First Time Build Need Help and Opinions

[Modestyle]

Hello,

I am attempting to put together a computer by myself for the first time. My last computer is over 5 years old so I think it is time for a change. Here is what I am thinking so far.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
Games (I have a PS3, So I do not need the most intense system) & Basic Computer tasks; Downloading, Streaming Video, Buring Video/Music.

2. What YOUR budget is.
I am going for around $1,100 Canadian before tax (less would be better of course, and more would be hard to justify)

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Canada, and Canadian websites that ship from the U.S. (I think newegg.ca would be an example)

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
Intel for the processor and motherboard chip. Any brand that is well made and is not going to die on me.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I already have a monitor, and an external CD/DVD burner, so I do not need a fancy DVD/CD Drive for that (although most nowadays come with that)

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I have been using HC for their reviews of parts, and have skimmed the boards, but I have not read any other forums (I have read reviews from other sites)

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I would possible consider it in the future, but no plans right now (I do not know too much about the technical specifics of computer building/OCing)

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
As soon as possible.


Great, so here is what I have so far.

CPU – Intel Q9400, $280.99
MOTHERBOARD – Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P, $158.99
VIDEO CARD – Sapphire HD4870 (Have not decided on the model) – around $250.00
RAM – Not sure yet, 4 Gigs
HARD DRIVE – Not sure yet (I was thinking 350 – 500 gigs to save money)
DVD ROM – Nothing too fancy, but one that will not die.
POWER SUPPLY – Not sure yet (I do not know how much power I will need)
CASE - Antec Nine Hundred (Girlfriend likes the blue lights)
OS – Windows XP or Vista (64 bit so I can use 4 gigs of ram)
MONITOR - Samsung SyncMaster T220 (HAVE, It was cheap), but I also have a Panasonic 50PZ800U Plasma I can hook the computer up to if I want.

I am going with the Quad core because we tend to run a lot of applications/web browsers at once (multitasking). I read that this motherboard is really good, without a lot of unnecessary features. I also like the performance of the video card, and like I said, I will be playing games, but I am not supper hardcore (I would like to play Crysis, Half-Life 2, etc). I am trying to get this all for $1,100 before tax and any rebates. I will pickup anything I can to save on shipping as well.

I want to get good, quality parts, but I also want to get components that are in the same category of each other; I would not want to get a High-End $300 motherboard if I have Low-End Video Card and CPU (I hope that makes sense). I am not sure if the parts I selected so far are in the same category, please let me know if anything seems off.

Thanks for your help everyone!!!

[Soultribunal]

Hi there and Welcome to the Forums!

Hopefully I can help on some of the things you are looking at.
For Video Cards, I'm going to suggest you stay away from Sapphire or Diamond if you go ATI. They have really bad RMA/Customer Support. Better company would be either XFX or HIS for good support on the cards (they will have all the same features).

HIS Radeon HD 4850 IceQ4 1GB PCIe wDL DVI H485QS1GP in Canada at TigerDirect.ca

Something like that would be perfect.

For a Power Supply, I'd suggest something in the 750w range, which should provide plenty of power for your system.
Corsair makes great power supplies, along with Ultra.

This one you'll find comes highly suggested from other members.

NCIX.com - Buy Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan - CMPSU-750TX In Canada.

And for the Ram, same company Corsair. I've always used and love the Ram they offer, and have yet to have a problem with it.

Corsair Dominator Dual Channel 4096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2 x 2048MB) TWIN2X4096-8500C5D in Canada at TigerDirect.ca

As for your case, I'd suggest this one from CoolerMaster instead. (You still get a Blue LED fan up front, but it shaves $40 off the cost, and yet still provides lots of function (you can also order the clearsided panel from Newegg.ca if you want).

NCIX.com - Buy Coolermaster CM 690 Mid Tower Black ATX Case 5X5.25 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound Firewire & eSATA - RC-690-KKN1 In Canada.

Hope this helps,

Good luck on the build,

ST

[Modestyle]

Thank for the feedback,

Would this kind of setup need 750W? I was thinking 650W would be the most I would need?

Do you suggest the 4850 over the 4870?
I also thought I read that XFX or HIS cards were not the great.

For what I am going for here, is the Motherboard a good choice? Some people said they didn't like the onboard LAN, but I cant seem to figure out why.

I like the looks of the case you suggested, I am going to look it over a little closer.

What would be the next best supplier of RAM?

Thanks,

[sswilson]

A quality 650W PSU would be fine, but I think you'll find that the 750W versions are more often than not on sale for the same (or even less) price as their lower wattage bretheren.

Sapphire's name is mostly mud in the enthusiast community due to previous experiences with poor stock cooling, and even worse customer support.

[Modestyle]

Wow, and I thought they were one of the better brands.
I will have a look around at the two companies mentioned then.

Regarding the case. If it is SLI certified, it doesn't matter if I use an ATI card right? Would Crossfire, or at least one ATI card fit alright? I hear a lot of people saying the newer bigger graphics cards do not fit well.

[SugarJ]

SLI and Crossfire certification were marketing gimmicks so companies could charge more for the same product.

And all modern graphics cards will fit in either the 900 or the CM690. The longer cards may interfere slightly with the HD placement, but you won't have a problem unless you're trying to fit 4-5 HD's in your case.

[sswilson]

SLI certified means absolutely nothing when it comes to cases, and generally absolutely nothing for anything else except marketing. Even in the case of PSUs SLI certified doesn't mean much unless a date is attached to that certification.... a PSU certified by Nvidia to do SLI 1 year ago isn't necessarily going to run the latest and greatest cards in SLI. The only component that really should have the words SLI or Crossfire attached to them would be the motherboard.

As far as an ATI card "fitting" in a "SLI" case... that's just a matter of card length, has absolutely nothing to do with which brand of card.

[ImmaPC]

I wouldn't worry about getting a 750W PSU. unless you can find one for the same price/slightly more than a 650W PSU. You hit the nail right on the head with the 4870, it will suit you very well for gaming on your 22". Unfortunately, should you hook it up to your TV and play at 1920x1080, you won't be able to play on max settings with AA, you'll have to turn down the settings to get decent framerates. If you want to play games now on your 22" with good framerates and play games a year down the road on your 22" with good framerates, then the 4870 is for you. Don't bother with the 4850, there's an XFX 4870 for $280 at Newegg, and an HIS 4870 for $238 before $20 MIR at Newegg as well

As for a good 4GB kit of RAM, pretty much any kit will do. Personally, I'm a Mushkin fan, so I'll post up some good links for them. Let's see... there's some DDR2-800 with CL5 timings for $56, or this set with CL4 timings. Alternatively, you can get this good Redline DDR2-1000 kit, or if you like fancy heat spreaders and fairly cool RAM, then there's the Mushkin Ascent DDR2-1000. Then for that extra little speed boost, you can get this sert of DDR2-1066, and if you like the funky heatsink, there's the Mushkin Ascent DDR2-1066 which run fairly cold because of the funky heatspreaders. BTW you can always pricematch on NCIX if you don't trust a retailer or don't want to pay shipping if you can pick it up =D

As for the Hard Drive, the WD Caviar Black 640GB for $88 always pleases with its speed but doesn't punish with its price.

And a DVD drive, if you can stomach $35 then there's the LG GH22NS30 that burns and reads everything except blu-ray at great speeds.

[3.0charlie]

Board is fine.
Chip too.
Ram? Gskill, or Mushkin. NCIX.com - Buy G.SKILL F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK PC2-8500 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit - F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK In Canada., or Mushkin's HP2 series.
GPU? XFX 4870. NCIX.com - Buy XFX Radeon HD 4870 XXX 775MHZ 512MB 3.8GHZ DDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card - HD487AYDDC In Canada.
PSU? Corsair TX750W. On special at NICX for 109.
Case? CM690.

Welcome to the Forums.

[Silvgearx]

Originally Posted by ImmaPC

I wouldn't worry about getting a 750W PSU. unless you can find one for the same price/slightly more than a 650W PSU. You hit the nail right on the head with the 4870, it will suit you very well for gaming on your 22". Unfortunately, should you hook it up to your TV and play at 1920x1080, you won't be able to play on max settings with AA, you'll have to turn down the settings to get decent framerates. If you want to play games now on your 22" with good framerates and play games a year down the road on your 22" with good framerates, then the 4870 is for you. Don't bother with the 4850, there's an XFX 4870 for $280 at Newegg, and an HIS 4870 for $238 before $20 MIR at Newegg as well

As for a good 4GB kit of RAM, pretty much any kit will do. Personally, I'm a Mushkin fan, so I'll post up some good links for them. Let's see... there's some DDR2-800 with CL5 timings for $56, or this set with CL4 timings. Alternatively, you can get this good Redline DDR2-1000 kit, or if you like fancy heat spreaders and fairly cool RAM, then there's the Mushkin Ascent DDR2-1000. Then for that extra little speed boost, you can get this sert of DDR2-1066, and if you like the funky heatsink, there's the Mushkin Ascent DDR2-1066 which run fairly cold because of the funky heatspreaders. BTW you can always pricematch on NCIX if you don't trust a retailer or don't want to pay shipping if you can pick it up =D

As for the Hard Drive, the WD Caviar Black 640GB for $88 always pleases with its speed but doesn't punish with its price.

And a DVD drive, if you can stomach $35 then there's the LG GH22NS30 that burns and reads everything except blu-ray at great speeds.

Listen to this man

Keep in mind WD 640 Harddrive is only 2 platters.
get an 4870 in 1GB

And i won't bother with an expensive dvd burner either, i still have a dvd burner from 2000