First do it myself build "ever" advice please!

Ok a little background about me.... I have no experience building a computer except through dells websites used on the last two laptops i have purchased (most recent is 3 years ago) A lot has changed sense then and i have done a lot of research in the past few days trying to piece my hardware together for the best price/performance desktop. I have no over clocking experience but it is something that i would like to get into to help me increase my knowledge of computers and increase performance. I feel comfortable in my ability to struggle through and learn how to fit all the pieces together i just want your expert advice on what i have chosen and if i might be missing something.

Parts List

Case - COOLER MASTER RC-690
PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V
Motherbord - ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
GPU - SAPPHIRE 100243L Radeon HD 4870
RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Media Drive - LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner
Display - Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Wide screen

Newegg wish list


1)I was going to go with a 24" LCD display for the 1920 x 1200 resolution but can't seem to justify the price difference.
2)do i need a network card or is the motherbord good enough?
3)I may use crossfire set up in the future.
have a 56in samsung HDTV and i am excited about the Ethernet connection on the back of the videocard for easy hook up, i may get a blu-ray drive in the future and finally see what my TV can do.
4)I currently have XP 64bit and can't decide if i should take the plunge and get Vista. With all the talk about it's pitfalls and not working as well with games, opinions advice?
5)And last but not least anything you guys think i should know before i hit the order complete button on newegg. I'm sure the next thread by me will be about overclocking and modding what i currently have.(extra cooling, RAID, and what not) By the way thanks for reading all this if you did! and thanks in advance for any advice.

to the forums!

Nice looking build. I think the PSU is a bit of overkill, you should go closer to 500w imo. Good brand though.

Everything else seems to be spot on though, It should do very nicely.What are your needs though? The quad will be great for multi-threaded apps and games(few that there are), but if you are mostly gaming, An E7200 or E8400(E3110) will clock much higher and benefit you more. check out this thread: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=569804&page=4 It's a bit heated at times, but I think it's a good read to kinda give you a better idea of where your needs may lay.

Swap the Lite-On for a Samsung SH-203 (B or N)

Otherwise everything looks good.

Oldskool - Thanks for the quick reply and advice. Will a 500w PSU support everything if i decide to use a crossfire set up later down the road? the reason for the choice was to try and somewhat future proof it but i must admit i don't really know enough to make a correct decision. I also read somewhere that having one +12v rail with a massive 60 amp capacity will provide absolute bedrock stability, which really helps keep a system running when you push it. the choice for a quad over dual core is also a future proofing choice but i must admit is a hard one. As far as what i'll be doing, i do enjoy having multiple applications (word, Powerpoint, excell, sometimes photoshop, music or videos) downloads, multiple browsers open but again not sure if the dual core will handle it just as well as the quad.

Looking at the Linked thread now thanks!

Budget? Are you overclocking?

4870's in crossfire with use ~430W with a OC's quad. A 520HX would do fine or is you want a little more breathing room a 620HX. A 750 is just way to much.

Have you though about cooling? Are you going to OC?

I was hoping for a 1k budget but then i got sucked into the i want, i want, i want spiral won't go of 1.5k though! As far as over clocking it's something that i want to start getting into and in lite of other reviews i have just started looking at some coolers, just want to try and get a good one that will fit.

ou_phidelt said:

4870's in crossfire with use ~430W with a OC's quad. A 520HX would do fine or is you want a little more breathing room a 620HX. A 750 is just way to much.

Click to expand...

+1 For the xfire 520 should serve you fine. I prefer a 500w for my single GPU setup. 520-620 would be perfect for future proofing.

550w corsair

30 dollars cheaper. do you guys think that will work even if in the future i get another 4870 and a couple more HDD and a few other bells and whistles, the thing that worries me is i save the 30 bucks now but then end up paying another 100 down the road because i need more. I'm a big can of corsair so i'll probably stick with those and the 620w one was only 10 dollars cheeper.

The 550 will do fine. I just like the HX series due to the modular cables.

ryansplacee said:

550w corsair

30 dollars cheaper. do you guys think that will work even if in the future i get another 4870 and a couple more HDD and a few other bells and whistles, the thing that worries me is i save the 30 bucks now but then end up paying another 100 down the road because i need more. I'm a big can of corsair so i'll probably stick with those and the 620w one was only 10 dollars cheeper.

Click to expand...

Even with Crossfire you won't hit 550w. The Corsair PSU's are VERY capable up to their designated maximum....some even performed above their rated capacity.

Perfect choice for a PSU

I recommend the following:
$185 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor
$37 ($10MIR) - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 Rifle CPU Cooler
$308 - ASUS P5Q Pro ATX Intel Motherboard
_____($30MIR) - ASUS Radeon HD 4850 Video Card
$160 (Coupon S4F50242L) ($20MIR) - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 Video Card
$88 ($30MIR) - OCZ 4GB DDR2 1000 Desktop Memory
$85 (Coupon EMCAHCFAD) - Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB Hard Drive
$27 - SAMSUNG Black SATA 22X DVD Burner
$98 ($20MIR) - Corsair Memory TX750W Power Supply
$90 ($40MIR) - Antec P180 Black Mid Tower Case
$400 - Westinghouse L2410NM 24" LCD Monitor (I'm not really into monitors, but that's the cheapest non-TN panel I could find)

Abu Som3a said:

I recommend the following:
$185 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor
$37 ($10MIR) - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 Rifle CPU Cooler
$308 - ASUS P5Q Pro ATX Intel Motherboard
_____($30MIR) - ASUS Radeon HD 4850 Video Card
$160 (Coupon S4F50242L) ($20MIR) - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 Video Card
$88 ($30MIR) - OCZ 4GB DDR2 1000 Desktop Memory
$85 (Coupon EMCAHCFAD) - Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB Hard Drive
$27 - SAMSUNG Black SATA 22X DVD Burner
$98 ($20MIR) - Corsair Memory TX750W Power Supply
$90 ($40MIR) - Antec P180 Black Mid Tower Case
$400 - Westinghouse L2410NM 24" LCD Monitor (I'm not really into monitors, but that's the cheapest non-TN panel I could find)

Click to expand...

wow you compleatly destroyed my build the only thing the same is the CPU. how come you would go that way vs my build. and what's a TN panel monitor?

Wow! nice build proposal. Have fun &

ryansplacee said:

wow you compleatly destroyed my build the only thing the same is the CPU. how come you would go that way vs my build. and what's a TN panel monitor?

Click to expand...

Why I choose the Q6600...

Most people will use the following argument to sway you against the Q6600:
A dual-core with a high frequency (E8400 @ 4GHz) is better than a quad-core with a lower frequency (Q6600 @ 3.2-3.5GHz) in gaming and single applications. You will never feel the extra power of the quad-core unless you are multitasking.

This argument only applies when comparing a slow phenom against say an E8400. The phenom WILL bottleneck in games not optimized for quad-core (which are the majority). However, this is not the case with a Core 2 Duo running above 3GHz, whether it is a dual-core or a quad-core...simply because ALL current games don't need anything over 3GHz to run at their full potential (or be limited by the graphics card). And future games will probably be more friendly to quad-cores as quad-cores are now becoming mainstream.
Now regarding the application part. Most applications are already (or at least planned to in future releases) to support quad-cores, so this argument is moot.

Regarding the monitor, the BENQ G2400WD, Gateway FHD2400, and Westinghouse L2410NM are all good options. You should try googling on them (and other alternatives), and ask in the forums for 24" monitor recommendations.

GL