first time building, need alot of advice

[indyjones]

This is my first time building a pc. Please help. I know nothing about this kind of thing. I have nothing to keep or swap from an old pc. I'm going to list what I need. If it seems unreasonable tell me. Thank you very much.

Heres my bugdet: $1200-$1400 (can be a little over $1400, but not much)
I'd like to shop at: Newegg.com and use retail components (not OEM) so I can have better warranties

Processor: Latest or next to latest Intel Core Duo processor
Motherboard: ATX Asus or equally quality motherboard (at least 6 usb ports)(need pci express 16) (support for the processor you recommend)
Monitor: 17" or 19" LCD flat screen (basically not a CRT) in black
Memory: Latest kind of quality memory (1-2 GB worth)
Harddrive: 200 GB-300 GB SATA2
Optical Drive: Any dvd drive
Keyboard: doesn't matter
mouse: good quality optical mouse
video card: nvidia pci express 16? (recommend a good one)
sound card: doesn't matter too much (maybe one that could support 5.1 audio out)
power supply: 400W-520W (I think?)
case: ATX black (what would you recommend?)
network card: (i have no idea what to get for my sb5120 surfboard cable modem)


Also, will the retail processor come with a heat sink and thermal compond? And will the retail motherboard come with all the components I need?

If I forgot anything let me know. Thanks again!!

[Alaron]

Welcome to PCMech. Here is a list to get you started:

Motherboard: Asus P5K
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q6600
RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2-800
Video Card: eVGA Geforce 8800GTS 320MB
Power Supply: Corsair 520HX
Hard Drive: 320GB Seagate SATA
Optical: LiteOn SATA Retail DVDRW drive with Nero

Your network card is built into the motherboard. As long as you get a Retail CPU, you'll get a Heatsink/Fan, no worries. Your motherboard will come with cables to connect your drives.

For the sound, try the motherboard's onboard sound first. Then add a card later if you want.

I like Antec towers, but as long as you use a quality power supply, any case you like will work.

Check out Logitech peripherals, and Samsung or Acer monitors.

[Krazeee]

I'm going to assume this will be for gaming. If not, you can save alot of money in some places, as you wont need the graphics muscle. Here are my picks for a budget of that size.

Mobo: ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 - $186

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 - $205

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $110

Vid Card: EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB PCI Express x16 - $300

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W - $170...but this or something similar will work just fine if you don't need that big video card: FSP Group 500W - $87

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - $80...oem but if you wan't to spend another $35 on a cardboard box, you can.

Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Silver/Black USB Standard Media Keyboard - $19...OEM, but it's a keyboard, not a big deal.

Mouse: Logitech G5 USB Wired Laser - $46...this is great if you're gaming, but if not, plan to save about 10-20 bucks here as you won't need this fancy thing for simple office work.

Optical: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - $37...also OEM, but from what I can tell, doesn't make a difference.

Monitor: Hanns·G 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - $160

That comes to $1314 before shipping and mail in rebates. Like I said earlier, if you don't plan to game, you can save a few hundred dollars on a cheaper card, psu, mobo, etc. Let us know what you plan to do with this and then we can tweak our suggestions.

[shadowpr]

Originally Posted by Krazeee Optical: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - $37...also OEM, but from what I can tell, doesn't make a difference.

if they get the retail version, then it comes with software. unless they already have that, then they might as well just get the retail version.

[blue60007]

I would suggest the Quad Core - while not a lot of games will take advantage right now, it'll be much more future proof. I would suggest the Corsair XMS2 as well. I would go with the 620W powe supply as well. The quad cores use a fair bit of juice along with the video card.

[Nunol]

Everyone has made some great suggestion, but depending on what your going to use the PC for I would opt for a smaller SATA Drive to install the OS on and 1-2 Medium size drives that you can RAID for File storage. If you do and home video editing or photoshop use (any version) will preform a lot better if the if the Video or scratch folder (photoshop) are not on the same drive as the Operating system. Plus in the event you need to reinstall the OS you wont loose your important stuff like photos or my work. You can ask me directly if you don't understand what I mean.

[indyjones]

Should I really get a quad core processor?

Also, What kind of speakers would you recommend? (2.1 kind)

I'm going to use my system to play some games and surf the web and burn dvds.

What should I do about RAID? (I'm not even sure how that works anyway)


If you have anymore advice, I'd like to hear it

[Alaron]

Multiple cores is the way of the future. Sounds corny, but more and more apps can take advantage of it. Thats why we recommend them now that price is reasonable. But the E6750 is still a zippy dual-core that would work fine as well.

Check out Logitech and Klipsch speakers.

We generally do not recommend RAID for new builders. It is more of a hassle to setup then a benefit. As long as you have a smart backup system like an external hard drive, you need not worry about a RAID setup.

[indyjones]

If later I decide to upgrade to a quad core processor, how do I find out if the motherboard supports it?

Thanks to everyone for their help.

[Gen.Ben]

It will be on the manufacturers website.