Building a New Computer & Need Finishing Touches Advice

[StlHakusho]

I'm buying everything from NewEgg and here are the parts I'm going to be using.

Case: XION Onyx XON-303 Black/Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

PSU: Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply - Retail

Mobo: Intel BOXDG965RYCK LGA 775 Intel G965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail

HDD: SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

RAM: (2) G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail

Pri Optical: SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe and Software Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBM - OEM

Sec Optical: NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE/ATAPI DVD

Burner - OEM

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

Video Card: EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

FDD:

Keyboard: Logitech 967738-0403 Black USB Standard Deluxe 250 Keyboard - OEM

Mouse: Rosewill RM800U Black 3 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Mouse - OEM

Modem: None

Lan: None

Monitor: SAMSUNG SyncMaster 730B

Speakers: Logitec 5.1 Speakers Surround

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium DVD - Retail
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The Monitor, Speakers & Sec Optical drive are all being recycled from my current computer & the current price of all of this is $1,240.00 (includes shipping)

Here's a list of the parts & prices from NewEgg
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/7...emsetupom0.jpg

Primarily I'm going to be running Photoshop, FireFox, & a very large (32,000+ songs) iTunes library all at once which is probably going to be the most intense thing this computer will do.

I don't play games on my computer (& have no intention, thats what my PS3 will be for when Metal Gear Solid 4 comes out)

I also don't do video editing
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So does anyone have any suggestions, or see any compatibility issues with this setup or anything that I'm forgeting about?

Thanks in advance.

[minsonngo]

Swap the Rosewill PSU out for a quality unit. Look at the Antec Earthwatts or FSP power supplies.

Samsung opticals are okay... but some people have bad experiences with them... go with Lite-On SATA opticals instead.

As for your HDD... Seagate or Western Digital are better choices.


As for your memory... look at the Corsair ValueSelect lineup... DDR2-667 modules are the sweet spot. DDR2-800 is only needed if you plan to overclock.


Everything else looks fine.

[blue60007]

I'd suggest a different power supply. Rosewill quality is hit and miss. You don't want to skimp on the power supply. FSP has some decent lower powered (ie, 450W) power supplies. The Antec's minsonngo mentioned are worth a look as well.

If you are getting a motherboard with onboard video, why the seperate video card? I'd rather see a Seagate 7200.10 hard drive than a Samsung drive. Same goes for the optical. LITE-ON and NEC are good. And SATA drives are what you want for the opticals.

Don't bother with the $30 sound card - the motherboard has onboard sound which is probably comparable.

Also, some DDR2-667 is sufficient and probably cheaper than DDR2-800. Corsair Value Select has had good sucess.

I see you have another CPU cooler listed. The Retail boxed CPU comes with a cooler, so you really don't need another. Using something other than the stock voids the warranty on the CPU.

Finally, get an OEM copy of Windows - it costs about half of the retail less the fancy box and manual.

[StlHakusho]

Ok, So I'm thinking of this Power Supply now

FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 450W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103937

I was looking at RAM that goes with the motherboard that I'm getting and the RAM thats (2x1GB) and their Corsair at 675 is out of stock so hows the Kingston at 667?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134046

It's the only memory thats comparable in price it seems and the 800 is oly going to cost me about $30 more for 2 Packages of them.

I assumed that I needed a video card which is why I got one. So if I'm not playing any games on my comp do you think its pretty useless to have the extra video card? It won't change my performance at all?

I deleted the optical drive and went to this SATA Lite-On
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

I replaced the Samsung HDD with either a Western Digital or a Seagate, I'm going to be moving my 320GB Western Digital HDD from my current computer to my new one if it makes any difference. here are the two I'm looking at.
SeaGate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148136
Western Digital
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073

Both of them have the same specs for the most part.

Where is a good place to pick up a copy of OEM Windows?

[minsonngo]

Here is the Corsair memory... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098

Kingston is not as good as it used to be anymore.


Good choice on the PSU.


Here is the OEM versions of Windows... just pick the one that suits your needs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Order=REVIEWS


Go with the Seagate HDD.

[StlHakusho]

Grabbed the SeaGate HDD & the RAM. So that issue is now solved.

What are the differences in the OEM & Retail versions of Vista?
It says it can only be installed once and I just want to make sure I'll still be able to use it if my HDD fails and I have to reinstall it or something similar that it'll still be good to go.

Also I forgot to mention this and I apologize for that. But I may do a dual monitor set up on this computer so I was wondering if that mattered about me needing the video card still or not. Thanks.

and if you can't tell this is my first time building a comp.

[blue60007]

Using onboard video on a motherboard would use up some system RAM. The Intel GMA X3000 uses up to 256MB of the RAM. But, with 2 gigs, you should have plenty to go around. If you want, you could get a cheaper video card (but not one with Hypermemory or Turbocache because those use system RAM as well).

Here's another motherboard option:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131178

A bit cheaper. It's a micro ATX board so it has a few less PCI slots but it doesn't sound like you'll need a whole lot of those. I know...there's a ton of options out there...

Oh, yeah, for a dual monitor set up you would need a seperate video card. Onboard would only give you one video out. A video card with dual heads would give you that second video out for another monitor. You could always use onboard for now and add a video card with the second monitor.

Hmm...good question about OEM vs Retail. I haven't worked with Vista OEM or Retail so I'm not quite sure there. I'll let someone else who's had experience answer that.

[StlHakusho]

I think I'm going to keep the video card then, since it would use up RAM & I'll probably have a new monitor to go with the one I have by the end of the year.

I looked up the OEM Vs. Retail and it appears that the only difference like you said was the packaging, which is I thank you for since you just saved me $100 there.

I chose a different case though
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147038

It's alot less flashy and far more classy.

As for the motherboard, I'm going to stick with what I have, it's actually $10 cheaper than the one you listed after its $20 rebate.

All of these options are giving me headaches. Ugh...

[doubledragon5]

Usually in the past retail gave you a 90day support oem nothing..Now a days I hear you have to pay either way.... That was from the ms support forum.

[Staren]

Originally Posted by doubledragon5 Usually in the past retail gave you a 90day support oem nothing..Now a days I hear you have to pay either way.... That was from the ms support forum.

Sounds about right. Who actually uses M$ support though? Something goes wrong that you can't figure out then you either come here or another forum, or nuke & pave the drive.

[StlHakusho]

Exactly, I haven't called phone support since the first month when I got a computer back when I was like 12. I've always found the forums to be a nice place to go and alot less aggravating than hanging out on the phone.