First time building, please help

[thor19880821]

I want a decent computer that I can use for gaming, and of course basic things like surfing the internet and burning CDs/DVDs. I put together a bunch of parts, and I have no idea if all of them are compatible. So please look it over and let me know if it'll work and if I needed other parts.

Case: NZXT Guardian 921 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower ($99)
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W ($169)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ($92)
Video Card: EVGA 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI-E 2.0 x16 ($159)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s ($59)
DVD Drive: LG 22x DVD+/- R DVD Burner w/ LightScribe ($25)
PSU: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready ($129)
OS: Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 74-bit ($89)

[shadowpr]

Welcome.

A few suggestions.

I would stay away from kingston ram. Look at corasir 2x2gb ddr2-800. I think it's on sale now too. (Newegg.com if you're in the US)

Depending on budget, get a 4850 instead of the 9800gtx.

I would also increase the hard drive to a seagate 7200.11 500gb sata drive. Only a few bucks more.

I prefer lite-on or asus dvd burners. Get sata and retail for the software.

That psu is good, but might be overkill. You could probably save a few bucks with the 650.

And I assume you mean vista 64-bit. I would get home premium. Basic is just that, very basic. Get the oem.

[thor19880821]

Originally Posted by shadowpr Welcome. A few suggestions. I would stay away from kingston ram. Look at corasir 2x2gb ddr2-800. I think it's on sale now too. (Newegg.com if you're in the US) Depending on budget, get a 4850 instead of the 9800gtx. I would also increase the hard drive to a seagate 7200.11 500gb sata drive. Only a few bucks more. I prefer lite-on or asus dvd burners. Get sata and retail for the software. That psu is good, but might be overkill. You could probably save a few bucks with the 650. And I assume you mean vista 64-bit. I would get home premium. Basic is just that, very basic. Get the oem.

Okay, I'll get the Corsair brand. I didn't know what to get between Kingston and Corsair, so I just randomly picked Kingston. So thanks for the heads-up.

Budget-wise, I would like to keep it below $1500. Is the 4850 better or worse than the 9800gtx? I know enough about nVidia cards just to be informed, but know nothing about ATI and how they compare.

I didn't actually see the 500gb drive, and got the 250gb because my "other half" suggested to save money and get the 250, and if more space is needed in the future to just get an external HD. But thinking about it now, if it doesn't cost a lot more, 500gb should be better and more cost-effective.

I'll look into lite-on and asus burners. I knew nothing about the burners I was looking at and just decided to go with a familiar brand.

The PSU, yeah I was thinking that to myself is that it might be overkill. But I picked 750w because I'm pretty sure that I'll have to upgrade my video card in the future to keep up with the growing demands of today's games. And I know the higher-end video cards require a larger PSU. So it's a just-in-case and be-prepared-for-the-future choice that made me pick 750w.

And yeah haha that was a typo, I meant 64-bit. As far as Basic and Home Premium goes, what is the difference? I'm still stuck on OSX and XP, so I'm at loss when it comes to Vista.


So would all those be compatible with each other? What has kept me from building my own PC in the past is my lack of knowledge of hardware parts. I love using computers but I don't really know much about what's going on inside. What I was really worried about was the mid tower case and motherboard... I don't know if the ones I picked would work well with each other.

What am I restricted to with a mid tower?
What are the differences between mid and full tower?
Are there any cases that you can recommend?
What about cooling, do I need any kind of cooling like maybe liquid cooling?

[thor19880821]

Oh yeah, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

[Patch]

Originally Posted by thor19880821 What am I restricted to with a mid tower? What are the differences between mid and full tower? Are there any cases that you can recommend? What about cooling, do I need any kind of cooling like maybe liquid cooling?

A mid tower will not restrict you at all with the components you describe. Full towers are immense and aren't generally needed unless you need racks of hard drives (like a dozen), have some elaborate liquid cooling system, or don't feel comfortable modifying your case to fit a 1200Watt PSU. Take a look at the specs of any case you buy to make sure it will fit in the space you have available.

Cases are mostly personal preference. You're the one who will have to look at it for the next few years. That being said, this seems to be an extremely popular case right now near your price range: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=antec%20900

You won't need any special cooling for the build you're planning. The e8400 even does reasonably well with mild overclocks using the stock cooler.

[shadowpr]

The 4850 does better then the 9800gtx I believe.

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288 $15 more and with free shipping.

For the differences in vista: Vista SKU comparisons (differences between the various Vista versions)

Everything is compatible. You did a good job.

For a simpler case then the antec 900, I like the antec 300: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042

[thor19880821]

Wow, thanks for the help guys. Good to hear that the parts will work together. Only things left to do now is implement your suggestions into my build then making the purchase. Again, your help is greatly appreciated.