About to build my own PC for the first time!

Hi,

I am looking in to building my own PC for the first time. I have never build one from scratch before. Here is what I am lining up although I have not checked everything for compatibility as I am new to AMD.

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 / 1MB / 2000MHz FSB / Socket 939 / Processor
Mobo: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nVidia Socket 939 Motherboard / PCI Express / Audio / Dual Gigabit LAN / Serial ATA / Dual RAID / USB 2.0 & Firewire
GFX card: BFG GeForce 6800 Ultra / 256MB GDDR3 / PCI Express / Dual DVI / TV Out / Video Card
Ram: Kingston HyperX 1024MB PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR Memory (4 x 512MB)
HD's: Western Digital Raptor 74GB Serial ATA 10K / 8MB / S-ATA-150 / OEM / Hard Drives X 2 in Raid1
Sound: Soud Blaster Audigy 7.1 Platinum Pro
Case: Thermaltake of some sort (unknown still)
PSU: 600W Enermax
CD rom: Standard LG 52x48x52
DVD rom: Plextor 716A


I have decided to build this my self and buy all the parts separate after a bad experience with the local computer shop. I have a friend who has built many PC's and has offered to help me out. Any suggestions on different hardware or any other suggestions would be great!

Thanks
Jeff

them's a lot 'o' money you spendin there. but excellent choices over all. but why go thermaltake? not that I have anything personal against them, I just think if you're gonna get the best of the best with all of your other hardware, you can get something better than a Thermaltake.

btw,

_l4st_chanC3__ said:

them's a lot 'o' money you spendin there. but excellent choices over all. but why go thermaltake? not that I have anything personal against them, I just think if you're gonna get the best of the best with all of your other hardware, you can get something better than a Thermaltake.

btw,

Click to expand...

Thanks . What are better cases then ThermalTake? I am some what new to building computers are newer hardware so any recommendations would be great!

Thanks
Jeff

I strongly recommend Lian Li cases. I own a Lian Li PC-60, and it's a very solid case. The biggest downside is that a Lian Li will cost you $110 to $150 USD without a power supply.

I second that. Lian-Li are among the highest quality cases built in my opinion, but like restorer said, you pay a premium for them. I've also heard good things about the Cooler Masters, in particular the Stacker. I personally use a fairly cheap case, but for my purposes(and my budget ) it serves me well.

the Lian-Li is damn expensive. Cooler master is nice too. get the cooler master and say some bucks. i like the aluminum one

silverstone seems to be an up and rising case company that has put out some realy awsome cases, they pretty much are taking cooler master's spot in the mid to large case catagory

Looks good, just a few points:

- What cooling are you using? Are you intending to overclock?

- If you are overclocking some faster RAM (PC4000 or so) may help you to overclock further.

- Why RAID 1? Best just getting a DVD Writer instead of that DVDROM and backing up to DVD. RAID1 wont protect you against power surges or other situations where the entire computer is damaged.

I want that computer. Lookin good, but yeah what was said above, and uh maybe a Phase Change for the FX

Personally I would get Samsung TCCD ram, with timings of are samsung tccd ram, it will clock insanely high, right now its 220 for matched 512mb sticks here

Lian Li makes really nice cases highly reccomened
If you have the cash I my first pick on cases would be one from mountain mods but they are really expensive, and also really big

If it was me i would throw a slow, semi big drive like a 250gb SATA inthere for storage


overall your system looks awesome, i would just get different ram, and a different case (a better case shoulnt be that much more expensive as thermal take cases are somewhat overpriced imo anyway)

What kinda speakers? Z-5550's?

GigaWorks S750?

Nice start...since it's your first build I'm gonna assume air cooling and would recommend the XP90 from thermalright...you could use an XP120 if it fits but its only real advantage IMO is slightly quiter not much cooler.
CPU...you want the best, you got the best
MOBO...good one, I'm slanted towards DFI and if you're gonna OC may wanna try one but for first time ASUS may be safer choice
GraphicsCard....Excellent choice..maybe get another for SLI or if price is a factor get another later on or buy 2 6600GTs, all good options
Ram...OK for stock settings..like others would recommend TCCD based Ram for pure mhz#s but for real OCn have to say track down some BH5 or get OCZs VX 3200 or 4000. Don't bother gambling on the UTT in twinmos or ocz value vx like I have to..if you got the money get the guaranteed good stuff. All the top ORB scores us OCZ VX. Great speeds with the tightest timings
HardDrives...whatever floats your boat but get a DVD burner for backups..really
PSU...If you want SLI then the best is PCP&c 510 or their new 850. After that I would recommend OCZ Powerstream 600, Fortron's 550, or a Zippy. You can buy a pair of BFG6800 Ultras with a BFG(rebadged Fortron)550 somewhere...I forgot where though. Google BFG550 if you're interested. You only want the best here. A strong reliable PSU is the backbone of your system...seriously don't underestimate it's importance.
Everything else falls under your personal preference..Lian Li makes excellent and expensive cases...browse for what you like. Maybe you want a basic and funtional unit like this or a out there looking one like this either way its about personal preference. Good luck and have fun with this...I like it so much I build them for my friends