Building my very first computer- Would like some feed back

[Fire Phoenix]

Well, as the topic title says; I'm building a new computer. And this is my first time. So yes, I'm a newbie . But there's a couple things I'd like to ask, and maybe even a few tips along the way

Okay, first things first here's what I have so far:
Hardware:

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129158

DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152047

CD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135136

Cooling Device:

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822147007

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145486


Mother Board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186055

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103574

Sound Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102191

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143037


This is what I have so far. So, on to the next thing. If you didn't notice I left Cooling System blank. That's because I'm clueless when it comes to cooling systems. I know there are fans, and I know about liquid cooling, but I'm just not sure what to do on that. So I was wondering if you could help me on that. ALSO- If you think that there is something better than what I have up there (i.e Faster, cheaper, bigger, better, etc) please let me know.

For example that 500 GB hard drive i have posted there is too small in my opinion. I know, I'm greedy when it comes to storage. I have a 250 GB hard drive right now, and I have 80 gigs left. This is basically going to be like a gaming computer. And I want as MUCH space as humanely possible. So my question to you is: Is it possible to get 2 of those 500 gb hard drives and have a total of 1000 gb? (w00t! that's almost a terrabyte xD) Or if not 2 500's then 1 500 and 1 250? If so I could just scrap the computer I have now, and use it for parts. I ask this because my dad gets 10% off of dell computers. And I saw that when you pimped out that new dell gaming computer gxp or w/e- you can get a max of 800 GB. I'd be happy with 800 GB

Also, I'd like this computer to be as fast, and as good as possible. Right now money is of no issue. Though I am poor, I plan on slowly buying the parts. That processor is a killer. So if you think there is a better processor out there for a cheaper price, by allllll means please tell me.

Also I'm not sure what to do about software. What should I get? I mean I know Windows XP- but anything else? Like I'll need drivers and stuff right? I'm not too keen on that sort of thing either, any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

That's it for now. I'll probably have more questions later.

P.S- Don't try to change the video card, I'm a Nvidia fan.

 

[Kaination]

Cant be of much help, just let me say a couple things.

If you get this built, it will be ONE HELL of a computer, nice specs.

And don't cut the video card <_<

Nice specs though, I love the video card \o/

 

[Fire Phoenix]

Haha thanks. I absolutely hate it when things like this are second best. Which is why I'm hating my computer right now. It freezes up for a second every once in a while. It's a GIG of ram, 250 gb hd, intel (ew) 6800 GT.

OMG! Thanks Kaination, you just brought me to the question i forgot to ask: Can i use that gig of ram? can i put in the 250 gig hard drive? Can I use the sound card, and all that other good stuff? The only thing I am sure i can use is the video card. (Like I said I'm a noob, don't hurt me )

Thanks for the help! And thanks Kaination for complimenting my future computer.

Oh btw, I did the math on this and it comes to a little over 3,000 dollars. yikes. I saw that the Geek squad at Best buy is starting to seel parts and build computers there. Would it be smarter to go there? They haven't started it yet, so I can't compare prices. But it has to be good right? I mean no shipping and handling.

 

[Smith|]

Wowza, lots of wasted money. I'll set you up. Give me a few. I only really care about the actual hardware insides, not the makeup. That's personal preference there.

CPU: AMD AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 1GHz FSB 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail - $400.00
I decided against the X2 4400+ as it was $100 more for 1MB L2 Cache ;/.

Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $189.00
I've heard great things from the motherboard, very great things.

RAM: Patriot 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail - $119.16 each
Get two of these modules for 2GB and dual channel.

HDD: HITACHI Deskstar 7K500 0A31619 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $380.00
If you want two of these, go ahead. I personally don't see how you could use 500GB of space =p.

PSU: Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V ATX12V 550W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, TUV, CB, FCC CLASS B, CUL - Retail - $99.99
This will be excellent for SLI as it has two separate +12V lines .

GFX: eVGA 256-P2-N528-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $479.00
With the money I saved on your CPU, I've upgraded you to 7800GTX.

Sound: Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail - $199.00
I didn't feel that the unnoticable 64mb of RAM added to the board was worth $180 more.

TOTAL: $1,985.31

Link to all: http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion...asp?ID=1729292&WishListTitle=wishlistforfire2

As you can see, this saves you a lot of money with extra performance. You may even add another 7800GTX if you want, although it'll only help in the latest of games and at maxed settings. Also, you don't need a CD burner and a DVD burner as the DVD burner can burn any CDs you'd need.

Also I'm not sure what to do about software. What should I get? I mean I know Windows XP- but anything else? Like I'll need drivers and stuff right? I'm not too keen on that sort of thing either, any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

If you have the Windows XP install CD that came with your dell, go ahead and use it. It'll have some of Dell's bloatware on it, but those are easy to get rid off. Also, drivers and stuff are the easier part . Not saying the building is hard, of course.

Oh, and looking at your case, I'd just get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152
It's 3x cheaper and it has a better rating, so... Hm. It doesn't have a PSU, so that's probably the major price difference, but we have that covered =).

 

[Fire Phoenix]

wow! Holy crap! Thanks a lot Smith| I appreciate it. I'll deffinately look into this

Told you I was a noob

Btw, can I ask where you aquired all this information about computers?

 

[Smith|]

I browsed a major tech forum a lot when I was a little younger. Got a ton of different views on everything hardware wise, which is what I was (and still am) interested in.

You also have to understand that a lot of that is the greatest of the great. You can go cheaper if you'd like, but I'm just suggesting what you'd probably like to see.

 

[Tassadar]

Everything Smith suggested is just above that of my current computer. He helped me piece some of my things together and was very helpful. I highly suggest you take his advice.

The 7800GTX is awesome. I have a 7800 GT right now and I'm loving it, I'm sure you'll love your new card too.

 

[Kaination]

Also, you can transfer some old stuff to your PC, unless you want a brand spanking new pc.

 

[Fire Phoenix]

Also, you can transfer some old stuff to your PC, unless you want a brand spanking new pc.

Yeah that's what I had in mind. I already have a gig of ram, although I don't know if it's 1 stick or 2. I also have the nvidia 6800 gt. Which I'll also keep. So i have those already. I'll scrap what ever I can for this new computer. Which is why I was wondering if it's possible to put a 500 gb and a 250 gb together. Is it? I honestly don't know.

But I was also thinking for like instead of putting in a 6800 GT to sell it for computer parts. But I don't know. It's just a thought.

 

[Smith|]

You can't RAID them, if that's what your asking. I believe you need two identical sized drives. You can use them both at the same time, but under different drive letters (Say C and D).

 

[Fire Phoenix]

You can't RAID them, if that's what your asking. I believe you need two identical sized drives. You can use them both at the same time, but under different drive letters (Say C and D).

Erm. Another noob question: What does "RAID" mean? So I need 2 250's or 2 500's. Alright thanks.

Also what about a cooling system? I'm just afraid I'll burn up my computer. (I never over clock, ever)

 

[Smith|]

RAID
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). A collection of disk drives that offers increased performance and fault tolerance. There are a number of different RAID levels. The three most commonly used are 0, 1, and 5:

* Level 0: striping without parity (spreading out blocks of each file across multiple disks).
* Level 1: disk mirroring or duplexing.
* Level 2: bit-level striping with parity
* Level 3: byte-level striping with dedicated parity. Same as Level 0, but also reserves one dedicated disk for error correction data. It provides good performance and some level of fault tolerance.
* Level 4: block-level striping with dedicated parity
* Level 5: block-level striping with distributed parity
* Level 6: block-level striping with two sets of distributed parity for extra fault tolerance
* Level 7: Asynchronous, cached striping with dedicated parity

I'm sure your default cooling will be fine if you don't overclock.

 

[Fire Phoenix]

Okay new question. What do you prefer and why? a 500 watt power supply or a 550 watt power supply. Now I know that 550 is better than 500, but for today's games, is the extra 50 watt's even needed?

You lost me when talking about RAID. How do you RAID something? (If I'm using RAID in the wrong concept please tell me)

 

[Kaination]

Okay new question. What do you prefer and why? a 500 watt power supply or a 550 watt power supply. Now I know that 550 is better than 500, but for today's games, is the extra 50 watt's even needed?

You lost me when talking about RAID. How do you RAID something? (If I'm using RAID in the wrong concept please tell me)

WOW YOURE A NOOB

Nah, just kidding, im as lost as you :yes:

For the watts, what are the prices, seeing as 50 watts would be worth an extra 80 dollars or somehting.

 

[Smith|]

Okay new question. What do you prefer and why? a 500 watt power supply or a 550 watt power supply. Now I know that 550 is better than 500, but for today's games, is the extra 50 watt's even needed?

It's not always the Watts that are important, but the rails (+3v, +5v, +12v). You look for their rating in Amps. The higher, the better, basically. With two +12v rails, you are able to split the load in half. So, if you want, put the video card on one with the HDDs and stuff all on the second. The PSU I've picked for you is perfect for today and tomorrow, if and when you choose to SLI.

You lost me when talking about RAID. How do you RAID something? (If I'm using RAID in the wrong concept please tell me)

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks. It can be a multitude of things from (basically) SLI for HDDs to backing them up. You can have one mirror another, or you can have them both put together and have data spread across them both to increase read/write performance as they're both basically doing half and half. You can have combinations of the two, and so on and so on. Here's a link to more indepth info: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RAID.html

 

[Devion]

If you have the money do buy the 4400 with 1mb per core.

If you ever switch to a fully 64 bits os, you are going to need it.(So its really up to you to decide )

The rest seem-a-oke

 

[|Overlord|]

Yeah that's what I had in mind. I already have a gig of ram, although I don't know if it's 1 stick or 2. I also have the nvidia 6800 gt. Which I'll also keep. So i have those already. I'll scrap what ever I can for this new computer. Which is why I was wondering if it's possible to put a 500 gb and a 250 gb together. Is it? I honestly don't know.

But I was also thinking for like instead of putting in a 6800 GT to sell it for computer parts. But I don't know. It's just a thought.

HOLD UP!!!!
Don't you have agp? (meaning you won't be able to take the 6800gt with you to your new setup, as I recall a thread where you stated you were using a fx5200 then upgraded to your 6800gt).

However, there are boards (That I see Devion post here and there) that have both agp and pc-ie on them. So if you wanted to take your gfx card with you, you'll have to look into getting a different mainboard.

 

[Smith|]

But I was also thinking for like instead of putting in a 6800 GT to sell it for computer parts. But I don't know. It's just a thought.

There's the solution to that problem .

 

[Fire Phoenix]

HOLD UP!!!!
Don't you have agp? (meaning you won't be able to take the 6800gt with you to your new setup, as I recall a thread where you stated you were using a fx5200 then upgraded to your 6800gt).

However, there are boards (That I see Devion post here and there) that have both agp and pc-ie on them. So if you wanted to take your gfx card with you, you'll have to look into getting a different mainboard.

Erm yeah. I was thinking of selling the 6800 GT for the 7800 GTX. It's not that old and I still have the box and everything and the CD's and the parts that came with it, so I think I can get a pretty good price for it.

But I might look into a board with both AGP and PCI-E thanks

 

[Smith|]

But you'll be losing some performance and the ability to SLI along with having a board half useless later on. Your choice, though.