First Build, Gaming PC

[Oatmealman15]

Im new to building, but know some about it mostly from recent research, and here is what I have come up with. Suggestions welcome :)

- MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

- EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

- Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX Twin2X Dual-Channel Memory Kits with DHX Technology (2-4g Sticks)

- Intel® Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 4MB Cache

- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Thats what I have so far, and I also had:
SAMSUNG 2220WM Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2
1000:1 Built in Speakers
but i was advised hat built in speakers is not the way to go.. I need some help on a 22" WideScreen Monitor. Thanks

[RickyTick]

The 650i is a nice board. Sort of a budget 680i. They are both fine boards, but I'd recommend a P35 board instead. Take a look at Asus, Gigabyte, or Abit. All 3 are very high quality and high performance.

At this point, the E8400 processor would probably be a better option. Its newer technology and faster than the E6600. Its also a good overclocker, if you're interested in that.

A 320gb hard drive is not as big as it used to be, if you know what I mean. Consider a 500gb from Western Digital, like the Caviar SE16. Just a thought.

I personally have the Samsung 226BW monitor and love it.

[Oatmealman15]

Well ive looked some more and found:

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

for the processor, is this one that you would recommend?

As for the hard drive I found a 400gb and 500gb of the cavier se 16 is the extra 100gb worth the extra $25 or so?

And I found
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050
for a p35 motherboard.

How does this stuff look, or would you recommend variations of this. Also I think im going to switch my ram to 2 gigs of crucial ballistix because im going to run xp 32-bit unless thats a bad idea.

[shyster]

I am no expert, but here is what I can tell you about what I know.

That is the correct processor Ricky was talking about, and most people would probably recommend that processor right now. They run much cooler, faster, and are overclockable to 4gb without messing with any other settings, from what I understand.

I do not know much about hard drives I am currently trying to make a decision on one right now, but without a link that might show a difference between the two drives I would say $25 more is probably not worth it.

As for the motherboard just reading that first review makes it seem kind of iffy as to the quality and longevity of the board. Most of the experts on this board will probably recommend either the p5kc or the p5k-e, I believe. That being said I would probably wait for one of their opinions.

In regards to the ram if you only plan to load on a 32-bit OS then getting four gigs of ram might actually slow your computer down. If you were getting a 64-bit OS I would say keep the four gigs of ram.

As I already said I am NOT AN EXPERT, this is only what I have seen around the board and from my own investigation. Take it with a grain of salt until you hear from a real expert and just allow it to enter into your thinking even if you choose not to consider it.

[iiiprimeiii]

check out these RAMs for memory. a bit cheaper and very good. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=1052308477&Description=CORSAIR+XMS2&name=2GB+(2+x+1GB)

[Oatmealman15]

Ok thanks for the advice. Here are the two hard drives I mentioned earlier and I cant see much of a difference besides the extra 100gb.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136076
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136040

As for the ram, this was the crucial ram I found:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820146565

I looked at the corsair stuff as well, and it looked pretty good. Is there a huge difference between the two brands?

And would something like this for the motherboard be good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131196

Thanks :)

[JasonG]

You didn't list a PSU.

[shyster]

You didn't list a PSU.

Well if you want to get technical he did not list numerous things, the case, the PSU, the optical drive.

As I already said though I am not an expert, so these are just opinions to help you look at what you are getting.

That being said those are also important, but for the most part, are the cheapest parts and should probably be choosen around your other parts.

As for the hard drives the main difference between the two aside from price and space, is one is OEM and one is retail.

So the OEM one would not come with any screws, mounts, or directions I believe.

As for the motherboard, it looks to me like it might ONLY support ddr2 1066. If that were the case the ram you chose would not work since it is ddr2 800. However it seems strange to me that a board would only support one setting of ram so that is probably just my misunderstanding of it.

The ram I do not know enough about to help you, hopefully Jamie or that wise monkey will come to help.

The easiest way probably, to ensure that you get the best help for your needs is to list what you want your computer to do, and for your motherboard do you want wi-fi, or is a normal network card fine. Do you want to "furture proof," meaning getting a card that supports ddr3, if you want to upgrade in the future.

That is probably all the "help" I can give you for now, and just remember to eat your salt.

[RickyTick]

This is the hard drive I had in mind for about $105.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136073&CMP=OTC-TechReport&ATT=22-136-073&nm_mc=OTC-TechReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

For about $160.00 or 20 cents per gigabyte you could get this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136131&CMP=OTC-TechReport&ATT=22-136-131&nm_mc=OTC-TechReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

The Crusial Ballistix is nice stuff, but that Corsair XMS that iiiprimeiii linked to is great.

[JasonG]

Well if you want to get technical he did not list numerous things, the case, the PSU, the optical drive.

My response was directed toward the OP, not you. :rolleyes: I mentioned it because the PSU is a very important part of a system and I didn't know if the OP gave it any thought yet.

[shyster]

I was not trying to attack you or anything, I was just trying to counter point out that while the PSU is important, so is the case. And depending on the case, some come with psu's and others do not.

[Oatmealman15]

Ha easy guys. Sorry didn't mean to get everyone arguing :) Here is kind of an updated rig.

cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz

mobo: Not quite sure yet :\ hopefully i can get a good suggestion.

psu: 500W (comes with case) unless thats a bad idea

gpu: EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB

case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156092
Was gonna go with until rebate went away now im not sure if i should get a seperate case and psu.

os: win xp

hd: WD Caviar SE 16 400gb

ram: Corsair xms2 2gb (2 x 1gb)

monitor: Not sure since some rebates went away : \

Well hopefully I can get some suggestions on those parts I still don't know yet, and whether the ones I have are decent

[iiiprimeiii]

gigabyte ga-p35c for mobo. not sure how good that psu is but everyone here seems to like the corsair 520hx.90.99 on clubit.com

[Jamie Nixx]

The PSU in the Raidmax will not be sufficient or trustworthy, so you need to get another one.

The Corsair HX520w is one of the best.