My first build! w/questions?

[xxrevoxx]

This is my first computer build and I just won't to make sure everything is compatable and updated. If you notice anything I am leaving out, or just any suggestions will be appreciated.

Mother Board MSI K9N2 Diamond Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI, Socket AM2+/AM2, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, Dual Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0, Firewire, eSATA, RAID, HDMI support

CPU AMD Phenom X4 9950 Quad Core Processor HD995ZFAGHBOX - Black Edition, 2.60GHz, 4MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Agena, Quad-Core, Retail, Socket AM2+, Processor with Fan

Case Thermaltake Black Armor Full-Tower ATX Case with 11 External Drive Bays, Clear Side, Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports
SPECS:
Form Factor: ATX Full-Tower
Compatible Motherboards: ATX
Micro ATX
Extended ATX
Bezel Type: Swing Out
Side Panel Type: Clear, Vented, Lockable, Quick-Release
Power Supply: Not Included
Material: Aluminum, Steel
External 5.25" Drive Bays: 10
Internal 3.5" Drive Bays: 6
Expansion Slots: 7
Front USB Ports: 2
Front FireWire Ports: 1
Front Audio Ports: 2
90mm Fans Included: 2
120mm Fans Included: 2
Depth: 22"
Width: 8.6"
Height: 21"

Graphics card XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 Video Card - Black Edition, FREE Call of Duty 4 PC Game, 1GB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDMI, Dual VGA Support

Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB Hard Drive - 7200RPM, 32MB, SATA-300, OEM

RAM Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 2048MB) [I have two orders of these making 8g of ram total]

Disc reader Lite-On DH-4B1S Serial ATA Interface Blu-ray Disc Writer (OEM) - 4x BD-R SL, 2x BD-RE SL, 2x BD-ROM, 12x DVD±R, 4x DVD±R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW [This should play and write blu-rays and dvd/cd]

That is all that I have so far. I am still wondering about a few things. Mainly the power supply. With this I think I should be able to get by with an 800W one, but what if I add another video card, and maybe some more components?

Do I need an internet card, and if so what kind?

What kind of monitor should I get for gaming?

Thanks for the help and any suggestions are welcome.

 

[heister]

uh nice build, idk about the bluray drive... makes sense if you wanna watch movies on your comp but yea.. any way i would go with an intel set up, as for the ram 8 gb is way more than you could possibly need and more than you can use unless you have a 64 Bit OS... other than that nice build

 

[zmatt]

Unless you are really into supporting AMD I would go with an Intel build. A p45 with an e8500 would be a much better bet. Also that bluray drive is a waste of money. Portable hard drives are cheaper and larger for data storage and unless that's a media center pc there isn't much point watching movies on it. I would also go with a Radeon HD 4870 instead of that 9800GX2.

 

[alexsabree]

Unless you are really into supporting AMD I would go with an Intel build. A p45 with an e8500 would be a much better bet. Also that bluray drive is a waste of money. Portable hard drives are cheaper and larger for data storage and unless that's a media center pc there isn't much point watching movies on it. I would also go with a Radeon HD 4870 instead of that 9800GX2.

+1
Agreed.. except I would go with E7200 or E8400 depending on your budget.

 

[zmatt]

I have the e7200, although I would go the next one up now because the e7200 only has a 3mb cache and the e8500 has 6meg

 

[xxrevoxx]

Ok thanks for the support and feedback, but may I ask why dual core and not quad core.

 

[xxrevoxx]

I have been doing somemore research. I'm leaning toward the AMD because the intel is about double priced. What I saw is that the dual cores run current games better than the quads because that is time the game was made. However newer games will utilize the quad cores power better. Please someone correct me if I am wrong. Thanks

 

[Spit-wad]

Pretty much... not many games use quad cores yet... only Crysis and AoC I think?
Quad core would be more "future-proof"

 

[zmatt]

Dual cores tend to run games better because the games aren't geared towards more than 2 threads and the duals tend to have higher clock speeds. This will change soon however because more games are getting more threads.

I'm leaning toward the AMD because the intel is about double priced.

In my research the e8400 beats all the phenoms in gaming. And the e8400 isn't that expensive , its only $169 where the Phenom 9950 BE is $180. So the amd is more expensive, it also has 140 watt tdp ( opposed to the 65watt tdp of the e8400), and they have trouble getting past 3.2ghz, but the e8400 is practically guaranteed to hit 4ghz+. The e8400 only need a beefier hsf to hit 4ghz. The phenom according to apokalipse requires dry ice to hit 4ghz. You can see the discrepancy.

 

[xxrevoxx]

Ok I understand a lot more now. How long do you think it will me before quad cores are utitlized more for gaming. And won't the quad be better for multitasking. If so what are the best quad cores on the market as of now. Thanks to everyone so far for the help.