First time builder here looking for input

[grilly]

OK guys. After a lot of deliberation I have decided to build my own computer, inspired mostly by this site and this board. I am a fairly comfortable working with electronic components as I used to do it for a living. Here is what I have(can you tell I followed the recommendations of this site?)

case- Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail

Motherboard-ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45

CPU- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor

Cooler- ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

HD- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Memory- 2 gig DDR PC25300U

Video- EVGA e Geforce 8800GTS

Sound- Creative Soundblaster x-fi Xtreme gamer

Windows XP Pro
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This system is going to be used for a lot of your usual run of the mill stuff combined with some video editing, a lot of photography stuff, and some gaming. I will be starting the build this weekend and I wanted to start this thread as I know I will have a lot of questions.

I guess first off, I am wondering if anybody sees any issues here or what the opinion is of what I have going here. The board recommended by My Super PC is discontinued so I went with the P5Q PRO. I'm assuming that will work.

I'm also wondering if the 2 Gig of Ram is enough for this system. Do I need more?



I will be using this site ad the "How to Build an Affordable, Quality, Fast PC" book to do my build. Thanks in advance for any ideas or input.

[RickyTick]

Hey Grilly. Welcome

Your build looks good.

I would consider going with better ram like DDR2 800 like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

There are also better video cards than the 8800GTS in the same price range.
Here are some suggestions
9800GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130379
9800GTX+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130376

[Damlite]

Looks perfectly fine for your needs. 2 GB memory in my opinion is more than enough for anything, but most people recommend 4GB, in which a 64-bit OS must be used. I'd use memory with a higher speed, PC25300 seems to be a more outdated module now, so i'd recommend something around the PC2 - 6400/8500 range, seeing as its cheap. Something like this if you can grab the rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227181

I'd go for the 9800GTX+ if you can push your budget a few dollars.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130386

[grilly]

Thanks for the input guys. Would there be a problem with me using the memory I have now and maybe upgrading to a better module later on?

[RickyTick]

Verify that the motherboard supports that ram. If it does, then ok.

[grilly]

Alright, this dude is built and I'm loading Windows XP now. I have a couple of questions.

I couldn't figure out how to disable the onboard Video on this board. I'm able to view the monitor off of the DVI out of the add on video card I installed. Do I need to do anything else in Bios?

The steps to build a PC from this site say to run a Hard drive test utility prior to installing Windows. I don't have the utility since I'm running a OEM HD so I didn't run the utility. Is this a big deal?

I'll give another update when I work on the drivers and finish up packaging this afternoon.

[zburns]

If you have a Western Digital HD, you can run the utility Rob recommends, OEM or not. I assume everyone who uses this site buys OEM on the hard drive. Rob gives you WD's web address or the "link" to the WD HD utility. Takes a couple of hours to run it. Not sure what you do if you have drive other than WD. Is it a big deal if you do not do it? Thruout the whole process of building the computer, it is very much worth it to "know that a part of the computer" is functioning flawless. If you score perfect on the WD utility, at least you know the score on the HD when you start out with the fresh build.

[The Wise Monkey]

It is not really essential to run the utility - as long as everything formats correctly, you should be ok.

There should be an option in the BIOS to disable the onboard video if a PCI is detected, which is usually the default, so you don't need to change anything.

[grilly]

I'm up and running. Flying actually. Really cool feeling knowing that you built one of the things on your own. This thing is so much faster than anything I have ever worked with as far as pc's go.

I'm working on catching up on all the software I had on my old pc.

Thanks to all of you guys that helped me out. I couldn't have done it without you and this site. I'll update you when I'm ready to build another one, which may be any day now..... Thanks!!!!

[The Wise Monkey]

No problem - hope you stay around to give advice to others. :)