Finished my PC - thanks RickyTick & MySuperPC!

[PH0ENIX]

I just put together my PC last night, and I definitely took my time!

[Original post (http://forums.mysuperpc.com/showthread.php?p=11752)]

Anyway, here's what I ended up building:

Case: Antec SOLO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129018) - $39.99 (Fry's Black Friday sale)
PSU: Antec TruePower Trio 650 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371001) - $49.99 (Fry's Black Friday sale)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 9550 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041) - $158.50 (Employee discount :D)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358) - $114.99AR (Newegg)
RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1000 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145) - $41 (eBay)
HSF: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003) - $36.99 (Newegg)
Video: Gigabyte Radeon HD 4350 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125251) - $25.99AR (Newegg)
HD: (2) Western Digital WD6400AAKS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218) - $59.99/ea (Newegg)
DVDRW: Samsung SH-S223Q (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173) - $25.99 (Newegg)
--
Total = $613.42AR

I guess I didn't make out too badly. :D I posted some photos of my build process here (http://members.cox.net/phxhifi/PC/index.htm).

Some lessons learned:

1. The push pins for the CPU cooler suck. I should have listened to other reviewers and bought the retention bracket for my Xigmatek cooler. Oh well, I have a Xigmatek ACK-I7361 retention bracket (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233027) on the way and am going to redo the HSF.

2. If both Amazon and Newegg sell the same OEM hard drive at comparable prices, go with Amazon due to the superior packing (I'm running spinrite on my drives now to check for errors). :(

3. Check the motherboard box for SATA cables before going out and buying your own.

4. This isn't a lesson learned, but I ordered a nice 3.5" internal multi-card reader (http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=102) (review (http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9221&Itemid=1)) to add to my PC.

5. Keep band-aids handy, because your hands are going to get scratched up (a lot)!

6. A magnetic tip screwdriver is a PC builder's best friend!

7. The internet (and Google) is a PC builder's second best friend!

8. This isn't a lesson learned either, but I intend to play with Intel's Matrix RAID (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Matrix_RAID) rather than using a straight RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration.

9. Thanks to the fantastic advice given here by RickyTick and others! This is a great site even for experienced builders. Keep up the good work!

[RickyTick]

Very nice indeed. Great job, and thanks for the kind words.

[Rob]

Congratulations, Phoenix! Thanks for the good words and the helpful post.

The magnetic field from a magnetic tip screwdriver should be took weak to hurt any components, even the hard drive. Even so, I can't bring myself to use anything magnetic around any part of the computer.

[PH0ENIX]

The magnetic field from a magnetic tip screwdriver should be took weak to hurt any components, even the hard drive. Even so, I can't bring myself to use anything magnetic around any part of the computer.
Hehe, I guess I can understand that. It was just frustrating to lose small screws in the case because the magnetic coating on my screwdriver (part of a PC toolkit that I previously purchased) had gotten worn down. I had to take apart the case to find one stubborn lost screw, and that process ate up about an hour of my time. :o

I have to say that I love my new PC! It's sooo much quieter than the cheapo P4 machine that I built in 2003, and this one cost me $300 less to build! :)

EDIT: I just realized I installed the cooler fan incorrectly. It should go in front of the cooler (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/252910-28-xigmatek-s1283-flow-direction) and blow air through the fins (http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/6849/airflowmy3.jpg), rather than behind it and pull air through them (as the way I have it set up). Thanks for the crappy documentation Xigmatek! Oh well, I'm redoing the fan after I get my retention bracket anyway...