First PC Build

[OneWound]

Here's my first PC build, I'd be using it for mostly gaming and AutoCad. Just wanted to make sure everything was compatible, and I didn't screw myself over anything else. If there are any changes, I'm trying to keep it under $800, so please bear that in mind;) One thing I forgot to add is that I will not need a keyboard, mouse, or a monitor.


Motherboard & CPU: $260
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7246697&csid=
Case: $40
http://www.amazon.com/GAMMA-Classic-Interior-Chassis-Black/dp/B002UDK9U6
RAM: $38
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1412140&csid=_61
Hard Drive: $90
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7288051&Sku=TSD-1000EALX&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=iFudSkud_Rc-kykt.C3F4Vy2jmgiRuZVaA
PSU: $60
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4434993&csid=_61&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=iFudSkud_Rc-EhuJkSTyHX4tGV.p6RVMfw
Optical Drive: $18
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4829307&Sku=L12-1312+OEM&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=iFudSkud_Rc-PUQiIs7tnUO2uq.lIACpnA
Video Card: $215
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=708648&CatId=7005
Fans: $9 (ea)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835228012

[zburns]

Hello OneWound and welcome to the forums,

Edit Note: A lot has been added to the final text below compared to the original!!

Couple of comments. I checked your Gigabyte mobo 'Memory Support List' for the Crucial and did not find it on the list for that motherboard. So I suggest you recheck it yourself. If Tiger Direct told you it was OK, that might be so, but nevertheless I suggest you buy RAM based on the Gigabyte Memory Support List. (For each motherboard on the manufacturers website for motherboards, you can access a 'Memory Support List'.)

The case you chose is very low cost, and, generally that means some things about the case may or will be 'disappointing'; even if you find a review that says nothing negative about it. If you sample all the cases via the internet, I just think you will find this case in the 'lower percentile' pricewise. Just not a good idea. Take a look at the Antec cases and their prices. Their case product line covers the waterfront on prices and features, and, you can trust that you will not be disappointed.

Hard Drive: I used your link to pull up the Caviar Blue Drive. Caviar Black is on the same page for $ 30 more dollars and that is what I recommend. Western Digital Black is their 'top of the line' series; then Caviar Green, then Blue. The HD is a mechanical device and will hold all software and everything else you save to it. Mechanical devices can fail! It is best to purchase the best possible Hard Drive. Here on the Forum, the recommendation for years (five years in my case) has always been WD Black drives.

Power Supply: The power supply choice has only two 18 amp + 12Volt rails -- this calculates out to 432 watts.

By comparison, the Antec EA 550 has four 30 amp +12Volt rails -- and this calculates out to 360 watts available for each rail (you would never have all rails supplying 360 watts at the same time) and yet Antec rates this psu at 550 watts. The Antec TP 550 has 4 +12 volt rails, each having 20 amp capacity. Each +12 volt rail can deliver 240 watts. Either Antec psu is a better choice.

Your video card requires two additional 6 pin power plugs, each capable of supplying 75 watts, in addition to the PCIe X 16 slot supplying 75 watts max. The video card could receive up to 225 watts (probably would have to be overclocked to reach this level).

It is nice to have a psu with 4 +12 volt rails. One for the cpu, one for video card (s), one for motherboard, one for peripherals -- and still have +12 volt power left over.

Either Antec psu is a better choice and will cost $ 50 to $ 60 more. The EA 550 is $ 109 at Newegg; the TP is $ 100 (but out of stock at Newegg). I would go for the EA 550 if you change your mind.

Major EDIT: I left out the following in my original text. The power supply you chose has only three modes of protection from power supply failure such as Overvoltage, Overcurrent, short circuits, OverPower and more.

The Antec EA 550 has 8 modes of circuit protection; the TP 550 has 5 modes of protection. The URLs for both Antec models are at the end of the post. Each URL is for one of the psus. Look for 'Circuitshield' on the EA 550 and 'Industrial Grade Protection' on the TP 550. This is a 'huge' difference between the two Antec psus and the CoolerMaster.

The components you chose will work (still question the RAM); you can improve on the components for not much more dollars. PSU and the RAM are important to the operation of the build. The case may or may not be a nuisance to work with (the price is just too low) Other than the above, everything else looks fine!!

EDIT: Antec EA 550 URL: http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704511&fid=11 Antec TP 550 URL: http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=1758&fid=236T

[OneWound]

Hello OneWound and welcome to the forums,

Couple of comments. I checked your Gigabyte mobo 'Memory Support List' for the Crucial and did not find it on the list for that motherboard. So I suggest you recheck it yourself. If Tiger Direct told you it was OK, that might be so, but nevertheless I suggest you buy RAM based on the Gigabyte Memory Support List.

The case you chose is very low cost, and, generally that means some things about the case may or will be 'disappointing'; even if you find a review that says nothing negative about it. If you sample all the cases via the internet, I just think you will find this case in the 'lower percentile' pricewise. Just not a good idea. Take a look at the Antec cases and their prices. Their case product line covers the waterfront on prices and features, and, you can trust that you will not be disappointed.

Hard Drive: I used your link to pull up the Caviar Blue Drive. Caviar Black is on the same page for $ 30 more dollars and that is what I recommend. Western Digital Black is there best series; then Caviar Green, then Blue. It is a mechanical device and will hold all software and everything else you save to it. You need to have confidence that you purchased the best possible Hard Drive. Here on the Forum, the recommendation for years (five in my case) has always been WD Black drives.

Power Supply: The power supply choice has only two 18 amp + 12Volt rails -- this calculates out to 432 watts.

By comparison, the Antec EA 550 has four 30 amp +12Volt rails -- and this calculates out to 360 watts available for each rail (you would never have all rails supplying 360 watts at the same time) and yet Antec rates this psu at 550 watts. So the Video card without overclocking can receive 225 watts of power. The Antec TP 550 has 4 +12 volt rails, each having 20 amp capacity. Each +12 volt rail can deliver 240 watts. Either Antec psu is a better choice.

Your video card requires two additional 6 pin power plugs, each capable of supplying 75 watts, in addition to the PCIe X 16 slot supplying 75 watts max. The video card could receive up to 225 watts (probably would have to be overclocked to reach this level).

Either Antec psu is a better choice and will cost $ 50 to $ 60 more. The EA 550 is $ 109 at Newegg; the TP is $ 100 (but out of stock at Newegg). I would go for the EA 550 if you change your mind.

Other than the above, everything else looks fine!!

EDIT: Antec EA 550 URL: http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704511&fid=11 Antec TP 550 URL: http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=1758&fid=236T

As far as video cards go, thoughts on the GeForce 550? I'd like to stick to popular brands that I know, if at all possible.

[OneWound]

Hello OneWound and welcome to the forums,

Edit Note: A lot has been added to the final text below compared to the original!!

Couple of comments. I checked your Gigabyte mobo 'Memory Support List' for the Crucial and did not find it on the list for that motherboard. So I suggest you recheck it yourself. If Tiger Direct told you it was OK, that might be so, but nevertheless I suggest you buy RAM based on the Gigabyte Memory Support List. (For each motherboard on the manufacturers website for motherboards, you can access a 'Memory Support List'.)

The case you chose is very low cost, and, generally that means some things about the case may or will be 'disappointing'; even if you find a review that says nothing negative about it. If you sample all the cases via the internet, I just think you will find this case in the 'lower percentile' pricewise. Just not a good idea. Take a look at the Antec cases and their prices. Their case product line covers the waterfront on prices and features, and, you can trust that you will not be disappointed.

Hard Drive: I used your link to pull up the Caviar Blue Drive. Caviar Black is on the same page for $ 30 more dollars and that is what I recommend. Western Digital Black is their 'top of the line' series; then Caviar Green, then Blue. The HD is a mechanical device and will hold all software and everything else you save to it. Mechanical devices can fail! It is best to purchase the best possible Hard Drive. Here on the Forum, the recommendation for years (five years in my case) has always been WD Black drives.

Power Supply: The power supply choice has only two 18 amp + 12Volt rails -- this calculates out to 432 watts.

By comparison, the Antec EA 550 has four 30 amp +12Volt rails -- and this calculates out to 360 watts available for each rail (you would never have all rails supplying 360 watts at the same time) and yet Antec rates this psu at 550 watts. The Antec TP 550 has 4 +12 volt rails, each having 20 amp capacity. Each +12 volt rail can deliver 240 watts. Either Antec psu is a better choice.

Your video card requires two additional 6 pin power plugs, each capable of supplying 75 watts, in addition to the PCIe X 16 slot supplying 75 watts max. The video card could receive up to 225 watts (probably would have to be overclocked to reach this level).

It is nice to have a psu with 4 +12 volt rails. One for the cpu, one for video card (s), one for motherboard, one for peripherals -- and still have +12 volt power left over.

Either Antec psu is a better choice and will cost $ 50 to $ 60 more. The EA 550 is $ 109 at Newegg; the TP is $ 100 (but out of stock at Newegg). I would go for the EA 550 if you change your mind.

Major EDIT: I left out the following in my original text. The power supply you chose has only three modes of protection from power supply failure such as Overvoltage, Overcurrent, short circuits, OverPower and more.

The Antec EA 550 has 8 modes of circuit protection; the TP 550 has 5 modes of protection. The URLs for both Antec models are at the end of the post. Each URL is for one of the psus. Look for 'Circuitshield' on the EA 550 and 'Industrial Grade Protection' on the TP 550. This is a 'huge' difference between the two Antec psus and the CoolerMaster.

The components you chose will work (still question the RAM); you can improve on the components for not much more dollars. PSU and the RAM are important to the operation of the build. The case may or may not be a nuisance to work with (the price is just too low) Other than the above, everything else looks fine!!

EDIT: Antec EA 550 URL: http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704511&fid=11 Antec TP 550 URL: http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=1758&fid=236T

Oh and another thing, I appreciate the help!

[zburns]

The video card is fine, excellent choice for the price. Video card pricing is proportional to the number of 'cuda cores' (Invidia or Evga terminology), 'Shader Processors' (Radeon terminology). Your 6950 card choice has 1408 shaders, and the 6970 has 1536 shaders, hence, the higher price for the 6970. The $ 400 cards have about twice these numbers of 'shader processors' and for more money, you get even more 'processors', etc..

One review I give you below is Guru 3D review; one of the best reviewers in the business. He writes very long reviews (20 pages with lots of data is not unusual). Always read the 'Conclusions' page and maybe scan the 'benchmark' pages, etc.. His conclusions have some negative comments but they are 'not negative' and he admits it, because the so called negatives are in proportion to the number of 'shader processers'. He implies or states that this card is a 'must purchase given the price and the performance'.

Here are five reviews sort of in the order I suggest you read them. Just pay particular attention to the 'closing thoughts' or 'conclusion' page! Most of the urls below are the last page, but you can easily go to any page in the review.

(1) http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/xfx-hd6970-3-way-cfx-hd6950-cfx-review/28/
(2) http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4220/sapphire_radeon_hd_6950_2gb_toxic_video_card_revie w/index19.html

(3) http://xfxforce.com/en-gb/NewsAndReviews/Reviews.aspx?ModelID=109359
(4) www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/

(5) http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/27