Help a Noob Build his First Rig!

V

Volt

New Member
Hey everyone, I'm getting a new computer for graduation, and after I checked around the internet, I realized it's far less expensive to purchase components and assemble your own machine. I have basic computer knowledge; I know what a motherboard does, but the most hardware modification I've ever performed is upgrading the RAM on my Eee PC. I have no idea what to look for in any products, which brands are good, and what kind of power I can get for my money. I have a somewhat-flexible $2000 to spend, size is not an issue, I like front-accessible USB ports, maybe Blu-Ray, and coming in under 2k with enough to buy a nice keyboard and mouse and a few games would be cool. Size is not an issue, and neither is noise. I will be overclocking slightly, depending on what's stable for the chips I get. I don't want to run the risk of blowing anything out, and I'd prefer not to dink around in my case more than I have to. On that note, easy assembly is a plus, and so is cable management. If this sort of thing doesn't work on these forums, I'm sorry. I read the rules and stickies, and I think this is legal and in the right section; my bad if it's not. Also, if you guys know where to get cheap components, and/or have any helpful hints, that'd be awesome!

What I want
Fast internet browsing(I have fiber optic internet and would like to take advantage of it)
Quick booting
Future proof for at least 3 or 4 years... If I can run today's games on high, and be able to even run games 4 years down the road, it'd be awesome.

BTW, I'd probably have Ubuntu booting off a thumb drive for schoolwork, and Windows on the HDD for everything else.

tl;dr
Help a noob build a great, gaming-quality computer for about 2k.
 
thandakid

thandakid

banned
280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186169


166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224


500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150385

150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126038

115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227372

100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129037

Total 2021 Bucks
Well the GTX 295 is too much you can go for GTX 275 and then go sli later

Like
310
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130476

or this
250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150387
and then
250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002356
 
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casper0191

casper0191

New Member
Wow The set up is mouth watering and I'm sure that will not be left behind by 5 years. Just make sure that you make a good maintenance on it it'll last for more than 10 yeas. So I second that motion on that set up. But i heard that Phenom II will be good for a gaming type of PC right?
 
2048Megabytes

2048Megabytes

Active Member
My mistake with the RAM. The RAM you picked is faster Thandakid but I don't think it is worth $65 more. In my opinion I would go with the Patriot RAM I suggested.

I would say a Raptor hard drive is better than the other options. To my knowledge Solid State Drive technology is still not fully matured. There are issues with some of the Solid State Drives.

Also, the one thing you forgot Thandakid is the operating system. Here is Windows Vista Premium 64-bit for $99:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008484&prodlist=celebros

Edit: A third party heatsink would also be better than the one Intel provides with the i7 processor. I wish Intel would step up and provide a quality heatsink with its processors. Take a look at this one:

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
 
Last edited:
thandakid

thandakid

banned
2048Megabytes said:
My mistake with the RAM. The RAM you picked is faster Thandakid but I don't think it is worth $65 more. In my opinion I would go with the Patriot RAM I suggested.

I would say a Raptor hard drive is better than the other options. To my knowledge Solid State Drive technology is still not fully matured. There are issues with some of the Solid State Drives.

Also, the one thing you forgot Thandakid is the operating system. Here is Windows Vista Premium 64-bit for $99:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008484&prodlist=celebros

Edit: A third party heatsink would also be better than the one Intel provides with the i7 processor. I wish Intel would step up and provide a quality heatsink with its processors. Take a look at this one:

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
Click to expand...

Yepp i forgot the heatsink but he isnt very clear whether he wants a monitor or not and he can go with the patriot 1600mhz
 
bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220363

Motherboard, go with this flamingblade over the bloodrage GTI series, the Bloodrage (non- GTI) supports sli and xfire while the GTI only supports xfire, the flamingblade is a slightly lower foxconn model but supports sli and xfire, and is a little cheaper and pretty much as good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186171

GPU, why would you go for a recertified ... only a one year warranty while regular new gpu's have lifetime. A GTX285 would suit plenty:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130480

A blueray drive or even burner is almost 100% unnecessary, save the money and get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153

And use it to get yourself a larger ssd like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227410
 
V

Volt

New Member
That build is just sexy :)
I actually have 2 lcd's that I took from various offices that were closing down, so I'm good with the monitors. After some consideration, I realized that this isn't a laptop, and as such, I won't be watching enough Blu-Ray on it to justify a reader. Do you know how fast I can overclock everything without losing any stability or needing liquid cooling, with minimal impact to longevity? Also, is that the mouse and keyboard you would use in a gaming environment?

Thanks for all the help, guys. This is awesome!

Volt
 
bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
Volt said:
That build is just sexy :)
I actually have 2 lcd's that I took from various offices that were closing down, so I'm good with the monitors. After some consideration, I realized that this isn't a laptop, and as such, I won't be watching enough Blu-Ray on it to justify a reader. Do you know how fast I can overclock everything without losing any stability or needing liquid cooling, with minimal impact to longevity? Also, is that the mouse and keyboard you would use in a gaming environment?

Thanks for all the help, guys. This is awesome!

Volt
Click to expand...

If you plan on gaming, go with this keyboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034

And one of these mice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104076
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104079

The xigmatek S1283V dark knight cooler that was suggested a bit earlier will get you to at least 3.4Ghz, but i would imagine more along the lines of 3.6/3.8;)
 
V

Volt

New Member
Alright, both mobos are SLI-compatible. I'm right at budget without the blu-ray and with 2 of the new GPU's in SLI. Are the foxconns the best motherboards out there for the price? What's the difference between them?
BTW, I decided on the logitech keyboard and a Lachesis or whatever from Razer. CS will be quite fun!

EDIT: anybody know any discount codes for Newegg?

Volt
 
bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
Volt said:
Alright, both mobos are SLI-compatible. I'm right at budget without the blu-ray and with 2 of the new GPU's in SLI. Are the foxconns the best motherboards out there for the price? What's the difference between them?
BTW, I decided on the logitech keyboard and a Lachesis or whatever from Razer. CS will be quite fun!

EDIT: anybody know any discount codes for Newegg?

Volt
Click to expand...

For the price you cant beat thebloodrage, its a great mobo(and only a little more than the GTI after rebate):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186163

Post up your final list so we can go over it;)
 
V

Volt

New Member
Okay, the final list:

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
200
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727

CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

Mobo: Foxconn BloodRage LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
275
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186163

RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D - Retail
166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
135
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

GPU: 2(!) SLI'd EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
660 (330 each)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130480

Hard Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322

Keyboard: Logitech G15 USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Retail
82
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034

Mouse: RAZER Lachesis RZ01-00170200 Phantom White 9 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Laser Gaming Mouse - Retail
70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826153020

Comes out to $2300, with $130 in available mail-in rebates. I'm probably going to buy 1 of the GPU's at a later date, and depending on my bank account, cool it more for better overclocks, put in Blu-ray when it's no longer ridiculously expensive, and other cool stuff like that.

BTW, I have a 4 year old Vaio with liquid cooling. Is there any way to rip out the cooling from that? Will it be compatible?
 
bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
Just stick with the dark knight, if its a dell installed liquid cooler it wont be that great anyhow. As far as memory is concerned, change it to this, better timings and nearly half the price:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247

Just a thought... but the velociraptors arent a heck of alot faster than say, a western digital caviar black for read times, random access is faster on the velociraptors but you can get a 1TB caviar for like $99.99, and heck, you could put two in raid 0 and get double the read/write speed and 2TB of storage for less cost than a velociraptor.
 
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V

Volt

New Member
The one I have is 300 GB, so I'll get a pair of 500 and RAID 0 them, save a hundred! Thanks bro! How necessary are measures against ESD while working on carpet beyond touching the case every few seconds? I'm using wired internet through a coaxial cable, so do I need anything special for that? Anything else I need to assemble and use the machine?
 
bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
Volt said:
The one I have is 300 GB, so I'll get a pair of 500 and RAID 0 them, save a hundred! Thanks bro! How necessary are measures against ESD while working on carpet beyond touching the case every few seconds? I'm using wired internet through a coaxial cable, so do I need anything special for that? Anything else I need to assemble and use the machine?
Click to expand...

Well, do you live in an apartment or a house? If you have your own house and a basement, best to work down there as the floors are more than likely cement. If not, maybe you have some other place where the floors arent carpet? Normally i recommend against working on carpeted floors.
 
V

Volt

New Member
Yeah I have marble floor in the kitchen... I can sweep up and it'll be pretty good as long as carrying it upstairs wont damage it.
 
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