New to building-general questions

[MadinKS]

New to the board and wanted to say hey. Lots of good info here but I have a couple quick questions to start with.

I'm interested in building a computer for the purpose of general home use (pics storage, internet, etc.) and editing/burning home videos from our digital video camera. The average time now is at least 1 hour for xfer and burning (USB sucks for this). I don't intend on using it for gaming, just lots of read/write speed.

Here's what I've come up with so far, please tell me if it's overkill or not enough. Thanks.

CASE/PSU:Antec Sonata III w/500W PSU(is this enough pwr for what I'm running?) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024
MOBO: Gigabyte IP 35 GA-P35-DS3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
CPU:Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029
HDD:WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB (2 ea. for lots of video storage) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
RAM: Corsair TWIN2X2048 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
VIDEO CARD:EVGA 256-p2-n755-tr GeForce 8600GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130091

Plan to use the LiteOn SATA DVD Burners too.

I guess the biggest question is the video card. I'm not sure that I need a huge video card for just editing home movies. Am I wrong in this assumption? Any input would be great. Thanks in advance for your time. BTW, don't want to break the bank but I figure $1000 or so for a budget.

MadinKS

[kissfan]

Welcome.

That looks a solid enough build and should suit your requirements nicely.

Around here they would suggest the ASUS P5K range of motherboards, but having just built on a Gigabyte board myself I'd say that your good to go.

You might like to look at the Seagate 500's, just as fast and quiet as the WD's but you get 5 years warranty.

good luck.

Kissfan

[MadinKS]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it.

I guess now I need input regarding the OS. I haven't had any exposure to the Windows Vista OS at all. Would it slow the system to run XP or would I be better served to invest in the Vista 64? I know that the memory support for XP is only 3GB but I hate change. Is it worth the time to learn or can I get by with the good 'ol XP?

[kissfan]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it.

I guess now I need input regarding the OS. I haven't had any exposure to the Windows Vista OS at all. Would it slow the system to run XP or would I be better served to invest in the Vista 64? I know that the memory support for XP is only 3GB but I hate change. Is it worth the time to learn or can I get by with the good 'ol XP?


I have stuck with XP, Vista will not be finding it's way to my hard drive until at least after the 1st service pack, and even then i think I'll dual boot with XP.

My new rig (in my sig) fly along nicely with just 2Gb Ram and XP, and 64 bit OS are rather patchy in their support of less than new printers etc...

Kissfan

[MadinKS]

XP it is then. I'm quite sure you haven't heard the last from me. I haven't begun to build yet so I'm pretty sure that I'll run into major problems if my luck runs as normal. Thanks.

[kissfan]

XP it is then. I'm quite sure you haven't heard the last from me. I haven't begun to build yet so I'm pretty sure that I'll run into major problems if my luck runs as normal. Thanks.

Just take things slowly and concentrate (no distractions) and you will be fine. And you have all of us here to help if you need it.

It would be worth reading up on some of the trouble shooting guides prior to unpacking, then you'll know exactly where to head if you have problems.

Bon Chance!

Kissfan

[MadinKS]

Just wondering. I have an old ext. 40 GB HD that is doing nothing at the moment. Can I use that for the OS only? Or would that be defeating the purpose of my build? Also, I was looking at the Asus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131196 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131196)
Mobo and it doesn't mention a LAN chipset. Does that mean that I need to buy a LAN card to run the internet? Or will it be just plug and play? Confused on mobo selection. It seems everytime I think I have it nailed down I change my mind. Help!

[kissfan]

Not worth using that old IDE hard drive (IMHO). Most board makers don't even put IDE connections on their boards now, and those that do use 3rd party chips to implement, and by all accounts, they are sometimes a little flakey.

That board has LAN onboard, you can get the same model board only without some of the bells and whistles for considerably less at newegg, unless you want all those bells... Oh the LAN connection is a given on 99% of Boards these days, some with 10/100 and some that include gigabit (1000), sheesh some even have 2 onboard lan ports!.

HTH

Kissfan

[MadinKS]

Oh well. I thought I could get some use out of the dinosaur but I guess I'll retire it. What bells and whistles are you referring to? Cause I was considering this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131180 or even this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131189also but didn't want to be stuck down the road if I want to add hardware, etc. I like the eSATA as well. Can you daisy chain w/SATA?

As you can tell I'm not a computer guru yet. I'm trying to get a good working knowledge of all this stuff but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks (I grew up without computers and had a BETA VCR if that tells you anything). Anyway, thanks. Talk at ya soon.

[joytime365]

As for the OS ,personally I'd prefer xp .

[perkster]

you shoudl stick with XP, 2gb is more than enough ram at moment.

you can go for the P5k from ASUS, as the mobo very stable and solid boards and do everything you want.

the old HD you said you had, you said it was an external? in which case you can connect it through USB and use it for backup on your new rig, if its an old internal then best to leave it, or buy an external enclosure to use it as an external USB drive.

you are better going for the standard P5k and not the SE version. e-sata is nice if you want to add external opticals or hard drives in future.

as for daisy chaining i assume you mean having 2 drives off one connector like in the IDE drives? your MB will come with 6 SATA ports more than enough.

as for the build, read guides on builind computers, they have them here. and also make sure you read your manuals that come with your components particuarly the motherboard one.

any probs or questions or unsure ask here.

good luck

[MadinKS]

Thanks for the input. I ordered my case and now have to convince the wife that I'm building a new computer for "us". She's not thrilled with me about it now but I think I can sweet talk her. If I already have the case then I must build it, right? BTW, I'm going with the ASUS P5K. Thanks again. Talk to you all later.

MadinKS

[MadinKS]

Okay, I may be overlooking something important here. I went to the ASUS website and downloaded the manual for the P5K and more importantly the latest QVL for the mobo. It shows the 1 GB stix for Corsair (2X1024-6400CS) but I want to install the 2 GB package (2X2048-6400CS). I would imagine they are the same specs as the 1 GB but packaged as two with a different part number. Am I correct in this assumption that they will work with the P5K even though they're not on the QVL? Please stop laughing now. Thank you.

[perkster]

yes corsair value select 667mhz would be ideal if not planning to overclock, if looking to overclock go for the 800mhz RAM.

you wont have any problems on that, just make sure its DDR2 667 or DDR2 800, corsair is a great reliable manufacturer.

[MadinKS]

So for a non-gamer the performance difference between 667 and 800 is minimal then? If that's the case I don't need the 800. I'm thinking I'm going way overboard on my hardware now. I think I may tone it down and see what kind of machine I can build for a little less $$. Post back later to see what you think? Thanks.

MadinKS

[MadinKS]

Any suggestions to keep it down to around $500-$600 with a dang quick computer would be great. Thanks.

[Cricket]

One way to keep costs down is to go with a motherboard that has on-board video and build a very basic home computer that won't do anything graphic intensive.

You can stick with the Sonata III case, 2GB DDR2 667 RAM, get the E6550 C2D processor instead of the E6750, the hard drive and optical drive of choice and your OS. If you remember to stick to what you need (not what you want) you can build a nice computer for around $600.

:) Cricket

[MadinKS]

EDITED: Thanks.

[perkster]

going with a cheaper C2D maybe can go with ASUS p5B bit cheaper MB and then get a cheaper 7300 GT card or something, bit better than onboard video.

if youre not overlcocking and building an intel system 667mhz ram is better than 1:1 so more than good enough. 800mhz is only for overclockers, and people with AMD systems.

[MadinKS]

What about a card like this? EDITED: MSI NX7300LE-TD128EH GeForce 7300LE 128MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814127273
Also, I just remembered my case (Sonata III) has a front eSATA, so I can just run the eSATA off of the onboard SATA jacks, right? If that's the case, I can go with the P5K-SE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131189
All that will shave off $50 and will still work for my needs right? Thanks for the help BTW. I appreciate you entertaining my questions and not making me feel more stupid than I already feel.