A little help with my first build please

[zbhover]

Good Morning everyone, I've recently got a nice bonus from work so I thought I'd build myself a new computer to replace my 5 or 6 year old dell optiplex gx280 that I have now.

This will be my first build, but I have installed new hardware, etc and have been messing around with computers for 13 or 14 years. Basically I just need help figure out what I want.

Budget is around $500-$600, maybe a tad more if I have too.

I'm also alright with shopping online to save money.

I'm planning on re-using the monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, cdrw drive and dvd drive. Later on I'll probably upgrade to a 24" LCD monitor and get a sata dvd-rw drive, but that stuff can wait until I have more money or find a good sale, and besides I rarely use my cd or dvd drive anyways........

I'm planning on using this computer mostly for web surfing, listening to music, etc so that doesn't take much, but I do some things that will push the computer a little more:

-I do 3d modeling with Rhino 3d, Its an older version (v3.0 from 2003) but when I'm rendering complicated models with my current computer (3ghz pentium 4 with 3gb of ddr2 ram) it can get a bit slow, although it improved greatly when I went from 1gb or ram to 3

-May also use some other cad or modeling programs now and then

-I'm a webmaster for a few sites so I do a lot of photo editing and some video editing.

-I seem to multi task a lot, maybe some photo editing, have a couple browser tabs opened for doing website related stuff, a couple more tabs open for email, and a forum or two, and have pandora running for some background noise, etc.

-I WILL NOT be gaming on this computer, I just don't have time for playing games.

Like I said my current computer is a 3ghz pentium 4 with 3 gig of ram, here is what I'm thinking for the new build:

-case: just a cheaper, but good case, mid-atx is fine, looking for function over form, I could care less about clear side panels, pretty blue lights, etc, rather spend the money on hardware........

-Processor: I'm thinking I'll go with ADM because it seems like with my budget I can get more processor for less money. I want to stick with around 3ghz, but 2, 3, or 4 core I don't know? What specs am I going to be looking for etc...

-motherboard: ??? I guess what ever will work with the processor. I would like 4 ram slots, that way I can get 2 sticks now and add 2 more sticks later. Might as well go with DDR3 ram Any suggestions on brands to stick with our stay away from???

-ram: I figure two 2 gig sticks of ddr3 for now and add to more later, but what speed of ram should I be looking for, think 4gb is enough for now??

-graphics card: ??? do you think I need one??? Will the onboard graphics of the motherboard be enough, or should I get a graphics card? If so what specs should I be looking for???

-hdd: figured I'd get a 500gig sata drive, maybe 1Tb if I find a good deal. I already have a 1tb external drive for backup.

-OS: I figure I'll go with windows 7 professional 64bit, so there goes like $150 of my budget.

-power supplier: I figure I'll have to wait to see what I'm putting in the case to size it, but I'll get a quality PS.

-cooling fans, do I need more than just the cooling fan in the back of the case???

Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it!!!

I'll keep you guys updated on the build.

Have a good day!

Zach

 

[iceyc0ld]

Here's a nice case that they have on TigerDirect but not on newegg

Case-NZXT LEXS-001BK Lexa S Crafted Series Mid Tower PC Case - ATX, mATX, Baby AT, Black at TigerDirect.com $64.

Ram- Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM $64 Free shipping

Hard Drive-Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AADS 750GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive $60 Free shipping

Wait for the more professional guys to arrive, but I suggested some nice parts. That case is cheap and has good room for stuff. The HDD is 750 GB for $60 so that's nice.

also let me add that ram is 1600 Mhz for $64, that is the ram I have. Pretty good deal.

 

[KJamesJR]

Huh... I clicked this one case and this combo popped up.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

And if you're looking for Windows 7...

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

MOBO is socket AM3, you can upgrade the processor in a year or so (though it's 3.2GHz dual core, so it'll work for what you need). It's also 4-slot DDR3. The RAM is a bit on the slow side, you're not doing any gaming and you said you're adding more later. The PSU seems good and with good reviews, one of the more expensive items there. It's also a Cooler Master, which most of the time can be trusted. The Case is a very low profile Mid ATX, figured you don't want the bells and whistles. Should be plenty of room in there. Disk Drive is on the faster side, I mean... It's a disk drive. Only thing I'm unsure of is the Seagate HDD, I mean... It's no SSD or Cavalier Black, 1TB though and at a good price. All in all, looks solid and should be viable for quite some time.

If your doing 3D rendering then you may want to consider purchasing a GPU. The MOBO does have integrated graphics, however it probably will have troubles on work loads. If you are considering a Graphics/Workstation card, I just recently did some searching on these things... You're looking at an additional $130-$300 investment.

 

[zbhover]

Thanks for the links guys, I just got windows 7 ordered and I've also decided on a processor. Probably a bit of an overkill but I'll be getting an AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4ghz processor. I was looking at the dual cores, then I'm like for a little more I can get a 3ghz quad, then for a little more I can get a 3.2ghz quad, then 3.4............ LOL Anyways if I order it by tomarrow (1-10-11) I can get the processor for 159.99 plus get a $10.00 gift card.

Now I just need to know what MOBO to get and what graphics card. I can always add the graphics card later if I can't afford it now.

I guess what I need to know now is what's a good mobo that would get the most out of this processor without spending a fortune and with planning on getting a good graphics card for it too??? What specs should I be looking for. Do any of these combo deals at newegg look good Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!????

I'd like to get this figured out by tomorrow so that I can get the gift card and combo discount. But if none of those mobo's are all that great I'll just get the processor for now and get a good mobo.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and thanks again for all the help!!!

 

[zbhover]

I guess I should have mentioned that I'd like a mobo with a am3 socket and 4 slots for ddr3 ram

Thanks again!