site to guide the majority of my decisions ) I like to think I've put together a decent PC that I can easily upgrade for years...well, months to come but as I've never done this before, could you guys take a look at my list and make any reasonable recommendations?. I already have the mobo (christmas) but I've yet to purchase any of the other components.

Just in case the above link doesn't work, here's my list of components and why I selected each one:

Case
COOLER MASTER Ammo 533
Looks like a good lan party case & I love the aesthetics. Plus it should be big enough to fit the Thermaltake CPU Fan

Motherboard
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2
Has many features for the am/pro OCer plus the Socket AM2 will support AM3 as well.
I already own this mobo.

Video Card
eVGA GeForce 7950GT 512MB KO Superclocked Video Card
I read/heard many good things about eVGA though not sure if I should get regular or "Superclocked" card...I can only afford one right now but this leaves room to upgrade (as opposed to 2 7600's).

PSU
CORSAIR 620W Power Supply
Received good reviews (including LR) for being a very reliable PSU

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 OEM
I'm torn between this and the 4200+, the 4800+ has 2MB of L2 cache and 200MHz on the 4200+ plus it's OEM so I'm leaning toward it cause I'd rather not pay for the fan just to replace it (below).

Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
Looks like good memory, 4-4-4-12 timing (though I'm not 1000% sure what the timing means), EPP and SLI certified (could just be buzz words but I don't know better ).

Drives
Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s OEM
Pretty standard fare with enough storage (for now).

ASUS 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write Silver E-IDE/ATAPI
Again, basic stuff (silver to match case)

CPU Fan
Thermaltake CL-P0310 120mm CPU Cooling Fan
Selected because of awesome review from LR


Thanks for taking a peek, if I forgot anything or if any components are incompatible or you have any suggestions/advice, I'd love to hear it.

[KnightRid]

looks nice to me

couple of my own suggestions..

hard drive - have you checked out Seagate? 5 year warranties are REAL nice!

burner - why not snag a SATA burner so you can lose ALL the ide stuff? newegg has one for $32.99 I think.

I take it by the video card that you are a gamer, so why not get the Nvidia 8800 or wait till DX10 is on some of the lower priced cards. I am in the same boat right now, so I am using the onboard video until the cheaper DX10 cards come out next year ( thanx for the advise Apop!! )

power supply - will it be enough to power 2 of the high end video cards?? I really dont know, but you might want to check into that. With the 1000watt supplies out there, you might need to get some more juice ;)

Mike

I start off saying it looks good, then I just destroy half of it..lol..I need help :p

[cyberneticimplant]

Everything looks good to me. Cheers.

[Apoptosis]

looks like a solid rig... you'll like the Big Typhoon VX... I still run it every day on the test bench as it's easier to take on and off than a waterblock and it's nearly as good.

I agree on the SATA drives... I'm tempted to move to SATA myself to try out an all SATA system. I run the same hard drives on the test bench that you are getting... I have that same memory kit... I run that same PSU... I have the processor and the motherboard... I like all of them.

When it comes to the CPU don't forget the 65nm AMD processors have just come out. They are 2% slower than the 90nm processors, but consum less power and put out less heat. Just a thought...

[Alathald]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll definitely check out the SATA DVD Drives. The main reason I didn't pick one originally was color choices (stupid, I know ) but now I'm thinking I'm going to stealth my drive so color doesn't matter.
As for the video card, I'd love to wait for prices to drop but I'm having game withdraws cause my laptop (ran BF2 about mid quality) just died so I got nothing to game on right now. I will look into a Seagate HD though.

Hope to get this up and folding (used to freelance fold on my laptop, plan to fold for Team LR) before the end of January.
Expect to see more of me around as I sadly have no life...

[Gamble]

looks like a solid rig to me as well. i am planning on building a c2duo system soon, but im going to wait a few months for vista and dx10 to come out on some midrange-high range video cards as said above. im also waiting for a mother board that has full compatibility with the duo, as none of them available right now perform too far beyond the AM2 boards. since the thread is started ill list my planned system:

Case:
Armor Jr. Mid Tower Aluminum (amazing ventilation, attractive, and secure)

Mobo:
Undecided

Memory:
Undecided there too

Cooler:
Big Typhoon VX/Thermalright Ultra 120 (again undecided)

PSU:
Toughpower 850w (for future power needs)

Drives:
2 WD Raptor 74Gb for gaming (maybe the bigger ones depending on funds)

Lite-On 16X +/- R SH-16A7S-05 OEM

CPU:
Core 2 Duo E6700

Sound:
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Gamer

Monitor:
Either Chimei 22in Widescreen LCD or Acer 22in Widescreen....tossup

[dicecca112]

looks like a solid rig to me as well. i am planning on building a c2duo system soon, but im going to wait a few months for vista and dx10 to come out on some midrange-high range video cards as said above. im also waiting for a mother board that has full compatibility with the duo, as none of them available right now perform too far beyond the AM2 boards. since the thread is started ill list my planned system:

Case:
Armor Jr. Mid Tower Aluminum (amazing ventilation, attractive, and secure)

Mobo:
Undecided

Memory:
Undecided there too

Cooler:
Big Typhoon VX/Thermalright Ultra 120 (again undecided)

PSU:
Toughpower 850w (for future power needs)

Drives:
2 WD Raptor 74Gb for gaming (maybe the bigger ones depending on funds)

Lite-On 16X +/- R SH-16A7S-05 OEM

CPU:
Core 2 Duo E6700

Sound:
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Gamer

Monitor:
Either Chimei 22in Widescreen LCD or Acer 22in Widescreen....tossup

You can do better than a toughpower for less money.

[Apoptosis]

I have the Thermaltake Toughpower 850 and Silverstone Zeus 850W and the thermaltake is a much better PSU... I used quad-core/8800GTX SLI/ PhysX PPU, 4GB memory, and 4 500GB hard drives on the test system and the Zeus's +12V rail dropped below 11.9V, while the Thermaltake 850W hung in there... the review is weeks away, but the testing is done... Thought I'd share.

[cyberneticimplant]

If you are buying a high end PSU I would look at PC Power & Cooling. Also, Zalman makes some nice CPU coolers.

Fact of the matter is PC Power and Cooling is not the best PSU around, and frankly there overpriced. Zippy, and others can be found for less with much better build quality

[Apoptosis]

Be sure to post up what you buy or some pictures when you get it all... It always helps to see what others are buying/building!

[xander9791]

Personally I like the Samsung SpinPoints. I put two into my friends computer and just one returns 165/173Mbs in the bursts. (not sure which one off the top of my head). My WD 160GB is only about 120 or so. The computer is also very responsive regarding the HDD. Picked em up for $60 a piece from newegg last summer. I'll get them in RAID and report back. I like to G5 laser as a gaming mouse. (again friends machine)

[Gamble]

Got my Armor Jr. today, I wrote about it in the "Thermaltake Issues" post. Now I have to wait at least two weeks for my next big paycheck to buy another few parts. I thought it may be hard to stave off of buying until Vista comes out. Turns out I'll be way behind it!! Should be a good field of DX10 hardware to choose from by the time I get there.

[Brand]

I am building the same m2n32-sli motherboard and I ran into a problem. Did you get your Big Typhoon CPU cooler mounted on this board? I have not received my CPU yet, but I placed my Big Typhoon cooler over the AM2 slot and it doesn't look like it will fit between the memory and the heat pipe. Did you have the same problem getting the Big Typhoon to fit on this board?

[Stilgar59]

Hi,
Nice looking setup would consider adding Soundblaster X-Fi or at least an Audigy 2. One other thing the OEM of Windows Media Center 2005 is based on XP Pro and it is around $30 cheaper than XP Pro unless you are going to run Linux etc.
Good luck,
Steve

[danno]

Man, I really need to make the move to all SATA. You might as well as go for it. Might as well grab a card reader too. well if you take digi pics. I have been real satisfied with the Zalman 9500. It cools great! Make sure to go for at least 2 gb of RAM. Oh and why not go for the whole package and get VISTA.

[mongol05]

looks good. I agree about getting seagate and a sata burner

[LordEder]

I would also recommend Samsung HDDs and SATA DVD drives.

[trueg50]

well, looks pretty good, though I would have most certainly recommended going with a core 2 based system. That power supply might be a little under powered for 2 high end graphics cards. I would recommend going with one of the Hiper 730 watt PSU's, they are powerful enough, but not too pricy. For your hard drive, I would go with one of the seagate 320 gig SATA's, they are only 94$, so quite cost effective. If you are looking for a good high end cooler, I would recommend trying the "ThermalTake big water 2" I have one, and it is wonderful, great for over clocking, however your CPU might not overclock that well anyways. But for $99 (at xoxide.com) it is a great deal for a cooler that is hugly better than any air cooler, while still being a very good "first watercooling" system.

[wyatt`]

Everything looks good but I would reconsider the video card choice. Possibly wait and leave it till the last purchase. After reading this lastest article on the XFX 8800 GTS XXX there is no reason to purchase any other card at this time. It is now my next upgrade or "dream" if you will ;)

[Cisco Kidd]

the asus board rox I had it and loved it but went C2Duo, now when I look back it was not necessary