just another PC build topic...Help if you want

[Bwentali]

howdy everyone. Names Bwentali and I am a first time builder.

I have been in the background of this site for some time, reading over the builds that other people have posted. Now it is my time to post a build and see if everything sounds okay on paper.

lookin at a mid-range gamer PC which will be used for other purposes. My budget is about $1500 for the tower alone, although I will need a new monitor (seperate budget). if you guys have any recommendations or see any flaws I would appreciate you letting me know.

Also, has anyone thought of posting a vanilla build? I know that kind of kills the fun of building a PC, but you can use it as a "catalyst" of sorts. A PC that is friendly to the first-timers (all compatible parts) that a person can modify to meet their specific expectations?

It seems like alot of the advice given on this site is actually based around a similar build anyways ( My build is based off of others advice from this forum ), so why not make it official? Just sayin'.

okay, enough jibba jabba, on with the build:

Motherboard:
ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030

Reasoning: I chose this board because it is the most recommended board on this forum. the model is the no-frills version, I will admit. Then again I don't need anything special from it other than the PCI express bus.

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

Reasoning: I don't think I need to expain this...moving along

Memory:
WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820161030

Reasoning: I really wanted to go with the Corsair Value Select 2 GB stick setup, but unfortunatly they don't make it in the proper setup. I know that I don't need DDr2 800, however I was unable to find a P5B MB with DDR2 667. If there is a better RAM for the price, though please let me know.

PSU:
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, UL - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182017

Reasoning: This is the part where I get scared. I know that the graphics card can suck up 400 watts easy, so I was wondering if the power would be good enough for the rest of the system. if I need more power or if you guys know a better PSU then please lemme know.

Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140

Reasoning: Seagate Hard Drives are often recommended for their price and quality. Also there are many comments on how 320 is the current "Sweet Spot" for the drives with the best GB per dollar rate. Kind of a no-brainer actually.

Graphics Card:
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130071

Reasoning: This wasn't too hard of a choice. I know there are a lot of people out there that say that I should upgrade to the GTX for the dx10 capabilities, personally however I feel that the GTX is overkill for current graphics anyways. plus there is a $200 gap in-between cards that I just can't justify at this moment.

CD/DVD drive:
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106057

Reasoning: This thing is more recomended then any of the other items combined. Not to mention it is a great price and reliability. I guess that is why it is recomended so much.

Case:
APEVIA X-CRUISER-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144151

Reasoning: Dang you personal style! Honestly I just picked a random case in my price range with a good score on newegg. Cooling is a thing with me, but I looked at the ones with 4 x 120 MM fans and just cant justify spending double on it. if you guys know a case with some impressive air flow for under $100 then drop me a link. Lights are cool too.

. . .and that is pretty much it. I thank you all in advance for taking the time to read this long post and I hope you are able to help.

[minsonngo]

Looks pretty good.

Reasoning: I really wanted to go with the Corsair Value Select 2 GB stick setup, but unfortunatly they don't make it in the proper setup. I know that I don't need DDr2 800, however I was unable to find a P5B MB with DDR2 667. If there is a better RAM for the price, though please let me know.

Go with the Cosair ValueSelect DDR2-667 instead... the ASUS P5B board you picked out will support it. NewEgg only lists DDR2-800 maybe because it is the max the board will take... but take a look at the ASUS website and you will see DDR2-667 is supported: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?m...3&l2=11&l3=307

PSU: Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, UL - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182017 Reasoning: This is the part where I get scared. I know that the graphics card can suck up 400 watts easy, so I was wondering if the power would be good enough for the rest of the system. if I need more power or if you guys know a better PSU then please lemme know.

Go with a QUALITY PSU. The PSU is one of the most important parts in a build that all the other components rely on to run. The Rosewill is not usually recommended. Here is one that we recommend a lot here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001

[Duffasaurus]

O! When did Corsair start making modular power supplies? No one tells me anything...O, and the build looks good

[Bwentali]

thanks for your quick reply.

Heh, I guess grabbing all the intel from newegg wasn't the brightest idea. I now know the error of my RAM ways. good thing too because most of the builds I see recommend that type of memory.

as for the PSU, I agree with the quality comment. Thing is most commentors usually forego that, or they vary greatly in-between each other. It was hard to pinpoint a good PSU for this thing, so I just picked one that had a good rating that wasn't a 700 watt powerhouse. If the one you recommended is able to run this setup then it will be mine.

Thanks again, and is there anything else you can see?

[minsonngo]

Everything looks good Bwentali... looks like you did do your research.

Just go with the Corsair PSU I recommended and the Corsair ValueSelect memory modules and your all set.


The video card requires a minimum of a 400 Watt power supply and a +12v current rating of 26 amps. The Corsair has 520 watts of QUALITY power and three +12v rails for a total of 54 amps... that is more than enough.

[flanzig1]

I believe all the Nvidia 8800 series of video cards are DX-10.
the reason the Rosewell PSUs are not recommened is that they are made by around a half dozen different manufacturers whitch makes their quailty anywhere from pretty good to wouldn't use it for a door stop depending on the model.