building first computer, help me

D

dson

n00b
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
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55
I'll be buying parts in about a week and wanted some input.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming mostly

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~700 dollars with tax and shipping only

3) Where do you live?
new york

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
I already bought the cpu (i7 920) and a video card (gtx 280). I just need everything else.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I just have the monitor, keyboard, and mouse

6) Will you be overclocking?
probably not

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24", 1920x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
few days to a week

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
don't think i'll be needing any of these

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
yes, windows vista ultimate

As for cases, I was looking at the CM 690, but newegg doesn't have free shipping for it anymore, so it comes out to be over 90 dollars. Is there anywhere else I can get it cheaper?
 
My brother has the CM 690 case and it is an excellent choice. I wish I chose it instead of my Centurion 5. Anyways, you can get the case for $70 w/ FS at Chiefvalue.com, which is basically Newegg.
 
$700 for remaining parts

Corsair 750 PSU if you can get it on sale

Some western digital 640 harddrives or maybe an SSD..., get 2 harddrives one for os/apps, one for downloads

get a true120 for that i920 and overclock!!! trust us!
 
$240 - Asus P6T Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
$90 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$75 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner
$120 - Corsair 750TX 750W PSU
$87 shipped - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
----
Total: $637 plus tax and shipping
 
Danny Bui said:
$240 - Asus P6T Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
$90 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$75 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner
$120 - Corsair 750TX 750W PSU
$87 shipped - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
----
Total: $637 plus tax and shipping
Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree.
 
I'm seeing 258, which includes shipping, for the asus p6t.

Also, any reason I should go with the CM 690 from buy.com instead of the cheaper one at chiefvalue.com?
 
Last edited:
Hahaha ok. Should I get the mobo from chiefvalue too? It's going to be about 242 compared to 258 on newegg.
 
I don't understand what the difference is for a DDR3 1333 and a DDR3 1600... can someone explain that? 1600 is faster? Would I need to overclock anything to use the 1600 because default is 1333? Sorry, I don't really know much...
 
P6T $239 from Provantage

DDR3 1600 is faster than DDR3 1333 and the price difference between the two is negligible so I would recommend going with DDR3 1600. Also, when overclocking, it gives you more headroom so you can have the BCLK at 200 and ram multiplier at 8. Easier to find the combination that way.
 
I have another question.. since the optical drive is OEM, does that mean I need to buy extra cables? If so, what do I need to buy exactly?
 
dson said:
I have another question.. since the optical drive is OEM, does that mean I need to buy extra cables? If so, what do I need to buy exactly?
Click to expand...

The motherboard will come with the cable you need.
 
I'm not sure if I should get the combo or order separately from somewhere cheaper, like zipzoomfly.
 
wherever is cheaper in the end, as long as the etailers used are reputable. I used to use ZZF a lot, too, but haven't actually bought anything from them in about a year. :eek: No particular reason, though.
 
Danny Bui said:
$240 - Asus P6T Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
$90 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$75 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner
$120 - Corsair 750TX 750W PSU
$87 shipped - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
----
Total: $637 plus tax and shipping
Click to expand...

What? Someone's not suggesting the WD6400AAKS? Why not?
 
GN85 said:
What? Someone's not suggesting the WD6400AAKS? Why not?
Click to expand...

It's only $5 more (NewEgg price) for double the cache and slightly better performance. Plus, you get a five-year warranty with the WD Caviar Black drive compared to the three-year warranty that comes with the WD Caviar Blue drive. It's worth the extra Lincoln.
 
Danny Bui said:
$240 - Asus P6T Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
$90 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$75 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner
$120 - Corsair 750TX 750W PSU
$87 shipped - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
----
Total: $637 plus tax and shipping
Click to expand...

+1 for this build; very nicely done!
 
GN85 said:
What? Someone's not suggesting the WD6400AAKS? Why not?
Click to expand...

If it was only $60, and the Black version was $75, then I'd suggest the Blue (AAKS). However, as tiraides pointed out, the difference is only $5 -- well worth it for the extra warranty.
 
I'd recommend the Antec Three Hundred if you were looking to save some cash. Nice case to work with and plenty of airflow. Newegg has it for $55 shipped, IIRC.
 
RAM timings matter little compared to overall RAM speed, especially when it comes to overclocking.

Many OCZ RAM kits run at a voltage of around 1.65V, which is about the most that the Core i7/X58 chipset can safely handle. Grossly simplified, lower voltage means less heat, and it's also one factor in increasing the maximum possible overclocking threshold. Find some DDR3 RAM that runs between 1.5V and 1.6V.
 
dson said:
Aren't the timings better?
Click to expand...

The lower timings don't really have that much of an effect in real world performance. As in you will honestly not notice the difference between 7-7-7-24 and 9-9-9-24 in real world performance.
 
About that Samsung Optical Drive... it's really good choice? In my career of DIY machines, all the Samsung editions of burners/drives either had crap performance, or got problems with reading scratched disks. I'd go for LG/Asus/Nec (too bad TEAC ain't doin drives anymore), they never failed me.
 
Many of us have had no trouble with our Samsung optical drives. Then again, no company has a "perfect" reliability record.
 
I have the RC-690 and it's a fantastic case, you'll love it! There's tons of options for 120mm fans and places to run your cables.

I hope you enjoy your new rig!
 
MorgothPl said:
About that Samsung Optical Drive... it's really good choice? In my career of DIY machines, all the Samsung editions of burners/drives either had crap performance, or got problems with reading scratched disks. I'd go for LG/Asus/Nec (too bad TEAC ain't doin drives anymore), they never failed me.
Click to expand...

They review fine at the optical drive sites. I used to care enough to read optical drive reviews back in the early 2000's, but these days it doesn't matter to me anymore. The Samsung drives perform fine for most peoples needs, and do so quietly, which is the main reason I recommend them. Asus drives are also quiet and fast. Lite-On and LG's can get very loud (though, not my HD/BD LG drive). I haven't bought a Pioneer or Sony/NEC drive since the IDE days, but back then they rocked. I think I have every brand out there, and none really give me any performance problems. :shrug:
 
Okay, so I'll be buying the rest of the parts today, but I had one more question. How is the 750gb compared to the 640gb? Should I buy the 750gb for 80 dollars or just stick with the 640gb for 75 dollars?
 
Haven't seen any reviews or HDTune scores of the 750GB AALS. But from a storage to cost standpoint, the 750GB AALS is an excellent choice for the money. Way better choice than the 640GB AALS.
 
I'm assuming that WD 750GB Caviar Black as 3 x 250GB platters, whereas the 640GB has 2 x 320GB platters.
 
Yeah, I think so too. So I just went ahead and ordered the 640gb along with everything else. Thanks for all your input.
 
Okay, so I got an urgent question. I'm building my computer and I got the CM 690 case. Are the screws I'm supposed to use for the mobo (Asus P6T) the screws that are screwed on the case by the bays?
 
dson said:
Okay, so I got an urgent question. I'm building my computer and I got the CM 690 case. Are the screws I'm supposed to use for the mobo (Asus P6T) the screws that are screwed on the case by the bays?
Click to expand...

You could use those screws on the case by the bays. Don't forget about the standoffs.
 
Okay, got to where I power up the computer. Everything works fine, except nothing is showing up on the monitor. What should I do now? Would it be something wrong with the video card setup?
 
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