Proposed first PC Build, will it work?

[DeezySwift]

Hi all,
I'm looking to build my first gaming pc and I'm kind of hesitant about what parts will work with what. I used to be really big on building pc's and stuff like that but I have been out of it for so long that everything has changed (go figure, haha). Basically i tried setting up what I thought would work on Newegg and I'm looking for any opinions/suggestions and overall someone to tell me that what i picked out will indeed work and what else I may need.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129043

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131392

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103692

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136218

VC:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339

Also, any suggestion on monitors?

Thanks so much,
BC

[Doom]

Some thoughts and questions:

1) Do you need a case that big? The Antec 900 or a Cooler Master CM690 are cheaper but still give you lots of space for everything you need.
2) Since your mobo doesn't support SLI, the power supply is probably overkill. For a single graphics card, you can move down to a 750 or perhaps even a 650W. I've used several Corsair PSU's now at multiple wattage and all have been great.
3) Graphics card is good, but for gaming I'd recommend moving up to a higher level. Assuming you can dial the price down on the case and PSU (though still get quality stuff w/ Antec or Corsair) and put that into a better performing graphics card. If you like nVidia, a GTX260 might be a good way to go, and there's always the ATI equivalents.
4) I've had Samsung monitors ever since building my own rigs. They can be a little more expensive than competitors, but for me it's been worth it.

[glc]

Only 2 quibbles - replace that Blue hard drive with a Black, and get a current technology video card. The 9800 GTX+ is essentially obsolete. I'd recommend a Radeon 5770 as being a lot of bang for the buck.

Asus monitors are an excellent choice.

[DeezySwift]

The case's size was mainly due to the fact that I've heard that a full case was pretty much necessary for the video card, so I was playing it safe. But if that's out of the equation I'm sure I could go for a mid case or something like that. I didn't even notice that the MB wasn't SLI compatible. I may want that in the future. But other than that you think it looks good? Thanks for the help!

And I kind of thought that video card was out of date, haha. Thanks for the recommendations!

[ryuk999]

Case seems fine to me if that's what floats your boat.

I would try this Asus 890GX for the USB3.0 and Sata III

I suppose if you can easily afford it you could stick with the Phenom II 965, if you would like to save money you could probably go with a Athlon II X3 440

Easily drop the power supply to a Corsair 650W. You were way overkill on the 850 Watt

Lovin' the ram :]

Try this lighting fast HDD (WD Caviar black 640GB SATA III)

The 9800GTX+ is a 2 generation old card and is most certainly what you don't want on a gaming built these days! The graphics card is the most important piece . I'd suggest a Diamond 5830 if you can afford it.

[DeezySwift]

Okay, so I switched a few things up.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005
VC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150447
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320

And to Ryuk999, I have to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the USB 3.0 and Sata III mean in terms with my system, haha. What would it mean for me to have that other MB instead of what I currently list?

[orbrit]

Great case selection. You'll have no problems with fit.
I put a 5870 in a 900 for a client and it worked great.

Good power supply and HDD too.

If it's a dedicated gaming PC, I'd actually spend less on the CPU and Motherboard and put the savings into as much video card as you can get.

That mobo/CPU ryuk99 suggested is a great choice for gaming.

You will see better gaming performance with that combo and an HD 5850 than you would with your original choices of Motherboard and CPU and the HD5770.

Another option at this point would be to start with a single HD5770 and then add a second in Crossfire if you feel you need it. That motherboard will handle both cards at x8, or a single at x16.

Most will tell you to stick with one higher end card, over 2 in Crossfire.

I went the Crossfire route with 2 HD 5770s and I'm seeing near HD5870 performance in COD MW2 which is the only game I play. I paid a little under $320 for those two 5770s vs $450 + for the 5870.

here is a good chart showing the graphics card hierarchy of ATI vs NVIDIA.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...80,2621-6.html

[DeezySwift]

I think I'll be switching that mobo for the one I originally had then, however the 5850 is a bit out of my price range right now, though it's a beautiful card, haha. And thanks for the link!

[DeezySwift]

One last question: I'm assuming I need SATA interface CD/ROM and/or DVD/ROM drives for this, correct?

[orbrit]

That motherboard has one PATA port, but you may as well get SATA, if for no other reason than to not have that huge ribbon cable messing up your nice view into your case!

[orbrit]

One more thing - there are reports of the G.Skill memory having stability issues (cold boot BSOD) so we're advising using Corsair or Crucial memory.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145260

[Doom]

Good case and card choices. Like others have noted, the Antec 900 will fit most any card. I've got a GTX470 in mine right now and it fits just fine. Also, don't worry about SLI or Crossfire. I had an SLI setup for a while and it wasn't that big of a deal. When I build gaming rigs now, I go with the best single card I can afford instead of the SLI setup. It's a bit more stable, has less cooling issues, and generally works just as well for intense games.

Cheers

[orbrit]

Price alert.
the Corsair 650 TX is on sale until 6/2/10 for an additional $10 savings.

price is now $59.99 after $20 mail in rebate.

use promo code EMCYSNV26

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail...dex-_-E0-_-PSU

Also the Antec Nine Hundred Two case is on sale for $96.96 with code EMCYSNV23

The ASUS HD 5770 is on sale too at $149.99 after MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121363

[DeezySwift]

Thanks all for the feedback, I really appreciate it! And the sale notifications there too orbit! And what's the views on the 902? It looks like a really nice case and I'm reading good reviews, anyone have experience with it?

[orbrit]

No experience, but it seems to be better than the Nine Hundred.

* Internal parts are painted black, whereas on the original Nine Hundred they are not, carrying the traditional gray zinc-coated steel looks.
* The top panel was remodeled (became identical to Twelve Hundred’s).
* The original Nine Hundred had a FireWire port, not present on Nine Hundred Two. The new model, however, has one eSATA port, not present on the previous version.
* Washable dust filter for the optional 120-mm side fan on the new version.
* One extra expansion slot for daughter boards on Nine Hundred Two, for a total of eight slots. The original Nine Hundred carries the standard number of expansion slots: seven.
* The speed controllers for the rear and top fans were moved to the rear panel of the case, which is great, as you don’t need to open the case to adjust the speed of the fans.
* The speed controllers for the front fans were moved to the front panel of the case, which is great for the same reason as above.
* Holes for water cooling hoses on the rear panel.

[DeezySwift]

Long time since last post, still haven't got this rig set up, but I was looking back into it and was wondering: my mobo says it has (for memory) DDR3 2000, if I were to put DDR3 1600 in it, would those differences in speed mess anything up or is it okay to put DDR3 1600 into the DDR3 2000?

[glc]

Have you bought all the components?

Your motherboard has been deactivated at Newegg so I can't see what it is. For that processor, all you need is 1333 speed ram.

[DeezySwift]

Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

That's the motherboard that I will be getting, I haven't gotten any parts yet at all (well, only the PSU). I just noticed that I had DDR2 memory on there before and now I just put on Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2B2000C9 for my memory, since it's DDR3 2000. I just was confused if the DDR3 1600 made a difference if it was put into my motherboard.

[glc]

Aha!

I think it would be very wise to completely spec it out again.

Case: The 900 is a great case.

PSU - you have.

Mobo - what you just said.

CPU - pick an AM3. The 965 is deactivated.

Ram - you DO NOT NEED ram faster than 1333. Don't waste your money on 1600 or 2000.

Hard drive: Black 500 is good, but get the SATA 6.0 version.

Optical: Get whatever DVD burner is cheap with free shipping.

Video card: Stay away from XFX. You may want to see if you can afford a GTX460 1gb card (not a SE). Asus or EVGA are the best brands of Nvidia cards.

Please post updated links for review!

[DeezySwift]

Okay! So I made a few corrections with your suggestions and here is my most updated prospective build:

Case: Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Mobo: Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
VC: Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Memory: Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
HDD: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Optical: Newegg.com - ASUS 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 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

I currently have a 650 watt PSU that I bought a while ago for this too, hopefully that'll hold the load.

Thanks again!


ALSO: Does anyone know of a way to get a discounted Windows 7 Home Premium or something? I am a student but I'm having trouble find a student discount for a full version.

[glc]

All good except for the ram - G.skill is having quality issues. Unless you are going to be heavily overclocking, ALL YOU NEED is 1333.

Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, A-Data.

If you are a student, you will have your best luck finding Professional. However, if you can get a UPGRADE version of HP, it can be installed on a clean drive - there are instructions on the web on how to do it.

OEM HP is only 100 bucks.

[DeezySwift]

Just added this Memory instead, running at 1333 and it's Corsair: Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1333C9A G

In regards to the clean install of the Windows 7 upgrade, I just did some reading on it and it sounds a little iffy, installing just the upgrade on the clean system apparently goes around the EULA and I have had poor experiences in the past with that. Any opinions?

[glc]

Good ram choice.

It technically violates the EULA but if M$ were that concerned they would close the loopholes that allow you to do it.

[DeezySwift]

No worries, I actually called microsoft and they have an awesome deal for students with a .edu email address. I'm probably gonna get the OS today and start buying parts here and there and hopefully have this up and running within the first couple of weeks of summer.

[glc]

I would highly recommend that you WAIT and buy your parts all at once just before building it. The only thing I might buy now would be the case.

[DeezySwift]

Okay, will do. Thanks so much for all your help. One last thing though, as far as building the pc goes, I'm kind of worried. I've never done a full build before but I have had to completely replace a motherboard and all it's components (take everything out of one mobo then put it in another then install it back into the pc) so will it be like that only adding the mounting of my drives? Then just slap the OS disc in on bootup and it'll read? I know I might have to change my BIOS read order so that it reads the optical first, but I'll research that if I need to later.

Thanks again.

[glc]

so will it be like that only adding the mounting of my drives?

That's pretty much it. However, I recommend you do this FIRST to validate your core components before installing the motherboard in the case:

PROBLEMS with a NEW BUILD? Try This!!

[DeezySwift]

Thanks for the link!

One guy in there says that something wasn't "seated" right on the board. Does this just mean that the component (CPU, memory, etc) wasn't connected fully or does that mean something else?

[glc]

Not completely plugged into its socket, thereby not making a good connection.

[DeezySwift]

So I guess the Mobo I was going to use is out of stock, any recommendations on another compatible motherboard?