My First Build. Suggestions Please.

[DaChamp486]

Hello all, I came accross this forum while I was making my wish list on newegg and thought I'd stop by in here and see if anyone would be willing to offer me any suggestions on the build below. This is just a tower build with a price range of about $2000. I haven't had the time to double check everything for compatibility issues and such with school and all, so I am sure there are problems in this somewhere. I will also be investing in a soundcard, another video card for the sli feature, and maybe liquid cooling once I fall into a little more cash, but this is the build for now:

• NZXT LEXA ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
• Intel Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard
• BFG Tech Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
• Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6700
• CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWINX2048-3200C2PT
• Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
• SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s
• SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model SH-S182D
• Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack
• ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

[newbuilder14]

Not half bad, but I would like to offer some suggestions.

1. Will you be gaming? If so I'd invest in a more powerful ATI video card BECAUSE the motherboard you have supports Crossfire, not SLI. I used that motherboard myself and it's not bad (if your talking about the Intel brand one). However, maybe you could look at the Asus P5W DH as well.

2. Rosewill power supplies seem to be low quality. Go with something from Antec, Fortron Source, Enermax, Seasonic, OCZ, or similar. I recommend at least 500 watts.

3. To save money downgrade to the E6600 - not much different and won't make a difference unless your overclocking.

4. You need DDR2800 RAM, not DDR400. Get the same brand just at the higher speed.

5. Have you thought of Liteon DVD burners?

Good job and good luck.

[DaChamp486]

Thanks for the reply, I do intend on using this build for gaming. The mobo is also the Intel brand one. Is there a cost efficent ATI card that you could recommend to me for crossfire? I'm not to set on a video card right now as it is and my current card is a Radeon X850 Pro and my previous card was a Radeon 9800 Pro. ATI hasn't let me down yet so I don't have a problem switching over to them. I've looked at some Lite On drives, is there an advantage to using Lite On?

[newbuilder14]

I recommend the X1900XT - you need a PCI Express card - you won't be able to use AGP cards.

Liteon drives come with software.

Be sure to follow up on all my recommendations as most of them are necessary, I.E. RAM and PSU.

[DaChamp486]

I've already picked out some new RAM and a new PSU. I plan on seeking out a new vid card and looking at some Lite On drives tomorrow.

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail