Help,1stbuild,Unsure of wat i need..

Mr.Suave

Mr.Suave

New Member
I decided to build me own comp instead of buying one becuase its cheaper, want to learn, and took apart and put back 2gether an old comp, which im very proud of and boosted my self confidence. This will be my first build from scratch so i need your guys help on wat i need or if im missing anything(even the little things like cables) and if all this will work.
This will mostly be used for gaming, surfing the web, word documents and listening music.
I'm a hardcore gamer, will be playing FEAR, BF2, CSS, RTW:BI and others. I want it to run smoothly b/c the lappy im on right now runs reall choppy when i play BI and theres over 5000 units in the screen, can barely play FEAR, and BF2 loading times is a *****.
Budget is around $2k-$2.5k. Im not sure whether Ill buy all the parts from newegg.com becuase there might be somthing cheaper and better at a store like Best Buy or Fry's.
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1)case: A)Pre-Assembled Blue UV Reactive Acrylic Case
59.99+24.64s/h= 84.63
or B)X-Clear Acrylic Computer Case w/ 4 green LED fans
60.99+17.69s/h= 78.68
or C)LOGISYS Computer CS888CL Transparent Clear Acrylic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Pre-Assembled - Retail 65.50+ 15.99s/h=81.49
Will the 4 fans make alot of noise and will all the lights make the comp hotter??
Also is there any place that has cheaper clear cases?

2)HDD:Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
98.00
also have 2 old HDD one is 40gb i dont kno about the other. i was thinking of using them as back up or something.But one might have a virus in it so ya.

3)CD/burner: will get 4 from old comps
DVD/burner: not sure if i need one since i rarely burn DVD's, but might need a player/burner, any advice on wat to get?
Floppy: from old comp

4)Motherboard:GIGABYTE GA-K8N Pro-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
106.00 or sumthing better...

5)CPU:AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4800CDBOX - Retail
790.00
Also I noticed when i was taking apart the old comp that there was this pink gum/paste/glu like thing that was inbetween the CPU and Heatsink. Wat is it? is it the thermal paste?

6)RAM:OCZ Titanium 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model OCZ4001024ELTE - Retail
145.33 (gives me the option of getting another 1gb later down the road, making it 2gb yayay!)

7)GFX card:7800GTX i dont kno on wat exact card yet.. didnt kno there where soo many types... or ill w8 for the 7800gtx 512mb
wats the difference between these cards other than price and brand?
here
do all perform the same? if they do then ill just get the cheappest one.

8)Sound card:need help on this one since i dont kno wat i really need.
was thinking either Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card - Retail 177.50 or
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition 70SB035000013 Sound ... - Retail 122.00

9)Wireless card: no idea wat to get

10)PSU: ENERMAX Whisper II EG565P-VE FMA(24P) ATX12V 535W Power Supply 90V~135V or 90V~265V UL, cUL, TUV, CB - Retail 88.99
Will this fit into the Cases(above)? b/c it says near the bottom of the page(2nd case) that it cant fit either of the 2 specific PSU's. its out of stock so either ill wait or if anyone could recommend a better one.

11)OS: Microsoft XP Home Edition w/ SP2 86.95

12)Monitor: want a 17" LCD or higher, something good for gaming. I dont kno which one cuz i dont kno anything about monitors.
btw i have an old CRT monitor. my dad says its a 21" but when i measured it was ~19" diagonnally but i dont kno if thats how u measure a CRT.
if i dont get a LCD by the time the comp is done ill be using it in the meantime.

13) speakers: no idea but nothing to expensive since ill be getting a headset.

with the stuff im getting at newegg
$1,956.87 +30.30s/h= 1,987.17 (w/ C case) if A or B case give or take a few dollars.

Assecories: (arent included in the budget b/c i can get them as presents or whenever i can)
Keyboard: I already have it, its this for only 9.99 woo!
Mouse:Logitech® G7 Laser Cordless Mouse
99.99(bestbuy) probably w8 till it gets cheaper or sale
Headset:either Plantronics Gamecom 1(29.99) had bad experineces about cheap headsets so i might go w/ a better more expensive one like the Gamecom pro 1(79.99)
or wireless PC headphones by Logitech(129.99) and just use a mic from an old headset
Web Cam: MSI Starcam 370i WebCam
28.50+ 2.50s/h= 31.00
 
bump..

pls any1 help me!

Also changed somethings here
HDD to Maxtor 300gb
motherboard to ASUS A8N-SLI 939
added Logitech speakers(is it good?)
monitor: one of these??
 
well make sure that the gpu is a pcie card and since the borad is sli compatable then get a sli comp. gpu
and the hdd is good
and the ram is good but i would go for kingston hyper x
 
ok but wat should i get, the 8mb or the 16mb.. i read HDD101 and didnt quite understand it but i think it said 16mb was better,so is the 16mb worth the extra $24? here
 
is the cable that i need this AMC 8" 4-Pin Power Cable Splitter Model Y Power Cable - OEM ??

fatal1ty_fan
the card is sli compatible and pcie(PCI Express right?) also the kingston is more expensive and it will take up 2 slots while the OZ take only 1 giving me the option if going 4gb(oo ya!) instead of 2

StrangleHold
thx will do that
 
Will the 4 fans make alot of noise and will all the lights make the comp hotter??
Also is there any place that has cheaper clear cases?
Click to expand...
Fans probably might make a little noise, not too much.
While lights do produce heat, it won't be enough to make an impact on overall computer heat.

2)HDD:Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
98.00 also have 2 old HDD one is 40gb i dont kno about the other. i was thinking of using them as back up or something.But one might have a virus in it so ya.
Click to expand...
Just format the old ones and use as backup, don't rely on old HDD for important data.

3)CD/burner: will get 4 from old comps
DVD/burner: not sure if i need one since i rarely burn DVD's, but might need a player/burner, any advice on wat to get?
Floppy: from old comp
Click to expand...

4???!!?! Why do you need 4, all you need is a Burner and maybe a second one if you plan on copying CDs a lot. A single drive will allow you to copy CDs but it is a little slower.

5)CPU:AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4800CDBOX - Retail
790.00
Also I noticed when i was taking apart the old comp that there was this pink gum/paste/glu like thing that was inbetween the CPU and Heatsink. Wat is it? is it the thermal paste?
Click to expand...

Pretty expensive CPU but it does fit in your healthy budget. The substance is your thermal material. If you plan on overclocking you might want to check out Arctic Silver 5 which is probably the best thermal paste you can get.

6)RAM:OCZ Titanium 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model OCZ4001024ELTE - Retail
145.33 (gives me the option of getting another 1gb later down the road, making it 2gb yayay!)
Click to expand...

High quality memory, 2GB will help later on when games start getting really demanding.


7)GFX card:7800GTX i dont kno on wat exact card yet.. didnt kno there where soo many types... or ill w8 for the 7800gtx 512mb
wats the difference between these cards other than price and brand?
Click to expand...
The XFX one is overclocked a little, I'd get that one and OC it more. 512MB of Video Memory is unneccessary. Just get this one.

8)Sound card:need help on this one since i dont kno wat i really need.
was thinking either Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card - Retail 177.50 or
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition 70SB035000013 Sound ... - Retail 122.00
Click to expand...
You really don't need a sound card that expensive. Get a cheaper one, preferrably less than $100.

9)Wireless card: no idea wat to get
Click to expand...
Do you need one?

Will this fit into the Cases(above)? b/c it says near the bottom of the page(2nd case) that it cant fit either of the 2 specific PSU's. its out of stock so either ill wait or if anyone could recommend a better one.
Click to expand...
If the case says it wont fit, then it probably wont fit. I don't know of any good SLi PSUs if that is what you are looking for.

11)OS: Microsoft XP Home Edition w/ SP2 86.95
Click to expand...
I'm sure you can find cheaper somewhere else.

12)Monitor: want a 17" LCD or higher, something good for gaming. I dont kno which one cuz i dont kno anything about monitors.
btw i have an old CRT monitor. my dad says its a 21" but when i measured it was ~19" diagonnally but i dont kno if thats how u measure a CRT.
if i dont get a LCD by the time the comp is done ill be using it in the meantime.
Click to expand...
They measure the CRT tube which is partly covered by the casing which makes it lose an inch or 2 in viewable area. Here is a good 19" gaming LCD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001185

13) speakers: no idea but nothing to expensive since ill be getting a headset.
Click to expand...
Altec Lansing makes very high quality sound equipment. www.alteclansing.com
 
4???!!?! Why do you need 4, all you need is a Burner and maybe a second one if you plan on copying CDs a lot. A single drive will allow you to copy CDs but it is a little slower.
Click to expand...
b/c i plan to just leave the 3 games in, that i play mostly and use the 4th for watever. i want to leave the games in b/c im too lazy to switch CD's all the time and so i wont forget where i put them. Anywayz they are free.
You really don't need a sound card that expensive. Get a cheaper one, preferrably less than $100.
Click to expand...
like wat? what should i be looking for in a sound card?
Do you need one?
Click to expand...
yes i do b/c right now im using wireless internet from someone in the neighborhood(dont kno who) and im not sure when ill be getting cable and i kno the router wont be in my room so i dont want a long cable running through the house.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...04523&CatId=84
Click to expand...
kk thx so wats the cable that i mentioned for?
 
Actually gamerman 512MB is not unecessary at all. Some games all ready that willl take full advantage of 512

Battlefield 2
Doom3(on ultra)
F.E.A.R
UT2007(256mb is a minimum requirement)

With the upcoming games, games will eat your GPU alive. For $600, the 7800GTX 512MB is very worth it.

If you are to lazy to take a CD in and out, I really don't think you should be building a PC.
 
4 Drives will eat up your PSU and might cause stability problems. They might also be really old and slow at reading CDs. ~$30 will get you a nice Sony or NEC DVD-Burning drive.

Actually gamerman 512MB is not unecessary at all. Some games all ready that willl take full advantage of 512
Click to expand...

You may be right but 256MB cards can still hold thier own and at a better price. The X800XL had a 512MB version which was $100 more and only gave performance boosts at Doom 3 on Ultra and barely anything else. I agree 512MB will eventually be as useful as 256MB is now but that is a little ways off, nVidia will doubtfully start producing a lot of 512MB cards. So far ATi and nVidia only have 1 gaming 512MB card (there are cards with more mem but not for gaming) and there are only slight differences in performance between them on most games. It might be a good investment now but is still a bit pricey for many people. As long as the 256MB Video mem gets faster, we can still get by with the lower price of it. The next series of nVidia and ATi cards will most likely still keep 256MB and have maybe a single expensive 512MB card. But, I do agree that games are evolving into the 512MB market but I wouldn't pay $100 more for a slight boost in image quality.
 
the 4800 is a waste of money imo. save money with a 4600 or even a 4400, or an opteron would be even better.. and if youre not satisfied you can oc it. my money is on you being satisfied. spend the money saved on a bigger monitor.
 
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i kno this has nothing to do with the topic at hand and im sorry but Mr.Suave has the best avatar ever... THE CHEAT lol!!! good man

now for the topic at hand... i'd go for a 768MB... the more the better. that is unless your system wouldn't be compatible with that
 
BrandonL said:
i kno this has nothing to do with the topic at hand and im sorry but Mr.Suave has the best avatar ever... THE CHEAT lol!!! good man

now for the topic at hand... i'd go for a 768MB... the more the better. that is unless your system wouldn't be compatible with that
Click to expand...
lol thx, and change wat to 768mb??

4 Drives will eat up your PSU and might cause stability problems. They might also be really old and slow at reading CDs. ~$30 will get you a nice Sony or NEC DVD-Burning drive.
Click to expand...
oh ya thats right.. i guess ill just buy one then

also i noticed that my PSU has 2 fans. I was just wondering is the 2nd fan on top, which i will have to cut a new whole in my case, or is it at the bottom??

As for my previous post, id like to add that i noticed the only difference (as far as i can see) between the x2 CPU's and Opeteron is the opteron has no L1 but a bigger L2. but im leaning towards getting the opteron b/c i read somewhere that its better to OC, right?
 
Modoman said:
the 4800 is a waste of money imo. save money with a 4600 or even a 4400, or an opteron would be even better..
Click to expand...
Opterons are more expensive AND less powerful than the X2s, or at least last time I checked they were. The ONLY plus to the opteron is that you can use 2 opterons together for the only 4 core solution.
 
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