Newbie: Advice on my First Desktop

[smileforever]

Hi,

I'm preparing to build my first desktop and I would love if you could take a look at what I have in mind.

Here are the details and please let me know what you think.

Purpose: NOT for gaming, but for multimedia purposes (watching HD, encoding, etc) and thus I want this system to be as QUIET as possible

I would like my desktop to last at least three years, with minimal upgrade.
I will NOT be overclocking this system.

I would like to spend $1200 and under
I prefer a graphics card that has HDMI out

I've done some research and Below is the parts I have chosen (in Canadian dollars)

ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP $170.00
Intel E6850 $175.00
Western Digital Caviar GP 1000GB $273.99
HIS Radeon HD 3850 ICEQ3 Turbo 512MB $235.00
Anitec Sonata III Case $106.00

Would a P35 Motherboard work with a Graphics Card that supports PCIe 2.0?
I can't seem to decide on which memory I would like, any suggestions?

Any ideas on what fans I should get?

thanks!

 

[Harvey]

Don't count on ANY new computer being able to do everything you'll want for the next three years. Technology is advancing rapidly, new applications you may want could emerge at any time, and they may have new requirements that won't even be that expensive at that future time.

Instead, buy for your current and near future purposes. For what you listed,ou could probably build a good machine for maybe 60% of your $1200 budget.

I know you have your reasons for a 1 TB drive, but if you don't need that much storage, now, drives are getting bigger, faster and cheaper almost daily. You may want to think about getting two less expensive drives in the 320 - 500 GB range and using a program like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image to clone your running drive on a regular basis. If your main drive becomes infected, and your backup drive is virus and spyware free when you clone it, the cloned drive will quickly restore you to your last good backup. If your main drive dies, the backup drive will run in its place without any re-installation, and all you'll be out is around $50 - $80 and fifteen minutes to swap the drives.

If you mount the backup drive in a mobile rack, you can unplug it after doing your backup, there is no virus that can jump the air gap so you'll have 100% security.

BTW -- If you have any friends in a city with a Fry's Electronics, in their one day only sale, tomorrow December 26, they're selling that Antec Sonata III case for $59.99 USD after a $30 mail in rebate.

 

[DSF]

Unless you found a crazy deal, I don't think you're getting an E6850 for $175. Did you mean E6750 or E6550?

 

[smileforever]

Originally posted by: Harvey
Don't count on ANY new computer being able to do everything you'll want for the next three years. Technology is advancing rapidly, new applications you may want could emerge at any time, and they may have new requirements that won't even be that expensive at that future time.

Instead, buy for your current and near future purposes. For what you listed,ou could probably build a good machine for maybe 60% of your $1200 budget.

I know you have your reasons for a 1 TB drive, but if you don't need that much storage, now, drives are getting bigger, faster and cheaper almost daily. You may want to think about getting two less expensive drives in the 320 - 500 GB range and using a program like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image to clone your running drive on a regular basis. If your main drive becomes infected, and your backup drive is virus and spyware free when you clone it, the cloned drive will quickly restore you to your last good backup. If your main drive dies, the backup drive will run in its place without any re-installation, and all you'll be out is around $50 - $80 and fifteen minutes to swap the drives.

If you mount the backup drive in a mobile rack, you can unplug it after doing your backup, there is no virus that can jump the air gap so you'll have 100% security.

BTW -- If you have any friends in a city with a Fry's Electronics, in their one day only sale, tomorrow December 26, they're selling that Antec Sonata III case for $59.99 USD after a $30 mail in rebate.

From reading reviews, I thought it may be a better idea to go with the WD 1TB because it can switch RPM based on load, which would make it run less hot, and thus less fan noise.? Should I go with the 1TB or put in 2 x 500GB Seagate?

 

[smileforever]

Originally posted by: DSF
Unless you found a crazy deal, I don't think you're getting an E6850 for $175. Did you mean E6750 or E6550?

Oops. I meant E6750

 

[chuckm]

Newegg has that MB for $139.99

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: smileforever
Hi,

I'm preparing to build my first desktop and I would love if you could take a look at what I have in mind.

Here are the details and please let me know what you think.

Purpose: NOT for gaming, but for multimedia purposes (watching HD, encoding, etc) and thus I want this system to be as QUIET as possible

I would like my desktop to last at least three years, with minimal upgrade.
I will NOT be overclocking this system.

I would like to spend $1200 and under
I prefer a graphics card that has HDMI out

I've done some research and Below is the parts I have chosen (in Canadian dollars)

ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP $170.00
Intel E6850 $175.00
Western Digital Caviar GP 1000GB $273.99
HIS Radeon HD 3850 ICEQ3 Turbo 512MB $235.00
Anitec Sonata III Case $106.00

Would a P35 Motherboard work with a Graphics Card that supports PCIe 2.0?
I can't seem to decide on which memory I would like, any suggestions?

Any ideas on what fans I should get?

thanks!

Board:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...P&manufacture=Gigabyte 172.16 CAD

I feel this is a more reliable board. And i have Both.

VideoCard:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...91-AR&manufacture=eVGA 244.79 CAD
Use a DVI -> HDMI adapter. But if your TV has a DVI, its just best to plug it directly in.

The 8800GT has hardware decoding for HD, so it taxes the cpu less. Also on most LCD TV's i dont think you can do 1920x1080 via HDMI. Well my sharp cant do it, but it does it though v-composite. Also, the 8800GT will handle more then what you need for the next 3 yrs flawlessly.

CPU:
Uhhh.... for 175 thats hella cheap, if the E6750 is considerably cheaper, id grab that tho. But 175 for the E6850 is a great price. Im basing NCIX for CAD prices right now. I dont live in canada so i dont know many CAD stores. :\

If you plan on encoding a lot, a Q6600 might be a better solution.

Hard Drive:
Seagate 7200.11 1TB. Extremely FAST and great drive. More so then the WD GP.

Case:
CM690. Its fairly quiet, and well vented. You dont want the sonata.

PSU:
Corsair VX430

CPU Cooler:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...cture=Arctic%20Cooling $25.63 CAD

Reason why i say this is because when your case insides get hot, and your cpu gets hot, the intel stock fan can spin fast, and become loud. The Freezer tends to be quiet all around, and it does a much better job cooling then the stock oem. But @ 175 i think your buying OEM which comes without a sink.


The stock fans on the CM690 are quiet.