Please look at my selection for an initial build.

[jnmwizkid]

Hey, I've decided to build my own computer instead of buying another. To start, I'm going to get rather low-budget items, and then upgrade it over time. Could someone tell me if all of these items are compatible?

2 or 3 (Might start with just 1) Sticks of 2GB, Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-12800 memory module -- http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=bl25664bn1608&pid=862686

Antec Sonata III 500 Quiet Super Mini Tower ATX Case (Black) -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QAVVAM/mysuperpc-20

Intel Pentium E6600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80571E6600 -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116347

GIGABYTE GA-EP43T-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128414&cm_re=LGA_775_Intel-_-13-128-414-_-Product

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Hard%20Drives-_-Western%20Digital-_-22136284&AID=10440897&PID=862686&SID=

Sony Optiarc Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1678A - OEM -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827131061&cm_re=Sony_DVD_Drive-_-27-131-061-_-Product

Acer X163WB 15.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor -- http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-ET.LBF09.030/5013901

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit System Builder 1pk -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002NGJO4M/qid=1008036386/sr=8-4/mysuperpc-20

EVGA 512-P3-1153-TR GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130513

Plus Office 2010 and Bitdefender Antivirus. A lot of those items I got from the main tutorial from this site. If you have any recommendations of what I should get initially or what I should look towards getting, please tell me. My main concern at the moment is if all of the above is compatible. I will be using this computer for gaming eventually.

Thanks a lot.

[RickyTick]

If you go with the P43 motherboard and E6600 processor, you're really limiting yourself for any future upgrades. You should be looking at a P55 motherboard and a LGA1156 processor. If you're interested in AMD, then the AM3 is the way to go.

[The Wise Monkey]

Ricky is right here - the 775 socket is fairly out of date, so the newer sockets with perhaps a core i3 would be a good idea.

As a side note, I wouldn't recommend paying for anti-virus software as Microsoft Security Essentials is an extremely competent free alternative. :)

[jnmwizkid]

Alright, thanks for the input. I decided to, instead of start out with a low-budget and build up to a high-end, I'll just wait longer initially to save up for the high-end first off... So, the build I'll do is very similar to the build on the High-End Build Guide that you made, although I don't understand the power supply and casing. Does casing already come with the power supply? I'm thinking about sticking with the Antec Sonata III, but that's 250W lower than your power supply on the guide... Would that still work for all the components on the build? If not, what case should I get, (or what specs should I research), to go with the "CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX"? Also, I was looking at some of the posts on that thread, and noticed someone posted a slightly newer version of RAM, which looks the same, but this one has better reviews: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

Also, I upgraded the Hard Drive to: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284&cm_re=Western_Digital_Caviar_Black_7200RPM_32MB_Ca che-_-22-136-284-_-Product

Oh, and Microsoft Security Essentials come with Windows 7 and are its own Antivirus and Internet Security?

[jnmwizkid]

Not to be pushy, and I'm not really in a rush. But it's been awhile since a reply and I didn't want the thread to get lost. So, *bump*. :)

[RickyTick]

oops sorry, missed this one.

Microsoft Security Essentials does NOT come with Windows 7. It's free, and can be easily downloaded at any time.
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

I'll put together a build list of what I would recommend and see what you think. I'll be back in a couple of hours.

[RickyTick]

If I were building a killer system for myself today, it would look like this.

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225) COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010) CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423) GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225) Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz

Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225) G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130567) EVGA 01G-P3-1373-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache

Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188) SAMSUNG Black SATA DVD Burner w/LightScribe Support

Operating System (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116758) Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders

Total is $1489


For just a little less money, here's another High-End Build.

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194) COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012) CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX 650W

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128409) GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115213) Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz

Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193) G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130567) EVGA 01G-P3-1373-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache

Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188) SAMSUNG Black SATA DVD Burner w/LightScribe Support

Operating System (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders

Total is $1265


Going with an AMD processor and motherboard can drop the price a little more and still provide High-End performance.

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194) COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005) CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131631) ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851) AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz

Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189) G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562) EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319) Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB

Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188) SAMSUNG Black SATA DVD Burner w/LightScribe Support

Operating System (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders

Total is $1065

[jnmwizkid]

Thanks A Lot, Ricky. Those builds look pretty amazing... I'm probably going to go with the first one. The high-end build sticky is yours, right? You should add these builds to it. I'm not getting it right away, and before I am ready to make the purchases, I will confirm it will you. You are very helpful, and this site has a great community. I'll post if I have any questions. Thanks.

[RickyTick]

Glad to help. Good idea making that a Sticky...Done! :D

[jnmwizkid]

Hello again, I'm just about ready to buy this super PC now, finally. :) I need to make a few adjustments to the build, however. With all items included, I want the final price to be under $1500.

Here is the High-end build that you currently have on the sticky and how I'd like to change it:


Case COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case -- Preferably this should be downgraded as much as possible.

Power Supply CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W -- This should also be downgraded to the minimum to support the parts' powers.

Motherboard ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard -- I don't want to downgrade it, but one or two steps down shouldn't hurt performance too much.

CPU Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 -- I don't want to downgrade this one, unless there is a compatibility issue.

CPU Cooler CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler -- Is this even needed? Don't the CPUs come with built-in coolers?

Ram G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 -- I'm upgrading this, actually, I'll post it below.

Video Card EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) -- This is pretty expensive and should be downgraded, preferably mid- to high- $200s.

Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache -- What's the difference between the 32MB and the 64MB cache? I have a 64MB with 6gb/s for 89.99, but a 32MB 3gb/s for 69.99 also available.

Optical Drive ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW -- This is fine.

On top of those items, to complete the build I have:

Acer V183HLAJb Black 18.5" LED BackLight LCD Monitor - $99.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL - $104.99 (instead of the above RAM) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314)

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM - $139.99 -- I think Professional is worth the extra $40, what do you think?

I already have a mouse and a keyboard, and headsets. I'd like to get Office 2010, but I might wait a couple months for that instead of getting it now.

I tried to mix and match the first high-end build with the $1015 on the same sticky, but I probably ran into some compatibility issues. I'd prefer to stay with Intel instead of going to AMD, also.

The Lynnfield and the Bloomfield processors are currently the same price, by the way.

The EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130549) Video Card looks decent, I don't know how compatible it is though.

The $1015 build looks good enough, actually. The only differences I'd make would be change the Lynnfield to the Bloomfield CPUs (if that's compatible, because they're the same price), and the Graphics Card listed there is discontinued and no longer sold, so that build would need a replacement. I'd also want the 2x4GB RAM instead.

I put-together the $1015 build on newegg, actually, (using the Graphics Card I mentioned, the upgraded RAM, and the Bloomfield CPU) and the total price excluding Office is $1443. Would that work? Even if so, are there any other suggestions?

Thanks so much in advance.

[jnmwizkid]

Also, I should note again that I'll be using this computer for gaming. I want it to be able to play pretty much any game on the market with zero hardware-based lag (it's okay if I have to go into the lowest detail-mode, but preferably higher). Thanks

[jnmwizkid]

bump