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Kurtdg21

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First and foremost I'd like to say hi to everyone, the names Curt and this is my first computer tech. related forum i've joined. I've done a bit of surfing the boards here and there and I'm finally ready to join the community in hopes of gaining more knowledge, so yes! i am a noob :P .

Now I'm not a full blown noob when it comes to computers...I use them everyday doing whatever my hearts desire. I do have quite a bit of experience in CAD and a few other designing software as well as performing the routine installation of a pci, ram, etc. upgrade. I enjoying gaming (who doesn't?) and I'm always eager to learn or do something new (even if it means I get blown up with the pc :D ).

Basically I've come to ask advice and whatever other type of critisicm ya'll think would help me out a bit. About a month ago I decided it was about time to get a new pc, but instead of doing it the easy and "have-no-say" way, I want to build my own from the ground up and decide what I put in the beast.

I've pretty much used newegg as my main source, heh, my only source of online shopping for components, and I'll try to provide as much info as possible on the setup I can. So enough of the intro, lets get into the good techocobable ;)

I'm basically looking for a build thats around the 1000 US dollar range. Mind you I do have a working lcd monitor atm, but I will be upgrading in the very very near future of this build, so thats not fully reserved in my range.

I'll go ahead and start the list of components I've been eyeballing.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813186098
Its a foxconn, and yesterday I noticed that it had a HUGE price drop (85 bucks), so I made the decision to go with this instead of the EVGA nforce 590.

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
I'm still a bit up for grabs on this, but it seems like a good snag. I'm definately wanting at least 2gigs.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103778

Vid Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130056
I know its not Directx 10, but for the price I think this is about the best I can come across atm. Plus with evga's upgrade plan, I think its a suitable decision. I do plan on utilizing sli also :D

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817189014
Seems worthy enough...just wondering how it would fair when I utilize sli.

HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822135106
I want two of them so I can set them up in RAID. Don't have any experience with setting a RAID up, but I'm eager to do it.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811170022
I don't want anything too extreme, does come with two 120mm fans. I may upgrade those later.

Optical Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827129007
I don't do a lot of burning, but I feel this will suit me well for when I do.

and of coarse an OS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16832116171
Not quite ready to upgrade to vista.

That pretty much wraps everything up minus the monitor (looking at a 19" widescreen). One big question mark I have is whether or not I should opt for a floppy drive. I'm leaning towards yes, as it may help. Any input is greatly appreciated!!

I'm going to be using this pc for normal usage (browsing web, office apps.), 3d designing, gaming, and whatnot. Anyways thanks for anything you all can offer.
 
hey man and welcome to the forums. I gotta say for $1000 i think you could build something you would be much happier with. This is just my opinion of course. Are you an AMD fan or is there another reason you chose that particular CPU? You say 3d designing and gaming to me intel is the way to go when it comes to that stuff (im not a fanboy or anything infact i own a 3500+ atm and have never even used a C2D but i have heard nothing but good things). The cache on that cpu is really what makes it a no go for 3d programs. It's your final choice either way you go but i would check out some benchmarks and maybe do a little more research before making that final decision. $1000 is a lot to spend on a pc and i know i would want something thats gonna last well into the future.
 
Yeah Im with that guy
Add your own HDD OS Monitor ETC I would suggest changing the PSU and GPU:

Case: APEVIA X-Navigator ATXA9NW-BK/500 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
~100$

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
~95$

Proccesor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
~190$

Graphics Card: EVGA 256-P2-N636-AR GeForce 7950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
~200$

Memmory: Mushkin Mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
~120$

Power Supply: Cooler MasterCOOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-550-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSM, FCC, CCC - Retail
~70$

Optical Drive: Lite-On LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5MB Cache SATA Combo Drive - OEM
~26$
 
look. psu's are a huge part of your computer build. 550W may be good for a fe years, but computers in the future will require much more power. i strongly reccomend this psu: OCZ gameXstream 700W PSU just ask another member, hpi, about it. i reccomenede it to him and he absolutely LOVES it. they are so strong, and they are very efficient too. some of the most powerful and efficient for the price.

EDIT: oh and welcome to computer forum. if you need anything, just PM me and ill try and help
 
CPTMuller said:
Yeah Im with that guy
Add your own HDD OS Monitor ETC I would suggest changing the PSU and GPU:

Case: APEVIA X-Navigator ATXA9NW-BK/500 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
~100$

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
~95$

Proccesor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
~190$

Graphics Card: EVGA 256-P2-N636-AR GeForce 7950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
~200$

Memmory: Mushkin Mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
~120$

Power Supply: Cooler MasterCOOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-550-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSM, FCC, CCC - Retail
~70$

Optical Drive: Lite-On LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5MB Cache SATA Combo Drive - OEM
~26$
Click to expand...

lol why would you buy a case with a psu in it anyways? just buy one that doesnt come with one, and maybe splurge and get an antec p180
 
CPTMuller said:
Yeah Im with that guy
Add your own HDD OS Monitor ETC I would suggest changing the PSU and GPU:

Case: APEVIA X-Navigator ATXA9NW-BK/500 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
~100$

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
~95$

Proccesor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
~190$

Graphics Card: EVGA 256-P2-N636-AR GeForce 7950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
~200$

Memmory: Mushkin Mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
~120$

Power Supply: Cooler MasterCOOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-550-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSM, FCC, CCC - Retail
~70$

Optical Drive: Lite-On LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5MB Cache SATA Combo Drive - OEM
~26$
Click to expand...

Nice Build.
For M/B, I will wait for the P35.
And GPU, I suggesting 8600GT/ 8600GTS
 
First and foremost I just wanna say thanks for all the info, its greatly appreciated. :)

You know I never really looked into intels core 2 duo's, but after reading a little bit on them, they do seem to outperform the AMD X2's in just about every category I've seen. I'm not necessarily an AMD buff, but I've been using them ever since my last P3 which was like 7 years ago or so hehe.

Thanks for that intel build you posted CPTMuller, I'm definately looking around at intel based machines now. The only thing I'm worried about is getting a motherboard that supports full sli support in 2x16. Most of the intel boards I've looked support x16 in one pcie, and only x8 in the other. I could go up a bit higher and spend the extra cash on one that does support 2x16, but taking in account of the cpu I may be getting out of my range (since I'm going to be buying two vid cards ;) ).

I also think I may need a bit more power outta a psu, so I think i'm back to looking around a bit for one of those hehe (thanks for the link lovely). This may be harder than I thought to get what I'm looking for :(

Thanks again for the feedback everyone!!
 
If you not in hurry. Wait until DDR3 RAM release. I think is 2007 Q3.
Or get MB with Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R. I think it support both DDR2 and DDR3 RAM. But I don't think it has 2 x PCIEx16 and the performance of intel P35 chipset is still unknown
 
Froboy7391_99 said:
The difference between x8 and x16 is not very much I heard you can barely notice the difference
Click to expand...

Yea after reading up a bit further on the difference in video performance betweeen the 680i and 650i, both boards are so close that I don't think its worth going with a 680i board atm.

After searching a bit more on some 650i boards I came across this one on newegg.

MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 156.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130081

I don't have much experience with MSI boards and I was wondering what you all thought about it? It seems to get great reviews. I love the look of the copper heat sinks and cooling pipes, and it supports quad and extreme cpu's for possible future upgrades.

Think I'm also going to tag a C2D E6420 in it. All in all I'll be going over my $1000 budget by about $80, but I think it will be worth it.

So what do you all think? Fast responses appreciated hehe as I plan on buying all this within the next day :D
 
i was going to go with a similar board (different brand) but it seemed to me like those cooling pipes would get int he way of the pci express slot(s). Maybe not tho other than that seems like a solid board if you're planning to SLi. also i've heard MSi boards are quite picky about the type of ram used this may or may not be true but well worth looking into before making a final purchase.
 
Maddhatter said:
i was going to go with a similar board (different brand) but it seemed to me like those cooling pipes would get int he way of the pci express slot(s). Maybe not tho other than that seems like a solid board if you're planning to SLi. also i've heard MSi boards are quite picky about the type of ram used this may or may not be true but well worth looking into before making a final purchase.
Click to expand...

Yea I was wondering about that myself, but much to my suprise there was a review posted that has the same exact ram I'll be buying and he said it runs great with it, so hopefully it'll work out to plan. I'm sure the gpu will fit, whether how hard it'll be to get in there, i'm hoping not hehe.

Thanks for the quick response Maddhatter :)
 
Alrighty, just wanna say as of last night I ordered everything for my new setup :D

I'm thinking it'll arrive on tuesday, so hopefully nothing is damaged and I'll be up and going in no time!

Thanks again everyone for the help :)
 
After about 3hrs later and its done!! Definately a good sign for a first time builder hehe. I spent most of the time trying to figure out how I was going to posistion the cables, and get the front mounted audio inputs to reach the pins on the mb.

After I finished installing xp (talk about working the optical drives eject button out) I installed all the drivers and its up and running about as good as I could have possibly planned it.

I checked the cpu and gpus temps with tat and nvidia coolant temp monitor.

30C for the cpu during idle with tat
44C for the gpu
seems pretty good

It was a bit strange when I first booted it up. I went to the bios to check the cpu temps for a few minutes, making sure they wouldn't jump, thankfully they didn't. But after that I went browsing around an bit and noticed my cpu clock speed was at 2.997ghz as compared to the E6420s 2.14ghz rated speed.

Then after installing xp pro i went back into the bios to check the cpu speed and it went down to 2.14? I thought that was strange, would it maybe it have the potential?

I really dont know much about ocing to know if those clocks mean anything, so for now I think this setup is working exactly how I want it to :D
 
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