Yet another first builder

Manifestor · 06-25-2009, 01:48 PM

So i am interested in building my first computer. I doubt you remember but about half a year ago i asked for help here and learned a lot but never went through with the buying process unfortunately. I now want to go through with it and any help would be greatly appreciated. With that said i don't know much when it comes to building computers so feel free to make any suggestions. I have also read linderman's great sticky so if that 800$ intel or AMD is best for me just shoot me in that direction and don't waste your time:-D

1. Budget: At most 1000$

2. Brands: No preference

3. Multitasking: I will be multitasking but at most gaming with itunes and a browser open.

4. Gaming: I will primarily be using this computer for gaming, playing games like WoW and first person shooters like the CoD series.

5. Calculations: Nope.

6. Overclocking: I might in the future if it makes sense with the build but do not feel the need to.

7. Storage: I was thinking 640g for various games, music, movies etc.

8. Legacy Support: Nope.

9. Operating System: With windows 7 coming out soon i am not sure if using their beta would be ok or not.

10. Case: For some reason i just really like the antec 900/902 cases.

11. Accessories: Nope.

12. Recycled Components: Nope.

13. Monitor: Around a 22 inch and wide screen :-D

14. Stores: Newegg to save on shipping really

15. Location: USA

Thanks in advance to anybody who read this wall of text and suggestions you have for me.

Manifestor · 06-25-2009, 01:51 PM

While doing a little of my own research i came across a build somebody else thought up and was wondering if it would be good for me as well?

CPU + Mobo
X5 955 + ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.203158

RAM -
GSkillz DDR3 1333MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231189

HDD -
WD Black 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284

CASE + PSU
Antec 300 + Antec EA 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.204132

Graphics card -
XFX HD 4870 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150394

Total - $834 not counting in Shipping and Mail-In-Rebates

Again any help is greatly appreciated.

**manic** · 06-25-2009, 01:58 PM

Your links didnt work for me

Im not a big amd fan, or ati for that
matter. So I really cant comment on your build. But I can say I just
built the linderman $800.00 intel build, with a few twists. Used the e8400
cpu, with EO stepping, very overclockable with that gigabyte board.
Just get a decent heatsink for the cpu dont use stock if your going
to overclock...Bottom line I couldnt be happier with the setup for the
money paid..

Manifestor · 06-25-2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manic

Your links didnt work for me

Im not a big amd fan, or ati for that
matter. So I really cant comment on your build. But I can say I just
built the linderman $800.00 intel build, with a few twists. Used the e8400
cpu, with EO stepping, very overclockable with that gigabyte board.
Just get a decent heatsink for the cpu dont use stock if your going
to overclock...Bottom line I couldnt be happier with the setup for the
money paid..

Thanks for the reply and i put bad links up my bad, should be better now. Yeah i figured i would end up going with the 800$ build since its there for how good it is. Btw what does EO stepping mean? Not that great with computer lingo

**wrench97** · 06-25-2009, 02:21 PM

CO and EO stepping are revisions of the CPU the EO is the latest.

**Tyree** · 06-26-2009, 08:00 AM

I also prefer Intel so I can't comment on thje CPU.
I am also NOT of fan of DDR3 RAM yet.
I like the newer ATI cards but XFX is not a great company for support.
Sapphire & Powercolor are the better way for ATI cards.

Manifestor · 06-26-2009, 04:01 PM

Thanks for all the help so far, really appreciate it. So i have decided to go with linderman's 800$ intel set up, but would like to do some minor adjustments to make it a bit better. I was thinking change the video card, but im really not sure which would make the most difference for gaming. Any suggestions would be great:-D thanks again

taydan04 · 06-26-2009, 04:42 PM

For Gaming heh? Well this all depends upon your Resolution, at 22inches chances are it will be around 1680x1050 or 1920x1080 at these resolutions you could get away with an older card like a Geforce 9800GT - GTX most of the time. Although Allot of people will suggest the Radeon 4870 as it is quite a bit more powerful at practically the same price. It all comes down to weather you'd like to be able to use Nvidia PhysX in my opinion as that is the only real difference in the brands that I can see. But then a hole new factor comes in to the equation; Futerproofness (yes I did make the word up). As if you do not wish to upgrade soon in the future you may want a card that will be fine in as many future games as possible as well. This is difficult because as new games come out so do new archietectures and software. For example people building in the near future may be looking into the future line of DirectX 11 Compatible cards like the Geforce GTX3** series. There is then a large gamble in front of you; Do you risk buying a more expensive card Hoping for Futerproofness and hoping that DirectX 11 wont take off too quickly or you buy a cheaper card now and have plans to upgrade to a newer generation of card in the future. The choice is very much yours although I will tell you now, I don't think you will have the need to look at the monster cards like the Geforce GTX295 or Radeon 4870x2 at 22" Resolution. These are all my opinions, not straight fact, although I have put quite some research into them. Disagree with them if you wish ;D

Regards

Daniel Taylor

Phædrus2401 · 06-26-2009, 05:59 PM

Case:
Antec 900 ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021
$99.99

Motherboard:
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo LGA775 P45 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131377
$129.99

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz LGA775
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%20duo%20e8400
$167.99

RAM:
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122
$46.99

PSU:
Corsair CMPSU-750tx 750 watt ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=Corsair%20750
$119.99

GPU:
Sapphire Radeon HD4890 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102830
$199.99

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320
$69.99

DVD:
Sony Optiarc DVD+/-RW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118033
$29.99

OS:
Windows 7 Beta
$0.00

Total: $864.92

Manifestor · 06-26-2009, 06:27 PM

Thanks for the suggestions Phædrus2401! If nobody can find any problems with it i will probably order it tomorrow:-D

Phædrus2401 · 06-26-2009, 07:09 PM

It should work just fine. It's fairly similar to my build. A lot of the parts are different, but they're mostly the same brand and similar models. The differences:
I have e8500 instead of e8400
Older version of motherboard
4870 instead of 4890
Corsair 850tx instead of 750tx
Different brand of RAM
Aftermarket heatsink
Additional HDD
Sound and wireless network card.

Sounds like a lot, but they're fairly close, relatively speaking.

By the way, you may want to get a side fan to cool your GPU. Any 120mm fan will do, and they snap right into place on the Antec 900, no screws required. Just be careful not to get the wire caught in anything (took some electrical tape to stop it from dangling into my hsf's fan).

taydan04 · 06-26-2009, 08:02 PM

That Machine Should Serve you very well just remember to go easy on any planned overclocking until you can afford an aftermarket Cooler for the CPU. Although i would recommend the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB as it can attain higher transfer rates compared to the Western Digital and is slightly cheaper ;)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=ST3500418AS

Phædrus2401 · 06-26-2009, 08:21 PM

One of the tech mods on here said that Seagate has been having quality control issues lately--a lot higher percentage DOA than usual. But either Seagate or WD is good. I've been using a Western Digital Caviar Black 320GB for over three years and haven't had a single problem. Also had an old 240GB WD IDE drive that lasted about the same length of time until I accidentally dropped it while installing it in my new build... Upsetting, it had my Linux install on it.

taydan04 · 06-26-2009, 08:40 PM

I had a SATA Seagate 160GB 7200.7 that lasted ~5-6years without fault. I only replaced it for Higher transfer rates, Higher capacity and lower noise levels. I upgraded to the 500GB 7200.12 and its probably the fastest and coolest running 7200RPM drive I'v ever used. as for bad quality, iv been running it for about 2 months now and iv had no problems arise. But I'm not sure about the problem with some of the drives, iv not heard anything until now. Its up to you which one to go with. the Seagates do come with a 3 year warranty and if you buy a retail one it comes with a handy Acronis-Developed suite for formatting/partitioning and even recovering bad partitions.

Phædrus2401 · 06-26-2009, 08:48 PM

Either brand is a good choice. I don't know much about that Acronis thing, I use GPartedLive for partitioning/formatting myself. Either way, they're both great choices for hard drives.

BoT · 06-26-2009, 08:48 PM

i second Phædrus2401 suggestion even thou i probably would have went a step up on the cpu. maybe a e8500 or even e8600.
also, the ram, you could get pc8500/ ddr2 1066mhz memory for the same price
example: OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

Phædrus2401 · 06-26-2009, 09:19 PM

I have the RAM BoT listed, and it works very well and is well overclockable if you choose to do so; I have it at 1120MHz and stock timings. G.Skill is theoretically a better brand, though. The E8500 is also a very nice processor, but since you said you didn't want to go too much over $800 it's up to you. E8600 isn't worth the price for the performance increase, in my opinion. $20 for an additional .16GHz is reasonable (E8400 vs E8500); $80 for an additional .16GHz is not.

If you really wanted to be creepy, going to the link in my sig and cutting out the 640GB HDD, the Vista disk, and sound card would give you a very good $900 build that is extremely overclockable. I should know.

The video card I have is a step below the 4890, but is still very good and can run most any game on ultra high on a 1440x900 res (what I use).

**wrench97** · 06-27-2009, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phædrus2401

One of the tech mods on here said that Seagate has been having quality control issues lately--a lot higher percentage DOA than usual. But either Seagate or WD is good. I've been using a Western Digital Caviar Black 320GB for over three years and haven't had a single problem. Also had an old 240GB WD IDE drive that lasted about the same length of time until I accidentally dropped it while installing it in my new build... Upsetting, it had my Linux install on it.

They had some issues late last year, I believe the issues are resolved now.

06-25-2009, 01:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
Manifestor Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 16 OS: xp	Yet another first builder So i am interested in building my first computer. I doubt you remember but about half a year ago i asked for help here and learned a lot but never went through with the buying process unfortunately. I now want to go through with it and any help would be greatly appreciated. With that said i don't know much when it comes to building computers so feel free to make any suggestions. I have also read linderman's great sticky so if that 800$ intel or AMD is best for me just shoot me in that direction and don't waste your time:-D 1. Budget: At most 1000$ 2. Brands: No preference 3. Multitasking: I will be multitasking but at most gaming with itunes and a browser open. 4. Gaming: I will primarily be using this computer for gaming, playing games like WoW and first person shooters like the CoD series. 5. Calculations: Nope. 6. Overclocking: I might in the future if it makes sense with the build but do not feel the need to. 7. Storage: I was thinking 640g for various games, music, movies etc. 8. Legacy Support: Nope. 9. Operating System: With windows 7 coming out soon i am not sure if using their beta would be ok or not. 10. Case: For some reason i just really like the antec 900/902 cases. 11. Accessories: Nope. 12. Recycled Components: Nope. 13. Monitor: Around a 22 inch and wide screen :-D 14. Stores: Newegg to save on shipping really 15. Location: USA Thanks in advance to anybody who read this wall of text and suggestions you have for me.

06-25-2009, 01:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
Manifestor Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 16 OS: xp	Re: Yet another first builder While doing a little of my own research i came across a build somebody else thought up and was wondering if it would be good for me as well? CPU + Mobo X5 955 + ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.203158 RAM - GSkillz DDR3 1333MHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231189 HDD - WD Black 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284 CASE + PSU Antec 300 + Antec EA 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.204132 Graphics card - XFX HD 4870 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150394 Total - $834 not counting in Shipping and Mail-In-Rebates Again any help is greatly appreciated. Last edited by Manifestor; 06-25-2009 at 02:08 PM. Reason: I fail at copy pasta ><

06-25-2009, 01:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,205 OS: xp	Re: Yet another first builder Your links didnt work for me Im not a big amd fan, or ati for that matter. So I really cant comment on your build. But I can say I just built the linderman $800.00 intel build, with a few twists. Used the e8400 cpu, with EO stepping, very overclockable with that gigabyte board. Just get a decent heatsink for the cpu dont use stock if your going to overclock...Bottom line I couldnt be happier with the setup for the money paid.. __________________

06-25-2009, 02:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,937 OS: Win7	Re: Yet another first builder CO and EO stepping are revisions of the CPU the EO is the latest. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-26-2009, 08:00 AM	#6 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,826 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Yet another first builder I also prefer Intel so I can't comment on thje CPU. I am also NOT of fan of DDR3 RAM yet. I like the newer ATI cards but XFX is not a great company for support. Sapphire & Powercolor are the better way for ATI cards. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

06-26-2009, 04:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
Manifestor Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 16 OS: xp	Re: Yet another first builder Thanks for all the help so far, really appreciate it. So i have decided to go with linderman's 800$ intel set up, but would like to do some minor adjustments to make it a bit better. I was thinking change the video card, but im really not sure which would make the most difference for gaming. Any suggestions would be great:-D thanks again

06-26-2009, 04:42 PM	#8 (permalink)
taydan04 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 207 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64 SP2/ Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder For Gaming heh? Well this all depends upon your Resolution, at 22inches chances are it will be around 1680x1050 or 1920x1080 at these resolutions you could get away with an older card like a Geforce 9800GT - GTX most of the time. Although Allot of people will suggest the Radeon 4870 as it is quite a bit more powerful at practically the same price. It all comes down to weather you'd like to be able to use Nvidia PhysX in my opinion as that is the only real difference in the brands that I can see. But then a hole new factor comes in to the equation; Futerproofness (yes I did make the word up). As if you do not wish to upgrade soon in the future you may want a card that will be fine in as many future games as possible as well. This is difficult because as new games come out so do new archietectures and software. For example people building in the near future may be looking into the future line of DirectX 11 Compatible cards like the Geforce GTX3** series. There is then a large gamble in front of you; Do you risk buying a more expensive card Hoping for Futerproofness and hoping that DirectX 11 wont take off too quickly or you buy a cheaper card now and have plans to upgrade to a newer generation of card in the future. The choice is very much yours although I will tell you now, I don't think you will have the need to look at the monster cards like the Geforce GTX295 or Radeon 4870x2 at 22" Resolution. These are all my opinions, not straight fact, although I have put quite some research into them. Disagree with them if you wish ;D Regards Daniel Taylor

06-26-2009, 05:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
Phædrus2401 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3,409 OS: Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 + Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder Case: Antec 900 ATX Mid Tower http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021 $99.99 Motherboard: Asus P5Q Pro Turbo LGA775 P45 ATX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131377 $129.99 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz LGA775 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%20duo%20e8400 $167.99 RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122 $46.99 PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750tx 750 watt ATX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=Corsair%20750 $119.99 GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD4890 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102830 $199.99 HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200RPM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320 $69.99 DVD: Sony Optiarc DVD+/-RW http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118033 $29.99 OS: Windows 7 Beta $0.00 Total: $864.92 __________________ Good PSU brands: Corsair, SeaSonic, CWT, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake Toughpower, CoolerMaster Real Power Pro On 80+ Certification - PSU Information and Selection - Power Supply Myths You don't get what you don't pay for. Last edited by Phædrus2401; 06-26-2009 at 06:10 PM.

06-26-2009, 06:27 PM	#10 (permalink)
Manifestor Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 16 OS: xp	Re: Yet another first builder Thanks for the suggestions Phædrus2401! If nobody can find any problems with it i will probably order it tomorrow:-D

06-26-2009, 07:09 PM	#11 (permalink)
Phædrus2401 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3,409 OS: Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 + Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder It should work just fine. It's fairly similar to my build. A lot of the parts are different, but they're mostly the same brand and similar models. The differences: I have e8500 instead of e8400 Older version of motherboard 4870 instead of 4890 Corsair 850tx instead of 750tx Different brand of RAM Aftermarket heatsink Additional HDD Sound and wireless network card. Sounds like a lot, but they're fairly close, relatively speaking. By the way, you may want to get a side fan to cool your GPU. Any 120mm fan will do, and they snap right into place on the Antec 900, no screws required. Just be careful not to get the wire caught in anything (took some electrical tape to stop it from dangling into my hsf's fan). __________________ Good PSU brands: Corsair, SeaSonic, CWT, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake Toughpower, CoolerMaster Real Power Pro On 80+ Certification - PSU Information and Selection - Power Supply Myths You don't get what you don't pay for.

06-26-2009, 08:02 PM	#12 (permalink)
taydan04 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 207 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64 SP2/ Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder That Machine Should Serve you very well just remember to go easy on any planned overclocking until you can afford an aftermarket Cooler for the CPU. Although i would recommend the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB as it can attain higher transfer rates compared to the Western Digital and is slightly cheaper ;) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=ST3500418AS

06-26-2009, 08:21 PM	#13 (permalink)
Phædrus2401 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3,409 OS: Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 + Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder One of the tech mods on here said that Seagate has been having quality control issues lately--a lot higher percentage DOA than usual. But either Seagate or WD is good. I've been using a Western Digital Caviar Black 320GB for over three years and haven't had a single problem. Also had an old 240GB WD IDE drive that lasted about the same length of time until I accidentally dropped it while installing it in my new build... Upsetting, it had my Linux install on it. __________________ Good PSU brands: Corsair, SeaSonic, CWT, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake Toughpower, CoolerMaster Real Power Pro On 80+ Certification - PSU Information and Selection - Power Supply Myths You don't get what you don't pay for.

06-26-2009, 08:40 PM	#14 (permalink)
taydan04 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 207 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64 SP2/ Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder I had a SATA Seagate 160GB 7200.7 that lasted ~5-6years without fault. I only replaced it for Higher transfer rates, Higher capacity and lower noise levels. I upgraded to the 500GB 7200.12 and its probably the fastest and coolest running 7200RPM drive I'v ever used. as for bad quality, iv been running it for about 2 months now and iv had no problems arise. But I'm not sure about the problem with some of the drives, iv not heard anything until now. Its up to you which one to go with. the Seagates do come with a 3 year warranty and if you buy a retail one it comes with a handy Acronis-Developed suite for formatting/partitioning and even recovering bad partitions.

06-26-2009, 08:48 PM	#15 (permalink)
Phædrus2401 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3,409 OS: Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 + Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder Either brand is a good choice. I don't know much about that Acronis thing, I use GPartedLive for partitioning/formatting myself. Either way, they're both great choices for hard drives. __________________ Good PSU brands: Corsair, SeaSonic, CWT, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake Toughpower, CoolerMaster Real Power Pro On 80+ Certification - PSU Information and Selection - Power Supply Myths You don't get what you don't pay for.

06-26-2009, 08:48 PM	#16 (permalink)
BoT Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: earth Posts: 447 OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x64 My System	Re: Yet another first builder i second Phædrus2401 suggestion even thou i probably would have went a step up on the cpu. maybe a e8500 or even e8600. also, the ram, you could get pc8500/ ddr2 1066mhz memory for the same price example: OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) __________________ MainStation: Q9450@3.6 \| ASUS P5Q-E \| OCZ Platinum 4x2Gb PC8500 \| eVGA GTX260 \| WD VRaptor

06-26-2009, 09:19 PM	#17 (permalink)
Phædrus2401 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3,409 OS: Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 + Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: Yet another first builder I have the RAM BoT listed, and it works very well and is well overclockable if you choose to do so; I have it at 1120MHz and stock timings. G.Skill is theoretically a better brand, though. The E8500 is also a very nice processor, but since you said you didn't want to go too much over $800 it's up to you. E8600 isn't worth the price for the performance increase, in my opinion. $20 for an additional .16GHz is reasonable (E8400 vs E8500); $80 for an additional .16GHz is not. If you really wanted to be creepy, going to the link in my sig and cutting out the 640GB HDD, the Vista disk, and sound card would give you a very good $900 build that is extremely overclockable. I should know. The video card I have is a step below the 4890, but is still very good and can run most any game on ultra high on a 1440x900 res (what I use). __________________ Good PSU brands: Corsair, SeaSonic, CWT, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake Toughpower, CoolerMaster Real Power Pro On 80+ Certification - PSU Information and Selection - Power Supply Myths You don't get what you don't pay for. Last edited by Phædrus2401; 06-26-2009 at 09:31 PM.