My first build, hardware critique please

[txbosox]

Hi all, quick background, I helped my mother build a Win 98 system way back when, and haven't done anything PC build-wise since. I used to know a couple things, but from what I've read in searching and other posts, you might as well say I'm a newb to PC components.

This build will be for regular web browsing, media, and some gaming. I play an MMO (City of Heroes) or two fairly often, but no FPS right now. May do some photo editing maybe to help my mother's business, and may have AutoCAD 2009 installed from my work for any instances I need to work from home.

Overclocking isn't a priority now, just an option, after I get accustomed to things I'll look further into what it all entails and whether or not it's something I want to do.

On my old HP tower, I just upgraded the GFX card on the old HP so it will be going into the new system, if at all possible. I still have my old Gfx Card that as long as it's not in a full screen mode it works fine that I can put back in the old HP system. Here's what I've come up with, minus the cost of the Gfx Card it sits about $990:

This is the exact Gfx Card I recently purchased:
DIAMOND 4670PE31GDT Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103073

Swapped from Antec 900, I really like this case over the Antec, despite it's price tag.
COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119138

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128358

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166

Swapped from non Caviar Black 500gb model, per Shadowpr's advice
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106264

Changed Zalman fan, wrong socket set.
ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118003

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009145




I tried to double check that the components would work together, but I may have missed something. Is there anything here that's too much for what I'm looking to do? Anything I'm missing that I might need? As for the Vista, what's the major differance between the Home Premium and the Ultimate version?

I won't be ordering all of this at once, but piece by piece over a month or two (I hope). Thanks in advance for any help/info.

Josh

[shadowpr]

Looks like a good build.

I would normally suggest you only get ddr2-800, but if you might overclock, then the ddr2-1066 might be a better option.

I would change the hard drive to the caviar black version. It comes with a longer warranty.

Also, it's usually a better idea to save up and just get all the parts at the same time. You might get a better deal, or find something that is better is now affordable, and you will be able to test all parts out quickly to see if you have to return anything without dealing with the manufacturer.

[txbosox]

I say I might, but have never messed with any of that before, so I dunno, I don't know any of the specifics of doing it and what it really accomplishes. I'm more set on building a solid computer to do what I want that will last me a few good years and in the mean time try to build a few computers for friends/family etc....and learn those things as I go on later.

I had DDR-800 on my list, 4-1g sticks of the same brand, for a bit more than what I found those at.....but 2-3 months down the road, prices may or may not have changed. I did take a look at the Caviar Black HDD, swapped the old for the CB 640 gig.

Thanks for the tip, didn't cross my mind, but makes sense.

[shadowpr]

If getting 4gb, get 2x2gb sticks instead of 4x1gb.

[txbosox]

Changed Case, HDD, and CPU Fan.

I really like that Cooler Master case, even with the fairly hefty price tag, I got to look at the tower everyday, might as well make sure it looks good....plus this one is built to be quieter, a big plus. Already covered why the HD change, the Zalman Fan I had was for the wrong socket type, updated for the 775 socket, plus it was about $10 cheaper to boot.

Thanks for the help so far shadowpr!

[jdeb]

your good go for it... nice job

[Masaki 7-11]

I would change the card to a faster, less expensive HD4830 since the HD4670 1GB is too expensive and won't be able to properly take advantage of 1GB. HD4830: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102803

[txbosox]

Too late lol, I already purchased the card. I bought it over a week ago or so, for my current HP XP system. The NVidia I had in it worked perfectly, just as long as what you were doing was a windowed view of the program/game you were running. Full screen games like City of Heroes and WoW, heck even the Windows MyPictures Slideshow screensaver and any YouTube videos in full screen mode would cause it to lockup on occasion. Impulsively I went to Best Buy and picked up this card and I payed a good bit more than that for it. But I do like it alot, the lack of reboots while gaming is worth it. I'm going to put the NVidia back in the HP tower as I won't be gaming so there's no real risk to lockups with just my sister using it for web browsing and music management for her iPod. The ATI will go in the new system after I get the parts.

How do you like that CoolerMaster Cosmos case Masaki 7-11??

[Masaki 7-11]

I think the CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 case is pretty good; has great airflow, lots of room and makes very little noise. When I built my rig I had a friend help me; he was so impressed with the case he went out the next day and got himself one as well. The only thing I had a problem with is the hard drive bays; all of the hard drives bays are in very close proximity with little to no airflow in the region making the temperatures for the hard drives pretty high. I got a thermaltake iCage (changes three 5.25inch bays into three 3.5inch bays and has a 120mm fan) which keeps my hard drive cool.

[niceday]

Originally Posted by shadowpr If getting 4gb, get 2x2gb sticks instead of 4x1gb.

So maybe I ask what's difference between the 2x2gb sticks and the 4x1gb?

[phigdon]

i have the cosmos 1000 as well and it is by far the best case I have ever owned, even with the price tag. I have never run more than one or two HDD's in the case so heat wasn't that big of a deal for me. the drives ran upper 30's C. I had a 3.5in tray left over from a case fan controller and a spare 92mm fan so i made a bracket for the 92 and housed it in a spare HDD tray that blows directly on my boot drive. now it never gets above 30C. The two things I dont like about the case are the front door, its just gets in the way sometimes, and the expansion screws. they are really hard for me to get started in the confines of the area. air flow is good, but I replaced two of the 120mm with Scythe 133cfm fans. I have found that making the rear fan into an exhaust and only the bottom fan an intake the system runs cooler. In my case it was the difference of about 7C to 10C CPU temp.

[txbosox]

I'm only going to run one or two HDDs in this, so I'll atleast setup an empty bay in between them and worry about the heat later. I don't have a ton of music, but on my HDD on my system I have now, I found myself deleting a few old pics (of the ex-wife to-be lol) to do a defrag on my C drive. I'm going to pickup a decent external soon for my music/pics so when I do get the new system eventually I can migrate all the stuff over to it.

The good thing is I could get this done before my birthday in July for sure, but the bad is I work at a machine shop whose industry has slowed down and it's catcing up to us. So I'll have to wait for the market to pick back up and atleast get to the point where I can work overtime again before I can get this done. Atleast it gives me more time to wait for Windows 7 to release.

[shadowpr]

Originally Posted by niceday So maybe I ask what's difference between the 2x2gb sticks and the 4x1gb?

Stability could become a factor when you run 4x1gb sticks. You may need to lower the speed, or increase the voltage to get a stable system.