Another Newb Building First Computer, Need Some Guidance

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BlueHiddenSun

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Hello, I am new to the computer building world but not to the internet forum world. I am an extreme car enthusiast and have been on car forums for the last 10 years. This is my first membership in an unfamiliar territory so please, be gentle.

I have spent the last 3-4 months bouncing around the internet trying to establish a high performace gaming computer and this is my first attempt at asking for proper guidance from people who understand a lot more about gaming computers than I do.

I have compiled a list of possible components to the computer I want to build. Friends of mine have suggested that I am being "too extreme" and just buying the "most expensive" components, but I honestly have done some research to create a, some-what, decent (so I think) gaming computer. So enough of my babbling, here is my list...

Case: NZXT Zero 2 Full Tower
Power: Corsair TX750W
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition
Motherboard: Asus M3N78 PRO
RAM: Corsair Dual-Ch TwinX 4GB PC 6400 800MHz
Video: XFX GeForce 9800GT 512MB
Sound: Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
DVD/Blu-Ray: LG Super Multi Blu-Ray/HD-DVD
Hard Drive: ????? Not Sure - looking for some input
Ethernet: D-Link DGE 530T

Budget: $1500

The Zero 2 Case comes with two 120 fans in the rear and one 120 in the front with the option of one 80 at the top one 80 at the bottom and four 120s on the side, so I wasn't 100% sure on how much of that I wanted to take advantage of. What are possible candidates for fans? I am an LED fanatic, so my first instinct is to have LEDs in all the fans, but will the LED fans affect the gaming?

Nothing has been purchased, just trying to get something together. In the world of cars, I just don't want to try and put a "1,000 Horsepower engine into a 1908 Ford Model T."

All I need is some advice from people who know more about this subject than I do, as I would help any new member on the car forums I am currently a member of.

Thanks in advance.

-Blue
 
Honestly, you could do much better than that for $1500

Give me a minute and I will make a new parts list for you.

Here ya go... much much better computer for the money.

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - LG Black 6X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model GGC-H20L - Blu-Ray Drives

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

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

Total: $1396.92 (not including whatever case you want)

You don't need an ethernet card, the ethernet ports on the mobo work perfectly.

The onboard sound will also do just fine unless you have nice speakers.

That case will be fine. LED fans don't affect anything. You can have as many as you like. I would get these fans if you want new ones and just stick some cold cathodes in your case for lighting. That way you will get a high quality fan and still have your lights

Newegg.com - Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan - Case Fans

Newegg.com - Case Accessories,cold cathodes

EDIT: If you wanted to drop the price a little bit to allow more money for the case and other accessories, you could go with one of these cards. They are both awesome cards

Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
 
I second pinschers build, pretty much the performance i7 template atm, that build will kick***
 
Yeah, for 1500 bucks you could do way better. I third the i7 build.

My only suggestion is change out the PSU: Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Cheaper, and Corsair is a great brand.

Also, I would get a different motherboard and save some cash: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

It's cheaper than the EVGA even after the combo deal, and it's combo'd with the same kit of RAM.

So to rework the build a bit...

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - LG Black 6X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model GGC-H20L - Blu-Ray Drives

1352.47 after shipping, with 70 bucks back in MIRs. Only thing missing is a case. You can skimp on the video card if you don't need that much power, also little extras like fans and such you can decide on later.

As for case recommendations.

This case is $140 with free shipping, and you can get an extra 15 bucks off with the coupon code at the top of the page. Great airflow, loads of room, great case.
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

If you're looking for something a little cheaper, this one is 55 bucks with free shipping, and still a great case, just with less room:
Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Also, if you wanted an after market HSF, grab this stuff:
Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-LGA1366 LGA 1366 Core I7 Retention Bracket - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

$50 with 10 bucks back in an MIR. Free shipping.
 
Go with the biostar Tpowerx58 that's the baord i want to get when i make my i7 build, either that or a ud5 if i have the money. The biostar tpower is great for the price. Priced in a p6t range, performs in the evga x58 range.
 
First off, let me thank all of you that provided me with the information I was looking for. Unfortunately my budget of $1500 has been cut drastically. I am going to be in more of a $600-$700 range not including a monitor or keyboard/mouse. I recently purchased a HDTV (hence the decreased budget) and will be using that as a monitor with a wireless keyboard/mouse setup.

With that said, I am obviously going for a more basic system. Something to check e-mail, browse the internet and possibly be able to run a few games. (Sims, NFS Underground and some Movie Editing software).

I've spent the last few weeks on the forum trying to search and tone down my gaming build but really haven't been able to narrow anything down.

Think you guys can point me in the right direction again?

-Blue
 
Ok, you can actually get that Phenom build at the beginning for that price..

Rosewill RC-430
Jetway JAHA06
PII X4 940
Antec 300
4GB G-Skill DDR2 1066
HD 4850
Sound Card, Optical Drive is your choice, but I'd wait on the sound card; since that's probably the easiest thing to upgrade in a rig
TRENDnet TEW-432BRP
 
Here, put a nice build together for you, way under budget. This can be tweaked.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Total comes to $522.49 after shipping, Doesn't include a DVD burner, mainly because all of the good ones are out of stock right now. That will add at most maybe 30 more bucks.

Now, we have some room to mess around. We can get you a better video card, we can throw in a dedicated sound card if you want a full receiver setup, we can get a better case, better PSU, etc. All the parts I have for you are solid already, but it's a matter of preference.
 
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