My First Computer Build... Please Check My Selection and answer questions

[brandonlowe2]

Hello guys,
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*This is my first post, and will be my first computer I have ever built. I have done a fair amount of research, but, there are still a few things I have not figured out... mainly because I didnt know where to look other than product reviews on newegg and tiger direct.
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*The main thing I am not sure about is the Vista 64 bit vs 32 bit... and vista vs xp all together. I want vista because it looks good and it has direct x 10. I want 64 bit because I see everybody on these forums with the good machines has it, and, I want 8 Gb of ram... maby just a pride thing, but I think being able to say I have 8 Gb of ram is awesome! But, my local computer store guy says that xp will run games faster... I understand that because vista takes a faster pc to run period.. but.. with the pc I am wanting to build, I would hope it would be plenty fast enough. Also, this guy says that 64 Bit is bad because it is like a whole different operating system and nothing is compatible with it... so whats up with that?
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*Also, is a Quad Core 2.5 faster than a Core 2 Duo 3.0?
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*Now then... here is the pc I want to build, but, I need all of you who actually already know what you are doing to make sure I am not buying something that I shouldn't. I would like to stay under 1500 if possible because I am also going to be buying a surround sound system and also a 1080p 47" LCD tv which I am going to use as my monitor via a DVI to HDMI cable. This computer is going to be used for gaming (I want to have it built in time for Red Alert 3!) and also for watching HD movies.
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EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 249.99 (I think this is the MB I want, is there any reason not to get this one?)

APEVIA MX-TELSTAR-NW-BK Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case500W Power Supply - Retail 129.00 (Not sure about a case and psu. I am mounting this computer in the wall. I have a closet behind the wall that I will have access to the back panel of all of my computer, tv, sound system, etc. and this room will be cooled and have big fans cooling everything... so, I will not even have the sides on the case... so all I really care about is how the front looks because that is all I will see.)

EVGA 01G-P3-N818-AR GeForce 8800 GT AKIMBO 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 239.99 (might want to add a second later, maby even a third, is that an option with this card?)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail 189.99 (is this the best cpu for this price range, what about for an extra 50 - 100 is there a better value?)

OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR10664GK - Retail 132.99 (will add a second later for 8 gb total)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 59.99 (do i get any better performance with having more space on one drive or can I just add a bigger hd later for storage?)

Pioneer Blu-Ray DVD-ROM and 12X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model BDC-202BK - OEM 159.99

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion 70SB046A00003 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail 179.99 (is having X-Ram really worth 180? what else am I getting here, or would the 780I onboard sound be just as good?)

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail 31.99 (too many fans, dont know what to get, so I got one of the top rated fans)
Windows Vista 64-Bit Pro
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Ok, did I miss anything else I need to get my computer built and running?

 

[thirdshiftdj]

I would switch out to these
xigmatek 1283 cooler ,P45 board and a hd4850

 

[wafflehammer]

that video card is totally not worth it. get a 4850 or 9800 gtx

get a Q6600 quad-core and overclock it

having 8gb of RAM is useless unless you are doing something that actually needs it ..like rendering/encoding etc

case PSU's suck most of the time

 

[veg1992]

You can't Tri-SLI that GPU, and its so not worth the price anyways, agreed with Thirdshift and waffle

 

[CalviNet]

Your question about whether XP or Vista runs faster... I've found that Vista is better on machines that are built to handle it, and if you're going x64, definitely go Vista--XP x64 has tons of driver issues and isn't even supported anymore.

Plus with Vista, you get the ability to use DirectX 10, if you have hardware/software that supports it. If you're going to be doing any gaming, this might matter to you.

 

[NightSurge]

First off, your local computer store guy is an idiot. Vista runs games much faster and with more detail. It requires more memory to do so, but it does run them faster. Secondly, 64bit is NOT a whole different operating system, it is just optimized to allow a more advanced set of programs. ONLY 64bit can run more than 3GB of RAM, so you would have to use 64bit. AND only a few programs are incompatible with 64bit OS's, but most 32bit programs will still run on Vista 64bit and sometimes they run even better on 64bit than they did on 32bit!

I think your local computer store guy needs to catch up.

 

[35g700]

It would be a good idea to get a HD 4850 or an HD 4870 with a crossfire motherboard because those cards are extremely good for the money and they also comes with a DVI to HDMI converter in the box. It may also be a good Idea to get a bigger hard drive because you would be surprised at how fast your drive can fill up (I've filled up mine more then half way and it is 300GB )

I don't know if this is true but I was talking to a guy a circuit city and he said that it is not worth getting blu-ray for your PC because soon you will not be able to play them on your computer due to copyright issues but i'm not sure.

 

[Spit-wad]

I don't know if this is true but I was talking to a guy a circuit city and he said that it is not worth getting blu-ray for your PC because soon you will not be able to play them on your computer due to copyright issues but i'm not sure.

Sounds like BS to me... a blu-ray drive in your computer should not act any differently than a blu-ray player... and I work at Circuit City

For the setup you're getting, a blu-ray drive seems perfectly logical.

 

[Redmo0n]

Are you going to be doing anything with the blue-ray? Or is it just a extra feature.

64 bit Vista is great and i wish i had it.

Get either a 4850 or a 9800GTX (Try order your parts of newegg and build yourself or get the computer store to build it.)

You could probably go with a different sound card since i think the f4t4l1ty brand is probably overpriced and not even that good.

When asking about "Is a Quad @ 2.5 faster than a Dual @ 3.0" you have to take into consideration that the chips are very similar (Dual core @ say 2.5 and a Quad @ 2.5 will run basically the same) but of course since the dual is @ 3.0 it runs faster, thats not to say the Quad is bad, since it has 4 cores they will be utilized for gaming in the future and will help with lots of task running simultaneously on the computer. My friend has a q6600 @ 2.4ghz and my E6550 is @ 3.0ghz and we load most things pretty much that same, usually i am only a few seconds faster.

Overall i think if you want this computer for a while and you will be running multiple applications on it, go for a quad core.




Also please call your local pc guy an idiot for me :happy:

 

[brandonlowe2]

Ok, I am thinking now that I will go with the 9800GTX... I just really want an Nvidia card... I dont really have any reason, hmm, I really dont have a reason not to go with ati. Does it have a physics controller built in or should I get one? is it even a big deal?

RedMoOn, yes, I hope to be able to watch Blue-Ray movies. I am hoping for this pc to be my "entertainment" system for games, movies, music and all. I do not care about burning blue ray because since this pc will be my player, any hi def home video that would need to be burned can just be saved on the pc (yes i know i need alot of HD space) and I can play it from the hd.

Yes, I agree that the f4t4l1ty card is high on price... the only reason I was thinking about it is for the "X-Ram" is has. Do other cards feature this? Is it really a feature that is worth investing in?