First time build - a few questions...

[SpydaMan]

First let me say thank you for taking the time to read this post. I have never built a computer, so this is all new to me. I am starting to slowly purchase the parts I need, and a few questions have come up. This computer will be used for general home use, photo editing, web design, and possibly video and music editing in the future. I will play very few games.

So far I have the following...

Case: Rosewill TU-155 with 400w power supply
Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI-FI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX

The processor I will be using but have not purchased yet will be...

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4Ghz 4M shared Cache LGA 775 Processor

The items I plan to purchase for use but have not decided on yet are...

Video card
CD Burner???
DVD Burner???
Floppy Drive???
2 Hard drives
RAM
Card reader
Mouse
Keyboard
LCD Monitor
Speakers

Now onto my questions...

I have not bought a cd burner for several years, and the technology has changed drastically. I would like to know peoples thoughts on buying a combo cd/dvd burner, or seperate units. I am also not sure if one is better or should I purchase 2?

I have never bought a video card, and really do not know what to look for in one. Thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

Floppy drives, do I even need one these days???

Installation, should I wait until I receive all my parts to install them, or should I install them as I get them???

I guess that's it for now. I look forward to hearing from everyone. Thank you so much.

Blake Stough
"aka SpydaMan"

[minsonngo]

You don't really need a floppy drive nowadays... unless you have a particular use of them. USB flash drives and such are their replacements.

As for a optical drive... definately go with the newer SATA drives. Here is a good one that does it all: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106057

You could wait until you recieve all the parts to do the installation. It is highly recommended though to do the installation outside of the case first to make sure there are no issues before installing them inside the case. You really just need the main components (PSU, motherboard, video card, memory, & processor) to do the testing though.

Also make sure you replace that Rosewill PSU that comes with the case. It is not recommended you use that one. Antec and Corsair 2.x PSUs are highly recommended.

The ASUS P5B lineup of motherboards are also highly recommended.

Also go with the Corsair lineup of memory.

[SpydaMan]

Oh, I wanted to include links for the items I have chosen so far...

Case: Rosewill TU-155 with 400w power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147001
Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI-FI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...sku=M452-2674#

The processor I will be using but have not purchased yet will be...

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4Ghz 4M shared Cache LGA 775 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

[SpydaMan]

I was wondering if that power supply would be enough for my needs. How much power would I need, and is there an easy way to decide on power supply needs???

I was torn between Asus and Gigabyte motherboards. These were reccommended by a service tech that comes to my job, but I had a hard time finding one in my price range that I felt confident with. I looked at the MSI models and chose the one I now have.

[minsonngo]

The MSI is not bad. But... do NOT order from Tiger Direct. They are generally horrible.

I would get a PSU that is around 500 watts or more. That leaves more room for add-ons to your system you may want to make in the future.


This ASUS board is close your price range [based on the price of the MSI board you chose]: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131070

[SpydaMan]

Tiger Direct is a no-no, got it!!!

I already ordered the MSI motherboard. Is ASUS a great deal better than the one I chose? If so, I would consider returning the MSI, but if they are fairly close, I will just keep it.

Thanks for being so helpful.

[minsonngo]

The MSI board you purchased will do fine... MSI makes decent boards too.

But yeah... avoid Tiger Direct in the future hehe.

[SpydaMan]

Originally Posted by minsonngo As for a optical drive... definately go with the newer SATA drives. Here is a good one that does it all: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106057

For copying cds and dvd, is it a good idea to have more than one optical drive...one to copy from and one to copy to???

[LeftyAce]

If you copy cds/dvds alot, yes. If you only do it occasionally, you might as well rip the cd onto the harddrive and burn it back all using the same optical drive. Depends on how often you do it and how much money you want to spend. Don't bother getting 2 burners though. One ROM drive and 1 burner would be fine.

You'll want to replace the powersupply in that case. Rosewill powersupplies are dodgy units.

Nothing wrong with the case though. Check out the powersupply reference thread for good brands: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by SpydaMan Now onto my questions... I have not bought a cd burner for several years, and the technology has changed drastically. I would like to know peoples thoughts on buying a combo cd/dvd burner, or seperate units. I am also not sure if one is better or should I purchase 2? For copying cds and dvd, is it a good idea to have more than one optical drive...one to copy from and one to copy to???

You want two drives...a DVD reader and a DVD burner. Don't bother with CD/DVD combo drives, a DVD burner does everything. You do need the DVD reader if you're going to copy drive to drive though.

Originally Posted by SpydaMan Floppy drives, do I even need one these days???

No, not necessary but good to have one on hand...just in case.

Originally Posted by SpydaMan Installation, should I wait until I receive all my parts to install them, or should I install them as I get them???

Wait till you get everything before you do anything...try to resist the temptation to look at the stuff you already have. The more you mess with them prior to assembly the more chance for something to happen (like getting zapped by static electricity...very bad).

Originally Posted by SpydaMan If so, I would consider returning the MSI, but if they are fairly close, I will just keep it. I was torn between Asus and Gigabyte motherboards. These were reccommended by a service tech that comes to my job, but I had a hard time finding one in my price range that I felt confident with. I looked at the MSI models and chose the one I now have. I already ordered the MSI motherboard. Is ASUS a great deal better than the one I chose?

An ASUS motherboard would be better quality and possibly more stable running than a MSI. But since you already have the MSI you might as well see what it can do.

Originally Posted by SpydaMan I was wondering if that power supply would be enough for my needs. How much power would I need, and is there an easy way to decide on power supply needs???

It depends on the video card you get and the number of drives in the system. A good quality 400 watt power supply would be enough for a simple home computer but for what you're looking to build you may want to get a 450 to 500 watt PSU instead. And Rosewill isn't considered a dependable brand to go with. They don't manufacture their own parts but rebadge parts they buy from other manufacturers...you really don't know the true quality of Rosewill parts. See this thread for more info.

Cricket

[flanzig1]

The PSU that comes with the case appears to be the older ATX style of PSU. For todays motherboards with PCI-E video, you really need the ATX 2.0 PSUs that have the 24 pin connector AND the 4 pin CPU connector and have PCI-E power connectors for video cards.

[SpydaMan]

I'm going to choose the other components I want for this build and post them here for everyone to review. I will include a new power supply.