Building my first PC

[DyslexicHobo]

This is my first computer that I'm building... and I just wanted to check with you computer-smart people to see if all the parts were compatible and stuff. :/

Thermaltake Xaser V Damier Full-Tower Case with 420W Power Supply
Lite-On 12X DVD+/-RW Drive
WD Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive
2x 512MB 184 pin DDR PC3200 RAM
ASUS A8V Deluxe Wi-Fi mobo with K8T800 Pro chipset (socket 939)
AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 2.2GHz, 512 kb L2 cache
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro


My friend said you guys are really smart, and I'm hopin he's right. :-D I really don't want to screw this computer up, it's my one chance to get a good PC.

So, I just wanted to make sure there's nothing big I'm forgetting. And will I have any heating issues with the case I'm getting (2 fans)? I really don't have experience with any other computers besides my own now, which is an old Dell.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Bump

 

[jpeyton]

Where are you getting the parts? How much are you paying? What will the system be used for primarily? Secondarily? What's your budget? Monitor?

And what kind of RAM is that specifically?

And yes, we are very smart.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I'm getting the parts from NewEgg, all of them. I have about an $1800 budget, but I'm buying $150 speakers with it too, and some RAM heatspreaders and a better heatsync for my processor and maybe chipset. I'm going to be using the comp mainly for gaming, and that's pretty much it. I've got a 19" flat-screen monitor that I'm going to keep with my new system.

 

[jpeyton]

If I had your money, this is what I'd do.

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ S939 - $485

ASUS A8V Deluxe Wi-Fi - $152

Thermaltake SilentTower Heatpipe - $42.95

Mushkin 1024MB PC-3200 - $158

PNY GeForce 6800GT 256MB - $339.67

Samsung 16X/52X DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive - $42

NEC 8X DL DVD +/- RW - $78.99

2X Samsung 160GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Cache - $212

Antec Sonata w/ 380W PSU - $99.94

Logitech Z-5300 5.1 THX Speakers - $147

TOTAL: $1757.55

It's worth noting that while the Audigy ZS is a great sound card, some new games of note are moving away from proprietary sound encoding/decoding formats (like Creative's EAX). Doom 3 has it's own software sound processor that encodes a 5.1 channel stream. In the newest issue of PCGamer, an interview with a guy from iD revealed that Doom 3 will sound just as good with onboard sound as with a Audigy 2 ZS; as long as you can ouput all 5.1 channels, you'll be golden.

Might want to look at the Chaintech AV-710 on Newegg if you want a good sound card for music though.

 

[dowxp]

as a person who does not spend money on mods, you should consider using a retail hsf [$15] and basic antec case [$60] and spend the money elsewhere.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Hmm... lol, your system is looking a lot better than the one I picked out. I'll probably use a few of your suggestions.

 

[jpeyton]

Read my edits. Make sure to ask any more questions if you got them.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I think I am going to end up using the setup you reccomended. I like it a whole lot better than the stuff I picked out. :-D

Did you choose that Antec Sonata case for any particular reason? I don't really care for the look of the case much. Having a quiet case doesn't really mean that much to me, anyway, as long as it doesn't sound like a vacuum cleaner.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
If I had your money, this is what I'd do.

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ S939 - $485

ASUS A8V Deluxe Wi-Fi - $152

Thermaltake SilentTower Heatpipe - $42.95

Mushkin 1024MB PC-3200 - $158

PNY GeForce 6800GT 256MB - $339.67

Samsung 16X/52X DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive - $42

NEC 8X DL DVD +/- RW - $78.99

2X Samsung 160GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Cache - $212

Antec Sonata w/ 380W PSU - $99.94

Logitech Z-5300 5.1 THX Speakers - $147

TOTAL: $1757.55

It's worth noting that while the Audigy ZS is a great sound card, some new games of note are moving away from proprietary sound encoding/decoding formats (like Creative's EAX). Doom 3 has it's own software sound processor that encodes a 5.1 channel stream. In the newest issue of PCGamer, an interview with a guy from iD revealed that Doom 3 will sound just as good with onboard sound as with a Audigy 2 ZS; as long as you can ouput all 5.1 channels, you'll be golden.

Might want to look at the Chaintech AV-710 on Newegg if you want a good sound card for music though.

we have the same brain jpeyton.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Oh also, I heard that the GeForce 6800GT needed a large power supply (up to 480W), are you positive that a 380W power supply would be enough?

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
I think I am going to end up using the setup you reccomended. I like it a whole lot better than the stuff I picked out. :-D

Did you choose that Antec Sonata case for any particular reason? I don't really care for the look of the case much. Having a quiet case doesn't really mean that much to me, anyway, as long as it doesn't sound like a vacuum cleaner.

It's quiet and very cool inside, plus the PSU is highly rated. Add a second 120mm quiet fan to cool your hard drives if you want.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
Oh also, I heard that the GeForce 6800GT needed a large power supply (up to 480W), are you positive that a 380W power supply would be enough?

an antec true380 is plenty of power.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
Oh also, I heard that the GeForce 6800GT needed a large power supply (up to 480W), are you positive that a 380W power supply would be enough?

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1026316170&postcount=46

And guess how many watts that PSU has?

 

[DyslexicHobo]

How many?

 

[jpeyton]

250W

Quality > Quantity

 

[Jojo7]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
2X Samsung 160GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Cache - $212

Are you suggesting that he should run these 2 drives in raid 0? I would STRONLY suggest the 74 gb raptor over those other drives. The "feel" on a 74 gb raptor is amazing.

You could always add an additional (120gb+) hdd later if you need more storage.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Well I know I'm not going to use even all 74GB of a 10000 RPM raptor.

Would 1x 10000 RPM Raptor be better than 2x 7200 RPM Samsungs?

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Jojo7

Originally posted by: jpeyton
2X Samsung 160GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Cache - $212

Are you suggesting that he should run these 2 drives in raid 0? I would STRONLY suggest the 74 gb raptor over those other drives. The "feel" on a 74 gb raptor is amazing.

You could always add an additional (120gb+) hdd later if you need more storage.

No RAID-0. Just nice to have two drives; if he really wants to save a whole ~3 seconds when loading his games, he can buy half the space for nearly twice the price.

You can get just one Samsung 160GB if you think that's enough space.

Or you could get the Raptor if you really want. On top of the aforementioned ~3 seconds for loading game levels, you also save a few seconds every time you reboot your PC and load Windows; your internet browser loads in 1 second instead of 1.025 seconds; and MS Word loads a whole .75 seconds faster.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Hmm... Then I think I might actually just go with 1x Samsung 160GB 7200 RPM. Why exactly is having two hard drives better than just one? Like I said before, the only computer I really have experience using is my crappy dell, which has a 27.9 gig HD. :\

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
Hmm... Then I think I might actually just go with 1x Samsung 160GB 7200 RPM. Why exactly is having two hard drives better than just one? Like I said before, the only computer I really have experience using is my crappy dell, which has a 27.9 gig HD. :\

Yeah read my post above yours and just get one Samsung.

Raptors are good if you transfer multi-gigabyte files dozens of times a day. Otherwise they don't offer value for the money.

 

[FFactory0x]

back off on the raptors and save your money man. you really dont need them iunless ou want a hardcore rig and want to run it in raid 0

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Ok. I decided that I'm definitely getting all the internal components you reccomended (besides the extra HD).

I really wanted a cooler-looking case, but I decided that the Antec Sonata will be much better in the long run.

Thanks a LOT for all the help, especially jpeyton! Hopefully I'll have my PC up and running in about two weeks. I'd have it up sooner if I wasn't going to summer camp. >:\

 

[mechBgon]

It sounds like you started with a good plan and it just got better thanks to these fine gents so I don't know if you need this, but I made a photo guide (bottom link) that goes through the mechanics of assembling the system, plus some anti-worm security tips on the Resources page. There are links to some security goodies including free antivirus and firewall software, free online antivirus and security scans, free anti-spyware software, etc. If nothing else, it will keep you on a steady diet of snacks while you build it

I do see one thing missing here: operating system. WinXP Pro SP1, figure $140-$150 if you need it.

 

[imported_Ranik]

Wait a few weeks and save a little more money and buy an ATI X800 or X800XT!