First time builder build

[Mr. B Natural]

Hey everyone, first time building a computer. I'm a little scared I'm gonna mess this up but excited to give it a try. My old Dell computer's hd of 5 years old just busted up, but I want to reuse as much of this thing as I can. I plan on reusing the dvd-rw drive, sound card and even the case if that is advised (is it?)

So, I want to spend less than 800. The more bang for my buck the better. My computer will be 90% used for making music through vsts and midi. So, I need lots of ram and lots of processing power. I will play games with it eventually, so I chose a mobo that comes with a passable video chip but I can upgrade when future games come out that I desire.

I really don't plan on doing anything crazy with this thing. Barebones is fine with me. I just don't want this computer to limit me at all in terms of making music. Stuff like OC-ing may or may not happen depending on how hard i want to dig into this stuff.

So I headed to newegg and put this together. Let me know what you guys think.



AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - $160

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model -$250

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - $99


Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - $60

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $75


Cooler Master Intel Core i5 compatible Hyper TX3 Socket 775/1156/AMD 130W 92mm "heatpipe direct contact" CPU Cooler RR-910-HTX3-G1 - Retail $20

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders $105


Total $770

Thanks for your time.

[PAINx5]

i would get a video card aswell. your cpu is taking enough load when its converting music.

[Mr. B Natural]

I definitely intend on picking a video card up when I get the money and I am impressed by what I can get for 75 - 100 bucks. Right now, at least for what I've seen you can get less for that price range than you could 6 months ago. I really didn't want to have to make/get a new computer quite yet, but my hand was kinda forced. I was kinda hoping to get a new comp when video cards price take another big dive.


The mobo I picked has a radeon 4200 gpu. It's also pretty cheap and got decent ratings. But if you think i really need a video card then maybe i can find a similar mobo that is cheaper because it doesn't come with a gpu at all. I didn't have any luck with that, though. I'm a little scared going any lower in price cause then we're talking "fishy unreliable cheap" it seems.

Simply looking at where i'm spending my money, it seems to me like RAM is kinda money-heavy. I was thinking maybe going with 6 gigs ram, but for some reason all the well recieved 6 gig sdram ddr3 packages were about the price of the 8 gig package i picked for myself.

Honestly, as a first time builder, I have to say that the mobo is the most overwhelming part. There's a lot of data in the specs/reviews that i simply don't understand and i'm quite concerned about compatibility and things of that nature. I think I did all that right with this set up.

[flanzig1]

Would double check the Dell case, the older ones had the motherboard mounted on the opposite side of the case and the front case connections are not standard as compared to aftermarket cases.

[glc]

Don't even think about reusing the Dell case. Get this and remove that 430 watt PSU from your list:

Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129024

That way, you will be fully ready for a decent video card later. Now, to free up the money, get only one kit of 2x2 ram for now, and you don't need Dominator. Get this:

A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model HY63I1B16K - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211364

You don't need a sound card, the onboard audio is good. You MAY need a DVD burner if the Dell drive doesn't have a standard generic front bezel. Add 4 more gigs of ram when you need it and you have the cash.

[Mr. B Natural]

Thanks everybody, appreciate the advice