i am new, Need Help on building a pc

[musoumaster]

Hello,

This is my first build and I really need your help!!! i want to use it for school work and still be able to use it for gaming
I am new to this, so any help is appreciated.

budget is around $1000

I was thinking of this:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66Ghz

mobo: Asus P5Q-E Green Motherboard - Intel P45, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, S/PDIF, Dual Gigabit LAN, Firewire, USB 2.0, eSATA, RAID

video card: GeForce 9800 GTX+

harddrive: Size: 300 - 500GB (not sure which type) any suggestion?

Powersupply: Any suggestion?

case: Any suggestion?

CD drive: suggestion?

OS: Window XP Home/Professional 64bit or VISTA (depending on budget or whichever one is more suitable)

I hope I am not missing anything!

All help appreciated.

[glc]

Western Digital Black hard drive.
Corsair 750TX power supply.
Case is personal preference, I like the Coolermaster RC690.
Lite-On SATA DVD burner.

Don't forget ram.

[shadowpr]

Another case to look at is the antec 300.

For ram, look at corsair 2x2gb ddr2-800.

If you want 64bit, I would get vista home premium instead of xp. If you want 32 bit, then it's a personal preference decision. I like vista myself.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by glc Western Digital Black hard drive. Corsair 750TX power supply. Case is personal preference, I like the Coolermaster RC690. Lite-On SATA DVD burner. Don't forget ram.

you can't go wrong there

[musoumaster]

Originally Posted by jdeb you can't go wrong there

Yes I was thinking ddr2 2 x 2gb, what Shadorpr said.
Also, does the CPU speed depend on the motherboard speed? Actually, right now I am not sure whether I should get q9400 or q8200.

[glc]

That motherboard essentially supports any 6, 7, 8, or 9 series processor. The CPU has its own speed rating.

If you can afford it, the Q9550 would be the best bet - it's got twice the cache of the 9400.

[Masaki 7-11]

Looks like a pretty good list, other than the recommendations above, I would take a look at getting a GTS250 instead of the 9800GTX+, in terms of performance, it's identical, however it usually costs less, is more efficient and the card is smaller; something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150357

In terms of case, if you want something that will run really quiet, something like this is good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146035
A good case if you want lot's of room, really good airflow and a clear side panel is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146047

[musoumaster]

Thank you for everyone's help. Much appreciated.

[musoumaster]

I have kinda changed my build a bit:

Samsung SH-S222A/BEBS 22X DVD+-RW IDE DVD Writer Black OEM

EVGA Nforce 750I SLI Ftw LGA775 ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 Quad Core Processor LGA775 2.33GHZ Yorkfield 1333FSB 4MB Retail Box

OCZ Reaper Hpc Edition PC2-8500 DDR2 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 Dual Channel EPP Memory Kit

Coolermaster CM 690 Mid Tower Black ATX Case 5X5.25 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound Firewire & eSATA

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200RPM 32MB

XFX GeForce GTS 250 738MHZ 512MB 2.2GHZ

Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan

One question: will the motherboard support SATTII harddrive? even though it said in the spec that it only supports ATA/133?

[tomtoon]

Taken from the newegg website:

PATA 1 x ATA100 2 Dev. Max
SATA 3Gb/s 8
SATA RAID 0/1/5/10

It would be probably be better to get a sata dvd drive like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136152

[not important]

Definitely go with an SATA DVDRW.

[glc]

Unless you have firm plans to use SLI, I would HIGHLY recommend you stay with the Intel chipset motherboard. You also do NOT need DDR2-1066 ram unless you are planning on doing some serious overclocking. Samsung optical drives do not have a good reliability record.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by glc Unless you have firm plans to use SLI, I would HIGHLY recommend you stay with the Intel chipset motherboard. You also do NOT need DDR2-1066 ram unless you are planning on doing some serious overclocking. Samsung optical drives do not have a good reliability record.

I agree here 100% Intel Chipsets work best with Intel Processors, we have had a lot of problems using anything but Intel specially with the Quad Cores.
The Q8200 is a poor performer for a quad, the E8500 out performs it all day long, I recommend you go with the 9550 if you must have a Quad. As a new system builder, I urge you to stay away from anything other than Asus motherboards. Evga/ECS/XFX are extremely problematic and their support leaves little to be desired.

[musoumaster]

Originally Posted by glc Unless you have firm plans to use SLI, I would HIGHLY recommend you stay with the Intel chipset motherboard. You also do NOT need DDR2-1066 ram unless you are planning on doing some serious overclocking. Samsung optical drives do not have a good reliability record.

well, I am thinking about going with SLI. But what are the advantage and disadvange of going SLI?

[not important]

SLI, a lot of added expense for a small, if any, gain in performance.
Go with LG or Lite-On for the DVDRW.
I also read and hear of a lot of problems with EVGA MOBOS.

[Mack99]

SLI provides a minimal performance boost in games optimized for SLI (usually brags about it on the box with a big SLI logo). I just built a computer with 2x9800GTX+ to experiment with SLI, and so far, it's more of a headache than it's worth. In games like Crysis, it's nice to see some of the smoother framerates, but with 4xAA or more turned on, the cards themselves are limited by the GPUs memory (something like 600-700mb used on typical resolutions w/4xAA versus ~350mb w/o AA, the GPU only has 512mb). On top of that, you should have a smaller power draw using a single, high-end card than utilizing 2 or 3 way SLI, meaning you'll have fewer crashes due to your PSU giving up on you (and it will make troubleshooting a TON easier). I will probably end up just shelling out for a GTX280 to replace the tandem 9800s (or use in a new i7 build I'm planning when the mobos are better designed).

As for EVGA support being bad for a first timer, I've always used EVGA parts and haven't had much of a problem. For the most part, places like the PCMech and EVGA forums have great, knowledgeable communities that can solve almost any problem you'd come across. If you want a smooth, no problem first time build though (and learn very little about problem solving, lol) stick with intel parts.

[glc]

EVGA video cards are excellent, their motherboards suck.

[Khalil]

You are right, I rarely have an issue with Evga video cards but they should stay away from making motherboards, I believe all evga motherboards are ECS.