Hi everyone, I'm looking at putting together my first PC and I have a fair few questions.
Here is the tentative parts list I've put together (sorry for no links):
CPU: e8400
GPU: HD4850 (quite possibly the ICEQ4 turbo one, I like it)
Motherboard: ASUS P5QL-Pro
Hard drive: Western Digital 640GB 16MB cache
RAM: No clue, looking at 2GB as 4GB is a little expensive for me
Case: Coolermaster 690
Power Supply: Corsair 450VX
I live in New Zealand, so all of this is a bit more expensive than you might expect. Currently looking to be about $1250 NZ shipped, which is a little over budget (was looking at $1000) but I can deal with it. I have all the peripherals I need already.
Can anyone suggest a decent NZ site to source these parts from? I'd prefer to get them all from one site.
As I'm new to this, I have a lot of questions about my parts too. Will this power supply be sufficient for this rig? I think 450W is a bit on the low side but it does have a single 12V rail at 33A, and even the 550W in the same series is significantly more expensive.
As for the motherboard I have picked, does anyone have any experience with it? I hear it's not terrific for overclocking, but I wouldn't really want to push the CPU above 3.6GHz for quite a while I think. Can anyone suggest a better board in the same price range with similar features? My budget is really pushed to the limit currently, and it seems that you can't get biostar boards here in NZ.
Also, when you buy a motherboard, do they generally come with all the cables you'll need? SATA, PCI-E connectors etc?
With regards to RAM, I'm happy with running 2GB for the moment, as I'll likely be running xp for a while. I don't particularly want to overclock this much, but I'd prefer to buy quality stuff. Are the lower priced ranges from good brands, like Corsair ValueRAM, any good? Also, I'm worried I may have issues with matching up the FSB and RAM speed, but this can be solved with overclocking of the RAM or changing the FSB ratio, right?
I'm pretty happy with my choice of CPU, GPU and case. I'll be buying the retail box for the e8400, unless i can find an aftermarket cooler that's cheap enough to fit in my budget if I buy an OEM e8400 (which comes with no heatsink/fan if I'm not mistaken). As I said before, I'm fine with overclocking up to 3.6GHz, I hear you can do this on stock voltages, but I'm doubting it's possible with a stock cooler?
For the GPU, I really like the look of the ICEQ4 Turbo, and although it is expensive, the only ones that are significantly cheaper are OEM packages, and I don't really want to get one of those.
The case, I've picked because I like the look, the features, and the price. I have one problem with it though, and that is the size of it.
My current case is something like 170mm wide, 380mm tall and 420mm deep; but the Coolermaster is (W)213 X (H)482 x (D)524.5, which seems excessively large. Is this the actual size of the case, or the entire boxed package? Assuming it's the actual size, will I need all this room? I've never put together a PC before so is this a standard size for a gaming case?
Edit: Can anyone suggest to me a decent DVD drive with writing capabilities? I have no idea which ones are any good. I'd prefer to spend a minimum on it though
The main purpose of this build will be for gaming on my 22" monitor (1680x1050) at preferably the highest available settings for current/future games (excluding Crysis).
Thanks in advance for any help, and any suggestions for parts are gladly accepted, my list is only tentative.
Here is the tentative parts list I've put together (sorry for no links):
CPU: e8400
GPU: HD4850 (quite possibly the ICEQ4 turbo one, I like it)
Motherboard: ASUS P5QL-Pro
Hard drive: Western Digital 640GB 16MB cache
RAM: No clue, looking at 2GB as 4GB is a little expensive for me
Case: Coolermaster 690
Power Supply: Corsair 450VX
I live in New Zealand, so all of this is a bit more expensive than you might expect. Currently looking to be about $1250 NZ shipped, which is a little over budget (was looking at $1000) but I can deal with it. I have all the peripherals I need already.
Can anyone suggest a decent NZ site to source these parts from? I'd prefer to get them all from one site.
As I'm new to this, I have a lot of questions about my parts too. Will this power supply be sufficient for this rig? I think 450W is a bit on the low side but it does have a single 12V rail at 33A, and even the 550W in the same series is significantly more expensive.
As for the motherboard I have picked, does anyone have any experience with it? I hear it's not terrific for overclocking, but I wouldn't really want to push the CPU above 3.6GHz for quite a while I think. Can anyone suggest a better board in the same price range with similar features? My budget is really pushed to the limit currently, and it seems that you can't get biostar boards here in NZ.
Also, when you buy a motherboard, do they generally come with all the cables you'll need? SATA, PCI-E connectors etc?
With regards to RAM, I'm happy with running 2GB for the moment, as I'll likely be running xp for a while. I don't particularly want to overclock this much, but I'd prefer to buy quality stuff. Are the lower priced ranges from good brands, like Corsair ValueRAM, any good? Also, I'm worried I may have issues with matching up the FSB and RAM speed, but this can be solved with overclocking of the RAM or changing the FSB ratio, right?
I'm pretty happy with my choice of CPU, GPU and case. I'll be buying the retail box for the e8400, unless i can find an aftermarket cooler that's cheap enough to fit in my budget if I buy an OEM e8400 (which comes with no heatsink/fan if I'm not mistaken). As I said before, I'm fine with overclocking up to 3.6GHz, I hear you can do this on stock voltages, but I'm doubting it's possible with a stock cooler?
For the GPU, I really like the look of the ICEQ4 Turbo, and although it is expensive, the only ones that are significantly cheaper are OEM packages, and I don't really want to get one of those.
The case, I've picked because I like the look, the features, and the price. I have one problem with it though, and that is the size of it.
My current case is something like 170mm wide, 380mm tall and 420mm deep; but the Coolermaster is (W)213 X (H)482 x (D)524.5, which seems excessively large. Is this the actual size of the case, or the entire boxed package? Assuming it's the actual size, will I need all this room? I've never put together a PC before so is this a standard size for a gaming case?
Edit: Can anyone suggest to me a decent DVD drive with writing capabilities? I have no idea which ones are any good. I'd prefer to spend a minimum on it though
The main purpose of this build will be for gaming on my 22" monitor (1680x1050) at preferably the highest available settings for current/future games (excluding Crysis).
Thanks in advance for any help, and any suggestions for parts are gladly accepted, my list is only tentative.