Noob building a comp... Suggestions?

T

Timm

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 11, 2008
Messages
156
Hey guys! Ok so I have never built a comp before and have been trying to pick out the pieces :) I just need to know if what I have picked out will all be compatible and if there is something I could to save money or boost performance at the same cost. I watch a lot of HD movies, play a little WoW, and do a lot of multitasking. So here is what I've got, and thanks for helping me out!

Case

Motherboard

PSU

CPU

RAM

Harddrive With the Hard drive I'm looking for at least 640gb and up to 1tb.

Optical Drive

Graphics Card

Thanks for the help guys :) Again first time so if i missed something big sorry :D
 
What would be your budget on this build? Also, do you intend to game on this rig?
 
Light gaming, but I want it to be able to take what I can throw at it. Not looking for the BEST but good enough to handle most things, just so i don't run into anything later. And from what I've picked out I'm looking at about $900
 
Your link to your ram isn't working. It links to your processor. Other than that, looks pretty good to me. That looks like it'll be solid, and should work well for what you want.

What monitor are you hooking this up to? I assume it's HD, and I'd recommend getting a DVI to HDMI Cable for best HD video quality.
 
I watch movies on a 32" 1080p HDTV and usually play games on my 19" samsung. I really only play WoW on the HDTV and I am content with the performance my current rig puts out on that with a 8600, 4gb ram, and a 2.6ghz dualcore.
 
scarredtaka said:
Your link to your ram isn't working. It links to your processor. Other than that, looks pretty good to me. That looks like it'll be solid, and should work well for what you want.

What monitor are you hooking this up to? I assume it's HD, and I'd recommend getting a DVI to HDMI Cable for best HD video quality.
Click to expand...

Fixed RAM link and I've already got the DVI to HDMI cable ;)
 
Why are you sticking with AMD? The Q6600 can beat the Phenom 9850 at both stock speeds and overclocked -- and unlike the Phenom 9850, it is easily overclockable. Take advantage of one of the following two combo deals...

$285 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 & Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R combo
$295 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 & Asus P5Q Pro combo

... and each combo deal is cheaper than buying your (choice for) motherboard and processor separately.

You should also consider an aftermarket CPU cooler if you have any inclination towards overclocking your processor. Regardless of which way you go, a good choice for a CPU cooler is the Xigmatek HDT-S1283. (To make things easier on you, don't forget the ACK-I7751 retention bracket.)

You don't need a 750 watt power supply for your setup -- and since the most intensive game you play is WoW, you don't need a multi-video card setup. That said, you could go with a cheaper power supply, like the BFG LS-550, that has more than enough power for your current setup.

The card that you chose is a bit outdated... and it's out of stock. Go with the similarly priced HD4850 -- it performs just as well as the G92 8800GTS, and it would play games on both your 19 inch monitor and your 32 inch HDTV. If you want to play games more on your HDTV (especially some of the more recently released games), I recommend that you instead look at either the HD4870 or the GTX 260.

Out of curiosity, do you have an unused copy of Windows available for this rig?
 
tiraides said:
Why are you sticking with AMD? The Q6600 can beat the Phenom 9850 at both stock speeds and overclocked -- and unlike the Phenom 9850, it is easily overclockable. Take advantage of one of the following two combo deals...

$285 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 & Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R combo
$295 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 & Asus P5Q Pro combo

... and each combo deal is cheaper than buying your (choice for) motherboard and processor separately.

You should also consider an aftermarket CPU cooler if you have any inclination towards overclocking your processor. Regardless of which way you go, a good choice for a CPU cooler is the Xigmatek HDT-S1283. (To make things easier on you, don't forget the ACK-I7751 retention bracket.)

You don't need a 750 watt power supply for your setup -- and since the most intensive game you play is WoW, you don't need a multi-video card setup. That said, you could go with a cheaper power supply, like the BFG LS-550, that has more than enough power for your current setup.

The card that you chose is a bit outdated... and it's out of stock. Though you could go with the similarly priced HD4850 -- which performs just as well as the G92 8800GTS -- if you want to play some of today's games, I recommend that you instead look at either the (1GB) HD4870 or the GTX 260 (with 216 stream processors). (The items in parentheses indicate the newer models/revisions, which I recommend over the older 512MB HD4870 and GTX 260 with 192 shader cores... but only if you can afford them. The newer models cost around $240-$270, whereas the older models range from $190 to around $230.)

Do you also have an unused copy of Windows available for this rig?
Click to expand...

So starting from the top. I don't really know why I go AMD, maybe it's because in the past I've had rigs with crappy Intel processors (crappy because they were outdated not because they were intel) and I see the Intel logo and cringe. Really it's rather irrational, but I will definitely keep those two deals in mind. I would just need to learn how to OC to make up the .2ghz difference :D And is the CPU cooler necessary if I don't overclock?

With the PSU i really didn't have a preference, I just found that one by searching for a PSU with a red led fan in it already. Would the 550W be plenty even if I added on down the road? And is it easy to replace a fan in a PSU so that it would match the scheme of the rest of the rig? I know it's kind of pathetic to base a component purchase off of looks but I have this really big problem with things "matching".

As for the Graphics Card I was able to get an the BFG 8800GTS for $100 brand new so that is kind of set in stone. But for what I am looking at doing it should suffice right. Like i said I am currently working with an 8600 and I have very very few complaints and I'm just hoping for some improvement.

And yes I do have an unused copy of Windows.

Thanks for all the input btw :)
 
Intel's the way to go right now, and you could certainly afford to go that route. The long story short is that Intel righted itself with its Core 2 platform (and maintained its dominance with the recently released Core i7) and is currently the only option from a performance standpoint.

I wouldn't recommend changing the PSU fan, but I personally don't like voiding the warranties to all of my components. I haven't had any hands-on time with the LS-550, so I can't say how easy or how hard it would be to upgrade the fan.

If WoW is going to be the most graphically demanding game that you play on your HDTV, then go ahead and get the 8800GTS. But today's games (like Crysis and FarCry 2) would eat it alive at a (1920 x)1080p resolution. Out of curiosity, though, where are you getting a G92 8800GTS, new, for $100?
 
Well I will most definitely keep those deals in mind then. I don't really plan on getting into Crysis or FarCry atm, I think the only game I plan on definitely playing in the future would be Diablo III.

Well depending on how money is going in a month or so I will probably go with a less powerful PSU then. But you think that 550W will be plenty for that setup and any minor additions in the future?

And yes i got a new G92 8800GTS for $100.
Again, Thanks for all the input!
 
Thanks for all the help guys!!! You saved me a few bucks, and now I feel more confident about the whole thing :)
 
I won't :) It might be a little bit before I get it all together, but once it does happen I will most definitely post some pics :D
 
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