New to computer building, please help!

S

.sirhChris.

New Member
I've already made a few decisions on what parts I am going to get, however, please make suggestions to improve the build(s)!

The following is copied and pasted from places I have already asked advice from:

Alright, I've posted a recent thread asking for a computer to fit my needs that didn't burn the bank. Well, I got both of these for $883.88 at Newegg - well, not yet. Pick between these two setups and tell me why. Also, if possible, recommend better parts without going over $900. BY THE WAY, I AM NO OVERCLOCKER AND THIS IS MY FIRST TIME BUILDING A COMPUTER.

I'm going to be using this PC for (listed in order of importance and frequency):
.Home and school use (Internet browsing, Word processing, maybe PowerPoint)
.Beginning Video Editing (using AAE CS4, Vegas 8.0, GIMP)
.Video capturing (probably with Dazzle in the beginning, might move on to BMI or Hauppage)
.Light Gaming (Halo Trial, Halo 2 MAYBE[I DO NOT PC GAME!!!])

First build possible, Intel:
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX

RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-pin DDR2 800 F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ

GPU - SAPPHIRE (ATI) Radeon HD 4670 512MB

HDD - Western Digital Caviar 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3GB/s

Power supply - Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W

DVD drive - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD RW

Case - Antec 300 ATX Mid-tower

Monitor - ASUS VH226H 21.5"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second build possible, AMD:

Same DVD drive, Case, Graphics card, Hard Drive, and monitor as above.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 945

RAM - OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX

Power supply - PC Power and Cooling Silencer PPCS420X 420W ATX12V

Thanks for all your help!
 
Go with the AMD,not only for performance, but for the fact of future upgradeablity as 775 is end of life for new cpu releases. You might wanna go with a bit better power supply, a place to cut down a little on price could be changing to a ddr2 motherboard and ddr2 memory, then use it towards a corsair TX650. I would recommend getting an aftermarket cpu cooler such as a Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight, as it will keep temps nice and cool and provide plenty of room if you ever decide to overclock your system.

Memory: (excellent price after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220335

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650TX

Could you post links to the gpu? You may be able to get a little better for the price;)
 
bomberboysk said:
Go with the AMD,not only for performance, but for the fact of future upgradeablity as 775 is end of life for new cpu releases. You might wanna go with a bit better power supply, a place to cut down a little on price could be changing to a ddr2 motherboard and ddr2 memory, then use it towards a corsair TX650. I would recommend getting an aftermarket cpu cooler such as a Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight, as it will keep temps nice and cool and provide plenty of room if you ever decide to overclock your system.

Memory: (excellent price after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220335

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650TX

Could you post links to the gpu? You may be able to get a little better for the price;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. Here's the link to the gpu, sorry about the previous link, that was the PSU.

Also, why DDR2 and not DDR3? I've heard that DDR3 is much faster.
 
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.sirhChris. said:
Thanks for the suggestions. Here's the link to the gpu, sorry about the previous link, that was the PSU.

Also, why DDR2 and not DDR3? I've heard that DDR3 is much faster.
Click to expand...

DDR3 for the price difference isnt a whole lot faster on an amd board(or any board for that matter), and with the increased latencies the difference isnt nearly as much as the speeds would make you believe. Not sure how much budget you have left, but this gpu would provide you with just under double the performance:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822
 
.sirhChris. said:
Thanks again bomberboysk!

I should probably post links, sorry about that...
Click to expand...

Not a problem, alot of the things on there are easily found just by the model number, the gpu was the only thing i couldnt find 100% as there are some overclocked/etc versions of the card;)
 
bomberboysk said:
Not a problem, alot of the things on there are easily found just by the model number, the gpu was the only thing i couldnt find 100% as there are some overclocked/etc versions of the card;)
Click to expand...

Ah.

So my final setup is:
neweggcomshoppingcart12.png


Good amirite?
 
You forgot the operating system .sirhChris. (hardware without software is junk).

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack1 64-bit - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Also you may want to look at this power supply as it is a bit cheaper. (What is your opinion Bomberboysk?)

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600 Watt Power Supply - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010

Edit: To cut down some money off the price you may also want to get a less expensive processor and hard drive to keep the price under $900.

Phenom II 810 Quad Core Processor- $176
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103650

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640 gigabyte Hard Drive - $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&Tpk=Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS
 
I'm going to be using Windows 7 RC. That's fine with a new computer, right?

And 2048Megabytes, read what I'll be using it for. Video Editing and capturing. That takes up a lot of processing power, does it not?
 
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The copy of Windows 7 you have will work fine until around May 2010. I've heard the operating system will start shutting down randomly after then. Microsoft will require $100 from you (likely a little bit more) to purchase a copy of Windows 7.

Video editing does require processing power. Since you don't need to purchase an operating system for a while it looks like all the hardware you have picked will work. Did you also factor in shipping costs? (It will likely cost you around $45 more).

The 600 Watt power supply I recommended in my earlier post should be good enough for all the components you have chosen and will save you $15.

Rather than purchase one large hard drive I would recommend you get two hard drives in your system for information back up just in case you get a hard drive that fails. I would get two of these hard drives:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320 gigabyte hard drive - 2 for $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074
 
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2048Megabytes said:
The copy of Windows 7 you have will work fine until around May 2010. I've heard the operating system will start shutting down randomly after then. Microsoft will require $100 from you (likely a little bit more) to purchase a copy of Windows 7.

Video editing does require processing power. Since you don't need to purchase an operating system for a while it looks like all the hardware you have picked will work. Did you also factor in shipping costs? (It will likely cost you around $45 more).

The 600 Watt power supply I recommended in my earlier post should be good enough for all the components you have chosen and will save you $15.

Rather than purchase one large hard drive I would recommend you get two hard drives in your system for information back up just in case you get a hard drive that fails. I would get two of these hard drives:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320 gigabyte hard drive - 2 for $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074
Click to expand...

For the psu, go for the 600W ocz recommended earlier by 2048megabytes, it will be plenty to power your rig. Having one large drive over two smaller drives would be up to the OP, while two smaller drives would provide somewhat redundancy, one of the larger caviar black drives has a bit better speed and more total capacity. For the cpu, you can overclock the phenom X4 810 to speeds of the 945, basically a free upgrade in processing power, and use that towards a 500gig hdd to use for backup purposes;) Now... about the case and shipping, for that antec three hundred, albeit its an excellent case, its gonna cost you over $80 once you pay shipping. Might as well go for a case with free shipping like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103025

Now, with the changes that were shown, and with a backup drive, heres what the list would look like:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103025
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236051
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220335
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103650

Now, if you feel you dont want a backup drive, i would use that $45 towards an aftermarket hsf:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
 
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2048Megabytes said:
The copy of Windows 7 you have will work fine until around May 2010. I've heard the operating system will start shutting down randomly after then. Microsoft will require $100 from you (likely a little bit more) to purchase a copy of Windows 7.
Click to expand...

The Release Candidate will start shutting down on March 1st, not May, and will fully expire in June.

Not sure where you got that pricing from, but you will not be able to upgrade from the RC. You will need to purchase a retail copy and install from scratch.
 
Hey i would recommend getting an external hard-rive. No matter if your gaming, Editing, Or just using it for work getting a external hard-rive will allow you to back up all your stuff. I would recommend getting a 500 gb internal hard-rive and a terabyte external hard-rive.
 
Bodaggit23 said:
Not sure where you got that pricing from, but you will not be able to upgrade from the Release Candidate. You will need to purchase a retail copy and install from scratch.
Click to expand...

Yet another decent reason in my mind to get two hard drives. Back up valuable data on one hard drive while you install a new Windows operating system on the other.
 
.sirhChris. said:
I'm going to be using Windows 7 RC. That's fine with a new computer, right?

And 2048Megabytes, read what I'll be using it for. Video Editing and capturing. That takes up a lot of processing power, does it not?
Click to expand...

I sure hope so - otherwise the computer I'm typing on will self destruct in

3...2... 1... :eek:
 
Rawlaw said:
Hey i would recommend getting an external hard-rive. No matter if your gaming, Editing, Or just using it for work getting a external hard-rive will allow you to back up all your stuff. I would recommend getting a 500 gb internal hard-rive and a terabyte external hard-rive.
Click to expand...

Rawlaw said:
I would recommend getting a 750 watt power supply. This one is only 5 bucks more than your other one and it's corsair and it had great reviews. http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=32&name=Power-Supplies
Click to expand...

Rawlaw said:
I would recommend getting this case it is only 20 bucks more and is alt easier to open and close, and it has three fans!! go to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144242.
Click to expand...

Rawlaw said:
If you are a tiny bit lenient on the budget i would go with a full tower. There what? an extra 50 bucks and you get lots of more room. Personally i chose this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103014. But know with free shipping you are looking at around 100$ +/-
Click to expand...

The edit button is there for a reason... in this price range a full tower is not necessary. a 750w power supply is overkill, and an external hard drive is the same as an internal, except it costs more and are more prone to overheating as there is little airflow. Two internal hard drives would be better than an internal and an external.
 
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