First PC Build..Help Please

[Yoda_101]

Hi all, How are you guys...my very first post....I was looking for a good forum where I could get some tips on my first pc build..tools parts and this that and the third.that I'll be starting in september....and its supposed to be for high end gaming........Please, Please......any and every suggestion is welcome.

this is a list of some of the parts that I'll be using...let me know if you have any suggestions.....I'm looking at a bout around a $2300 budget...and most most of my parts will be coming from newegg.com.

the "PSI" List
Thermaltake Kandalf Case(black)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133152

GIGABYTE GA-K8NXP-SLI mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128269

Athlon 64 4000+ processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103529

Rosewill 550w ATX 550W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182010

Patriot 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM PC 3200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220045

XFX PVT70FUNF7 Geforce 7800GTX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150100

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144160

SAMSUNG Black IDE CD Burner Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151083

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD Burner Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106988

GIGABYTE GH-PCU22-VG 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835128003

Logitech Internet Pro 967450-0403 Black PS/2 Wired
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126167

Logitech MX518 931352-0403 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1x Wheel USB mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104178

SENNHEISER PC 155 3.5mm/ USB Connector USB PC Headset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826106381

ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" CRT Monitor D-Sub
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824116282

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007

and windows pro. service pack 2 for op. system
well.....thx in advance ladies and gents

[Iniamyen]

I would make the following suggestions:

Move a step or two down from the 4000+. It won't buy you much of a performance increase in games, the videocard and ram are more important for that. Near the top end of CPU's, you pay a lot for small performance increases.

With the money you save (and your relatively high budget allows for this) I would get 2 GB of ram. Not all games require it, but it will yield a noticeable performance increase.

You might consider getting an LCD monitor, since it looks like you can afford it. Make sure to get one with a low response time.

[Yoda_101]

So move down to like a 3800+?

[glc]

I would suggest a better power supply than a Rosewill, one that's SLI-certified if you ever think of adding the second card. Even if you aren't, I'd recommend one with dual +12v rails. I'd also recommend a DVD-ROM instead of the CD burner, and Samsung is questionable quality.

[Iniamyen]

Originally Posted by Yoda_101 So move down to like a 3800+?

You could probably get down to a 3200 or 3400, before it actually started affecting performance. If it were me, I would go with a 3500+ to save a little money. That money can be spent upgrading more critical things, or buying games to play

[Yoda_101]

Well...yeah I would but..I have all the games that I'm going want in the year or so before the PS3 comes out...well besides BF2....I just want something that has performance that won't be hindered an inch if were to run a bunch of programs....I use CAD programs as well..thats why I'm going to the 4000+ processor.

Iniamyen

"You might consider getting an LCD monitor, since it looks like you can afford it. Make sure to get one with a low response time."

I don't have plans to get anything LCD-like until next year when I'm able to afford a huge 27" or more viewsonic LCD or plasma....I wanna go High Def.....until then CRT is the one for me.

glc
Ok.....I'll look for a better power supply then....I was questioning that one too.
Just want something powerful..500w and up....I'm going to re-design that case as well and put some extra LEDs and some Cathode lights in it as well....but thats after I get it working first of course.....

Should I get a sound card or is the sound from that mobo ok...if anyone has one?

Could I just get the DVD burner instead of getting a CD-ROM or CD Burner drive?

[glc]

Try the onboard sound first. If you dont like it then get a card.

Sure, you can get just the DVD burner, but a DVD-ROM as a second drive can be handy.

[Yoda_101]

Really??..how so?

Oh yeah..also..is it best to install your operating system by cd-rom or by floppy?

[freakitchen]

I use your choice of motherboard in my system. It has 7.1 sound built in which I have found to be excellent. I'd only consider upgrading for instrument recording, for example.

The Windows XP CD is bootable, and will walk you through the install after you set your Optical drive as first boot device.

A DVD-rw and DVD-rom combination is recommended because the burner will burn anything, and the reader will read anything. Also good for backing up DVDs, saves you swapping the discs half way through the process.

Freakitchen

[Yoda_101]

Does anyone know if I have to actually use an anti-static wrist band?

Do Power Supplies usually come with an ample amount of power connectors...even for your LED's and cathode lights and things of that sort?

[freakitchen]

anti-static wristbands are useful, as an extra precaution, but you can ground yourself by touching a non-painted part of the case.

High quality PSUs come with more power connectors than cheaper ones. However, most lights, fans, and other less power hungry devices can be wired in series, thus only using one molex connector.

Freakitchen

[Yoda_101]

Uh oh...I don't know what I'm getting into..does this require any soldering...or something like that? Are these series circuits hard to set up?

and a non-painted part of the case huh?.....hmmm ok...so basically right before pick up the mobo or something thats going into the pc....I just touch that part of the case...let go of it.... get the mobo and screw it in the pc..and it shouldn't take any static shock?

For Power Supplies.....what does dual railing allow me to do?

[freakitchen]

Sorry, you misunderstand me! By series i meant that many lights, fans etc, come with their power connector, but also another free molex that allows another device to be plugged in, and so on. The device is therefore 'tapping in' to the line. Although this is not suitable for system devices like hard drives, it's fine for ones that don't take much power to run.

Thats right about the static thing. As an extra precaution, especially if you're sitting on a carpeted floor whilst building, try not to move around too much as it all generates static. I often rip open the cardboard box that the case arrives in, and sit on that.

PSUs with dual 12v rails provide a single 12v rail dedicated to your CPU, which gives it a very stable supply of power, as it is not having to compete with other devices.

Sorry for scaring you earlier!

Freakitchen

[Yoda_101]

So....are u saying that a dual rail PS.... has a connector with two 12V @20A.....is that supposed to be like having a +12V@40A?

Aaah ok ok...so the LEDS or cathodes can be connected directly to the PS. And the other low powered devices can tap into the LED's or cathode's power connectiing line.

Yeah..LOL....it was kind of scary....but i still would have attempted it anyways. A company that would build a pc for you.....is just far to expensive.

[Yoda_101]

so as soon as all of my components are in my case I turn on my pc and go straight to the BIOS for my mobo...and there I'll be able to set up my primary HDD, primary media drive...and so on. what else would I be able to do..or should I do?

Is partitioning also down from the BIOS...if so how would you go about doing that?

What is RAID exactly?

[freakitchen]

Head into the bios and then to "standard cmos features" there, you'll be able to autodetect your drives by hitting "enter" where the IDE drives are listed.

With your motherboard, the SATA drivers are already incorporated, so you should see all your drives listed (as IDE 2,3,4,5 etc). Plug the drives into the "orange" controllers on the board, these are controlled by the nforce chipset. Also, it's a good idea to plug the opticals into IDE2, rather than the Master.

While you're there, check your temperatures under "Hardware health". In fact, do this very quickly, very high temps show that you've seated your heatsink incorrectly and its time to turn off and try again.

All partitioning of the HD can be done via the Windows XP install. Make your partitions, then choose on which one you want to install windows.

As for RAID, there are different types. I'm no expert and you should google something along the lines of "explain RAID", or search the forum. One example of RAID is a way to run 2 HDs as one, and supposedly decrease response times. It is generally considered though, that the advantages of these are outweighed by their disadvantages. At any rate, your Raptor drive should be more than fast enough.

Freakitchen

[Yoda_101]

so these drivers would be listed as IDE 2, 3, 4..etc..regardless of the type of Interface they have...whether they have IDE, SATA, SATAII...etc?

[freakitchen]

That's how the SATA drives are listed in my bios, and I'm using the Gigabyte K8-NXP SLI.

I remember having a problem, in that my SATA drives weren't recognised when I had my opticals plugged into IDE1. So make sure you put yours in IDE2. Also, check the bios settings re: SATA drives in "advanced bios settings". I remember disabling a bunch of RAID controllers in there, as well as enabling SATA support overall.

Basically, have a poke around and don't worry if your SATA drives aren't recognised immediately.

Freakitchen

[Yoda_101]

the XFX 7800 GTX card requires a minimum of 400w from a PS and a power connector that has 12 volt current rating at 26 or more. now say you have a PS that does have dual 12 volt current rating at 13 (+12V@13A).....If you hooked both of those up to the vid. card that would be an adequate amount of power right?

[Nav]

Before i say anything, will you be overclocking? Because if you are that could change your choice in memory and mobo. YOu proly wont need to though. If youre playing bf2, i recommend 2gb. Im getting 2gb ocz platinum ram and dfi ultra d mobo, and the 7800gtx.

[Yoda_101]

Nav
Hmmm....well I wasn't really planning on overclocking really....I have never overclocked before...I'm on IBM thinkpad T40 with a 1.5ghz processor and some low end graphics chip buy nvidia. This is going to be a big transition for me as far as gaming goes. tell me why is it good to have 2 gigs of memory instead of just one?

And do you know if this patriot memory is quality?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220045

Anyone
what type of power connector pin do motherboards usually use...(ex4 pin, etc)..... and how many volts are usually required(ex..12V)?

Does anyone use this DFI mobo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136151

How is this for a Power Supply (abbrev...PSU...just in case)?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151025

Freak Kitchen

the XFX 7800 needs a 12V@26A connector...and the power supply I'm getting..the link above this entry...has dual 12V railings with 12V@18A. Would I use both of these for my 7800 GTX? And if so which 12V connector would the Gigabyte mobo use?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Yoda_101 How is this for a Power Supply (abbrev...PSU...just in case)? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151025

SeaSonic power supplies are very good quality.

Cricket

[glc]

That is an outstanding power supply, it's even SLI-certified.

[Yoda_101]

But do you think it would work with my 7800 GTX? thx by the way.

[glc]

If Nvidia certifies it for 2 of them, I don't see any problem.

[heymrdj]

While onboard sound can be good I wouldn't keep it. My board has Cmeadia 5.1 onboard sound. Its sounds totally awsome on my 2.1 speakers. Problem is that while it's doing that it's hogging almost 10% of my P4 2.8C.

[Yoda_101]

Originally Posted by glc If Nvidia certifies it for 2 of them, I don't see any problem.

**Slaps hiself in head**....doh.....of course........WOW..forgive me I'm slow.

"While onboard sound can be good I wouldn't keep it. My board has Cmeadia 5.1 onboard sound. Its sounds totally awsome on my 2.1 speakers. Problem is that while it's doing that it's hogging almost 10% of my P4 2.8C."

Ok..well my 8 channel should be good enough on my mobo...so I'll hold off on the sound card...thx man

[heymrdj]

NP. I like giving my twosense. But when ur kickin a processor like that now that I think about it, unless your doing dolby encoding, playing a game, while playing custom mp3 tracks in the game (Like I do sometimes ) you shouldn't have a lag down at all. As for me. I think I want one of those new Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi cards. Cards Dem' Sugar (Beenie Man)