Building first computer

[Thatguy45]

Hi everyone.. Since my old computer has been giving me problems, I've decided that instead of buying a prebuilt one that I'm going to build one.

My reasoning is because I'm trying to build a mid / high ranged gaming computer, and you really can't buy those pre-built (capable of crossfire technology) unless you are willing to fork out a ton of cash, which I don't have a ton of.

For right now I have about $850, and if I do decided to get Vista I'll be able to come up with an extra $200.

Anyway, right now I'm trying to figure out if it is worth it going for a mid ranged computer capable of ATI's Crossfire technology, since I'm not sure if it is going to be completely worth it, considering my low budget.

I have picked out most of the parts that I think are decent, but I’d appreciate it if I could get some help making sure that these parts are all decent and compatible

I have listed all (or most of anyway) the parts I’m considering buying, if anyone here could point me in the right direction when I have a few listed, or suggest an entirely new part, I would really appreciate it.

For the processor, I think I’m either for either of these:

Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13 Ghz 1066 MHz $221.50
Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86 Ghz 1066 MHz $187.00

My question here – Is it worth the extra $50 for the E6400, or can I overclock the E6300 just as well (Which I hear you can overclock this quite efficiently). I haven’t overclocked any computers, but from what it looks like as long as you have equipment capable of overclocking, you can do it without problem. (Which I’m not entirely sure if my components are all suitable for minor overclocking)

I’ve narrowed it down to 2 motherboards, and I can’t really find many differences between them, except for the fact that people seem to be favoring the Asus, not entirely sure why but maybe someone can give me some pointers there.

Asus P5B Deluxe GR Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard $199.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Tab=2&NoMapp=0

ECS PX1 (1.0B) Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard $129.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...261&CatId=1533

ATI RADEON X1600 PRO 512MB PCI Express Graphics Card – I’ve seen these go for around $150 on ebay new in box.
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136003

I’m going to start off with 1 GB of memory, but the first thing I will do when I have more money is upgrade to 2 GB.

Kingston HyperX 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory -$140

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/conf...G&promo=hx2shp

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134064

I have a few cases picked out, I’ll do that last after I know all of my components, but I’ll say $50 here.

I have a 19” LCD CRT monitor from Viewsonic, so I will re-use that, along with my mouse, keyboard, speakers, and portable 120GB hard drive.

I have a 450 W ATX PSU from coolmax taurus, not sure if I should replace this considering it was $35 from buy.com.

I have a wireless network, which connects via USB, so I won’t need a network card.

I need to buy an optical drive, which all I care about is being able to play DVD’s (Home made ones as well, I had a problem with one of my old DVD players not playing home dvds) CD’s, as well as write CD’s. There are so many of them, I really don’t know where to go here. Any suggestions would be great. In addition, I’ll will have to buy a floppy drive - which are fairly inexpensive. If anyone has a suggestion to a cheap one that is decent, that would be great. The only reason I’d like to have one of these is for booting and maybe data transfer to a few of my older computers.

If you have anything to add / comment / correct me about, please do so! Once again, I really appreciate it, and thank you to anyone who helps me.

[flanzig1]

Crossfire isn't worth the extra cost in motherboards if using mid-range video cards, this board should be fine:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131070
Ram: Corsair Value Select DDR2 667/if hard core OC: XMS DDR2 800 cas5
DVD:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106045
CPU: E6300 if budget allows go to the E6600
Floppy: any will do

[Thatguy45]

So, you are saying no to the 2nd motherboard, which is cheaper than the one you listed..

And what about the kingston hyperx memory?

[flanzig1]

ECS is low cost board maker. We tend to steer people away for ECS and a couple of other brands.
Kingston has had some issues, Corsair is recommended because it is known to work.

Would also consider getting a good quailty PSU. check here for good/bad brands:http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[Thatguy45]

Well, I was considering the crossfire ability for upgradibility purposes, rather than for the current video card.

I might want to go for the ASUS crossfire capable mobo still..

And from the looks of it, the memory you suggested has no heat sync attached and does not seem to be designed for gaming.. Does that matter? Keep in mind I plan to do some overclocking. Like I said, I'm on a budget, so the 2nd set of memory is out of the question considering it is $400. I have upgraded the current computer with kingston and had no problems, and their hyperx is fairly cheap, but what are these "issues" you are mentioning?

Thanks for your help by the way.

[flanzig1]

The Corsair VS can take some OC and not having heat spreaders no big deal. As for cost, a 2gig kit is $200: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ubCategory=147.
As for the Kingston, not sure if it's manufacturing problems or stability problems with the new C2D CPUs or chipsets.

[Thatguy45]

A few more questions..

You said either e6300 or e6600. I'm trying to keep things as low costing as possible, and the e6400 is somewhere inbetween. Isthere a reason you mentioned the e6600 cpu instead of the e6400? Are you saying if I can't go to the e6600, stay with the e6300, becaues the e6400 is about $100 cheaper than the e6600, and only about .2 ghz slower than the e6600. I was considering the e6400, but there may be something I am overlooking.

And with the system I am building, I am planning on in the future upgrading to a better video card(s). Would it not make sense to have a mobo that is crossfire capable with my cpu, or would there actually be a noticable difference? It sounds like it is worth the extra $50 to buy the ASUS mobo that is crossfire capable, even though it would not directly benefit me in the present, eventually it would.

[glc]

The E6300 and E6400 have 2mb cache, the E6600 has 4mb cache.

No sense in getting a 512mb video card - go for a higher speed 256mb card.

After rebate, this XMS2 is cheaper than the value ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

[newbuilder14]

I don't see that anyone has mentioned it, so I guess I will.

Do you think you could look for parts on Newegg.com? I've heard some bad things about TigerDirect.

For the processor, the E6400 is in between in terms of price, but the extra bit of speed doesn't justify the extra money in most peoples' opinions.

For the video card, I'd recommend a NVIDIA 7600GT.

[glc]

The only link I see to TD is for the ECS mobo.

I don't think anyone has answered your question yet about that Coolmax PSU - stay away. If you are contemplating Crossfire, you should get a certified PSU anyway.