Would you change anything about this build

[MinGraphics]

Your site has given my the courage to go ahead and try this all on my own...kinda, I am asking for your help!
This is what I have lined up and ready to go, is there anything I should change? I'm not sure of compatibility between parts.

(Changed case to Antec 900)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129021
MB
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131188
Video card
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130318
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145176
Power
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817139001
Proc
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115017
HD
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136098
OS
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16832116202

I think this is over kill for the kinds of games I play, simcity 4, SimCity Societies Zoo Tycoon 2, Age Of Empires 3, but I'm into photo and video editing, I work with Adobe Creative Suite CS2. And a Woman has to have her music...lots of music playing while doing all the picture stuff. Any ideas would be very helpful to me as this is my first attempt at building my own computer with no one to help me.

[Jamie Nixx]

This why women are smarter than men, they actually have brains and know how to use them lol, you make my job easier, i can tell you have done your research ;)

Motherboard is good.

GPU is good.

Case is very nice, should be quality for the price, but little kids have a habit of breaking the unbreakable :D

PSU is good.

Memory is overkill, you don't need 4GB, get this memory, it will save you a lot of money http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

Now the Q6600 is good, but if you can wait for the new Intels that are arriving, you will save yourself some money while gaining more performance.

Everything is compatible, i see no Optical drive though?

And you have plenty of people to help you out here, and i am always the first to help a Damsel in distress ;)

[RickyTick]

This why women are smarter than men, they actually have brains and know how to use them lol, ;)

Speak for yourself Jamie. :p

Looks like a nice build grandma. Have fun.

[MinGraphics]

Thanks Guys,
I changed the RAM, that price is great!

Do I need a card for networking or does that come on the MB
I have 4 computers now and we are building 2 more and all use the same laser printer. We also like to play LAN games.

What is an Optical drive?

How much power will I gain by waiting for the new Intel's? And how much will I save in cost? I have the Patience of a NAT but I might be able to wait.

Oh and Jamie, my Husband wants to know how you know this new Intel will be worth waiting for if its not out yet? You don't have to answer he is just fresh and standing over my shoulder.

That is all I can think of for now in questions, thanks again guys for all your help!!

[bighoo93]

Wow, that RAM is a LOT cheaper than the same from Crucial, which is recommended on the main page. Why so much cheaper, assuming the quality is similar?

[Jamie Nixx]

You know its true Ricky :p

I know the new Intels are going to be better because its my job to know, the new Intels that are arriving next week are replacing the current Intels.

For example, the Q9300 will be replacing the Q6600, it will have a 2.5Ghz clock and a 1333Mhz FSB (front side bus), the Q6600 runs at 2.4Ghz and has a 1066Mhz FSB, the Q9300 is also based on 45nm architecture, the Q6600 is based on 65nm architecture, meaning the Q9300 will run a lot cooler and a lot more efficiently.

Every 5 or 6 months new CPU's are brought out to replace the older ones.

First there was the Conroe core 2 duos, then the Kentsfield core 2 Quads were released.

Now the Penryn Quad cores are replacing the Kentsfiled Quad cores and the Wolfdales are replacing the Conroe Core 2 duos.

An optical drive is a DVD Rom/CD drive ect.

And i just realised most of what i said above will probably have you thinking what the hell is this guy on about :eek: :D

[MinGraphics]

Thank you, that was the perfect answer. I can wait! I will just have to pop over to new egg and drool over my saved wish list till they come out.

I know this will seem odd to you but I knew what every word you said means, I have this book on upgrading and repairing PCs by Scott Mueller that I have poured over for days. I have been a computer nut from the first night my Husband walked in the door with one about 18 years ago. I'm the one in my family everyone runs to when something goes wrong, I'm sure you know all to well the call that starts with " I'm going to throw this thing through a window!" call.

Back on track what about a network card, do I need one?
I have a DVD recorder, sound card, and speakers picked out but I figured how can I mess that up so they are not on the list. But if you have suggestions you want to give me I'm all ears.

Thanks Jamie!

[The Wise Monkey]

You will usually get one or two network points built into the motherboard, so you won't need to buy a separate one - your motherboard has an onboard gigabit LAN card, so you don't need to worry about that.

[Jamie Nixx]

No its not odd lol, shows you have been doing your research which is great.

I have never known a lady computer nut before, it seems more of a boys and their toys kind of thing lol, but thats great, i wish there were more around, tried getting my girlfriend to build one but she is more afraid of breaking a nail than breaking a component :rolleyes:

Anyways what sound card, speakers and optical drive did you choose just out of curiosity, you may think its something you can not go wrong on but people often do.

As WM said, no network card will be needed.

[MinGraphics]

Guess what...the new Wolfdale is out, so maybe the Penryn Quad cores are next.

Thanks again Guys for the answer to the network card, If I had looked all the way down the spec page I would have know that. I guess that shows my brain age.
I'm not worried about breaking a nail they to can be fixed.

I have not put as much thought into the other components yet, I have not researched them so any help you can give would be nice. My games unlike my Sons and Son-in-law do not have to be ear piercingly loud, no gun shots anywhere, just the occasional cannon fire. I like to have music on when I'm doing things on the computer, but my Son-in-law thinks I don't need to spend as much money on this sound card but I'm not sure so tell me what you think please

This is what I was thinking about:
Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16836121121
Sound card
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829102006
DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827135156

[Jamie Nixx]

Yeah i know lol, i have one ;)

Penryns are also out over here in the UK so they must be out in the US.

The Sound card, Speakers and DVD Rom are all top notch, the sound card is a lttle expensive though, the onboard sound is fine to be honest.

[The Wise Monkey]

Both the Kentsfield and Wharfdale core processors are out over here in the UK now, and I have to say that they are looking pretty good. If I was going to upgrade to a quad-core, I would probably go for the Q9450 - its about £210 here in the UK, inc VAT, so will probably be about $350, I reckon. You guys over there always get cheaper components... :(

[shyster]

Could just be me, as in I am an idiot. Or they are just not out yet here in america, because I just went to intels website and they did not mention it as far as I could see. It being the Q9300.

If/when it comes out in America would you say it is worth the extra $80 for it if it does come out at $350 like the monkey guesses? This would be over the current quad model, the Q6600.

This would be the only thing that compares to what you discribe as far as I can see from newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115034

And that is clearly too overpriced over the Q6600.

By the way do any of you know what the difference between the Quads and the Extremes are other than price and sheer power?

As an aside when the new model comes out how long do you think before the Q6600 drops in price?

It was not my intent to hijack this tread and I hope I did not since my questions are possibly relevant, but if I did please tell me so and I will try to be more careful in the future.

[MinGraphics]

Your link to the Intel Core 2 Extreme is not the new Intel. The only new one on newegg is the Wolfdale for $219 and it is a Intel Core 2 Duo. Here is the link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
You will have to wait for the Guys to answer your questions.

[shyster]

Yes that was unfortuanately my point, I saw the new duo, but not the quad. That extreme though, seems to pretty much have the same specs as the new quad that is supposed to be coming out, so that is why I was wondering the difference.

[Jamie Nixx]

The Extreme Quads are put quite simply a big rip off, no one should ever think about buying one and if they have i am already laughing.

For a $1099 you could buy the best non-extreme Quad there is, the best overclocking motherboard around and the best watercooling system and then overclock the absolute balls out of it, and still have enough money to buy a car or take a small holiday, that is a silly amount of money to spend on a CPU spent by silly people.

[MinGraphics]

OK I have one more question to ask about while waiting for the new quads to come out.
Is it possible to have some kind of filter on the front fans of the computer case? Will it do any harm as far as the fans not working as well and my temp going up inside the case? The reason I ask is I have 7 Dachshunds all short hair and the hair is on the floor, it does not float in the air but will be near any front fans as they lay on a mat in my office. The computer I have now only has rear fans and it is fine.

[Jamie Nixx]

Yeah you can buy filters for the fans.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=4024&Description=fan+filters&name=%241+-+%2410

You shouldn't lose any perfromance, and you won't be sucking any any dust in so its go for the components.

[MinGraphics]

I have changed my case to the Antec 900 and was thinking of ordering all the components but the processor on Monday. I am hoping that the new Quads will be out no later than March 1st. Is it flawed thinking to get all the components now, I am guessing that all my choices will work with the new Quads. I can't see myself waiting any longer than March for them to come out, if they don't I will go with the original choice.

[Jamie Nixx]

You could go for the E8400 now, it is really awesome.

It isn't really flawed buying your parts now because for the next couple of months its going to be pretty dry in terms of newer groundbreaking parts being released, i think maybe the 9800 and the Skulltrail might be out, thats about it.

Btw i have the 900, it sucks in dust like you would not believe so it would be a good idea to 1) buy some filters and 2) try and restrict animals walking around it, especially cats.

[iiiprimeiii]

the e8400 is awesome :eek: i just built a comp with it!!! go for it!! btw jamie do you have filters on ur 900??? how do the filters go with the leds??? i really like the leds and wouldnt want to block em out. :D

[MinGraphics]

You could go for the E8400 now, it is really awesome.

It isn't really flawed buying your parts now because for the next couple of months its going to be pretty dry in terms of newer groundbreaking parts being released, i think maybe the 9800 and the Skulltrail might be out, thats about it.

Btw i have the 900, it sucks in dust like you would not believe so it would be a good idea to 1) buy some filters and 2) try and restrict animals walking around it, especially cats.

You would go for the new E8400 duo over the Q6600 Quad? Is the E8400 faster?
No cats here, I will try to keep the dogs away from it as much as possible.
I keep reading about instructions for building your computer and running tests after you build, where would I go to read all that, I want to start now!

iiiprimeiii, congrats on your build, I hope mine goes as smooth, if not I know I have lots of help right here!!

[shyster]

Well I am not Jamie, but to give you my personal choice, I did choose the e8400 over the q6600.

If you REALLY want a quad core it would be better to wait a month for the new q9450's to come out, they use the same technology as the e8400 i.e. the 45nm, which keeps the processor cooler and more energy efficient.

As for speed I cannot give you a figure since I have currently used neither, but as far as I understand it, unless you are doing a lot of work with graphics programs like photo shop, or any of the 3d software, running like four monitors, or just want to play WoW and Crysis at the same time most programs cannot harness the full power of a quad core yet. Again this is just what I have heard and read on many forums, I have no actual knowledge of whether this is true or not.

Plus if you really do want/need the quad core and you wait until the new q9450's come out they are only slightly more expensive than the q6600's and much better all around as I understand it.

In regards to running tests I believe Rob lists a few on his page, at then end when you have finished building and have loaded windows onto your computer. But the main tests that I know of are Prime95 (there is another one that Jamie recommends but I cannot think of it right now) that is used for stress testing your computer and just seeing how stable it is at full load. This one you would usually run overnight I believe and if your computer is still running in the morning it is probably pretty stable. The other main test I know I plan to run is a hard drive test, since I have in the past had hard drives die on me and it sucked horribly, I want to make sure, as much as possible, that it will not happen again. There is also a test for your graphics card called 3dmark, I believe which will just give you a numerical number of how good your GPU is which can be compared against other peoples numbers.

All said and done though, I am sure Jamie or the Monkey can give you a better and more knowledgeable answer.

[Jamie Nixx]

Your letting me down Min, i thought you were a fountain of knowledge ;)

Many programs do not even offer support for Dual core yet, let alone Quad core, unless you are going to be Video Editing or serious (and i mean serious) graphical design work, you will not benefit from having 4 cores.

The the Q6600 runs at 2.4GHz, it has a 1066Mhz FSB and it is also one of the hottest CPU's out, often on stock cooling hitting 60DegC or more.

The E8400 runs at 3.0Ghz, has a 1333Mhz FSB and its one of the coolest, plus you will get a heck of a lot more peformance out of it considering the higher clock speeds.

The E8400 really is an awesome CPU and i would have it over a Q6600 any day, i have both so i can vouch for performance.

Or as Shyster said you can wait for the Penryns, btw the program was Orthos :)

Oh and Prime, the filters don't block the LEDS :D

[chunkylover53]

Sniff, sniff. :( Looks like I'm going to have to suffer through with my Q6600 until my next build. This argument rages a little more 50/50 on most forums I've read, but it seems to be the red haired stepchild around here. Of course I've trusted Jamie with a bunch of decisions on my first build, and he does have both, so I trust his opinion on this as well.

Dude, 60 degrees? That stock cooler it comes with must be hamster powered. :D

[Jamie Nixx]

Don't get me wrong, if every program and game out there supported 4 cores, the Q6600 would be epic, but because it really will only use 2 at the max, its like having a E6600, of course if you have adequate cooling like myself, you can overclock it to 3.6Ghz, then it really is epic :D

Quad support is being introduced, slowly, but people want performance now.

[MinGraphics]

Your letting me down Min, i thought you were a fountain of knowledge ;) :D

I just spent the weekend with my 2 Granddaughters 2 & 4yrs old, my brain cells are toast! :p Thank you all for your speedy answers as usual. :) After taking in all you have told me, I will go with the new E8400. But wouldn't it figure that I go over to newegg and they are out of them, so I will have to wait for e-mail notification when they get more. Who knows I may be building by this weekend!
I will also add filters to the fans, are any of them better than others?
I look forward to adding my name to the grad list, if you guys can get Grandma through this anyone can do it!! Thanks!

[Jamie Nixx]

Don't worry we will be on hand to help you out if you get stuck ;)

[MinGraphics]

It's been a week and newegg still has no E 8400s so I was thinking about ordering everything else from them and getting the CPU from tiger direct who has them in stock. Is this a working solution, I would like to get started.

[shyster]

It is not like you have to order from newegg. I acutally ordered about half of my parts from places other than newegg. Of course I live in california so I hate paying neweggs tax and that was part of the reason, but I also found the CPU like 10-15 dollars cheaper at http://www.antaresdigital.com. Although now it seems prices have gone up for it all over instead of going down. Demand it too high it seems.

That being said I did order parts that I might have to RMA from newegg, since they are close and sending and both receiving is pretty fast from them. The people I got my CPU from took a week to get it to me, it was the last part I needed so it held me up considerably. But they are in New York and I do not know where you are, it could be faster for you.

I would just check out some of the sites that have pricelistings and see if you can find one cheaper, if that is a concern for you. Otherwise you could just order from tigerdirect just to get it over with.

[RickyTick]

I like Zipzoomfly as much as newegg. Give them a look.

[MinGraphics]

I checked out both sites and zipzoomfly wants $242.80 and Antares wants $299.00. Tiger directs price is $229.00 so I will go with them. I live in CT so it will take a week no matter who I get it from, that will be good timing to build over next weekend. Thank you!

[Jamie Nixx]

Good luck with the build, you need any help give us a shout.

[pb126]

www.mwave.com has the E8400 for $229, I'm ordeing from there.

[pb126]

Jamie, you listed a link for fan filters on Newegg (thanks by the way). These are different sizes (80, 120mm, etc). Which size would you choose for the fans in the Antec 900? Thanks.

[shyster]

Off the top of my head, I know I am not Jamie, the antec 900 has at least two different fan sizes, the top fan is 200 and the two front fans are 120mm and the rear fan is 120.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec%2b900

It also tells you on the specs page of that link I posted.

[Jamie Nixx]

Shyster is correct, the Antec 900 has three 120mm fans, two at the front and one at the back, if you want to mess around with filters, note down the direction the fans are turned in before you take them off, the two at the front suck air in and the one at the back exhausts air.

You can't get a filter for the big one at the top but because of the low RPM is doesn't really suck in much dust.

[Barrister73]

I don't think that you would want filters for exhaust fans, you want that dust to fly out as freely as possible. So, no need for a filter on the top fan. If you're that concerned about dust, you might want to cover the top fan when the computer is not in use.

MRR

Anyone else bothered by the fact that the top fan makes the case stick out on the sides for no reason, or am I the only one who cares about stupid things like that?

[shyster]

I think the case is sexy, so I do not really care about it.

That being said it is much bigger than my current dell tower so I will have to do some major fung-shuying in my room once I get it up and running.

Where does it make it stick out on the sides anyways, mine seems to be the width of the fan the entire length of the case not just at the fan.

[Barrister73]

Sticks out about 5mm on each side right at the top fan. The body is 7.75 inches across the entire way except for at the fan, there it is 8.0 inches. Perhaps we have different designs.

MRR

[shyster]

No actually now that I am home I can see what you are talking about.

Before I was at work so I was just looking at the photos on newegg, which while very good and detailed, do not give zoom capabilities high enough to see an outcropping that small.

I still think it is sexy...:p

[MinGraphics]

Thank you so much for that link pb126, I ordered from them today just the cpu, I have everything else on newegg so I will be putting that order in later today.
Have to make a run to the bank and sock some money back into my account, had to use some of my build money for an emergency vet trip last night. Not good news one of my pups may have to be put down if she does not respond to the meds they have her on. I'm just glad I am home all day to be able to help her heal if she can, she has a disk injury. Same thing happened to her Mom last summer and they told me to take her home and say goodbye, not us we put her on major vitamins and took her to our chiropractor to be adjusted and in 3 months she was standing and now she runs with the pack. It does not always go that well but we give them a chance.
Back on track, I have a feeling I will be back, after reading some other posts about having to do something to the BIOS because the CPU is not recognized is scary already. I was only planing on putting filters on the front fans myself they are the ones that will be most near the dogs. Thanks for all the help again!:)

Wow after reading all the stuff about bad boards am I crazy to get one? Should I get a different MB, I don't think I am up to all that flashing?

[MinGraphics]

Just recived my parts today. As soon as I know how to flash the BIOS on my P5KC I will start throwing this thing together. It's going to be a long night! :)