Confused first timer here...

[CUrza]

I currently have an Alienware m5550 that I'm tired of. It runs loudly, is not all that powerful, does not cool well at all (I have fried 2 graphics cards in a year of ownership) and I would just like to build myself a nice desktop and be done for awhile. I am working full time starting next month and luckily, as I'm only 20, have no expenses at the moment (besides gas), so budget is fine. So I wanted to run this by some people that know what they're talking about and see how this sounds.

Bascially, I use my computer for everything I do. Gaming, audio production, djing, watching movies, doing schoolwork...you name it. I thought that the Alienware would be a good laptop for school and gaming, and it was, for awhile, until everything started crapping out. I want to go all out on this desktop so that I can run games flawlessly (including games coming out that will support DX10), keep a house party moving (that's what the speakers are for), produce my music, and still do my schoolwork. Also, I would like to dual-boot Ubuntu and Vista, but I am sure this can handle Unbuntu just fine. I use OpenOffice, so productivity software is not an issue in this build. I am a bit confused by all of this but I have done extensive research; let me know how this looks.

I need EVERYTHING...hardware, monitor, speakers, the whole deal. Here goes.

Case: Antec 900 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775
Memory: G.Skill 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ES ST3750640NS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drives: LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R w/ LightScribe (x2)
Video Cards: BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported (x2)
Power Supply: Antec TPQ-850 ATX12V / EPS12V 850W
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium
Monitor: SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker
Keyboard: Logitech G11
Mouse: Logitech MX518

So there you have it. Now, I have couple of questions for you all. First, most importantly, are all of these things compatible? Second, my memory says it is DDR2, and the video card is DDR3...what does that mean for me? Do I need to get DDR3 memory instead? Third, is the 850w supply overkill? Fourth, is that a good version of Vista to go with? I hear nothing but complaints about Vista, but I want to be able to use DX10. Fifth, cooling...this case seems to have an adequate amount of fans, but will this be enough to keep my system cool? Last, I am very confused on this part...a sound card. Do I need to buy one or is there some sort of onboard sound included in any of this hardware? It's funny because I produce and stuff, but as far as upgrading my sound goes, I'm totally clueless. So if I do need to purchase one, any recommendations on a sound card to take full advantage of the speaker system?

[Alaron]

Welcome to PCMech. Pretty good list, I just have few tweaks.

I'd check out the Asus P5K motherboards instead of Gigabyte. They are higher quality boards.
That RAM is overkill for the CPU, DDR2-800 is fine. We recommend Corsair brand.
Go with the Seagate 7200.11 series instead. They have a larger cache (32MB).
The Antec 850w is much more then you need as well. Check out Corsair power supplies. The 550w would be great.

As for the questions:
Yes, those are compatible, but make the changes I suggested.
Video card memory and system memory don't need to match, they are unrelated.
Stick with DDR2 for the motherboard.
You need 64bit Vista to use 4GB of RAM. Home Premium is fine for most.
The Antec 900 is a well-cooled case. We have a detailed discussion about it in the Hardware User Reviews forum that you may want to read.

Your motherboard has onboard sound that will be ok for most people. But considering you are a DJ and work with music, you should probably look at a dedicated card. Look around in the Multimedia forum. The Creative X-Fi is popular. You can also build the system as is and add a card when you're ready.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by CUrza Case: Antec 900 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Memory: G.Skill 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ES ST3750640NS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Optical Drives: LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R w/ LightScribe (x2) Video Cards: BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported (x2) Power Supply: Antec TPQ-850 ATX12V / EPS12V 850W OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium Monitor: SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker Keyboard: Logitech G11 Mouse: Logitech MX518 So there you have it. Now, I have couple of questions for you all. First, most importantly, are all of these things compatible?

Everything looks okay. You really don't need DDR2 1000 RAM though (unless you're going to overclock). DDR2 667 will be fine. Are you sure you want to go with a 64 bit operating system?

Originally Posted by CUrza Second, my memory says it is DDR2, and the video card is DDR3...what does that mean for me? Do I need to get DDR3 memory instead?

Doesn't matter...one doesn't effect the other.

Originally Posted by CUrza Third, is the 850w supply overkill?

No, you'll need that SLi certified power supply if you're going to run two 8800GTSs in SLi. See this SLi certified power supply listing.

Originally Posted by CUrza Fourth, is that a good version of Vista to go with? I hear nothing but complaints about Vista, but I want to be able to use DX10.

Can't help you there...I don't use Vista and I'm not a gamer.

Originally Posted by CUrza Fifth, cooling...this case seems to have an adequate amount of fans, but will this be enough to keep my system cool?

The Antec 900 was designed as a gaming case and will keep your system cool...but make sure it has enough room for 2 8800GTSs.

Originally Posted by CUrza Last, I am very confused on this part...a sound card. Do I need to buy one or is there some sort of onboard sound included in any of this hardware? It's funny because I produce and stuff, but as far as upgrading my sound goes, I'm totally clueless. So if I do need to purchase one, any recommendations on a sound card to take full advantage of the speaker system?

That motherboard has on-board sound (all modern motherboards do) but you may want to get something better. I haven't bought a sound card in years so I'm not up to date with them, but I understand M-Audio sound cards are supposed to be very good.

Cricket

[Katreat]

I have read a lot of good reviews on that gigabyte MB but check out the Asus, Asus does have the best long term reputation for quality and support.

There is a little (x2) at the end of your video card selection, I assume that is just part of the discription because you dont need two Nividea video cards with a P35 board. If you intended on buying two of them for SLI you would need a Nvidea chipset board. (ie: 750i, 780i)

It looks like you use open sourse software so make sure it will work with the 64 bit OS before you go that direction.

Kat

[CUrza]

Hey everyone thanks for the help. I have decided to go with the nforce chipset so that I can run SLI. Also, I will be downgrading the RAM to DDR2 800. I just decided to stick with XP, I hear Vista sucks, everyone tells me to just stay away.

I was thinking of going with a 680i nforce...sound good?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by CUrza Hey everyone thanks for the help. I have decided to go with the nforce chipset so that I can run SLI. Also, I will be downgrading the RAM to DDR2 800. I just decided to stick with XP, I hear Vista sucks, everyone tells me to just stay away. I was thinking of going with a 680i nforce...sound good?

One of the other problems with using Vista for gaming is that it has slower performance than XP by about 10%; the other problem is that running your games in Directx 10 mode slows down performance to a large degree compared to Directx 9 and makes even high end setups run sluggish. Vista may still be an option, but mostly if the games you want to play are Vista Only, if thats the case, you might want to consider Home Basic instead of Home Premium or Ultimate since it still has the majority of features of the higher end Vista OSes, but uses up less resources, giving you more performance.

I would also take a look at getting 32-bit, most operating systems don't use up more than 2GB of ram, 64-bit OSes are mostly used because of their support for 4GB of ram and more (32 bit will only be able to use around 3GB of ram, even if you install more than that). 32-bit also has better compatibility and performance than 64-bit.

For SLI any nforce chipset 650i and above shoul work, but you should take a look at ones made by Asus since they are of higher quality.

[Khalil]

Curza, I doubt you would notice any difference in performance between Vista and XP using such a powerful CPU as the Q6600 and 2 Vidoe cards. Slower low end processors suffer with Vista even if they are over clocked but as long as you get powerful enough hardware Vista is no problem.
I personaly prefer to game with Vista because of DX 10.1

[Katreat]

Personally I would recommned not going SLI. But, if you are set on it then take a look at the 750i or 780i chipset boards instead. As I understand it, the 650i and 680i do not support the newer 45 mm intel CPUs. So, even though your current CPU choice is a 65 mm processor, if you ever decide to upgrade the 700 series boards would be more flexable. If yuo dont plan to upgrade then the chipset you are looking at will work fine.

Kat