Questions on first build

[PakAndy]

Hi, Im new to this forum and this is my first post, so first of all a big hello to everybody!

I have decided to take the plunge and build my own PC for the first time and I have some questions related to the configuration I am looking at and some others I hope you can help me with. I have been fiddling around with computers for a long time, but basically a newb when it comes to building.

The PC will be used for besides the usual office utilities, internet etc. for video/photo editing and gaming (I don’t intend to overclock). I would like the build to last me a few years and be upgradeable. I have a budget of about 1100 euros (about $1500-1600).

Case: Antec Three Hundred
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58, as possible alternatives also looking at the ASUS PT6 SE or ASUS P6T Deluxe.
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
RAM: OCZ Obsidian Triple Channel 3 x 2 Go DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 (OCZ3OB1600LV6GK)
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 275, either the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 275 - 896 Mo DDR3 - PCI-Express 2.0 (ZT-275E3KB-FSP) or the ASUS GeForce ENGTX275 - 896 Mo DDR3 - PCI-Express 2.0 (90-C1CMW0-M0UAY00Z)
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS - 1 TB - 7200 RPM - 32 Mo - SATA-300 or the SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.12 - 1 To - 7200rpm - 32 Mo - SATA (ST31000528AS)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223Q 22X DVD R/W burner with LightScribe, as a possible alternative the LG GH22NP20

Also looking at installing a WiFi adapter, the D-LINK Xtreme N PCI Express Desktop Adapter DWA-556

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit version

My questions related to the configuration are the following:

1. Are the different components compatible with one another? Any suggested improvements or views on the alternatives I am also looking at?
2. CPU: there are apparently different versions, Nehalem and Bloomfield(?) and another coming along the Lynnfield, but I think that one uses another socket. What should I be looking for?
3. CPU fan: I am looking at getting the boxed version of the processor, which I believe comes with a fan/cooler. Is this ok or should I be looking for another fan/cooler?
4. Do I need a floppy disk drive? Have heard that some hardware still comes with the drivers on floppy disk, or am I behind my time?
5. Case: not sure I have made the right choice so would be very grateful for any advice (have also been looking at cases from Cooler Master (e.g. the HAF 922 or Centurion 590) and Aerocool). Btw if I have a dedicated sound card can I use the front panel headphone plugs?

Another issue I have been struggling with is where to buy the components. I live in Switzerland so I can’t order from, for example, Newegg or TigerDirect since they only deliver in the USA. I have also tried with Amazon UK and Amazon France and for a number of components they will not deliver abroad. Of the Swiss based sites I have found, the only one that seems to stock most components is the Swiss site of Pixmania.com. My questions are:

6. Does anyone have any experience with Pixmania, are they reliable?
7. Any alternative sources anyone could suggest?

Sorry for all the questions. Many thanks in advance for any answers and advice that can be offered!

[jdeb]

case is good
power supply is good
the only x58 board I would buy is the Asus PT6 V2 and the integrated sound is great
I prefer corsair memory but it is not on the qvl...
Stick with ATI Card 4890
hard drive wd black, 5 year waranty and faster than the green (32mb cache)
lite-on or lg sata dvd drive/burner

cpu is fine but the pt6 v2 board is the best and most stable

boxed fan keeps your warranty and your not overclocking anyway, you can still moderately overclock though with the stock cooler

floppy's are done unless you have some saved stuff on some

that case is great

I can't help you with the Swiss suppliers

here is th qvl, corsair is not on it, I used cucial now that I looked at it. click on the china download (its in english)

[glc]

He means a P6T Deluxe V2.

Make SURE that ram is on the QVL for the board, the X58 chipset is very fussy.

Most soundcards do not have headers for front panel audio.

We have a member from Switzerland who builds his own computers, I'll give him a heads up to check this thread and advise you on vendors.

[PakAndy]

Many thanks for the feedback and advice very much appreciated.

Sorry but I don't know what is meant by QVL, I imagine it has something to do with compatibility between mobo and RAM. I have tried to use the crucial.com web-site to check compatibility but don't how to read the results and the RAM they indicate as compatible is either Crucial or Ballistix, don't see any other brands. If you could please help me out some more on this and if you could please suggest exactly what RAM I should get.

I am happy to go with the ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 (almost same price as the Gigabyte I was looking at), the Caviar Black HD and ATI card, I think I should be able to find a supplier in Switzerland. As I mentioned finding suppliers that you can rely on and stock items is what is holding back my choice of components.

Many thanks again and hope to hear from you on the QVL

[glc]

The QVL is published by Asus, and is available on their pages for each specific motherboard. It stands for Qualified Vendor List. It's all ram that they have tested and passes their compatibility criteria. There is additional ram that will work, but being that the chipset has proven to be quite fussy, it's advisable to use only tested compatible ram.

I'm still trying to get ahold of our Swiss member.

[Hpro]

Hello,
I will write in english so all of us will understand.

I wouldn't buy a Gigabyte Board but
ASUS P6T instead of it.. Bestprice in Swiss - www.stegcomputer.ch is 359.00 CHF
CPU Intel i7 920, 4.8GT/s, 8MB Cache, 45nm 349.90 CHF
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 189.90 CHF

Harddrive - I also would suggest WD but Server Sata 300 24h about 150.00 CHF
CD - DVD I would recommend Plextor any SATA not more than 150.00 CHF
RAM Kingston 4GB/Stick * 6 DDR3 1800MHZ 400.00 CHF

I think we are already above your limit.

This Configuration I use here in Swiss.. only with the difference that I use 8 HD's in my BOX.
Win 7 Utlimate.. If you like to play Win 7 Home, then you don't need this kind of Hardware..
Ultimate OEM edition here in Swiss cost max 250.00 CHF

Hope could be of some help

Here the Dealers in Swiss which you can trust . I buy regularly from them and all of them write AFTER SALES SERVICE and WARRANTY in Big letters. Best of them is DISTRELEC by far.

www.arp.ch
www.brack.ch
www.digitec.ch
www.distrelec.ch
www.heinigerag.ch
www.pchai.ch
www.stegcomputer.ch

Regards Chris.

[PakAndy]

Thanks again to everyone for all the very helpful suggestions!!

glc, can I ask what you mean by that the X58 chipset is fussy, what kind of problems could I expect? Should instead be looking for the i7 860 and the Asus P7P55D motherboards (anyone specific in mind?) ? Im reaaly looking for something I can rely on and that is also a bit "future proof"

Hpro, thank you so much for the vendors, have looked at brack.ch and digitec.ch, prices seem reasonable (but not compared to in the US...) and a bit cheaper than distrelec.ch and stegcomputer.ch. I had been previously looking at these and some other sites:

http://www.pc-ostschweiz.ch/
http://www.internet.ch/
http://www.pixmania.com/ch/fr/home.html

Btw can anyone please enlighten me on what CrossfireX is, is the ATI version of SLI?

Hope I can come back to some questions on memory

[glc]

Yes, Crossfire is ATI's version of SLI.

The X58 chipset supports both SLI and Crossfire, with both slots at x16. The P55 chipset natively supports only Crossfire, but the higher end boards add SLI support. However, with 2 cards, the slots only run at x8. The X58 supports triple channel ram, the P55 supports dual channel.

Now, here's my feelings. Intel's "X" series chipsets are geared toward the enthusiasts and overclockers. Getting a stable configuration can be difficult if you run them at anything but stock. Running them stock, they really don't perform noticeably better than the "P" boards, and even then they can be a bit quirky. I have info from a professional system builder that the Asus P6T Deluxe V2 is the most stable X58 board out there. The P55 really isn't for enthusiasts and overclockers due to the PCI-E slot speed limitation with multiple video cards, and the 1156 socket has a physical/electrical issue when you try to do more than casual overclocking. This issue has been identified and corrected, but it's going to take a while for all the manufacturers with the affected sockets to ramp the improved design into their production.

Bottom line - a P7P55D build is easier for a novice. It will perform very well without messing with anything. Ultimately, the X58 can be tweaked to perform better. Either way, choosing ram from the QVL is almost essential. DDR3-1333 is the best choice for systems that will be running at stock speeds, if you plan on overclocking, faster ram would be recommended. If you plan on multiple video cards in SLI or Crossfire, the X58 would be the best choice. We can't determine yet which will have more future upgradeability, but it *appears* that the future i9 may only be in socket 1366 form. Right now, the i7-920 and i7-860 have very similar performance.

There are the pros and cons - I personally would prefer to build with a P55, but I do not overclock or run multiple video cards. The relative cost of the motherboards plays a factor here too, I think P55 has a better cost/performance ratio at this present time.

[PakAndy]

This is the configuration I am thinking of finally going with, the only thing I can’t really decide on is the graphics card. It’s a more expensive than initially thought but I have some extra cash to spend and my current PC is 7 years old so thought of “treating” myself.

Motherboard: ASUS P6T Deluxe. V2
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
RAM: Corsair TR3X6G1600C8, 3x2GB, DDR3-1600, CL8@1.65V (on the QVL from what I can see)
GPU: ??? see below
HDD 1: Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB WD1500HLFS, SATA-300, 10000rpm, 4.2ms,16MB
HDD 2:Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB WD1001FALS, SATA-300, 7200rpm,8.9ms, 32MB
Optical Drive: LG GH22LS
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit version

For the graphics card I was first set on the 4850x2 or 4890, but they are not DirectX 11 compatible (does this matter only for games and would this matter in the next 3-4 years?). Started looking at the 5xxx series. The 5870 looks like a very good card but expensive (could afford it though) and is quite big so might not fit in case. The 5850 and even 5770 also look like good cards and a bit cheaper. Would appreciate any advice.

I wanted to go down the AMD route, with the Phenom II X4 965 BE and the ASUS MA79XTD EVO, but could basically not find RAM that is on the QVL and available from the vendors that deliver to where I live (Switzerland). I could buy from Crucial, but if something wrong hassle for returning it. What problems can I get if if I don’t get RAM that is on the QVL?

Any advice and suggestions on video card and rest of build more than welcome, especially whether all components are compatible. Many thanks in advance.

Btw, with 2 HDD the master/slave thing is over I think, just plug them into SATA1, SATA2 (SATA0 for optical drive) and system recognizes them?

[glc]

If you want to go with AMD, exact QVL ram is not really that critical - if the ram is on Crucial's compatibility list it will be fine.

I personally think a Velociraptor is a waste of money, it's not really much faster than a Caviar Black.

DX11 only matters for games, and I have no idea when it's going to be essential. I don't think you will have a fit problem with ANY card in that case.