first post, first time building new gaming computer...blah blah blah

[staki0]

I've been reading this forums for a couple of weeks now and this is my first post. I know a you see a lot of these threads but i would appreciate any help/comments/CONSTRUCTIVE criticizm you can give me.

this is my first build for a mainly gaming pc, i hope to use some linux on it too.

I plan on overclocking it a little at first, sinc it's my first time i don't want to over-do it, but i'll probably do more overclocking as i get more confidence.


So here's what i was planning on getting (everything should be compatible...i hope):

GPU:
EVGA GeForce 7800 GT 256 ----plan on getting a new video card in 6-12 months
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130256

CPU:
AMD athlon 64 x2 4800+ 1Ghz FSB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103544

PSU:
OCZ Powerstream 600W SLI compatible
http://www.atacom.com/program/print_html_new.cgi?cart_id=&Item_code=POWS_OCZT_O6_25&USER_ID=

CASE:
Cooler Master Praetorian 730
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119085

MOBO:
MSI K8N diamond plus atx amd mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130037

SOUND CARD:
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi xtrememusic
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188

HDDs:
WD raptor 74GB 10kRpm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144160

WD caviar 250GB 7,200rpm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

RAM:
Corsair 2-3-2-6-1T Dual Channel DDR433 2x1Gig
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145594

DRIVES:
NEC black IDE/ATAPI dvd burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

ASUS black ide dvd-rom drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135136

OTHER:
Thermaltake A2259 Hardcano 13- Multi-function Fan controller
http://www.crazypc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=82930

Nexus Disk Twin Hard Drive Noise Dampener
http://www.xoxide.com/nexus-disktwin-dampener-black.html

Vantec Vortex Hdd cooler with crossflow blower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835888110

The total should be around $2300 US....i sleep in the same room as the computer so i would hope it could be quite, that's why i'm getting the fan controller....i don't really know much about the noise dampener or the hdd cooler though (are they worth getting?)

THANX FOR ALL YOUR HELP

 

[tommyboy123x]

a few things.... 4800+, if u wanna save some money, get one model below it and save the cash, unless you have the money, which i assume you do

with linux, i've heard horrible stories of systems crashing because windows and linux were on the same hdd, so make sure those are separate and not partitioned (i.e. dont use the cariver for storage and the rapter for files and partition them... separate the o/s)

soundcard: your motherboard already has an audigy chipset on it, so unless your doing studio recording or something, you could ditch the x-fi... it isnt worth the money again, unless you have it

now for memory... the most commonly messed up area. If you notice, your motherboard supports ddr 400 (pc 3200) but you have selected ddr 433 (pc 3500). Unless i am mistaken, these will not work together. Also, make sure and buy your motherboard first, get it in the mail, LOOK TO SEE IF THE RAM IS COMPATIBLE, then buy your ram. Made that 280 dollar mistake once, not gonna happen again... newegg is pretty good at returning things though, but waiting three more days for your system is definatelly worth it... trust me

again, correct me if i am wrong, but i do not thing that a hard drive noise dampener or a cooler is really necessary... i don't have a 10k or 15k hdd, but mine is perfectly fine without both of those. I sleep like a baby too (in the same room as my computer). If you want to cut down noise, you may want to look into better fans for your case. Sometimes they can come with really cheap, plastic fans that make a TON of noise... but again, get your case, and if they are loud, order better fans.

video card: tell me how that goes for you, i've been looking to get an eVGA card... heard their great but i've never had one :'(



looks like a great system!

 

[staki0]

yeah, i have the money for the 4800+ and the x-fi card, i'm not gonna be doing recording but good quality sound is important to me and the money isn't too big of a problem.

About the memory, i thought if i use ddr 433 it would just run as ddr 400 and would actually be better if i'm going to oc? am i wrong?...i'll try to look more into what kind of ram is compatible with the mobo

 

[zerodayATK]

yeah .. the mem will run at 400 speeds .... oo and if ocing go and get yourself a dfi board... better for ocing .. but besides thats pretty solid build!!!

 

[boomstick666]

soundcard: your motherboard already has an audigy chipset on it, so unless your doing studio recording or something, you could ditch the x-fi... it isnt worth the money again, unless you have it

now for memory... the most commonly messed up area. If you notice, your motherboard supports ddr 400 (pc 3200) but you have selected ddr 433 (pc 3500). Unless i am mistaken, these will not work together. Also, make sure and buy your motherboard first, get it in the mail, LOOK TO SEE IF THE RAM IS COMPATIBLE, then buy your ram. Made that 280 dollar mistake once, not gonna happen again... newegg is pretty good at returning things though, but waiting three more days for your system is definatelly worth it... trust me

err..y cant u use the ddr433?? when he OC, it goes past that for sure if his on 1:1 mem ratio.
and i would recommend him to get x-fi. its very good and great for games and x-fi is the only card supports AEX5.0. not really recommend for recording tho...cuz its a pci sound card w/o outboard I/O. usually direct PCI based sound card gets too much computer noise. its very common. but if u don really care about noise then its fine i guess. if u really want better sound card for recording, id suggest u to get digidesign digi002, m-box, or some m-audio hardware.

 

[staki0]

which dfi mobo would you recomment? the reviews and stats seem much better on the one i chose, i might be wrong though. plz post a link

 

[snick]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136166

 

[tommyboy123x]

yeah, when it comes to memroy, well lets just say its "not my forte." i tried to make it clear that i wasn't positive, but it was possible... sorry about that

 

[kahlos]

Umm the X-FI comes no where near a perfesional sound recording card. Not due to computer noise but due to frequencys, bit rates and many other things which i can't be bothered to go into detail about. I would go with some normal DDR400 RAM. Save your self a bit of money and OC RAM doesn't give much of a performence benfit over memory dividers on normal RAM so OC RAM isn't really worth it unless you really have lots of money. Don't bother with the HD cooler. Your Hard drives unlikely to overheat and it will create extra noise. I would get a Antec P180 Case if i were you. Very Very silent and very good airflow. It's got a seperate chamber at the bottom for the PSU and Hard drives. Which means they are kept cool. And get and Opteron dual core processor like the Opteron 165. OC more and have more L2 cache. If you get the P180 case you won't need any dampaner for the hard drive as it already has some thing like it on it. Get a Arctic Cooler Nivida Silencer for the GPU cooler. Cools better than the stock cooler and is very very silent. Should also get the Big Typhoon CPU cooler. Again silent but better performence. If your planning on upgrading GPU then maybe get a GTO2. Although you really have to OC and unlock to get true potentional.

 

[snick]

oooh, the ANtec P180 is sweeeet, i just got it in today, very well organized case! PSU barely fit tho... the bays for harddrives are removable, so you can put em in without fighting the rest of the case....comes with 3 120mm fans...with room for more directly in front of the harddrive bays...i definitely recommend this one....