Please, confirm/review my next seput... help !!

[phil_qc]

Hi !

This is my first post on the PC side... I already have an iMac 2.8 24"
and a Macbook Pro 13"... I'm looking to build a PC for the first time
for every day use (internet, photoshop, video watching) and for gaming...

I have never build a computer but I'm ready to try... All I need is some
help with parts and maybe with the BIOS...

Ok, so to start, this is my list:

MOBO: Asus P7P55D $170
GPU: Asus EAH5770 ATI HD 5770 $185
CPU: i5 $220
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel $95
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750TX $150
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black $80
ODD: Sony Opticar Black $35
CASE: Antec P183 $170

What do you guys think ??? is everything compatible ?
Any input / suggestion is welcome ! All I want is a PC
that will run cool temp and be silent, with good graphic...

As for the BIOS, do I really need to "tweek" that ???
I don't want to overclock or nothing so can I just plug
everything together and push power on or do I have
to play in the BIOS anyway ??? Sorry if it's a stupid
question, but I really don't know :o

Thanks for your help !!

Philippe

[tjgraf]

Philippe

First, I went to Newegg for everything. I used to use Tiger, but got burned by them a few times and won’t go back.

I5 is great choice. Price / performance sweet spot, with lot’s of growth potential as prices fall to upgrade.

I’m building my wife’s PC (first build ever for me too) over Thanksgiving as the parts roll in from Newegg. Then, if it works out, I’m building my 3 sons new PC’s for
Christmas. We’ll see if I can pull it off.

Video board is biggest black hole for a normal user. My son is a builder, and uses his computer for heavy business use. He’s on his third video board in 6 months, but is so busy, I’ve not been able to stop him long enough to find out what he bought. I went Nvidia, and went overkill so I would not have to keep upgrading. $200 seems like a lot of cash for a video board in my book. But I did it anyway to be sure I got decent, snappy video response. It seems like every computer I’ve bought in the past has been a dog when it came to video response. I just decided “no more”. I’m doing this one right.

Here’s my setup. I’ll let you know how it goes together in a week or two.

Case: IKONIK Zaria A20 3IC-Z2DSM Silver Aluminum / SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R P55 RT
CPU: i5 750
RAM: G.Skill 2Gx2|GSK F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK R
Graphics card: EVGA Geforce GTX 260 core 216 896 MB DDR3
Sound Card: motherboard
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640 GB 7200 RPM 16 MB cache SATA 3.0 GB/s Internal Hard Drive - Bare Drive
Optical Drive(s): Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM
Monitor: SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 2333SW High Glossy Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 20000:1 (1000:1) w/ HPCP Support - Retail Full 1080P
Speakers:
Operating System: Win 7 64 home premium

WiseMonkey and RickyTick have both been a huge help.

I blew it on the HDD Blue, should have bought black for longer warranty, double the cache, for just $5 more. Don’t make the mistake I did.

I did a ton of research on cases, as the Antec cases seem practical but don’t look that great in my book. I must have looked at every case Newegg sold, and settled on the Ikonik. It’s different looking, very clean and contemporary appearance. I think it only cost about $80 approx. and holds a 10.5 inch video card, which mine is. It seems that the space for video cards is hard to determine from the specs they put out. Some people have to get out the Dremel to modify their boxes to fit their video boards. I didn’t want to have to do that!

I wish you well. We’ll see if I get into any driver messes. I’m going to be downloading the Sony Optiarc drivers shortly.

Regards,

Tom

[tjgraf]

I sort of liked the Gigabyte cases too. They are all large, and probably roll off the same Taiwan assembly line. Or so it seems when you look at the dimension specs . Just spend some time looking at the Newegg reviews. It's a huge service to the customer.

[chunkylover53]

BIOS is less complicated than you think. I have built 4 pcs now, and I use default settings for most options. You can get away with only changing the boot order and a few other basics. Trust us, it gets less complicated very quickly!

[zburns]

Did not know the video card could be an issue (lengthwise) in the case. Glad to hear that could be a consideration. My case is the Antec Sonata III. After 1 1/2 years use, about "four on hours a day", I have very little dust inside, certainly not to the point of any concern or having to clean it out. I attribute this to a good case design to minimize dust. There is a filter in line behind the "larger" vent holes. Other "air access points" are very small and there is only small amounts of dust accumalation at these points; it certainly appears Antec did make an effort to minimize incoming dust accumalation.

It is something I never considered at the "purchase" stage; attitude was who gives a "hoot" about dust, just vacumn it out every now and then. Point is now my attitude has changed and this does become a factor in looking at cases.

If Antec can do it on one or more of their cases, then everyone can do it on every case, if they want to. Reasons for a manufacturer not to do it are increased cost and the fact that "dust concern" is not necessarily a initial buying consideration.