First Time builder, About parts

[StickNStones]

So, this is the first time i have ever tried making a computer, but I am not sure if these parts are compatible. I'm sorry if this is asked alot or if it is a big noob question.


CASE--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooler Master Centurion 530 Black/Silver 430W w/ Window

or

Thermaltake Soprano Mid-Tower ATX Case with "X" Window - Black

or anything good, more than 400w power supply included. ATX

both are about $100

MOTHERBOARD---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asus P5B Deluxe Motherboard - $249.99

CPU---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Processor - $599.99

RAM---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Corsair Value Select 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 System Memory,
Dual Channel Kit, DDR2 667 (PC2 5300), 240-Pin, Unbuffered,
Model: VS1GBKIT667D2.

- $89.99

FLOPPY DISK DRIVE--------------------------------------------------------------------

Anything cheap

HARD DISK DRIVE------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maxtor 300GB SATA Ultra16 16MB 7200 RPM Hard Drive Kit

- $139.95

CD/DVD DRIVE(S)------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black Sony CRX320EB 52X32X52X CD-RW & 16X DVD-Rom
Combo Drive, OEM - $25.99

VIDEO CARD--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ATI X1900 CrossFire Edition Video Card - $399.00 - $565.94

SOUND CARD-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not needed yet.

KEYBOARD, MOUSE, MONITER----------------------------------------------------

Probably will use ones we already have.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It would be a big help if you could warn me about the incompatability (if there is any) of this setup.

[jayb1234]

Case: Antec Sonata II Comes with a high quality 450W PSU.

HD: Go with Western Digital or Seagate.

Optical drive: Check whether that drive comes with burning software, if not Liteon ships PowerDVD and Nero with both retail and OEM packages.

Edit: if you are planing on adding a second card to run in Crossfire, check the certified list at ATI's site, 450W will be too small.

Get a case from Intel's TAC list that comes without a PSU and buy that separately.

[minsonngo]

Instead of the Combo CD-RW and DVD-ROM drive. Get this:

LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI/E-IDE DVD Burner W/ LightScribe - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106019


Your setup will need a quality 2.x PSU with over at least 450w of power.

For a floppy drive, go with Sony, Mitsumi or Samsung.

[Mr.Ferrari]

I want to clarify, since you are picking a crossfire capable card, you do plan on going crossfire correct? And therefore you want a crossfire capable motherboard and powersupply correct?

Mobo:
Skip that mobo and spend the extra few bucks (or actually a few less if you get it from www.tankguys.com ) and get a Asus P5WDH. However that doesnt have a expected arrival until atleast 2 weeks. If you want a crossfire capable board right now pick:
Intel 975X Bad axe rev.304
or
MSI 975X Platinum powerup edition
I would pick the intel board as it has gone through more use then the msi and has proven to be a very stable board.

The p5b deluxe will not be good with crossfire. Even though it says it does support it. The second slot will be downgraded to 4x and you will be bottlenecking your cards. That and the immature chipset issues with 965 and crossfire. 975X is definately your best bet with dual card configurations.

Psu: If you want a psu that will be full proof for crossfire dont expect to be getting it in a case or for that matter cheap.

Originally Posted by Mr.Ferrari Yes it will be a little higher. Powering crossfire, takes a whole lotta power more then powering sli with top of the line nvidia cards. Due to ati's higher power consumption, caused by basically the gpu's 300M transistors and bigger core design. Thats what you pay for to be able to run AA+HDR at the same time. lol. Enermax Liberty 620W <---has modular cabling. FSP Epsilon 700W Mushkin 650W OCZ 700W (OEM is FSP's 700W unit that I posted above, EXACT same powersupply, just cheaper) Silverstone Zeus 650W Any of these will do great, just pick the one that fits best in your budget and is most aestheticly pleasing.

*However if you dont plan on crossfire right now, and are willing to buy a new powersupply when you do crossfire, then that sonata plus 450w antec combo would be best. Otherwise if you do buy your own psu from the above list then pick any case of your choice.

Ram: I see that your already spending so much on your other parts, why skimp out on the ram? I mean ram would give you the most performance/buck compared to your video card and processor. Its your choice but I would highly suggest you atleast get 2gb and DDR2 800. I would suggest this kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

Hard drive: I would suggest instead one of seagate's 7200.10 series. Make sure you pick the sata versions. Pick whatever gb flavor you like. Atleast 250gb to be good.

[flanzig1]

Pick out a case that you like for the looks/size/options but do not get a case because it comes with a PSU that has XXX watts or flashy lites. PSUs that come with cases tend to be of low quailty/non ATX 2.0 standard/too small(in watts) for todays equipment. The exception is the Antec SonotaII.

[StickNStones]

Thanks for the replies everyone.


Now, I changed my original list by picking these parts

• Antec P180 - $74.95 Case
  
• ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W Power Supply
  90V~265V (Auto Adjusted) UL, cUL, TUV, CB - Retail
  
• Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard
  
• CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered
  DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
  
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320 GB SATA Hard Drive
  
• LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X
  DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X
  CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI/E-IDE DVD Burner W/ LightScribe - OEM

I have a few questions though.

Is the motherboard compatible with intel core2 duo CPUs, because it did say core2 duo
ready, but I just want to be absolutely sure.

And do I need any extra cooling systems, or do the parts come with them?

Thanks for your time.

[blue60007]

You may considering waiting a little bit. I believe the required BIOS is 802 for C2D. I have no idea what BIOS version is shipping now from your vendor. My board that I got from ZipZoomFly a few weeks ago shipped with 502. Not sure what it is shipping with now. If the BIOS chip is removable (not sure if it is or not) then I believe ASUS will ship you an update chip no charge.

EDIT: I checked a few Newegg reviews, and a few folks said they had to call ASUS to ship them another BIOS chip, so it sounds like it is replaceable.

Now, if you have another LGA775 (Pentium 4's, D's, etc) than you can pop that in and update the BIOS.

Where are you planning on buying parts from?

MrFerrari - do you know if Tankguys is shipping a P5W DH with the right BIOS version? I think a place like that would be able to tell you what version they have...places like Newegg might not be able to tell you that.

[Mr.Ferrari]

I dont own this board, so dont quote me when I say this... As far as I know, tankguys have had bios 0701 (stock), which is the conroe supporting bios, from mid-july. Any boards before that all shipped with 0501 or 0502 which wouldnt support conroe. You had to either call asus and get yourself a new chip which costs 5 bucks from asus, or bios flash with another cpu. Right now everywhere I look they are out of stock, but when they do get back in stock they should all have bios 1101. Which im *assuming* will be full proof supporting new and possibly future Conroe Steppings.

But tankguys do have a number in which you can call them up and find out, always better to be safe then sorry. And tankguys do post the bios/revision that the board is shipping with, which is a big plus.

And sticks- you dont need any further cooling then whats already there for stock operation. The retail cpu does come with a heatsink fan assembly and a thermalpad, so just place it on the cpu and make sure you secure it properly.

[StickNStones]

Thanks again, I'm not completely sure exactly where I am going to buy this stuff from, but i will probably first go to the local computer stores and check for stuff there first, then ill probably look online.

I will check the stores if they have that BIOS version with it, but uh, what exactly is BIOS, heh.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Well seeing if they still have it in stock..Im not sure if it would be written in a serial code somewhere outside the box, perhaps blue can help you there seeing as he has one. But It should say a number on top of the bios chip. Like 0401, 0501 etc etc. However you will need to open up the box and motherboard to see that.

You should be looking at bios 0701 or higher for conroe support.

[blue60007]

I couldn't find anything on the outside of the box that would indicate BIOS version. There is a sticket on the chip that says "0502". It's next to the 2nd to bottom PCI slot. It looks removable...