Building first PC

[JollyRoger]

Hi all,

I'm building a PC for the first time, and need some advice, recommendations, alternatives, etc... for the components I have chosen before I go ahead and hit "Buy". Any relevant advice would be appreciated.

PS, this system is intended for running large LP Models that exceed 1.7 Gig of memeory per process, hence the 64-bit operating system and large RAM.

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $54.95

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $134.99

SPARKLE SFPX94GT1024U2 GeForce 9400 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail $49.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail$109.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail $219.99

2 X G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail$99.98

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM$99.99

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM$31.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1 64-bit for System Builders DVD - OEM $129.99

Thanks in advance!

[Aaron_8015]

A couple of things... Why in heavens name are you getting a 750W power supply? That system would probably consume around 300W full load, especialy with that low-end gpu (I wont poke holes at it).

Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ400SXS 400W ATX12V Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

This PSU will run it no problem.

Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Power Supplies

Or this one if you feel you need to upgrade the gpu.

4gb of memory is the norm these days so no complaints there.

Also instead of getting vista, windows 7 will be released in a few months, so mabye you should wait for that.

You can use the beta for the mean time.

Windows 7 Release Candidate Customer Preview Program

[JollyRoger]

I ran the system specs through wattage calculator on Newegg's site, and it came back with a 650W PSU that will be required. Keep in mind I'm putting in 8 Gigs of RAM, not 4.

Yeah the graphics card is low end, but this will be a work machine.

I thought about not getting Vista, but I was told that all copies of Vista bought now will come with a free upgrade to Windows 7. So I'm gambling on the fact that it would be cheaper to get Vista rather than 7 when it comes out.

Thanks for the advice!

[KarmaKiller]

I believe there are some versions of vista that do come with the upgrade, so I guess that's not a bad idea. But you could use Windows 7 for free now, and just buy it when it comes out. Probably gonna be the same price.
As far as the PSU, I completely agree with Aaron. 400w PSU would do you fine. There is no need for anything more the 500w, it's just overkill, even with 8gig's of RAM.

[thephilosophizer]

Couple of thoughts and a question.
What is your budget?
I might recommend getting a better gfx card, if you're gonna through the money down anyways why not make the computer better all around. You can get an ati 4850 for about $100.
And on the cpu, I would just say that if you do have more in your budget, it might be worth looking at the i7, the cost difference for the motherboard and cpu would be about $125 (6gb ddr3 is $100, so no real difference there), and you will have a beast of a machine that should last you quite a while.

[JollyRoger]

Thanks for all the great tips guys! I will look into a smaller PSU, but then again, if it's not much cheaper might as well keep the bigger one and have flexibility in the future.

As for the 7i CPU I will look into it as well. I have partially looked, but got scared by the more expensive motherboard. I'll try again. I'm hoping to keep the machine below $1,000.

Thanks again.

[Imperion1]

OEM versions of Windows Vista do not apply to getting the upgrade to Windows 7. Only Retail copies.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy...s/upgrade.aspx Look at Step 2.
"Purchase a qualifying version* of a Windows Vista retail packaged product from your favorite retailer between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010."

[ShyguyXPC]

Couple of thoughts and a question.
What is your budget?
I might recommend getting a better gfx card, if you're gonna through the money down anyways why not make the computer better all around. You can get an ati 4850 for about $100.
And on the cpu, I would just say that if you do have more in your budget, it might be worth looking at the i7, the cost difference for the motherboard and cpu would be about $125 (6gb ddr3 is $100, so no real difference there), and you will have a beast of a machine that should last you quite a while.

he's not needing a gaming rig, so could lose the 4850 suggestion, as they mentioned in initial post their going to be using it for LP Models, after a quick google search since I wasn't sure if that was a reference to a type of 3D model or something more computational like mathematics or something like that, came up with this.

Linear programming - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

so no need for a higher end GPU really.

unless for some reason their able to utilize Nvidia's CUDA to accelerate processing of data. if thats the case a nice Geforce GPU will work wonders, but I suspect what ever software their using is primarily CPU based. in which case more money should be spent on a CPU and RAM than anything on this system.

the i7 is a great suggestion, and yes the Motherboards are pricey, but the CPU is well worth it for the power they'll get, especially with four cores and if the software used can use Hyper Threading it could potentially speed things up a bit too.

though not so sure they would need Triple channel RAM, and DDR3 is a bit pricey still. but many of those X58 based boards can support a maximum of 24GB of RAM, though I haven't seen any 4GB DDR3 single sticks yet, so most systems will be limited to 12GB max right now.

and unfortunately the only 12GB kit in 3 modules is over $1100 right now

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX12800D3K3/12GX - Desktop Memory



biggest set backs with the i7 idea is price of RAM, and the amount you need, and then there's the Motherboard Prices, all the good ones are about $200 a piece, the few lower priced MSI ones I'd avoid mainly due to the main chipset runs hotter than it should do to the poor heatsinks they use for these boards.

just piecing one together and its hitting the $1K mark easily even with the cheapest 9400GT GPU, 400W OCZ PSU Aaron linked to above, and the base i7 model... knock out Vista out of the list and I could hit below the 1Grand mark easily, though not sure how well the software you run will cope with the current version of Windows 7, it should be fine, but I'd hate to advise it if there was something that might cause errors in the work you do. I'd at least wait till 7 hits retail before suggesting it.

not that 7 isn't good now, it is, I'm running it fine as is many others (though I do have a few kinks to work out on my setup, but thats minor issues, basically Crossfire multi GPU issues)

but for a good i7 Build, at least one with a good motherboard...

your looking at something along the lines of this:

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Newegg.com - EVGA 121-BL-E756-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX SLI Micro Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1333LV12GS - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ400SXS 400W ATX12V Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-94TEH2P-FSL GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - Internal Hard Drives

Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - 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 - CD / DVD Burners


with out an OS, purchased OS, the total for this list comes to $918.88 before shipping costs and any Mail in rebates. ($40 in MIR's)

your best bet would be to stick with a Socket 775 Quad core for now to be able to stay under the $1000 radar with an OS.

if you can get by with say Windows 7 64bit RC thats out now, until it goes retail in the fall, then you could build a decent i7 system for under the $1000 mark easily. not too far below it, but definitely below the budget.

[MTAtech]

My question is, what are you going to use this for? if it is for gaming, the graphics card should be better and you might balance you budget by getting a less expensive CPU and upgrading the graphics card.

If it is for general computing, I personally think the quad cores are overkill and one can save at least $100 getting a Dual with very little practical loss in real-world performance.

[pullmyfoot]

My question is, what are you going to use this for? if it is for gaming, the graphics card should be better and you might balance you budget by getting a less expensive CPU and upgrading the graphics card.

If it is for general computing, I personally think the quad cores are overkill and one can save at least $100 getting a Dual with very little practical loss in real-world performance.

i agree