Another "Building my first pc" thread

[stickbob]

Hey,
after umming and aahing for a long, long time about whether to just buy a pc or try to build one for myself, I finally decided to opt for the latter option. I know a reasonable amount about comps, but I've never gone further than installing the odd component here and there etc. Building from scratch seems a much more daunting challenge. Anyway, this is what I've come up with.

Asustek S775 Intel X38 ATX Audio Lan

Antec Nine Hundred/Ultimate Gamer Case

Antec TruePower Quattro 850W PSU

Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4GHz S775 CPU

MSI GeForce 8800GTS DDR3 Overclocked 512MB Dual DVI Graphics

Crucial 4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300

Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB S300 16MB

Samsung 20x dvd writer SATA BLACK LIGHTSCRIBE

Samsung Pebble SM2232BW 22" TFT Monitor Widescreen

Vista Home Premium Edition

I'd love some advice generally about the selection, about whether all those components will work together, if there's any of them that I could swap with something else to save money without losing performance etc etc. It comes out at about £1100 by my reckoning.

Any help would be gratefully accepted. I bow to your superior wisdom.

 

[floppybootstomp]

No need to bow, just peel me a grape

All good but instead of Antec get a power supply by either Corsair; Tagan; Enermax; OCZ or Seasonic.

Antec made PSU's for a couple of years that crapped out after 18 months or so, I don't know if they've addressed the fault but I wouldn't take a chance.

And your 32 bit operating system will not see 4Gb of memory, only 3 or 3.5Gb of it and Vista runs nicely on 2Gb RAM.

However, memory is cheap at the moment and 4Gb certainly won't do any harm.

You may also want to consider a DVD-ROM drive to copy disks from, save you swapping disks in and out of one tray, they're only about 14 quid.

 

[stickbob]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply. Consider the grape peeled, rinsed, dusted with sugar and served to you on a big silver platter. I didn't know about the power supply issue so thanks for the warning and alternate suggestions. I knew about the RAM thing , but it was only £10 to go from 2GB to 4GB, so I thought meh, what the hell, it's only money. I'll think about the extra drive, but that's one of those little things that come after the main thing is done, and it's mainly just for backing up files from the HD so probly doesn't matter too much.
Cheers for the help

Edit: After looking at some other options, I've come up with the OCZ Technology 700W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready PSU

 

[ferrus]

That's so weird. That's the EXACT spec I originally had, though I've tweaked it here and there. Here's it's current spec:

Spec so far:

CPU: Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4GHz S775: http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...58803,404930000

Motherboard: XFX S775 nForce 680i LT SLI DDR2 ATX: http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...70000,410630000

RAM: Corsair Memory 4GBKIT (2X2GB) 800MHZ: http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...953914,12,50113

PSU: 750W Silverstone ST75F modular, SLi Quad +12V rail: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...roductID=499627

CD Drive: ASUS 2014L1T 20xDVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, x14 DVD-RAM, SATA: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...roductID=713202

HD: Western Digital Caviar 250GB S300 16MB 7200RPM: http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...0000,4294960493

CPU cooling: Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower Cooler: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...roductID=256319

Case: Antec 900 - Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case with 200m Top Fan w/o PSU: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...oductID=501972#

GPU: 512MB XFX 8800GTS, Alpha Dog, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 1940MHz, GDDR3, GPU 650MHz, 2x Dual Link DVI/HDTV: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...roductID=719623

Monitor: 22" Samsung SM-2232BW Black Widescreen LCD, 1680x1050, 3000:1, 300 cd/m2, 2ms: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...roductID=679564

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD): http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Prod...roductID=527300

Total: £1112


Unless of course you just went in this thread and copied my spec.

I'm also thinking about changing to this case: http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=6398&category_id=237

 

[floppybootstomp]

ferrus: Your Scan links don't work, probably because you took the links when you were logged into your Scan user account.

If you want your links to work either log out of Scan or clear your cache then try again.

And it is a common courtesy to keep all your specs to your own thread, thank you. Ok to comment here, but please keep your own enquiries/request for comments to your own thread. Thank you

While I'm here though, I haven't commented on the Stacker case because I know nothing about it. I also know nothing about Silverstone PSU's but I do know the five makes I constantly recommend are good.

And the Antec 900 is positively the best case I've ever owned.

My other cases at the moment are a Lian Li PC61; an Antec Sonata Mk 1 and a Thermaltake Bach Silver Media case.

I base my recommendations on my own experience and feedback from the members of this and other Forums.

And finally....

Stickbob - a fine power supply, will do the job admirably

 

[ferrus]

Sorry.

Also don't know why the Scan links do not work, wasn't logged in.

 

[stickbob]

Lol Ferrus. Actually, your thread is the one that I was linked to when I found this site, just searching Google for PC building tips. I didn't steal any of your ideas though, honest...well, ok, I may have changed my CPU choice after seeing yours . I found everything else beforehand though. The Antec case was the first thing I came across. It's...just...so...shiny And so is the monitor...I like shiny things

Thanks for all the help...err...do you prefer Floppy, or Mr BootStomp? Well cheers anyway. I'm glad I found this place.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Lol Ferrus. Actually, your thread is the one that I was linked to when I found this site, just searching Google for PC building tips. I didn't steal any of your ideas though, honest...well, ok, I may have changed my CPU choice after seeing yours . I found everything else beforehand though. The Antec case was the first thing I came across. It's...just...so...shiny And so is the monitor...I like shiny things

Shiny shiny.

Actually the 900 case ain't that shiny but I sure do like the look of it.

The Samsung monitor though is deffo most shiny

Thanks for all the help...err...do you prefer Floppy, or Mr BootStomp? Well cheers anyway. I'm glad I found this place.

Just call me Slippery Sid for that be my online gaming name

 

[stickbob]

I do a lot of 3D modelling for my uni course which obviously likes a lot of graphics power. If I wanted more graphics power, would I be better going for a second graphics card and different motherboard with SLI, or just a higher spec card? For about £80 more I could have the 768MB card.

 

[Abarbarian]

I have read nearly all the reviews for the 8800's listed in the "Quick News" "News Editions" by Sexy Bex and there is some very good and suprising info there , well worth a read .

 

[Me__2001]

I do a lot of 3D modelling for my uni course which obviously likes a lot of graphics power. If I wanted more graphics power, would I be better going for a second graphics card and different motherboard with SLI, or just a higher spec card? For about £80 more I could have the 768MB card.

what program do you use? for my uni course i use CATIA and i also dabble with solidworks and autocad, all of which run fine on my 7600GS, you really dont need to be going for the top of the range cards, a decent CPU and loads of RAM is a good idea though

 

[floppybootstomp]

To comment just on the sli vs single card issue.

I'd go for the best single card you can afford, sli is somewhat overrated.

Of course, as ME_2001 mentioned, although a top end card will serve you well with games, cards over a certain technical level will give you no advantage for your work.

 

[stickbob]

Me__2001: I use 3DS Max mainly, as well as Combustion and After Effects occasinally. It's not really the modelling though. Its the rendering. A complex scene can take hours to render and anything that helps cut that time down is good.

floppybootstomp: I do want to play games on it as well, so perhaps I will get a better card. My comp at the mo has no chance of playing UT3.