Help me build my first rig!

[FirstTimeBuildr]

I need help building a pc!! Hi guys I'm a gamer, and this is my first time building a pc.

I have a budget of $1,000 max. My ideal build is an intel i5, EVGA Nvidia 460 overclocked (EE), 6gb ddr3 ram, a decent motherboard, an adequate power supply, and an NZXT case.

I also want to be able to upgrade my graphics card (eventually)!

Ty in advance,

FTB(FirstTimeBuildr)

hey guys ive gotten a build that i think is solid. Only thing thats missing is the power supply. If you can tell me what sort of power supply i need please tell me! One other thing that is missing is the memory. If someone knows where I can get good memory that would be awesome!

http://www.evga.com/products/moreInf...ly=Motherboard Family&series=Intel P55 Series Family&sw=5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ID=3332167&SID=
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136218

 

[Firsttime]

Do you have any parts you are reusing? Like your monitor? Have an OS?

I would suggest ditching the NIC and USB cards, they don't really add much to the performance of your rig.

Second, RAM can be had at Newegg. This kit is pretty popular. There isn't really any reason to go with more then 4 gigs currently, but if you really want 6 gigs there is this

As for a PSU, Corsair is a solid brand. That would more power your rig nicely. Case is mostly personal preference, with a few airflow concerns thrown in, so find something you like there.

Other then that your stuff looks good. The NIC card is just overkill, and if you really want USB 3 you might be better off looking for a board that has it built it.

 

[mfenn]

I second Firsttime.

The NIC is completely stupid because it offers maybe a couple percent improvement (if you're lucky) and it going to be bottlenecked by your Internet connection anyway. That $90 would be far better spent on the GPU.

You can also save some money if you just get a motherboard that has USB 3.0 built in like the GA-P55A-UD3.

Third, the EVGA GTX 460's with external exhaust absolutely suck. They are loud and hot compared to the reference design. Although with the money you save by not getting the USB 3.0 card, the stupid NIC, and 6GB of RAM, you can afford a 5870, which is much faster than the GTX 460. That 5870 only $342 today, which is a killer deal.

 

[pyr02k1]

Firsttime is absolutely right on dropping the nic and usb card. no purpose in 99% of systems as the onboard lan is usually more then adequate (i've maxed the gbit onboard more then once) and if you need usb3, your better off with onboard.

Right now I have a NZXT Zero. Good case, for the most part. I got it for the purpose of forcing air onto the CPU/GPU by using 3 133CFM fans and 1 108CFM that all have good constant flow on them. Running a 4870X2 @ 50% fan settings with no overclock and loaded down, it doesnt go above 55C. The CPU is a Q6600 @ 3.1GHz running at 38C peak with max load. With the fans turned down to their minimum, the GPU goes up to 68C and the CPU runs around 45-48C.

Airflow will be a big concern for any build unless you plan to use another method of cooling. Pick a case that has good airflow and upgrade the fans if keeping the temps lower is important. Stock fans on many cases work well, but the ones that came with the Zero were crap and barely moved the air.

PSU is another choice you need to make. But check the reviews on the sales site of the ones your looking at and take them all with a grain of salt. The true reviews that actually test the units, they tend to be a good way to judge how well it'll perform where as the customer reviews generally show a pattern of DOA units or loud fans, etc. My Silverstone ST85F has a slight ticking on the rear fan, which isnt a big deal to me as I noted it in the reviews and also noted that most people who had it fail noticed it immediately on first run. Mine happened a year into the unit and I have extra fans/psus laying around if need be. Overall, its a good, solid PSU and I'll gladly buy another.

Corsair and Antec seem to make the most liked PSUs, but priced reasonably. PCP&C has never failed on me once and always provided adequate power. Silverstone is what I use currently and they generally make a quality product. Read up on them and go from there. Take into consideration future upgrades as well. The reason I picked an 850 wasnt specifically because I wanted to get 3 or 4 card, or that I ever anticipated using 850w of power, but more because I have 10 hard drives of various sizes and age in the system now (server) and 6 in my gaming rig. I wanted the overhead for if I do upgrade the GPU and overclock the CPU a ton further, and toss on a bunch of other things, so this way I dont have to buy another down the line when $20 at the time of purchase could save me the hassle.

When you set your budget too, dont forget tax and shipping. Occasionally, it slips my mind and the 1500 budget turns into 1700 with california taxes and shipping. Also, consider saving another 500 to make the budget 1500 as you might want to try a Raid 0 with a short stroked hard drive set or an SSD. I have both 3 750gb drives short stroked and a 50G vertex 2 and love them both. The SSD is great for the access times. The 750s (only because I'm running 3 and not 2) can, if not fragmented at all, load large files quicker. You may want to use the 500 to put in a small raid0 of 1tb samsung drives for the speed and sli a second card. But then taxes come back into play and 1500 turns to 1700 instead of 1000 becoming 1100...

Be careful of compatibility issues as well. Some items have problems with others that you normally dont think about. The DFI board in my gaming rig is running with a silverstone psu because I know it works. I found this out after getting another psu that didnt work properly and the board wouldnt post properly. Switching to an old 400w psu I had laying around worked fine though. The PSU i bought wasnt listed on the compatibility list i found after the fact, but the 400w and the silverstone both were. It's rare that should happen on most boards, but you might find that the ram you purchase doesnt agree with overclocking very well or that it does splendid, depending on the customer reviews you catch.

--pyr0

 

[darkewaffle]

mfenn + firsttime are putting you on the right track. Drop the NIC and USB card, definitely wasted on your budget since you can get them integrated in most mobos.

Pick whatever optical drive you like from whatever company you prefer. They're not all that different really.

Hard drive, depends on space you need. I'd probably say go with a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 or a 640GB/1TB WD Caviar Black.

You'll need a power supply as well. I'd probably say a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151093 though it will limit your ability to go SLi in the future, if that's a concern. Good company, 80+ bronze, and I think you'll appreciate modular cabling in your first build. No need to route all the excess. But if you don't care about that, there are higher capacity non-modular PSUs for about that same price point.

6GB ram is probably not necessary, unless you're not telling us something

And don't forget about the 'other' things if it's a brand new build. Mouse, keyboard, monitor, operating system. Easy to overlook if you're just thinking inside the tower.

 

[mfenn]

mfenn + firsttime are putting you on the right track. Drop the NIC and USB card, definitely wasted on your budget since you can get them integrated in most mobos.

Pick whatever optical drive you like from whatever company you prefer. They're not all that different really.

Hard drive, depends on space you need. I'd probably say go with a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 or a 640GB/1TB WD Caviar Black.

You'll need a power supply as well. I'd probably say a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151093 though it will limit your ability to go SLi in the future, if that's a concern. Good company, 80+ bronze, and I think you'll appreciate modular cabling in your first build. No need to route all the excess. But if you don't care about that, there are higher capacity non-modular PSUs for about that same price point.

6GB ram is probably not necessary, unless you're not telling us something

And don't forget about the 'other' things if it's a brand new build. Mouse, keyboard, monitor, operating system. Easy to overlook if you're just thinking inside the tower.

:thumbsup:

 

[betasub]

Yeah, don't forget to think outside the box! ;-)

 

[FirstTimeBuildr]

K getting rid of the usb 3.0 and network card, however do you guys think I should get a wifi adapter? Oh and I do have a moniter, keyboard, and such. However the OS is a no go considering it came with my last computer, and was on a partition....

@mfenn: Thanks for the graphics card info, I got a lot of mixed reviews. So it's good to have some solid info. However idk about 5870 as my other cards were nvidia and when crysis 2 comes out it is going to be relying heavily on nvidia phys.

@first: ty for the memory and psu advice as these were both things that had me confused!

ty also darkewaffle and pyr02k1!

 

[mfenn]

I would NOT use wireless on a gaming machine. Your pings will be horrible and wireless is much more likely to drop packets which is a big deal since games use UDP.

 

[FirstTimeBuildr]

K mfenn, I had just heard good things about wireless N, especially with dualband routers.

 

[lambchops511]

I would NOT use wireless on a gaming machine. Your pings will be horrible and wireless is much more likely to drop packets which is a big deal since games use UDP.

i disagree-- unless you're in a location w/ lots of interference/other routers

and this is very subjective-- personally i cant tell the at all difference.. but maybe the OP can.. ur ping times are still majorily affected by your ISP.. maybe 20% of your ping times are affected by wireless router.

 

[mfenn]

i disagree-- unless you're in a location w/ lots of interference/other routers

and this is very subjective-- personally i cant tell the at all difference.. but maybe the OP can.. ur ping times are still majorily affected by your ISP.. maybe 20% of your ping times are affected by wireless router.

I agree that your ISP is a big component of the times and that if you live out in the boonies, you might not be able to measure a difference. However, I've got 20APs within range of my MBP, and let me tell you, the pings and dropped packets are horrendous.

 

[Murloc]

I had bad experiences with wireless and gaming.
There's so much more that can go wrong, broke, be not working properly.
A wire will work forever if you don't walk on it.

 

[mfenn]

I had bad experiences with wireless and gaming.
There's so much more that can go wrong, broke, be not working properly.
A wire will work forever if you don't walk on it.

:thumbsup:

 

[FirstTimeBuildr]

is there a modular psu that anyone out there could recommend, Im really knew to this but it seems like ill need an 850W to be on the safe side.

 

[mfenn]

is there a modular psu that anyone out there could recommend, Im really knew to this but it seems like ill need an 850W to be on the safe side.

LOL. No you will not need an 850W for a single GTX 460. In fact, using an 850W will cause the computer to draw more power because you're lower down on the efficiency curve. Not to mention that it is more expensive.

 

[FirstTimeBuildr]

k thanks. Can you guys recommend a graphics card? it just has to be under $300.

 

[FirstTimeBuildr]

Also what power supply would you recommend then mfenn??

 

[mfenn]

k thanks. Can you guys recommend a graphics card? it just has to be under $300.

The GTX 460 1GB would be my pick for a GPU under $300.

Also what power supply would you recommend then mfenn??

I like the Corsair 650TX, but if you want modular you can go with the XFX P1-650X-CAG9 (wow, what a mouthful). It also has a killer rebate right now.

 

[waffletten]

All the advice I have seen is sound and you should be well off with the hardware you have selected. When I built my first rig years ago there were few things I wish I had on hand when I started.
1.)Buy some thermal interface material (TIM) for the CPU - heatsink interface. Most of the heatsinks will have some screened on but mine didn't and I had to run out when I discovered this. Plus the stuff they apply for you isn't always the best. I like arctic silver but there are other good TIM's about.
2.)Cables for the OEM components I ordered. I was short a SATA cable on my first build because I hadn't thought that the OEM hard drive doesn't come with one.
3.)Some cable ties, cable mounts for the inside of the case, and some heat shrink tubing. Cable management is very important and make sure you have these things to keep the inside clean and clear for good airflow. Plus it looks cool to have all the cables neat and tidy (especially if you have a side window on your case).

You may already have these things, but sometimes in the excitement of the first build these may be overlooked. A few bucks for most of these items and, to me, probably some of the most important things when assembling a computer.

 

[FirstTimeBuildr]

ty waffle, i just had a question about the memory, the 6gb kit that First had posted was triple channel, however the motherboard i have picked out only support double channel. Is that going to be a problem??

 

[Chapbass]

If you have a dual channel board picked out, go with a 2x2gb kit (4gb total). That will get you dual channel.

Stick with a well known company like Crucial, Corsair, G.Skill, Kingston, etc.

If you ever end up needing more than 4gb (not for awhile, with the way games are going atm, mainly would use more for professional apps), you can always buy another 2x2gb kit.


As far as the OS goes, get a copy of Windows 7 x64 (64 bit) Home Premium OEM. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product This is the one from newegg.

Also, regarding WiFi: Heres an important question....Is wifi NEEDED? are you far away from your router/switch? If it would make your life a ton easier, then maybe its something to consider. But the rule has and is: If you can go wired, do wired. Its cheaper, more reliable, and faster. Same goes (to a lesser extent) with keyboards/mice. Theyve improved latency on keyboards and mice a ton, but you still have batteries, weight, etc to deal with.

I won't go any further as to unintentionally provoke a flamewar, but yeah, in general thats widely accepted.

Heres an example of some memory:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145260

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

Hope it helps!

 

[FirstTimeBuildr]

Ty for the quick reply!!

 

[Chapbass]

np