Ready to order parts for new build, but paranoid

[Triangle Man]

ok, i have my parts chosen and whatnot, and i have the 'ok' from my generous father, but i want to be completely sure about something. I have all the parts you see in my sig ready to buy, but i was wondering if i needed anything else before i spend $1177.

I have a monitor, keyboard and mouse, albeit they're a bit old. only the mouse works on a usb. but that's all i have that im not ordering. I just know im gonna be in the middle of putting it together, and halfway thru ill read that i need random component X and be like wth is that? whether it's software or hardware, i don't know.

EDIT - and will i need a floppy drive for anything?

[shadowpr]

looks good to me

and if you have any problems just come to this forum and everyone will be glad to help you along.

[flanzig1]

The list looks good. Would go with the 32bit version of Vista, most programs will not take advantage of the 64bit and may run into difficulty getting 64 bit drivers for some parts.

Don't need a floppy. Most people just use a salvaged one from an old PC if the need arises.

[shadowpr]

didn't see that you were getting vista 64, but only 2 gb of ram.

if you're only getting 2gb, then go with vista 32, it will be easier.

but if you want vista 64, then why not get another 2gb of ram. i have vista 64 and i had no problems with drivers or anything. if you would encounter any problems, i'll be more then happy to help; you try and find drivers that would work, especially since i have a lot of the same parts as you're getting.

[Triangle Man]

thanks for easing my pain guys. as for the 64 bit, im not exactly sure. it's not any more expensive... plus, being able to have 4gb of ram sure isn't bad. But i don't want to start regretting my OS choice down the road, whether it's because the 64 bit complicates things or i can't take advantage of a certain 64 bit program. what kind of difference does a 64-bit os bring besides having 4gb of ram?


and thanks for offering ur help. i have a feeling ill be posting here a lot once i start building, especially about vista and software in general.

and i have an old floppy i can use if i need it for some reason.

i feel a bit better now, thanks

[shadowpr]

to be honest. i don't really notice any difference with vista 64, but then again, i don't have vista 32 to compare it to.

but like i said, i haven't had any problems with vista or drivers.

[Krazeee]

While shadowpr hasn't had any issues with his 64bit, there have been some known issues. If your [dad's] budget allows for another 2g Ram, I'd take advantage of it, but if not, get 32bit and just avoid the "possible" issues that others seem to have had.

On the other hand, you can keep the 64bit and have the option to go to 4g Ram in the future. In any case, you'll always have PC Mech to turn to.

Regarding your parts choices, I like them all very much. I even have that same Case, I love it, tons of airflow, my Mobo chipset fan died about a month ago and the temps only went up about 2 degrees. Good luck on your build!

[xraycatj]

Yup, I think you'll be amazed at what your stuff will be able to do. I'm still in shock about how much faster my new rig is than any other system i've had.

Some things I've been doing to make sure I didn't get any bad parts is running these programs after build up and OS installation:

memtest for a few hours (the version included in Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows)
3DMark 06 for the video card
Orthos or Intel TAT for the CPU
CoreTemp to monitor the temps

These Centurion cases also have space under the top two 5.25" bays for a 120mm intake fan which is my next upgrade along with an 8800 GTS 320MB vid card.

[shadowpr]

any links for those tests?

[xraycatj]

certainly:

http://ubcd4win.com/downloads.htm
(you'll have to look around the folders, there are a lot of them. I think the filepath starts with plugins/benchmark/memtest)

http://www.3dmark.com/download/3dmark06
(free version)

http://sp2004.fre3.com/beta/beta2.htm

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/392/mirrors.php

EDIT: http://www.thecoolest.zerobrains.com/CoreTemp/

[shadowpr]

appreciate that

[Triangle Man]

it's comforting simply to know i have such an educated and large community to turn to. and ill be grabbing those tests as well, thankyou! turns out im still raising some money myself (naturally) which is actually nice, since i can use some of my own money on stuff my dad would probably refuse. like 2 extra gb of RAM plus, it feels better when pay for it myself. or at least some of it.

im gonna order the parts ASAP, most likely tomorrow morning, from newegg. and just to make sure nothing goes wrong, i will get naked and oil myself down to avoid any static electricity while building. but i better order before my dad changes his mind. and i better build when nobody's around...

other than that, i think that's all i need for now, thanks again.

[Krazeee]

LoL! Oil yerself down...I think touching a doorknob or the case will suffice...as to being nekkid....well I suppose that's personal preference.

Oh, and here's something I've recently realized (I'm sure most people have already figured this out though), check around at multiple vendors for the best prices. I know newegg is just about the best place ever, but on occasion, you can find a better deal at some other places. I'd look into www.zipzoomfly.com, www.tigerdirect.com, www.mwave.com and then if all else fails, try www.pricegrabber.com or www.pricewatch.com as general "find the cheapest place" websites.

Good luck on the new build!

[Katreat]

But remember when you check around to look at what shipping is doing to you. Newegg gives a very big shipping discount to big orders. I was checking into my last build and figured I had about $60 bucks in shipping, but when I ordered it all the shipping came out at half that. Alot of the shipping is minimums because most parts dont weigh much, so when they are combined you get big savings.

Kat

[xraycatj]

yeah just don't build it up on the carpet. something like a wooden table. rubber/nitrile gloves do the job too.
be calm, don't get nervous and drop your HD or anything.

[Jimmy0]

If you are really that worried about static electricity ruining your build then the best thing to do is to get one of those anti-static wristbands.

[The Village Idiot]

Thats what i've used, safe to say it worked. Just a sidenote but really it doesn't matter, i know too many people who dont using any form of protection against ESD and their computers run fine. But if your a bit worried like I was there's no harm in wearing an Anti-static wrist band.