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first time build

A

albumasap

Junior Member
hey everyone. my laptop is getting old and rather annoying so i'm looking to move to a desktop system, mostly because i miss all the gaming i cant do on a laptop. i dont have any old parts so i have to build it from scratch and this would be the first time ive built a full computer. here's what i have so far:

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100166L Radeon X1650XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC ATX 430W Power Supply - Retail

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS2GBKIT533D2 - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM


SAMSUNG 941BW Black 19" 4 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail


Pioneer 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Read Black ATAPI Model DVR-111D - OEM

Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

any thoughts/opinions/suggestions? good build? bad build? i also know vista isnt up to par with gaming but i dont want to have to buy another OS when everyone moves to vista anyway.

thanks.
 
PSU - FSP Group (Fortron Source) is regarded as the best manufacturer in your price-range (~$50). Nothing really wrong with Thermaltake but I would still go with FSP.

Motherboard - P5B Deluxe might be overkill if you are not looking to overclock? The DDR2 533 RAM suggests that you won't be OCing. In that case, consider a cheaper (but just as good without a few extras like FireWire) GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3.

Memory - This isn't that much more expensive than the RAM you chose but at least it comes with a heat spreader, is rated for a higher speed and will at least let you hit 333MHz FSB if you choose to do so.
 
You didn't specify a budget so I'll make a few general suggestions.

Depending on how much you game, you may want a better video card...
ATI X1950Pro
or a GF7900GS which is a little cheaper. The ATI will be a bit of a better bet though for performance.

TT doesn't make great PSUs. Within the same price range you'd be better off with an FSP or possibly an Xclio.
FSP 400W
FSP 450W

From the looks of your RAM choice, it seems like you won't be overclocking. Are you planning to?

You could save some money on the motherboard, provided you don't need the extra features of the Deluxe edition. However, the board you chose is a good one if you can afford it. Check some of these if you want to save some money...
Gigabyte S3
Gigabyte DS3
Asus P5B-E

Edit: theprodigalrebel got in ahead of me
 
i did forget to mention the budget, which is maxed at 1200 right now. i would have liked to get it as low as possible while still getting a rig i'll be able to keep for a few years with minimal upgrades. the video card isn't all that great since i figure more dx10 cards will be out (and cheaper) in a few months so i could easily upgrade to a better dx10 card then. i probably wont be doing much, if any, overclocking unless it would significantly boost my game performance. i just want to be able to play crysis when it comes out...
 
Here's a quick suggestion. I used Newegg as a reference and you can shop around if you like.

Parts you chose:
Case = $50
Vista Premium OEM = $120
19" LCD = $190 after rebate
HDD = $75
e6400 = $225

Additional suggestions:
Corsair as mentioned above by theprodigalrebel = $165
FSP 450W = $55
eVGA 8800GTS 320MB = $300
Gigabyte S3 = $115

TOTAL = $1295

I'm sure if you shopped around you could find some cheaper prices.
The 320MB GTS should be perfect for your 19". However, if you want to wait until later to get a DX10 card maybe do something like you had initially intended and go with a 7600GT or something like it for now at $90 after rebate.

This now puts you at $1085
You could then use some of that money to get a different motherboard as suggested above or the P5B-Dlx. Just gotta save up for the DX10 card though.
 
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