Ok, before a few days ago I knew virtually nothing about computers, however I decided that I want to build my own. I've done some research on it, however I doubt I'll be able to learn all I need to know by just reading it, so I figured I'd post my first attempt at building one (just links to all the parts I'm thinking about getting.) Any help/advice is greatly appreciated, especially if it explains why since it's possible that some of my parts might not work together.

CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

Mother board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131275

RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Graphics Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127361

Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152111

Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

 

The hard drive link links to a laptop drive...

*edit*
For less, you can get more storage...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0014 103530113 1035307886&bop=And&Order=PRICE

If you buy an OEM product, it will not come with any of the cables or accessories that are critical for operations. In the hard drives case, you would need to purchase a SATA cable if you don't have one laying around

*edit 2*
You are going to need a power supply as well, also might want to get a better heat sink than what comes with the CPU

*edit 3*
Is this to be a gaming rig?

Also what type of budget are you looking at?

 

Your motherboard supports crossfire, your getting the wrong kind of video card for this. Crossfire is for ati cards only. (just in case you were looking for dual video cards in the future)

 

ATI seems to have better value/money at the moment anyway.

Hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

I'd suggest switching to the P5Q pro since it is the updated mobo. The p5k is a good motherboard but there are some issues with it.

The case will be pretty damn big for your needs. I'd scale back to the Antec 900 or some equivilent.

You will need a new power supply. Corsair is a good bet for reliability. You can easily get by on their 450 watt but if you think you would add another video card, you might as well jump up to the 620 watt.

I'd definitely look into aftermarket cooling. A scythe ninja would be decent entry level and the best air would be a Thermalright Ultra-120. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109125.

 

Ok, thanks for catching my mistakes, I figured there would be some.

Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

This seems to be a good deal, but I'm unclear as to whether any power supply will work with the parts I have.

For the heatsink I'll just go with the one Cosomo reccomended http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109125

as well as the hard drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

My price range is somewhere around 1700-1800. I'd much rather have a computer that will last a while. I'm all for saving money but I'll put the extra buck in if it's going to make a decent difference. And yes it will be a gaming rig for the most part.

Also how is this for a Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261027
Does it make that much of a difference between this model and some of the newer ones. I notice that there's a 200-300 price difference between them so can somebody tell me if it's worth it, or what the difference is.

 

The power supply is overkill unless you are going to be using dual video cards for sure. I've also never heard of that brand.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256009
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

I'd pick out of those options. The 620 watt is modular which will make your life a lot easier when you decide to do cable management.

If you are going with a core 2 duo, 1 vid card, 1 hard drive, a 450 watt power supply will be enough. Paying for more wattage isn't really needed. If you want a bit more power, just in case, then stepping up is reasonable.

With the way prices are these days you could probably do a decent system for $1000. There is no sense overspending because almost everything will be outdated in a couple months. Buy what is needed to play the games you want with 60-100 fps (excluding crysis) on high settings.

 

What would the major advantages to using dual vid cards be? I'm guessing it would help playing games and such but is it worth it or not really?

 

Besides the obvious reasons, such as an increase in available video memory, supporting higher resolutions etc etc. I don't really see the benefit because with a 8800gt you can run crysis at full, which is the highest graphic-wise game out so far. I'd stick with an 8800 until later on.

 

Okay, I've got an update (thanks a bunch to Murton).

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Mother Board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161248

CPU Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec 900

Hard Drive 2x: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002&Tpk=Corsair 620W

Heat-sink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001

DVD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156

As always and help is appreciated, and any mistakes that are there are almost certainly mine and not Murton's ^-^

 

The 900 is an awesome case...

Remember what I said before about OEM Harddrives and needing cables. Nothing is worse than having a hard drive come in an not having the proper cables to go with them. You can disregard this if you have a few laying around.

As a personal preference, I really don't like ATI cards. I had nothing but trouble with them, though others praise them to the moon.

 

Hard drives do not come with SATA cables, but motherboards do, they should come with about 4 depending on how many SATA ports the motherboard has.

 

Ok thanks, since I don't really know the brands all that well what type of card do you use/recommend?

And does that mean I should be ok for cables Murton or should I look into ordering them as well?

 

You should be fine with the SATA cables which come with the motherboard. It will have enough for two hard drives and a DVD drive easily.

ATI are ahead of Nvidia for value for money at this present time. It's all a matter of preference. ASUS ATI cards go well, as do Gecube and IceQ. Not much difference bar included game and price or a non-reference cooler or if it's overclocked in the factory.

 

Looks like a pretty good setup, although there may be a couple of components you haven't listed.

What are you going to do for an Operating System? Do you have a monitor you're planning to recycle? Keyboard/Mouse? Speakers?

 

I have a small HD t.v that I know I can use as a monitor as well so Il use that. I'm also content using my current wireless mouse/keyboard so I'll probably stick with those as well. Speakers I don't think I'll need since I'm in a dorm and won't have a chance to really use them (though I'll probably get some when I finally have an apartment.)

For the operating system I'll probably use XP. Would it be worth learning how to dual boot (assuming I can with this set up) and using Linux as well. I've never used it, however most of you have good things to say about it.

 

Ok. there is a question that is bugging me.

You are going to buy a Retail CPU and a heat sink? Maybe you should buy OEM version instead?

Another point is - no need to buy 4gb of RAM if you are going to use XP. The system will only see like 3.3 max. So either you choose Vista or you buy less RAM.
Btw. It is for the first time I see the brand name like G.Skill (for Ram) and tuniq (for Cooler). What are the timings for the ram? And 60 bucks for 4GM of RAM is suspiciously low. It should probably cost like 80 or something if it is any good.

Btw. Why do you think you need to install Linux? No offence to penguin, but what is it exactly do you plan to do with this system?

PS
Sorry if I mixed up any termynology. It's kinda hard to use a dictionary in this case.

 

This will be mostly for gaming, as well as other low level functions. I personally have no idea why I would need Linux, I just thought I'd throw it out there in case there was a reason that I would want to. Can somebody tell me if it's worth using Vista yet? I've only used it on school computers and it was a pain in the ass, and most everybody here hasn't had much good to say about it. If however people are starting to like it more, I might be willing to try it.

As for the brand names, Murton recommended them so I'm pretty sure that he isn't just fucking with me.

 

My motherboard has 6 ports and it came with none... But the retail hard drive I bought came with one...