Help please with a new Build

[parallelogram]

Hi all,

I am planning to build a Desktop PC and this is my first time. The config I have in mind is given below. Can you please give your suggestions and let me know if this is a good config. Appreciate your help.

1) Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail

2) EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

3) XFX PVT84GUDF3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

4) A-DATA Extreme Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVD1A16K - Retail

5) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - RAID

6) LOGISYS Computer PS575XBK ATX12V 575W Power Supply - Retail

7) PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE interface (ATAPI) Model SPD2413BD - Retail

8) AeroCool AERO-X202 Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

9) BenQ FP202W 20" Widescreen Digital 8ms LCD Monitor

[LeftyAce]

Welcome to PCMech!

What is your budget, and what do you intend to use this computer for? (gaming, web surfing, video editing, etc)

We recommend ASUS motherboards, as they are exceptionally reliable, and their tech support is very good. Take a look at the P5B series. Pick one with the features you need.

That video card may be fine, depending on what you want to be able to do, and what your budget is.

For ram, get Corsair Valueselect DDR2 667....you don't need 800 speed unless you plan on overclocking. 2x1GB is good, as you get the benefit of dual channel operation.

What do you mean with RAID on the harddrive? RAID requires 2 harddrives, and generally isn't worth the risk/expense. Stick with 1 harddrive, and possibly get an external drive for backups.

Take a look at our recommended PSU manufacturer's list; a quality PSU is a must: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

As far as how much power the PSU should have, that depends on the graphics card, which depends on your budget and planned usage :-)

Take a look at LiteOn optical drives, and get a SATA model. Lite on's pretty reliable, and well priced. Get a retail version, as they come with software.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by parallelogram 1) Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail

Good processor.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 2) EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

I wouldn't build a Intel based computer with a motherboard that uses a non-Intel chipset. For best compatibility, stability and performance you should consider a motherboard with a Intel chipset. I'd go with a ASUS motherboard too.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 3) XFX PVT84GUDF3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

I'd use a EVGA equivalent. I don't trust XFX products.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 4) A-DATA Extreme Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVD1A16K - Retail

I've used A-DATA RAM in the past and they worked fine, but make sure the motherboard you choose will be compatible with A-DATA RAM. Not all motherboards will work with all brands of RAM.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 5) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - RAID

Good hard drive. I wouldn't mess with RAID.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 6) LOGISYS Computer PS575XBK ATX12V 575W Power Supply - Retail

Terrible power supply brand. Look at Corsair, Seasonic, Fortron Source or PC Power & Cooling power supplies instead.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 7) PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE interface (ATAPI) Model SPD2413BD - Retail

I"d look at Lite-On or NEC instead. Haven't heard much good things about Philips optical drives.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 8) AeroCool AERO-X202 Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

No comment.

Originally Posted by parallelogram 9) BenQ FP202W 20" Widescreen Digital 8ms LCD Monitor

I hear BenQ LCD monitors are not bad.

Cricket

[boondokk]

I have a machine built using the same chipset and its very quick and reliable. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones... but I'm using Vista Ultimate and Raid 0 with no apparent issues other than some 8 year old software not working correctly. Anywho, Cricket is right about EVGA. They are a great company that stand behind their products. And if in 90 days after you build your system and want to upgrade your VC they offer a step-up program where you can trade your lesser card in for your card and some extra cash. Really quite the deal. PSU... Fortron Source (FSP) for the win!

[parallelogram]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

My Budget - ideally I would like to restrict it under 1200$
What I use the system for - I am a programmer and want to host simultaneously many servers - IIS, Weblogic, Apache-Tomcat, SQL Server to name a few. And at the same time I would need to have the ability to use debuggers -eclipse, visual studio.Net etc for development. All this without making the system go very slow.My primary OS is Kubuntu and plan to Dual boot with Win 2003. Win 2k I will run in virtual machine inside Kubuntu

Gaming - I play games not so frequntly. But when I do get the time, I like to play games with decent graphics etc.
Also I do a lot of video editing, dvd burning etc

Overclocing - I will like to have the ability keeping Games in mind. But by default most of the times I believe I wouldn't ned overclocking

RAID - Since OEM hard disks are cheap to get I thought I might gt another seagate and do a RAID1. But not decided on this. I definitely need good storage - 500 GB atleast anyways. So the above 250 GB hdd is just to start with. I plan to add more.

[whubbard]

When you say you:

do a lot of video editing

Exactly what do you mean?
Do you mean making videos using the microsoft video maker, or using Intense programs.

Also generally when you overclock, you do it once and thats it, its not like a feature you turn on and off to play games. (just letting you know)

Raid 1 is not a bad idea...just don't do Raid 0. Raid 10 would be nice if you willing to fork over the cash.

[LeftyAce]

For backup purposes, raid 1 isn't ideal. If you get a virus, for instance, it gets written instantly onto both disks, plus the 'backup' drive is not electrically isolated from the system. If you get surged, or the psu dies, you'll lose both HDDs. I'd get an Apricorn enclosure and put one of the disks in it; they come with backup software, and you'll be electrically isolated from the system this way.

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by LeftyAce For backup purposes, raid 1 isn't ideal. If you get a virus, for instance, it gets written instantly onto both disks, plus the 'backup' drive is not electrically isolated from the system. If you get surged, or the psu dies, you'll lose both HDDs. I'd get an Apricorn enclosure and put one of the disks in it; they come with backup software, and you'll be electrically isolated from the system this way.

Agreed.

[XenaWP]

Originally Posted by LeftyAce For backup purposes, raid 1 isn't ideal. If you get a virus, for instance, it gets written instantly onto both disks, plus the 'backup' drive is not electrically isolated from the system. If you get surged, or the psu dies, you'll lose both HDDs. I'd get an Apricorn enclosure and put one of the disks in it; they come with backup software, and you'll be electrically isolated from the system this way.

Does that prevent a virus from being backed up to the external?

Or just protect from a PSU failure?