Newbie: Please check my first build

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fangs

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Hello:

I am 14 years old and this is the first computer that I will build. I would appreciate your help in making sure the components will be compatible and/or suggestions of different parts. I am looking to build a computer that will play a few recent video games such as Battlefield 2 and F.E.A.R. with almost full quality (Anti-Aliasing, moderate resolution, high geometry) and also can run 3D animation packages such as Maya fairly well. My budget is $1,300-$1,500 and right now I'm over-priced so maybe somebody could point out a few cheaper parts. I probably will not be overclocking because I don't want to void my warranties or damage parts. I have an upgrade in mind approximately 0.5-1 years down the road to get dual DirectX 10 video cards and a quad-core processor. Here are my specs:


Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW............$40.00
Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W...................$120.00
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300....................$192.00
Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR.....................$250.00
Video Card: EVGA GeForce 7600GT 256MB................$110.00
RAM: Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2/800.......................$223.00
Hard Drive: Dual WD Caviars 80GB ea in RAID-0.........$88.00
Sound Card: Creative Labs SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum.$79.00
CD/DVD Burner: LG DVD+-R GSAH22N-BK...................$30.00
Monitor: SAMSUNG 940BX 19" LCD 1280x1024.............$240.00
Mouse: Logitech G5 6 Buttons USB Wired Laser..........$46.00
Keyboard: LITE-ON SK-1788/BS PS/2 Wired Standard.......$7.00
Headset: PLANTRONICS GAMECOMPRO1 USB Supra-aural......$50.00
------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$1509.00


I also have a few questions:
1. Is everything compatible? I really don't want to run into problems since it is my first build.
2. Is the power supply overkill, or may I need that for dual video cards?
3. Is the sound card overkill also?
4. Should I get a 1600x1200 resolution monitor, or would it cost a pretty penny?
5. Should I get a better keyboard? I found this one on Newegg.com and it got lots of 5/5 ratings. I contemplated purchasing the Logitech gaming keyboard but thought otherwise because of the price tag.
6. I will be buying all of the parts from Newegg.com so how much could I anticipate to save on shipping?

Thank you very much in advance; I am really looking forward to building my own computer!
 
Are you planning on ever running SLI? If not you could save money on the motherboard. Especially if you don't plan on overclocking.
Maybe something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131030

You could also get a cheaper hard drive. Raptors in RAID would be fast but it will just shorten your load times, it won't improve gaming performance. Unless you hate waiting a few extra seconds get something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148140

Those two things would save you a couple hundred dollars.
 
Id say get the p5b or gigabyte ds3 for the motherboard. Sli is nice but your sacrificing too much for a nice sli motherboard and only getting a mid-range video card.

You don't need the 700w ozc. Get the 600w version instead (im using it and its PLENTY for my 8800gts and could handle a 8800gtx easy too).

With the money saved, id go with a evga 7900gs and the dell 22". Evga has a step up program you can use later (lasts 90 days after purchase) to get a dx10 for the difference in price of the card you buy from them now.

Good choice on the playtonics headset (i love myn), but i would get the 3.5mm connection instead so you can use it on the sound card. It will sound much better, and its cheaper. I own the same pair and i LOVE them. I had a logitech usb headset that cost $60 before it and it SUCKED. The mic was really bad (didn't know if it was the usb connection doing it or logitech sux at making mic's),but it was terrible at picking up my voice. Been using the gamecom1 3.5mm for 5 months now and havn't had any trouble with it. The reason why its cheaper is it doesn't have noise canceling or a usb connection...which you don't need if your in your room by yourself with the door shut imo. The cable is like 10ft or something....its LONG so you won't have any trouble using it on the back of your computer.

You can get a WD 250gb sata2 16mb cache for less then the two 80gb. I have two in raid 0 and i honestly don't see that much performance difference from when i used one HDD (at least not as much as you would think).
 
Thank you guys so much, I'm taking your advice and editing my components. I wonder if I should get the $350 1600x1200 monitor or not. Are the p5b and gigabyte ds3 motherboards compatible with quad-core processors? Or will I not want to get a quad core in the future?
 
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW............$40.00
Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W...................$120.00
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300....................$192.00
Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR.....................$250.00
Video Card: EVGA GeForce 7600GT 256MB................$110.00
RAM: Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2/800.......................$223.00
Hard Drive: Dual WD Caviars 80GB ea in RAID-0.........$88.00
Sound Card: Creative Labs SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum.$79.00
CD/DVD Burner: LG DVD+-R GSAH22N-BK...................$30.00
Monitor: SAMSUNG 940BX 19" LCD 1280x1024.............$240.00
Mouse: Logitech G5 6 Buttons USB Wired Laser..........$46.00
Keyboard: LITE-ON SK-1788/BS PS/2 Wired Standard.......$7.00
Headset: PLANTRONICS GAMECOMPRO1 USB Supra-aural......$50.00
------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$1509.00

I suggest cutting back on the Power Supply and Motherboard. Do you have a fry's in the area? I bought my 650Watt Power Supply for $40 bucks or less when I got a rebate for it.

Get a cheaper board that has one PCI-Express 16 Slot for around $115.

The 7600GT is too weak considering all the money you're putting into your computer. It'll bottleneck your computer. Get an ATI X1900GT, X1950PRO, or X1950XT. Or if you like Nvidia get at least a 7900GT or 7950GT. 8 series is too much right now. The ATI's can be had from $170-$250 ($220 for the X1950XT after rebate). This will ensure your computer will kick any game's @ss right now.

Read the tomshardware.com article about best graphics cards for January 2007.

Congrats on building your own computer at age 14! I built my first when I was 15 and I'm 24 now. :cool:
 
I think he has a great setup if he wants to expand for the future. He have the choice to get 8800gtx or something else later in the future. What I would do is by the system, so later in 2009 where some futurestic crap comes out and your power supply is too week or your motherboard doesn't support Sli. You have a great starting setup, so you can upgrade later. IF you need to save the money i would cut the harddrives for something bigger and a little slower and use a CRT screen instead of a lcd so you can change the resolution. Like I said it is all up to you.
 
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