Building a PC - Advice?

[sabotai]

It's been awhile since I put together my own PC, and it's been awhile since I've kept up with current tech stuff, so I'm pretty rusty when it comes to buying PC parts. Here is a list of parts I hope to order from newegg soon.

Motherboard
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - $139.99

Power Supply
COOLMAX CUG-700B ATX 12V( V.2.2) 700W Power Supply 115/230 V - $159.99

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+(65W) Windsor 2.4GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - $113.00

CPU Fan and Heatsink
Rosewill RCX-Z1 Long life ball bearing for over 75000/hrs CPU Cooler - $14.99

RAM
2x CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - $64.00 x 2 = $128.00

Graphics Card
ATI 100-437807 Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - $229.99

Computer Case
XION Dazl XON-502 Silver with Blue LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $49.99

Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $66.99

Total: $902.94

I'm trying not to cannablize my current PC since I'd like to have a back-up. I had a bit of a scare awhile back when my PC started making some really strange noises and thought it was about to die, so having my old PC intact would be nice so I can have a backup in case something happens. However, I'll take sound card out of it and one of the DVD drives (I have 2 in it). Anything that isn't really essential.

The hard drive and graphics card I am being more "budget" with since I can upgrade later. The mobo comes with an onboard network card and the case comes with fans. Did I forget anything? Should I not buy something listed and go with something else? Are there significant jumps for a bit more money with anything I listed?

[Atocep]

The hard drive and graphics card I am being more "budget" with since I can upgrade later. The mobo comes with an onboard network card and the case comes with fans. Did I forget anything? Should I not buy something listed and go with something else? Are there significant jumps for a bit more money with anything I listed?

I know the first reaction is to go with AMD when trying to cut some costs for comparable performance, but Intel has really cut their prices over the past few months.

You could get the E6320 for about $185 for not only a big jump in Mhz, but also you double the L2 cache. You could pair that with an nForce 590 motherboard for about the same price as the one you have there now.

It really depends on how much you want to put into the processor, though. Outside of that, everything looks good.

[Ryan S]

I would advise you to go for the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Right now Intel definitely has a good lead in the processor stakes. I would probably go for the E6320 as it won't stretch your budget too much.

[sabotai]

I know the first reaction is to go with AMD when trying to cut some costs for comparable performance, but Intel has really cut their prices over the past few months

It's not really to cut costs, it's just that I've used AMD for so long, going with them has become automatic for me. I'll look into the Intel chips.

[Atocep]

It's not really to cut costs, it's just that I've used AMD for so long, going with them has become automatic for me. I'll look into the Intel chips.

Makes sense. I've been a long time AMD user as well, but I had to finally admit that Intel has really pushed past AMD with the Core2 duos and Quad Core processors. With that and the price drops from Intel, its perfect time to grab a nice Intel processor.

[sabotai]

Updated list of parts

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 Conroe 1.86GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - $165.50

CPU Fan & Heatsink (newegg says the CPU comes with a fan and heatsink, but figured I should pony up dough for a good one)
ASUS V-60 92mm Vapo Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail - $42.99

Motherboard
ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $179.99

Power Supply
COOLMAX CUG-700B ATX 12V( V.2.2) 700W Power Supply 115/230 V - $159.99

RAM
2x CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - $64.00 x 2 = $128.00

Graphics Card
ATI 100-437807 Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - $229.99

Computer Case
XION Dazl XON-502 Silver with Blue LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $49.99

Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $69.99

Total: $1,026.44

A bit more, but I also went with a bit of an upgrade from my previous list with the motherboard and CPU fan & heatsink as well.

2 things.

The mobo specs says "Notice: Only DDR2-800 memory supporting JEDEC approved 1.8V operation with timings of 5-5-5 or 6-6-6 is supported on Intel Desktop Boards based on Intel 965 Express Chipsets". I googled and found people saying that the mobos are shipping with BIOS that makes this basically obsolete now. Is that right?

Also, I don't plan to buy all of the parts at once. Going to buy them over the next 2 or 3 months, buy in store what I can if the same price as newegg, etc. Is anyone planning on lowering their prices soon? I've found people saying that Intel is going to drop prices on July 22nd. Should I wait off on buying the CPU for another month or so? What about ATI?

Thanks for any help.

[Atocep]

Also, I don't plan to buy all of the parts at once. Going to buy them over the next 2 or 3 months, buy in store what I can if the same price as newegg, etc. Is anyone planning on lowering their prices soon? I've found people saying that Intel is going to drop prices on July 22nd. Should I wait off on buying the CPU for another month or so? What about ATI?

Thanks for any help.

Intel is dropping prices on July 22nd. Thats confirmed by Intel. Upper end quad cores are supposed to come down to around the price of the upper end dual cores now. If you can, I'd suggest holding off until then.

ATI just released their new line of cards. I'm not sure what their price plans are, but I know that there's not supposed to be another line of cards out until around October so prices may stay where they are until then.

[sabotai]

Another question (geez, I'm so out of the loop!)

I see they are making fans specifically for hard drives now? When should I start to think about putting a fan on my hard drive? What kind of HDDs need them?

[Atocep]

Another question (geez, I'm so out of the loop!)

I see they are making fans specifically for hard drives now? When should I start to think about putting a fan on my hard drive? What kind of HDDs need them?

I've never known anyone to get a hard drive fan. If your case is well ventilated it shouldn't be an issue.

[Neon_Chaos]

My only tip would be to spend, spend, spend on your motherboard. It's the only piece that's worth investing on for the next 2-3 years.

[sabotai]

Just ordered all of the parts, so hopefully I'll have this bad boy up and running by the weekend. Ended up paying $950. Some prices came down, I downgraded the graphics card to an X1650 since they sold out of the X1950 (and I didn't want to go up since this card is really just a placeholder until some good, affordable DX10 capable cards hit the market). The price of all of the parts was about $850, but since I live in NJ I had to pay sales tax (newegg.com), and add shipping, and it came out to around $950.

[gkb]

Just ordered all of the parts, so hopefully I'll have this bad boy up and running by the weekend. Ended up paying $950. Some prices came down, I downgraded the graphics card to an X1650 since they sold out of the X1950 (and I didn't want to go up since this card is really just a placeholder until some good, affordable DX10 capable cards hit the market). The price of all of the parts was about $850, but since I live in NJ I had to pay sales tax (newegg.com), and add shipping, and it came out to around $950.

I'm not super knowledgeable about computer parts, but that seems like a really good price for what you're getting. Can I ask why you went with a Radeon graphics card instead of an nVidia based one?

[sabotai]

I'm not super knowledgeable about computer parts, but that seems like a really good price for what you're getting. Can I ask why you went with a Radeon graphics card instead of an nVidia based one?

I've bought 3 nVidia cards in my life, and all 3 have had major problems, and I've never had any issues with any of the ATI cards I have gotten. Not much of a sample size, I admit, and I'm sure it's just total bad luck, but it's enough for me to just got with ATI for now.

[sabotai]

w00t. After some initial struggle, I got this bad boy up and running last night and connected to the internet this morning. I put Vista on it and so far...it's a bit annoying but nothing I can't get used to. One thing I forgot to do was to back up my Firefox bookmarks. D'oh. Always forget something...

Thanks for the help guys.

[sterlingice]

Missed this thread originally so obviously too late to say much. But am I the only one who thought a $160 power supply was serious overkill. By about $100?? 750W when the most you really need is 400 or 450?

Anyways, congrats on the new rig :)

SI

[Atocep]

Missed this thread originally so obviously too late to say much. But am I the only one who thought a $160 power supply was serious overkill. By about $100?? 750W when the most you really need is 400 or 450?

Anyways, congrats on the new rig :)

SI

He has an SLI capable motherboard, if at any point he decides to go the SLI route he's covered.

[sabotai]

Yeah, I know it would be overkill for this computer, but I plan to upgrade and add to this thing for a good long while and I didn't want to have to worry about having to upgrade the power supply at some point.