Help with Build

S

SalokinX

Geek Trainee
Hi everyone. I'm building my first computer from scratch and I'm posting here all the hardware I am buying so that if I missed anything, you guys could tell me before it's too late :chk:

Hardware:
ECS P45T-A
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
Transcend 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500AAKS 250GB
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA
Scythe SY1225SL12M 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Rosewill RTK-001 Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap

For graphics card I already have an ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro.

I know I'm missing the Power Supply and the Case, but I don't really know what power supply I should buy, so I was hoping you guys could help me with that too since I don't know how much Watts I need.

Is there anything I don't need (like the extra fan and cooler thing?)? Is there anything I missed?

Again, this is the first computer I am going to build, so I don't want to mess up and I'm trying to keep it cheap (right now with all those hardware it's $450).

I just want this computer to play MMORPG and basically use MSN :P Do you guys think that is powerful enough?
 
that should be pretty nice, I might look into a gigabyte or asus motherboard, but that's because I have had good experience with them in the past.

as for a psu, something from corsair, seasonic, antec, ocz. I would say 500W or higher.

if it was me buying I would pick a corsair 520HX or 620 HX for that build because they are modular and very good quality imo
and maybe consider a E8400 to save a little cash

the CPU cooler is great just save yourself some stress and get the blot through kit as well for it.

are you planning on upgrading anything soon after you build it?,
 
just save yourself some stress and get the blot through kit as well for it.
Click to expand...

What is that? :confused:

And no, I don't really upgrade a computer, I keep it for about 3 years than buy a new one. About the E8400 cheaper, I thought about that, but that CPU is only $20 cheaper than the E8500.

I was actually going to get the E8400 but my friend told me to get the E8500 because it almost the same price and it's faster. Do you actually FEEL the difference between them?

Btw, is this the psu you are talking about:
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX?

If it is, it's kind of expensive and gets out of my budget (which is $500).
 
here we go:
arctic cooling freezer 7 18.99 + shipping 8.25 to my house don't know what it would be to you.
Seagate 250 GB HDD or any other that's 49.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-1000 44.99
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R 108.99 with 15 rebate
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 159.99
Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 650W 69.99 (seasonic makes them for antec)
coolermaster 330 49.99

total after rebate is 496.18

the psu in the coolermaster is not enough imo but it's free shipping and that alone saves ~ 20 dollars. the same case without the psu is 39.99 without free shipping

use your current video card and upgrade it later if you need to.

that setup will give you some nice overclocking if your into that as well

I changed my position on the cpu cooler because of price, I know for a fact the AC freezer 7 is very nice at least the one I have is a champ
 
Oh cool :D

I only have 1 question, why change the motherboard?

Is that one better? Sorry for my newby questions :(

EDIT:
I changed the CPU and added the PSU and Case. I didn't change the motherboard/ram because I don't really know what the difference is, just waiting for your reply :P

The CPU cooler I left the other one, is there any difference?

Here is a link to everything so far:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=11521688

I changed the budget to $550 and if needed $600 so that I don't have to buy lower-quality pieces, specially since this will have to last me at least 2 years.
 
Net Jockey said:
Because Brand names are Important = Quality
I recently built my first computer...I have the same processor...and it is mounted into this main board... Newegg.com - ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards And my computer works like dream.

In my opinion your budget is low...Do not go cheap on your power supply.
Click to expand...

Oh. Well I changed the motherboard to the Asus P5Q Pro and changed the Memory to a DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500). So now the computer is $590,00.

About the power supply, you said "don't go cheap", are you saying that the one I currently picked (Atec True Power Trio) is not a good one? If not, what would you recommend?

Check all pieces here.
 
SalokinX said:
About the power supply, you said "don't go cheap", are you saying that the one I currently picked (Atec True Power Trio) is not a good one? If not, what would you recommend?
Click to expand...
I don't have any experience with that power supply...Before I purchased my components...I asked the Knowledgeable people what they thought were the better brands...and this was their response.

PSU Seasonic - any model
Corsair - any model
Thermaltake - "Toughpower" series only
Coolermaster - "Real Power Pro" series only
PC Power & Cooling - any model
Silverstone - any model

The Corsair HX620W CMPSU-620HX ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E will likely be sufficient for you...I went with the 750 Corsair...but it is an over kill...and I do not regret it.
NCIX.com - Buy Corsair HX620W CMPSU-620HX ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E - CMPSU-620HX In Canada.

The 750TX Corsair is also cheaper...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Each Main Board is particular in what kind of memory it will handle. The Quality distributors of RAM will have a configurator...that will tell you what memory will work with your board.

I can tell you that the Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory will work with that board. Because that is what I went with.
NCIX.com - Buy Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory - TWIN2X2048-6400C4 In Canada.

So will this one...NCIX.com - Buy Crucial Ballistix BL2KIT12864AA106A PC2-8500 DDR2 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 Memory Kit - BL2KIT12864AA106A In Canada.
 
Net Jockey said:
Each Main Board is particular in what kind of memory it will handle. The Quality distributors of RAM will have a configurator...that will tell you what memory will work with your board.
Click to expand...

Well, I knew that. I checked the manufacture's website (link) and it says the following:

Dual-channel DDR2 1200/1066/800/667 MHz
Click to expand...

So I guess I shouldn't have a problem with the memory. Also, my friend was here today and he changed some stuff from my list to make it a bit cheaper.

About the PSU you recommended, I called my friend and he said it was a good option if I was willing to pay the extra $30.00, which I am since he made my computer $30.00 dollars cheaper anyway and the total came out $610.88, which is what I was hoping for.

I greatly appreciate all your help and concern.

Here is the link to the computer I'm going to buy. If you think anything could be removed/added just leave a comment with your opinion and I'll see if it serves me well. I'm only buying this by mid-December, so still some time to change things if necessary.

Nick's Computer $610.88

Again, thank you all for the help.

Sincerely,
~SalokinX
 
I am running XP Pro with 2 GB of Ram. If you are running Vista you will require more RAM.

I think you will be very pleased with the performance of your computer.

It is a joy to be able to help people with an attitude like you have demonstrated.:)

It appears that you have a very good friend.

Good luck with your build...have fun with it...Make sure the the heat sink is properly mounted on top of the processor. That was the hardest part of the build.
 
Oh. Just letting you guys know, I bought the PSU and Motherboard today (a total of $219.98) with a mail rebate of $35 on the PSU and $15 on the Motherboard. So my computer will be a total of $560.88.

EDIT:
I'm actually not sure if I should do the rebate because I don't want to risk losing the Motherboard and/or PSU if they don't work or anything.

Anyway, thanks again!
 
As you will have noticed...your retail CPU came with a stock heat sink and fan, that is sufficient enough to cool the unit...It also came with the thermal compound applied to the heat sink. So you can knock some more off of your total cost.

Ya...the rebate thing is sort of a catch 22...I also did not do it for the same reason.
 
Net Jockey said:
As you will have noticed...your retail CPU came with a stock heat sink and fan, that is sufficient enough to cool the unit...It also came with the thermal compound applied to the heat sink. So you can knock some more off of your total cost.

Ya...the rebate thing is sort of a catch 22...I also did not do it for the same reason.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize the CPU comes with a heatsink and fan and thermal compound. Do you think they are good quality? Should I actually remove the extra ones I selected?

The price is not really a factor anymore, so I'm only worried about the quality. If the extra Thermal Compound and Heatsink are better quality, than I would prefer to buy them.
 
SalokinX said:
I didn't realize the CPU comes with a heatsink and fan and thermal compound. Do you think they are good quality? Should I actually remove the extra ones I selected?

The price is not really a factor anymore, so I'm only worried about the quality. If the extra Thermal Compound and Heatsink are better quality, than I would prefer to buy them.
Click to expand...

When I asked that question (for my build) I was told the only advantage was that the stock one would be a bit noisier. My CPU runs at 23 Degrees Celsius.
 
Net Jockey said:
Also you might want to take a look at this hard drive...
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive OEM - ST3500320AS In Canada.

More expensive...but it might preform faster than the one you have selected.
Click to expand...

Well, I think that is too much space. I don't really need a new HDD with more than 80gb because I already have 200gb here (1x80gb and 1x120gb), so another 500gb wouldn't be necessary. Plus the extra $30.00 is not very budget-friendly :chk:

Thanks for the advice though.
 
Ya I agree that is a lot of space...I like you probably don't need more than 80 GB. I let myself get talked into it, because I was told it was twice as fast as the one I had selected. I thought that might interest you.

But if it does not...that's :cool:
 
Net Jockey said:
Ya I agree that is a lot of space...I like you probably don't need more than 80 GB. I let myself get talked into it, because I was told it was twice as fast as the one I had selected. I thought that might interest you.

But if it does not...that's :cool:
Click to expand...


Well, I actually use up a lot of space. Out of my 200gb I have something like 10gb left, that's why I'm buying the new HDD. But 200gb took me a while to fill (4years), so an extra 250gb would be something like 4 more years :P

And about the Heatsink, I will remove the one I have right now and if I ever feel that the one that comes with the CPU is not enough, I'll just buy the other one.

The Thermal compound is only $7 and I heard really good things about it, so I'll just get that one.

Thanks again for your help and advice.
 
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