Another Newby's First Build

[F01km3ta1]

Okay, so welcome all that have taken interest in helping, yet again, another one of us new people you seem to have a lot of. ;)

Well, I might as well get to the point. I have been planning whether to buy, or build a PC, though, after just months of just out of boredom tinkering with Dell's/Alienware's custom PCs, Gateway's, IBuyPower.com's very good custom PCs, but I have decided out of interest of gainign experience and saving money, to obviously build my own.

So, past 2 days I've come up with a basic list of PC parts, stuck them all together, posted em' on some friend's websites, got corrected a bit, got it worked through, and this is my second phase to come to, post it on a site where people really know their stuff and have them correct me now. :D You guys/gals should have some fun with this!

So... here it is, my creation! ...Just not created yet.

Motherboard: $93.99

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131142R&ATT=13-131-142R&CMP=OTC-Froogle)

Processor: $306.00

Intel® Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 4MB Cache (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80860&prodlist=froogle)

Video Card(s): $279.99

EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A9602833&cmp=OTC-fr00g13)

Sound Card: $0.00

RAM: $167.00

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590)

Hard Drive: $179.00

Western Digital WD5000KS 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 16MB Hard Drive (http://www.pctekonline.com/wediwd50sa72.html)

Power Supply: $101.48

CORSAIR - 520 W HX SERIES ATX PS/2-12 V MODULAR P/S (http://www.techonweb.com/products/productdetail.aspx?id=C97056&src=FG)

Drive: $35.50

LiteOn LH-18A1P 18x Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive (Black) (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=175505&prodlist=froogle)

Monitor: $299.95

http://www.saveateagle.com/ck630-v000.html?ovchn=OTHER&ovcpn=Froogle&ovcrn=CK630-V000&ovtac=CMP

OS: Vista: $199.00

Case: $69.99

Ultra Blue Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=ULT31825)

Extra: Mouse: $41.99

Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse (http://www.xpcgear.com/logitechg5.html)

Extra: Mousepad: $0.00

* ;D Wax Paper & Tape = VERY Good Mousepad!

Extra: Keyboard: $0.00

So, that's my current build I'm going for at the moment. :D At an end-cost of around $1,700, and cheaper when the soon to come processor price war starts. ;)

So, a common question most likely for people to help me is:

What do I want my rig to pull off?

I want my rig to be able to handle today's current graphical games smoothly. But most of all, I'm designing this machine to play Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. If none of you have heard of this game before, it's an MMORPG based around the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Fairly graphical, so, basically... I want to play W:AR(Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning) on all it's highest settings.

Also, another thing to add that my friends on other boards have asked, do I plan to overclock. No, why? Because I don't know how, hell, I've never even built a PC before.

So, must be able to handle the graphics of today's games w/out lagging basically, and that's really it.

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Another thing, anyone got any spare tuts on PC creation, bios setup, OS setup, etc? ;) Please and thank you very much!

[Disgrace]

Welcome... i'm no genius but I know that PSU is rubbish. It's under bad here (http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195). Choose a brand of better quality. 600W should be good. Also, make sure to order everything you can from newegg. TigerDirect is rubbish and there's a site dedicated to how bad it's customer support is... from what i've read (a lot that is) newegg is by far the best, even if not the cheapest.

The CPU is a good choice (I have it!) but there is going to be a price drop for the dual cores on the 22nd so if you can wait until then, you should get even more value for the loot. As for RAM, I think Corsair do better but i'll leave that for the experts to tell you for sure.

[hitchface]

The Corsair 520HX is a good PSU, and will power that rig.

Think twice about getting Vista so soon. Too buggy at this point. Get XP home or something to tide you over till SP1.

The RAM isn't bad, but not as good as you can get. Check out Corsair, they have good stuff.

[pam123]

There is no such thing as a good 600 watt power supply at $59.99.
If you check out the power supply list here : http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195
you'll see that Ultra is to be avoided.
Find one from the approved list at newegg, if you have a choice of resellers take the one with the better reputation (and it will save you shipping and handling fees if you don't spread your order out more than absolutely necessary.).

Kingston is on the QVL for that motherboard's list so that's a good choice.
I'm doubtful about open box motherboards but Newegg has a good reputation, none the less you're gambling there.
Should be a solid gaming system with a future.

[F01km3ta1]

Thank you very much guys for the very fast responses! :) I'll take a look at some of Corsair's RAM.

And I know about the Dual Core price war that's happening soon, so, I know they'll drop now, and anyhow, I'll be ready to buy and build by late late Q2, or early to mid Q3. :) So, right now, I'm pretty happy that the prices by then will go down for the same gear.

Also, I'll rework the power supply, thank you guys for warning me of that. :) That was a combo my friend got and suggested with the case. :P So, by deciding that it was a soemwhat good case, I decided to just take the power supply he has also. :P Glad I came here. :D

So, TigerDirect isn't so great, eh? I guess I'll be sure to avoid 'em. :P Thanks again! :D More savings due to helpful people! \o/

About Vista, again, by late Q2 I hope it'll have a somewhat stable version out that will be good, doubtful from all the things I've heard so far, but ...hoping! :P

So... I guess I'll check out that Corsair 520HX, check out some Corsair RAM, and find the TigerDirect gear on NewEgg.

[EDIT:] About 'Open Box', so does that mean it's actually open box? Didn't actually think much of it just reading it. :) If so, there are plenty of those mobos for pretty good prices that aren't open box.

[EDIT: II] To keep from double posting, I'v ejust decided to post the new total cost here.

$1773.89 atm with changes to the power supply, and RAM.

Could change with the Dual Core price drop and the switching of some of those shops to other shops due to TigerDirect being crappy. =P

[EDIT: III] Also, still up for any more comments, ideas, suggestions, cheaper/still efficient gear for this rig. :) I'm off for the night, be back tomorrow morning all! :D

[pam123]

Newegg's policy on open box parts :

This item is covered by Newegg.com's Open Box Item Return Policy.

* Return for refund within: 15 days
* Return for replacement within: non-replaceable

[F01km3ta1]

Ah, thanks mate! ;) Okay, so that's not too bad. Somewhat of a gamble I guess, but then again, building this whole computer as a nub PC builder is a gamble itself! :D