First computer.

[Drosenthal]

So, I'm thinking of building myself a desktop. I would use it mostly for media (music and movies) but also for some gaming. I've been doing some research, and have come up with the following system, but I'm not really sure if it's very good. Any feedback is welcome.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115056

Video Card: EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339

RAM: Crucial 4gb (2X2gb) DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148160

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136298

Optical: Panasonic BD-Rom
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=TC3H-1166
(can't seem to find this at newegg)

Case: NZXT Tempest
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146047

PSU: Rosewill RP500-2 500W ATX12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182016


So once again, any feedback would be greatly appreciated, and I'd like to stay in this price range (650-ish before OS). Thanks in advance.

[Khalil]

welcome to pcmech. That power supply is nothing more than paper weight, check out Sea Sonic, Corsair, FSP or Antec. I would go with an Asus P5Q motherboard and an Asus or Diamond ATI 4870 video card instead.

[AMGrbaowska]

Yes, the Power supplies Khalil recommended, and definitely go ATI video Card, even a 4850 will be better than that card. Also, maybe consider a WD caviar black Hard Drive, its not necassary, but preffered for gaming.

[Drosenthal]

Thanks for your quick response. I thought that PSU wasn't very good, but I wanted to see what someone else said before I substituted it. Between the Asus and Gigabyte mobo, is it anything other than preference? Any reason you prefer Asus? An as for the video card, again, any specific reason to go the ATI route?

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Drosenthal Between the Asus and Gigabyte mobo, is it anything other than preference? Any reason you prefer Asus? An as for the video card, again, any specific reason to go the ATI route?

Asus has much better customer support than Gigabyte, if something goes wrong it is very easy to get help unlike Gigabyte.
ATI currently games better than Nvidia, even though Nvidia's top cards like the GTX285 and 295 are very powerful, dollar for dollar ATI has much better performance when gaming.

[Drosenthal]

ok, so I think i'll go with the Diamond 4870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...diamond%204870
it's only a little more money, and it sounds like it's very much worth it

as for the PSU, how's this Seasonic 500W?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151040

and the Asus P5Q Turbo mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131375


so would you call this system ok? again, thanks for all the feedback!

[Khalil]

I would call this system more than ok. It is a very good system.

[Drosenthal]

Just one last question. Does Liteon make good optical drives? I want to put blu ray in this computer, and I found this BD-Rom from Liteon, but I've never heard of them. I don't want to put together a good rig, and then find out my optical drive is a piece of crap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106325

Thanks.

[glc]

Lite-On is one of our recommended optical drive manufacturers.