Tom's First Home Built PC

[TomTom]

So, I wanted to upgrade my pre-built HP but with the help of this forum I realized that it would be a waste of time. So I got a little cash together and spent a lot of time on Newegg searching through components and reading reviews.

This is what I came up with, let me know what you think!

Mobo
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU
Intel Core2 Q8200S Yorkfield 2.33GHz

Two sets of this RAM for a total of 8GB
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

Case/PSU in one
Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 350W

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 1TB

Optical Drive
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM

I have a copy of Vista x64 so it can handle all 8GB of RAM. One thing I have been wondering about is whether or not that 350W PSU will be enough. I don't really plan on overclocking it (at least for now).

This whole system comes out to be about $550 which seems pretty good for a relatively high performance comp.

Thanks in advance for catching whatever errors I made!!
Thomas

[pam123]

Ditch that 350 watt power supply, 500 watts is the current minimum ( Check this list : What Power Supply should I get? How many Watts? Who made it? Guide Inside . I would say nothing less then an approved 650 watts. ) and make sure your ram is on Gigabyte's qvl list ( Download the manual for you motherboard choice.).

I would not go for less than 500 GBs for the hard drive.

[shadowpr]

Just be aware that with all 4 slots filled with ram, you may have to down the speed one notch, or up the voltage.

Usually ddr2-800 would be enough for that processor, and would still give you a bit of room to overclock.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by pam123 Ditch that 350 watt power supply, 500 watts is the current minimum ( Check this list : What Power Supply should I get? How many Watts? Who made it? Guide Inside . I would say nothing less then an approved 650 watts. ) and make sure your ram is on Gigabyte's qvl list ( Download the manual for you motherboard choice.). I would not go for less than 500 GBs for the hard drive.

350W will handle that build fine, however a better brand should be picked; the 9400GT takes very little power.

I would take a look at getting a different video card if you are going to do any gaming, the 9400GT is probably among the slowest of the current cards. The HD4650 is much faster and costs about the same: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161262.

Here is a good power supply that should fit well into your budget:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171028

[shadowpr]

Just picked up this psu (my second one): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341012

Could get a bit more, if you want: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341010

After rebate, they are good deals in my opinion.

[TomTom]

Thanks for the responses

Pam123, I just found out my friend is gonna give me a 650W power supply he has laying around so in that respect I'm set. The hard drive on the other hand I agree with you, Ill probably just wait around until I catch a really good deal on a 1TB.

Shadow, the reason I went ahead and got all that faster RAM was so that in the future when I upgrade the CPU I won't need to upgrade the RAM also. If I am wrong in this reasoning let me know as I am still slightly unsure of everything.

Masaki, I know the 9400GT is nothing spectacular but it will do what I need it to. This PC will be used for my master's research project and I am making more of a computational workhorse then anything else, not gaming.

By the way I am not going to use that case since its ugly and I don't need the PSU anymore. If anyone has any suggestions for a good cheap case send it my way!

Thanks again, if anyone has any input please post it.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by TomTom Thanks for the responses Pam123, I just found out my friend is gonna give me a 650W power supply he has laying around so in that respect I'm set. The hard drive on the other hand I agree with you, Ill probably just wait around until I catch a really good deal on a 1TB. Shadow, the reason I went ahead and got all that faster RAM was so that in the future when I upgrade the CPU I won't need to upgrade the RAM also. If I am wrong in this reasoning let me know as I am still slightly unsure of everything. Masaki, I know the 9400GT is nothing spectacular but it will do what I need it to. This PC will be used for my master's research project and I am making more of a computational workhorse then anything else, not gaming. By the way I am not going to use that case since its ugly and I don't need the PSU anymore. If anyone has any suggestions for a good cheap case send it my way! Thanks again, if anyone has any input please post it.

Here is a pretty good case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119115.

If you just need a basic card that will handle things like Aero and High definition fine, take a look at either the HD4350: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102817
or 8400GS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127366
Both are less expensive than the 9400GT and offer decent performance if not gaming.

[TomTom]

Thanks Masaki,

I had looked at that case before and was considering it, its good for someone to reinforce the idea. I think I'm going to stick with the 9400GT because I do need decent graphics because I will be running solid modeling programs like Pro/Engineer and Solidworks which can really bog down a graphics card.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by TomTom Thanks Masaki, I had looked at that case before and was considering it, its good for someone to reinforce the idea. I think I'm going to stick with the 9400GT because I do need decent graphics because I will be running solid modeling programs like Pro/Engineer and Solidworks which can really bog down a graphics card.

Is there a particular thing you don't like about the HD4650? The performance is much better (the 9400GT won't even be able to take advantage of 1GB of ram), the drivers are pretty good and it costs the same.

[glc]

ATI cards are much preferred for professional applications such as you describe. Nvidia cards are for gamers.

You need to find out what brand and model that 650w PSU is, a low quality unit would not be suitable.

[TomTom]

No, I don't have anything against the Radeon just always used Nvidia cards so I felt more comfortable with them. If the HD4650 is better for what I want to do then I'll get it.

I really didn't think it mattered much between the two companies, as always I am learning on this forum.

I'll look at the PSU tomorrow when I get a chance so see what it is.

Thanks

[glc]

let's put it this way - I have 2 computers on a KVM. This one has an old ATI FireGL 8800 in it, and my new box has a Nvidia 8600GTS in it. There is no comparison, the ATI is a much nicer looking display - both in clarity and good color rendering. Nvidia used to own the 3D gaming market, but even that is changing. Since the AMD buyout, ATI is really giving Nvidia a run for their money. The only thing I don't like about ATI is the catalyst control center, but you can always do just a basic driver install.

[TomTom]

The PSU I got my hands on is an Ultra VX600. Let me know what you think.

[not important]

Ultra PSU's are not good. Look at this list for reference to quality PSU's: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

[TomTom]

Just a quick update, I ordered the case, PSU, and dvd burner yesterday from newegg.

Case

PSU

DVD Burner

I used a PSU calculator and it put me around 350W so I decided that a 450W should handle most upgrades. I don't on using two GPU's so I figured I didnt need a 550W+ supply.

Hopefully in the next few weeks I should be getting the rest of the components ordered. Do I need to buy anything else besides what is listed above other than the heatsink compount?

Thanks again

[dirty elf]

Originally Posted by glc let's put it this way - I have 2 computers on a KVM. This one has an old ATI FireGL 8800 in it, and my new box has a Nvidia 8600GTS in it. There is no comparison, the ATI is a much nicer looking display - both in clarity and good color rendering. Nvidia used to own the 3D gaming market, but even that is changing. Since the AMD buyout, ATI is really giving Nvidia a run for their money. The only thing I don't like about ATI is the catalyst control center, but you can always do just a basic driver install.

what dont you like about the catalyst control center.. im building a gaming rig (here) and was thinking of going with nvidia.. some people told me differently.. im just looking for seasoned opinions because im new at this

[TomTom]

I'm about to order the rest of my parts, here is the updated list:

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

HIS Hightech H465FS512P Radeon HD 4650 512MB

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache

Just wanted to double check anything I might have missed before I put in the final order, please let me know if you find any discrepancies.

[TomTom]

Well, no one posted which could be a good thing or a bad one....I don't know. I ordered all the parts yesterday and they should be at my house by Friday so I guess I'll be posting sometime this weekend. Hopefully it won't be a question about why it doesn't work lol.

[TomTom]

I don't know if anyone is reading this thread anymore but I have a question. I got all my parts today and put the PC together and installed Vista and then my GPU drivers and the dvd burner drivers. Then when I plugged in my cable modem I can't get it to connect. I attempted multiple restarts of the modem and the PC but it would not recognize the network.

Am I missing something, are there drivers that I need to install to get the connection to work?

Thanks for the help.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by TomTom I don't know if anyone is reading this thread anymore but I have a question. I got all my parts today and put the PC together and installed Vista and then my GPU drivers and the dvd burner drivers. Then when I plugged in my cable modem I can't get it to connect. I attempted multiple restarts of the modem and the PC but it would not recognize the network. Am I missing something, are there drivers that I need to install to get the connection to work? Thanks for the help.

You will need to install the LAN drivers; they should be on the disc that came with the motherboard.

[TomTom]

Oh, ok didnt notice a disk when I was tearing through all the boxes but Im sure its there. Thanks Masaki!

[Masaki 7-11]

If you can't find the disk, you can also download the drivers from the Gigabyte website on another computer and use a USB stick to transfer the files over to your new computer. Congratulations on your first build.

[glc]

You need to install the Intel chipset drivers, the onboard LAN drivers, and the onboard sound drivers.

You should also be using a router instead of connecting a cable modem directly to the computer - unless the cable modem already has router functions.

[TomTom]

I just installed all the drivers from gigabyte and now I'm posting using the new comp. The reason I had the modem hooked directly to the comp was becasue I was trying to eliminate variables. Ill go back and get the network setup later today.

You guys are awesome thanks for all your help, I know this would not have been as easy as it was without this forum. Now I have a super fast machine that I can upgrade incrementaly instead of all at once and wasting a lot of money.

[TomTom]

So, the computer has been working great until I realized that some fo the professional programs I have will not work on Vista64 (MathCAD, Pro/E, MATLAB). I went and got a copy of XP SP3 64-bit. I know this is not the right forum but its just a quick question, which I feel I should already know the answer to.

How do I remove the old OS to install the new one?

Thanks!

[glc]

Before you do that, make sure your stuff will work on XP 64, and more importantly, whether drivers are available. XP 64 driver support is generally awful.

Zero fill the hard drive.

www.dban.org

[TomTom]

Thanks glc, I got it figured out. I checked to make sure they are compatible with XP 64 and they are, just installed MathCAD.

[jdeb]

Congrats TomTom, good job