Advice/Help on what I am going to get.

[m00sen]

Hello,

I am looking to buy stuff from newegg.com - a great site.

I'm planning on using your step-by-step process in building my first computer - but before I buy everything, could you help me and tell me if what I have picked out is compatible with each other? I found your web-site extremely helpful and it definitely swayed me to build my own because I was skeptical at first. Here is what I have picked out.


Computer Box (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047)

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131339)

Graphics(Video) Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131123)

Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272)

Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214)

Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170022)

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136294)

DVD/CD Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173)

Windows XP (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511)

Thank you very very much for your time and help.

_Mark

[m00sen]

Oh - I have a 26'' monitor Sony Bravia with speakers - so that's what I'll be using for the monitor/speakers. Just a simple S-Video cable from GPU to the monitor will work great compared to my setup I have now - A monitor cable plus a dual ended auxiliary cable. Looks sloppy haha but does the job for now.

[zburns]

Some comments on your choice of OS and monitor. Others with more experience than myself will comment on the other components. Their comments more "fine tuned" than if I made them.

Many if not most on this forum will recommend Vista 64 bit OS. You need to look at and think about your monitor choice. The Sony Bravia is an HDTV with a native resolution of 1366 x 786; I quickly looked at five models, all the same native resolution.

My monitor, that I am sitting 14" to 18" in front of, is a 24" Samsung with native res of 1920 x 1200. I am viewing pictures and data at a resolution of 94 pixels (dots) per inch. Your Bravia choice calculates out to 57 pixels (dots) per inch. The Bravia has 60% of the native resolution of practically all "computer monitors". I do not think you will like what you see up close on the Bravia in the way of sharpness or detail. It is meant to viewed at some distance such a 8, 10, 12, 14 feet, etc.. The more (pixels) dots per inch, the better the detail and sharpness; the closer you can view the image.

It is a TV set, not a computer monitor. Their advertising says it is a HDTV. The fact that the TV manufacturers put "HD" in front of everything now sort of gives a "blessing" to the letters HD. In fact on any viewable electronic device, TV or computer monitor, iphone, etc. the detail and sharpness is determined by the native resolution, the higher the better etc. for sharpness.

Your component choices look good to me but let some others comment. But take a serious look at computer monitors and their native resolutions compared to the Bravia.

About the calculations above: the Bravia is 1366 pixels in the horiz. direction, 786 vertical. The screen is 26" diagonal, assume a horizontal dimension of 24", a vertical dimension of 14". Divide the horizontal pixels, 1366 by 24", and you get 57 pixels per inch. For height, 786 by 14 and you get 56 pixels per inch. Not acceptable for up close work.

[m00sen]

Yes I agree with you about Windows Vista - but I honestly just hate the OS. I find it finicky and annoying - I am actually the only one in my house to have XP left (I live with 8 other house mates in college), and whenever they need help with something or other - its usually Vista at fault in my opinion (no one, and I mean NO one in my house is computer savvy in any way). We will see - it will probably be a last second choice.

As far as the Sony Bravia goes - I use it currently for my HP laptop running on a Nvidia 256MB graphics card - it looks pretty good from close up (about 2 ft?). But I did not know the "mathematics" in comparing the "TV" to a monitor. Its something I will have to consider and money is a bit of an issue. The TV works well for me now - my roommate is buying a 19 or so inch monitor and I'll try it out on that monitor to see if the difference is substantial enough for me to get a monitor over using the TV.

Thank you veryyy much for your insight - I appreciate it a lot. I look forward to reading more reviews and learning as much as I can. When I get back home I will post the television screen resolution native from the owners manual if I can find it - or look online to find my model and get back to you. Thanks again!

_Mark

[zburns]

The Sony Bravia resolution specs I provided should be yours also. I believe you will find that others here on this forum will speak highly of Vista with SP1; I really believe the mood is shifting or has shifted on Vista.

More about computer monitor specs on resolution. All current computer monitors, does not matter what size monitor, ie. 17", 19, 20, 22, 24 or 26 have different native resolutions, but their pixels or dots per inch are roughly the same. For 17, 20 and 24, about 94 pixels per inch, for 19, 22 and 26, about 5% less or 89 pixels per inch. As the monitor goes up in physical size, the native resolutions go up at a ratio to the physical size so that the "pixels per inch" remain roughly the same. The same analysis is true for televisions but HDTV resolution is about 60% of computer monitor resolution.

[RickyTick]

Hey Mark. Welcome.

Give us a little more info. Do you have a budget? What will be the primary uses for this PC? Be specific if you can.

Thanks

[m00sen]

Rickytrick; my budget is about ~$1200 in that range. I am looking for a reliable PC that won't give me trouble (though that can't really be guaranteed), runs fast with minimal lag - and can support Medium to High level gaming. I also just want the experience in building a PC myself (with the help if this site of course) and continue to do so. I also love to listen to music so I will be getting a sound card after all of the 'primary' components are installed if they are not too much money. If you have a suggestion for me or to change some things around - please feel free. I am open to all suggestions and money saving is excellent. Thanks for your time,

_Mark

[RickyTick]

Its not that I dislike your choices, I just think you could do a little better.

Motherboard and CPU combo $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16813128352&SubCategory=22&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

Video Card $168
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127359

Ram $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Power Supply $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Hard Drive $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Operating System $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

along with your choice of Case and Optical Drive for $118 together

Comes out to $921 not including Monitor, Keyboard, or Mouse.

This gives you a bigger and faster Hard Drive, and a much better and faster processor.

Check it out. What do you think?

[m00sen]

I chose your products you recommended and do like them all.. only a few questions.

The motherboard/CPU combo: do you feel as if the Quad Core 2.6ghz black edition runs better than a 3.1ghz dual core?

Also with that motherboard I noticed it is not SLI or Crossfire ready but comes with a Video card on it. By adding another video card - does this add on to the MB's GPU or replace it?

I really like these choices actually. Larger Hard drive - better deals on things. Thanks a bunch - just have those 2 little questions.


****I was wrong - ATI Radeon HD 3300 does come with CrossfireX if I am not mistaken?

Also, could you choose a cooling fan/heat sink/whatever the best deal is to cool the mobo and CPU? I have read 'aftermarket' cooling fans are much better then the ones that come stock. Thank you!

[RickyTick]

Yes, the mobo does support crossfire.
http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2887

That quad core Black Edition would be a much better processor.

Look here for some great coolers. I have the OCZ Vendetta II and really like it.
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=203&Itemid=62

[m00sen]

Oh ok nice. Thanks for the help guys - muchhh appreciated.