First PC Build - Please Help

[Bluecanoe]

Hi everyone. I've been reading this forum for months trying to gain knowledge & confidence for my first build. I would really appreciate some of you reviewing my list of proposed components for compatibility, reliability, etc. I'm trying to build a quality family PC capable of moderate gaming. I don't know anything about overclocking, but it may be nice to be able to attempt it in the future.

Would appreciate all comments / suggestions. Thanks for your help. This is an excellent forum.



Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

ASUS P5W DH DELUXE or

Intel BLKD975XBX2KR

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB Hard Drive

Optical: Plextor PX-755SA

or would two less expensive optical drives be more useful?

Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB

Power Supply: ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W

or

SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT ATX12V / EPS12V 550W

Case: LIAN LI PC-60BPLUSII W

 

[o1die]

Before assemblying, I would do a bare board post outside the case, with just the cpu/heatsink, video (includes connecting a lead from the power supply if needed), and one stick of memory. You can also connect the case speaker lead (if it will reach the board) and power switch lead. Sometimes, I have to place the board over the anti static bag and foam backing on top of the case for all the wires to reach when the power supply is already in the case. If you have any other doubts, by all means, simply read the motherboard owner's manual cover to cover before doing anything. Have a little patience and you might have a successful first build.

 

[Whoaru99]

I may be all wet here, but my understanding (albeit limited at this point) is that Intel mobos are very reliable and high quality, but in general, are limited in their OC ability. Hopefully someone will correct me if that's bad info.

 

[Bluecanoe]

Thanks for the advice oldie, I will try to do that. Thanks for your response also whoaru, that's fine with me.
Any advice or input from others before I order parts?
Thanks.

 

[LintMan]

Personally, I'd skip the Plextor SATA optical drive and buy one or two IDE ones instead at a fraction of the cost. Those MBs will support them.

Unless you're buy a MB with people reporting problems with IDE support, it doesn't seem worth it to spend the extra for SATA; it probably won't get you any extra performance and costs a heck of a lot more.

I also like to have two drives so I can do disk-to-disk copying or even just to be able to leave the CDs/DVDs for two games in the system to minimize swapping.

Plextor is a good brand but slightly pricey in general, so I like Lite-On, which I've had a lot of success with. I just recently bought a Lite-On dual-layer 18x DVD+/-RW for $42 and a Lite-On CD-RW/DVD combo drive for $28 from Newegg.

 

[yiranhu]

Agreed on the IDE DVDRW part. Not much reason to go for the SATA right now...
I wouldn't go with Intel mobo because the 6600 just begs to be overclocked. You can also look into memory other than corsair that maybe cheaper (ADATA's 667 is generally a good one can run at VERY high speed because of the D9 chip).

BTW, if you want to save some dough, there are cheap cases by rosewill that will do pretty well (you might need to buy your own 120 mm fans - cheap though). Also for CPU cooling, check out the vertical units from rosewill and sunbeam. They are like 28 bucks and 18 bucks both are really good... (better than stock)

 

[Bluecanoe]

Thanks very much for the feedback, LintMan & yiranhu. This is just the kind of advice I was hoping for.