First time PC builder with new build

[Fish_Scientist]

Hello all -

I'd like to build my first PC with the following components. Any advice you can give regarding component compatibility or options that may be cheaper will be welcome. I'm not married to this case; it seemed like a good option (i.e., cooling fans are included/lots of expandability for another optical drive or hard drive).

This isn't a gaming system, just a "do-it-all" desktop, including heavy photo editing/statistical analysis.


Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116752

Case: Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147144


Processor: Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115056

Power Supply: Rosewill Stallion Series RD450-2-DB 450W ATX V2.2 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182022

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128380

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136298

Video Card: GIGABYTE GV-R435OC-512I Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Low Profile Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125251

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118030

Card Reader: Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820223103

I'll be using the same keyboard, mouse, monitor, and speakers from my older desktop.

ETA: Will this motherboard/video card support dual monitors? This is a future upgrade possibility.

Thanks for your help -

Steven

[jdeb]

Consider changing your power supply to a quality one like Antec, Corsair, or Seasonic. would be fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

Consider changing your chipset to P45 either one would be better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-359-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-377-_-Product

Consider changing hard drive to WD Black, better warranty and faster
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319

I like this video card for value and performance
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102854

In terms of upgrade, you can go up to a quad core and 16gb of ram. I would get Windows 7 64 bit as well, it will recognize all your memory.

[pam123]

Another vote for 64 bit especially if you're going to using any of the new video/photo editing software.

I have serioius doubts about that power supply, Rosewill is listed here : What Power Supply should I get? How many Watts? Who made it? Guide Inside.

and we consider it "questionable".

Also, I would confine that Western Digital "Green" drive to storage only but get something faster for your 'C' drive.

[Fish_Scientist]

Thanks for the advice, jdeb and pam123. I've made some changes to my personal list including Windows 7 - 64 bit.

Another question: I'm assuming that this mother board need a heat sink and fan -

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...13128359<br />

Would this one be an acceptable heat sink/fan combo?

Rosewill RCX-Z90-AL 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835200054

Thanks again -

Steven

[pam123]

The heatsink/fan combo comes with the cpu you've chosen since it's retail.

edit : Western Digital's Green drives are best used for storage but if the time difference, perfectly bearable, is OK by you then go for it.

[Fish_Scientist]

Originally Posted by pam123 The heatsink/fan combo comes with the cpu you've chosen since it's retail. edit : Western Digital's Green drives are best used for storage but if the time difference, perfectly bearable, is OK by you then go for it.

Gotcha. Thanks for the tip.

Steven

[amdalex]

Make sure you don't buy that rosewill PSU. It's not 80 plus either.

[Fish_Scientist]

Originally Posted by amdalex Make sure you don't buy that rosewill PSU. It's not 80 plus either.

Not to worry - that's been taken off the list and this Antec

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371004

has been put in its place.

Out of curiosity, are Rosewill products lower quality than other brands? This is the most in-depth I've ever considered computer components and as such I'm not familiar with most brands.

Steven

[glc]

Rosewill is Newegg's house brand - some of them are high quality, some of them are junk, and some it just doesn't matter. Their power supplies are not junk per se, but they use a wide variety of OEM's so you don't really know what you are getting. It's safer going with a major brand with a solid quality record. The power supply is a critical component - a card reader isn't. It's like buying Dynex or Insignia from Best Buy.

[Fish_Scientist]

Thanks. All of this can be chalked up under the "things I've never even considered before."

Steven

[Fish_Scientist]

One more question:

Both the CD/DVD drive and the HDD are listed as OEM on the Newegg website as OEM:

Optical: Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118030

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319

Will I need to buy connection cables for these two items or would the motherboard come with them?

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359

Thanks -

Steven

[glc]

It appears that the motherboard comes with at least 2 SATA data cables.

[The Other Steve]

Originally Posted by glc It appears that the motherboard comes with at least 2 SATA data cables.

Agree. From the product page on Newegg's site, there are pictures of the board, including one of (presumably) "What's in the box". The yellow cables with black connectors look suspiciously like SATA data cables, and it looks there might even be a total of four cables, two right-angle-terminating SATA and two flat SATA. Nice.

For a little bit less money (~$20), ASUS has a P45 775 DDR2 board with very similar specs: the P5Q SE PLUS. I used that MB myself.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131347

Do remember to get the 64-bit OS. I think you might also consider Win 7 Pro if you have Windows applications (your stat package?) that potentially might not run (well, or at all) in Win 7. Win 7 Pro has an XP mode. As an example, I have older versions of STATA and MATHCAD, and the programs run just fine in XP. If I discovered they didn't work in Win 7 Premium, STATA alone would be SO expensive for me to update that I decided to get the insurance of an XP mode with Win 7 Professional.

[Fish_Scientist]

Originally Posted by The Other Steve Agree. From the product page on Newegg's site, there are pictures of the board, including one of (presumably) "What's in the box". The yellow cables with black connectors look suspiciously like SATA data cables, and it looks there might even be a total of four cables, two right-angle-terminating SATA and two flat SATA. Nice.

Thanks for that information. I'm leery of the images on the Newegg website. I had a question regarding purchasing a heat sink and fan for the motherboard and was informed that those items likely come with the motherboard yet they don't appear in the motherboard "what's in the box" image.

Regarding Windows Pro, I think I may go that route as well. Several other folks have mentioned the same. Further, I've heard that 7 Pro may allow me to run Ubuntu in a virtualization window without doing a dual boot.

Steven

[glc]

I had a question regarding purchasing a heat sink and fan for the motherboard and was informed that those items likely come with the motherboard yet they don't appear in the motherboard "what's in the box" image.

That's because they do NOT come with the motherboard. Whoever told you that was misinformed. A heatsink/fan comes with a retail boxed PROCESSOR.

[David M]

Also, the factory CPU heat sink fan will work fine plus your CPU will remain under warranty. Overclocking usually requires an aftermarket fan but you really don't have any need to overclock. It potentially makes your computer less reliable, shortens its life and makes it potentially less stable.

Looks like you have yourself a real nice computer design.

BTW, I work with a couple icthyologists.

[Fish_Scientist]

Originally Posted by glc That's because they do NOT come with the motherboard. Whoever told you that was misinformed. A heatsink/fan comes with a retail boxed PROCESSOR.

D'oh! I misunderstood them. They actually said the heatsink/fan comes with the CPU. Thanks for the clarification.

Steven

[The Other Steve]

Originally Posted by Fish_Scientist Regarding Windows Pro, I think I may go that route as well. Several other folks have mentioned the same. Further, I've heard that 7 Pro may allow me to run Ubuntu in a virtualization window without doing a dual boot.

I was not aware of that as a requirement for a virtual installation.

I did look at that set-up for running Win7 + Ubuntu, and I do think it's a very appealing, clever idea. I am not an expert, but based on the varying opinions I read, what I concluded was that a dual-boot with a shared NTFS "Shared Data" partition would have better performance, and not be significantly more trouble.

[jdeb]

your gonna love that board

[Fish_Scientist]

Thanks for your help, everyone. Parts have been ordered and should arrive on Thursday. I'll ask questions if necessary during the build process.

Thanks -

Steven

[Fish_Scientist]

Just got my geek on! After one stumble (missed a power connection), the new computer is operating successfully. Windows 7 is installed and I'm typing this on the new machine.

Thanks everyone for your help. Building this machine was really quite simple, except for the teeny-tiny screws. If I could have done anything differently, it would have been going with a higher-quality case. The Rosewill, while perfectly acceptable, had poor hole-to-hole mating tolerances for several necessary installations. Oh well; next time I'll know.

Thanks again -

Steven

[triquee]

Congrats!

[Fish_Scientist]

Everything is working just fine and I've used my recently-built computer for its intended purposes. However, I have a few more questions:

The Rosewill case I bought was inexpensive, which is why I bought it. The case came with multiple cooling fans installed and I've begun to realize that with all of them running, they're pretty loud. Can I disconnect one of them to reduce noise? Will that hurt any of the components?

Again, thanks for your help -

Steven

[glc]

You can disconnect all of them if you want. All you need to do is monitor the CPU, system (motherboard), and video card temperatures to make sure nothing overheats. The power supply fan will still provide some nominal airflow.

The most effective cooling will have slightly more exhaust than intake. I'd disconnect all intake fans and leave one exhaust fan running and see what you get.