first build ever

[beanz]

Alright so I'm 15 years old and this is going to be my first attempt at building a PC for gaming and school. I'm on a $800 budget and I know little to nothing about computers. Here's a list of my current wishlist:

Links
--------

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151175
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102826
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.214316
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.212739


Any suggestions for alternatives that are better would be really helpful

[indaface95]

you can get a 750 gb hard drive from westerm digital for 15 more bucks, and theres no need to buy a sound card, i found that theres not much of a difference between a sound card and the motherboards sound. but its up to you get it if you want.

[alanebro82]

I have a few suggestions:

Get a SATA DVD Burner instead of the IDE you have.

This 750 Gig WD is cheaper than the one you have.
-use promo code EMCLVNM44

Drop the sound card like indaface suggested. IF you decide you want one, buy it later. If not, you saved 81.99.

[beanz]

Oh alright thanks for the info about the sound card. Like I said I know nothing about computers and I thought a sound card was required for my music

[beanz]

Oh yeah and what's the difference between an IDE and SATA dvd player? Is a quad core better than a dual?

[Alaron]

SATA is newer technology, IDE is being phased out. No sense in buying IDE these days.

As for quad vs dual, right now, dual is a better bang for the buck, especially for games.

[LeftyAce]

Your motherboard has a built-in sound card. Unless you're a serious audio nut with great speakers, you won't notice the difference.

IDE is the old drive cable standard. SATA is replacing it. Faster, and has smaller cables (less restriction of airflow).

Quad core vs dual core depends on which quad and which dual you're talking about, as well as what you want to do with it. Most games are only starting to use more than one core, so a faster dual core is going to perform better than a slower quad core.

With the money you save on the sound card, you might consider upgrading to the 4890 video card.

EDIT: Looks like Alaron beat me to it.

[beanz]

Alright thanks guys Here's my updated wishlist:

Links
_______

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118032
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102848
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.214316
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.212739


Is everything looking good? I want to make sure everything is fine before I purchase it.

[Khalil]

Excellent choices other than the Gigabyte motherboard if there is a combo with an Asus go for that instead. Gigabyte are really good but if they fail you will have a nightmare getting support. Sapphire cards rarely fail but if they do there is no direct RMA for consumers, Newegg will only exchange the card the first 30 days after that you are on your own so I urge you to consider either an Asus or Diamond Video card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103075 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121311

[beanz]

Oh yeah I was going to go with an asus mobo at first but when I read the reviews about it having problems with the g.skill ram i decided to go with gigabyte instead. Hmm alright I think I will purchase the asus video card. It runs just as good if not better than the saphire right?

[Khalil]

Yes it will run just as good but not better, advantage with Asus is the support in case you need it.

[beanz]

Alright thanks Could you help point out any asus mobos for my build that is within my budget? I'm not sure which mobo is better that which.

[Khalil]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131381 + http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103678

[beanz]

Thanks for the help Khalil

Well I just realized I could up my budget to 1000 and so I upgraded the processor and mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.208956
Intel E8600 3.33ghz duo core and Asus ramapge formula LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel mobo

I also got a fan to keep the processor cool because I'm going to overclock it to around 4.2ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

Is this good? Sorry for changing my list so many times

[Khalil]

No over clocking is not good at all neither is using an after market CPU cooler because it will void your warranty. You will never use up that E8600 at stock, why over clock it and risk throwing away so much money?

[beanz]

Really? Because I did a little research on google and I read that it's likely that they wouldn't find out if I overclocked or not and that they would just replace it I didn't tell them.

[Khalil]

Both AMD and Intel have the technology to know if the CPU failed due to over clocking, its your money though so...

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Khalil No over clocking is not good at all neither is using an after market CPU cooler because it will void your warranty. You will never use up that E8600 at stock, why over clock it and risk throwing away so much money?

Intel may void warranty if using an aftermarket cooler, however if you don't increase the voltage it is very difficult if not impossible to determine if a processor has been overclocked or not. Aftermarket coolers for the most part are good in increasing the life of processors by reducing the operational heat. AMD for most processors, especially the Black Edition processors don't void your warranty for the processor if you have overclocked it or used an aftermarket cooler. Most retailers also will not void your warranty if you use an aftermarket cooler.

[Khalil]

Masaki, I am not sure why you would make such a statement. I deal directly with Intel and AMD and your statement is completely wrong. It is one thing to state your opinion but don't make it out as if it is a fact. Black Edition or not, if you OC a CPU and the manufacturer finds out it is what caused the failure, guess what, you SOL, your warranty is zip.
I have talked to both Intel and AMD reps and engineers and they all assured me that they have the tech to know if a CPU was OCd or not regardless of voltage.
I have sent back Intel and AMD CPUs that had failed due to over clocking and everytime Intel and AMD caught it.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Khalil Masaki, I am not sure why you would make such a statement. I deal directly with Intel and AMD and your statement is completely wrong. It is one thing to state your opinion but don't make it out as if it is a fact. Black Edition or not, if you OC a CPU and the manufacturer finds out it is what caused the failure, guess what, you SOL, your warranty is zip. I have talked to both Intel and AMD reps and engineers and they all assured me that they have the tech to know if a CPU was OCd or not regardless of voltage. I have sent back Intel and AMD CPUs that had failed due to over clocking and everytime Intel and AMD caught it.

If the processor no longer works due to overclocking, it is not covered by the warranty. However with AMD processors (especially Black Edition), your warranty still holds even if your processor is overclocked but the problem with it is not related to overclocking. There is a very large community of people who overclock and very few of them have had problems, if you know what you are doing and you are not being reckless, the risk to overclocking is very small.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Masaki 7-11 if you know what you are doing and you are not being reckless, the risk to overclocking is very small.

That is exactly the problem, the OP is 15 years old. Many of the people who post for help on this forum are first time builders, it is extremely irresponsible to tell them it is ok to Over Clock.

Over clocking voids warranties, that is final, you want to keep debating it, it won't be with me.

[George87]

Originally Posted by Khalil That is exactly the problem, the OP is 15 years old. Many of the people who post for help on this forum are first time builders, it is extremely irresponsible to tell them it is ok to Over Clock. Over clocking voids warranties, that is final, you want to keep debating it, it won't be with me.

Correct me if Im wrong, but nowadays it really isn't worth overclocking. Processors has substantially increased stock speed (such as his E8600 @ 3.3 GHZ). The increase in performance isn't substantial enough to justify it. The risk is just too high for the reward. A couple years ago the reward was higher.

Also, Im not sure if he would be able to safely overclock to 4.2 without a watercooling system.

[Khalil]

You are correct. Safely and over clocking should not go in the same sentence. I have seen guys fry a CPU OCing by .5 mghz, as you said current CPUs such as the E8xxx and Q9xxx don't need to be over clocked to get awesome performance. In my opinion people who say they over clock expensive processors and video cards either don't really own the hardware they claim they have or they are doing for bragging rights.

[beanz]

Alright thanks for the warning. I'll just keep it at the stock speed, and thanks for the help

[gordintoronto]

Originally Posted by beanz Oh yeah I was going to go with an asus mobo at first but when I read the reviews about it having problems with the g.skill ram i decided to go with gigabyte instead. Hmm alright I think I will purchase the asus video card. It runs just as good if not better than the saphire right?

None of your wish lists included memory.

I'm in the midst of building a Phenom II X2 system. I think it will be better, cheaper and faster than what you are proposing. Time will tell. I've pretty much stuck to Newegg's top-rated components. Stick to your guns on the 640 GB hard drive, all the bigger ones have awful failure rates.

BTW, I went with an IDE DVD burner too! The connector and cable are just sitting there, and the performance is perfect for burning DVDs. And this way I have all six SATA ports available for hard drives, if I suddenly go nuts.

- Cooler Master Centurion 534 case (and it is fabulous!)
- Antec EA500 power supply
- Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P motherboard
- AMD Phenom II X2 550 processor
- 4 GB of G.Skill 1333 MHz DDR3 memory
- WD6401AALS 640 GB SATA hard drive
- LG 22X IDE DVD writer

I don't play games, so I went with a low-end PCI Express 2.0 video card. Your budget would let you go with a top-end video card added to this configuration. If you do, you might want a slightly bigger power supply.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by gordintoronto None of your wish lists included memory. I'm in the midst of building a Phenom II X2 system. I think it will be better, cheaper and faster than what you are proposing. Time will tell. I've pretty much stuck to Newegg's top-rated components. Stick to your guns on the 640 GB hard drive, all the bigger ones have awful failure rates. BTW, I went with an IDE DVD burner too! The connector and cable are just sitting there, and the performance is perfect for burning DVDs. And this way I have all six SATA ports available for hard drives, if I suddenly go nuts. - Cooler Master Centurion 534 case (and it is fabulous!) - Antec EA500 power supply - Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P motherboard - AMD Phenom II X2 550 processor - 4 GB of G.Skill 1333 MHz DDR3 memory - WD6401AALS 640 GB SATA hard drive - LG 22X IDE DVD writer I don't play games, so I went with a low-end PCI Express 2.0 video card. Your budget would let you go with a top-end video card added to this configuration. If you do, you might want a slightly bigger power supply.

[glc]

Don't waste your money on a Rampage - get a standard P45 board such as a P5Q, and the slight extra speed of a E8600 is not worth the considerable extra cost over a E8500.