Another "Building My Own PC" Thread

thegamer4787

thegamer4787

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Hey everyone, I have decided to build my first PC. I’ve got some parts in mind, but I wanted to run some of my ideas by some knowledgeable users to make sure that I don’t make any novice mistakes. The only components that I need now are a hard drive and a keyboard/mouse.

Hard Drive: I want something around 400GB-500GB

Keyboard/Mouse: I am looking at keyboard/mouse combos from logitech at the moment. Any deals posted would be appreciated.

Purchased Items
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 ($199.99)

Video Card: PNY XLR8 8800GT 512MB DDR3 Graphics Card ($160 (After Rebate))

Monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 2220wm ($199.99)

Sound Card: Razer Barracuda AC-1 ($49.99 (after GCO))

Ram: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 ($44.99)

Optical Drive: Samsung Black (Combo Burner) ($29.99)

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard ($89.99)

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower ($69.99 shipped (AR))

Power Supply: Real Power Pro 750 Watt ATX ($75 shipped (AR))

Any helpful tips will be greatly appreciated.
 
PROCESSOR
Anyways, for your processor, you should go for a Q6600. I got mines 3 weeks ago and it's amazing. It's even $10 cheaper than your Wolfdale. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
The reason why I'm recommending it is because it's easily overclocked. I mean 2.4 Ghz -> 3.0 Ghz just by doing a simple tape mod. You don't even have to change the voltages or anything so it's super safe. (See here: http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t58361.html)

RAM
For ram, I'd either go with the G-Skill (2 X 1 GB) at DDR2 800 for $45 with free shipping. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
If you want buy faster ram for $15 more, they have the G-Skill (2 X 1 GB) at DDR 1066 for $60 with free shipping here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144
Your motherboard supports both of those. My friend just got the DDR2 800 sticks (4GB) and they run great.

VIDEO CARD
Video Card time... you like the EVGA, but I'd save money and go with anotehr brand. For instance at Amazon... http://www.amazon.com/PNY-XLR8-8800GT-512MB-Graphics/dp/B000XD1JJK

They have the PNY 8800GT 512MB DDR3 XLR8 for only $160 after $40 rebate. It's a sweet deal. Or you can go with what I bought. An MSI 8800GT with Custom Heatsink for $189.99 after rebate... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

SOUND CARD
That buy.com link for the sound card is a great price. I believe it was $50 yesterday or two days ago though.

CASE
For a case, you should check this out... http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8428604&type=product&id=1183160363476
Normal price is $120 but on Fatwallet (See here: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/top...id=814904&highlight_key=y&keyword1=Rocketfish) it's being reported on clearance at $48. It's not a POS case either, it's actually built by Lian Li and rebadged.
 
I was *just* looking at that Amazon.com PNY 8800GT deal before I saw your reply Pootie Thang. I am thinking about just shelling out the $200 for this card now. Does anyone else have any opinions on the matter?

Thanks for the reply, by the way, Pootie Thang.

Edit: It seems that this video card runs pretty hot. Does anyone have one of these cards? If so, are you happy with it?
 
Get the 9600GT. Good performance/price ratio.

If you're in the area of a Micro Center, get your Q6600 there for $199, which beats even Newegg. Though if you're going to overclock, it may be better to hold off on the Q6600 and get one of the 65nm duo chips that overclock well. You could save a minimum of $100 by doing so. Then in a year or two go for one of the 45nm duos or quads as an upgrade once they get their first price drop.

The Gigabytes are good boards. Be advised that the ATX12V plug is in a weird spot that can make attaching coolers tricky. Depends on the cooler. If you're overclocking a Q6600 you're going to need to get rid of a lot of heat. The E8400 not so much, though it's not so easily overclocked supposedly.
 
I just built a PC for a friend using that Gigabyte mobo. It got his 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo up to 3.0 GHz no prob. I'm thinking about using it for my next build. It's great. I plan on taking a q6600 up to 3.6 GHz on it.
 
[quote name='thegamer4787']I was *just* looking at that Amazon.com PNY 8800GT deal before I saw your reply Pootie Thang. I am thinking about just shelling out the $200 for this card now. Does anyone else have any opinions on the matter?

Thanks for the reply, by the way, Pootie Thang.

Edit: It seems that this video card runs pretty hot. Does anyone have one of these cards? If so, are you happy with it?[/quote]

I just bought the PNY 8800GT from Amazon earlier today. Based on Toms and other hardware sites, the 8800 still bests the 9600 in most gameplay tests. For $160 after rebate, you can't really go wrong.
 
My dilemma at the moment is whether to go with the E8400 Wolfdale or the Q6600 cpu. It seems that at the moment the higher clock speed of the E8400 will better support gaming. However, what about the future when games utilize more than 2 cores effectively? The processors are floating around the same price.
 
My gut tells me it will be many years before games start demanding quad+ cores. AFAIK, most games still don't utilize dual cores very well.

Besides, the processor usually isn't the system bottleneck for gaming. SupCom is the only game I can think of that really requires massive processing power.
 
samsung makes good/cheap dvd burners. i bought mine last october for about the same price. if you look, they have others with lightscribe in the same price range.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140
seagate barracuda - works well; i've currently got one, thinking of picking up a second.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001
corsair makes nice power supplies (and they have 5 year warranties and unbeatable customer service). i'm using that one. i know a guy who uses the same one to power his machine and he's running a raid 6 config--using the barracuda drives--no problems. it might be cheaper on buy.com (that's where i bought mine from in october--saved me about $20).

me, i like the look of concealed cases so i'd go with the antec p182 otherwise, the antec 900 is solid and will keep your machine nice and cool.
 
For the case I recommended the Antec P182/180B. Not only does it have great airflow its also has sound dampening built in so its quiet too.

Corsair, PC Power & Cooling and of course Seasonic (The good Corsair and PCP&C psus are made by Seasonic) are great PSUs. I have a Silencer 750 and its dead quiet.

Go for the new 1 platter HDs, they are superfast.

My Q6600 G0 is at 3240 at 1.3v.

Oh I have an extra P180B with a Silencer 750 installed and pre wired and a sealed boxed retail Q6600 G0 for sale if you are interested.
 
Oh get a decent aftermarket cooler if you are going to overclock. The coolermaster 212 and the artic freezer 7 pro are cheap coolers thatll keep your processor cool.
 
Alright, so far I've gotten in the $160 (After Rebate) PNY 8800GT deal from amazon and the sound card deal that I linked to.

Right now, I'm leaning toward the Wolfdale 3.0GHz CPU, but it looks like it will end up costing me around $250. Would it be worth it to invest in a Dual Core CPU clocked a bit lower instead (like 2.67 or so)? Basically, I don't want my machine to be bottlenecked by my CPU.

I suppose that the Q6600 isn't out of the question either. I've read a bit about dual vs quad core arguments and is seems as though people just argue back and forth and I'm not able so see any true resolve in the issue. From what I gather the higher clocked Wolfdale CPU would benefit me now, whereas the Q6600's extra cores would benefit me in the future (with respect to games, of course). I could be completely off on the issue; let me know if I am.
 
Have you checked out this awesome CPU comparison tool at Tom's Hardware? Select two processors you want to compare + a common benchmark and see the results. Your processors will be highlighted in red.
 
[quote name='Serik']Have you checked out this awesome CPU comparison tool at Tom's Hardware? Select two processors you want to compare + a common benchmark and see the results. Your processors will be highlighted in red.[/QUOTE]

It's funny, I was actually on that site when you posted this. So yeah, I've been using that tool (it's great), and I'm debating about possibly going with an E6750 (~$190) as opposed to an E8400 (~$260).
 
The E6750 is the processor I'm currently eying. From what I gather, it has one of the better price/performance ratios in that range of Intel chips. It's also supposed to overclock like a champ, even on stock cooling.
 
[quote name='Serik']The E6750 is the processor I'm currently eying. From what I gather, it has one of the better price/performance ratios in that range of Intel chips. It's also supposed to overclock like a champ, even on stock cooling.[/QUOTE]

The more I read about the E6750, the more I am leaning toward buying it. If I find a good deal on the CPU, I'll post some details in this thread. If you wouldn't mind Serik, if you find a good deal on the E6750 would you please post it in this topic?
 
Absolutely. The best price I've found is $190 shipped from Amazon.

As much as I love NewEgg, paying 8.5% sales tax in California really ruins many of their deals.
 
[quote name='thegamer4787']The more I read about the E6750, the more I am leaning toward buying it. If I find a good deal on the CPU, I'll post some details in this thread. If you wouldn't mind Serik, if you find a good deal on the E6750 would you please post it in this topic?[/QUOTE]
At best you'll be able to get the E6750 for $30-40 less than the Q6600, and that to me isn't worth two less cores despite the E6750 clocking slightly faster. Two cores OCed to ~3.4GHz for ~$175 or four cores at ~3.0 GHz (and that's conservative OCing) for $199? I'd take the latter, as it would set you up nicely for whatever comes along in the next few years.

If you're gonna buy the 65nm process chips, either get a hell of a deal on something cheap that you can OC easily and replace in a year (like an E4500) or get a hell of a deal on something a little pricier that you can OC to serve your purposes for a while (like a Q6600). The E6750 isn't a bad chip, the pricing on it just hasn't moved much.

Tom's hardware actually did a feature on Q6600 vs. E6750 a while back, and they went with the Q6600. Now that the price gap between the two has narrowed even more, I'd say the Q6600 is a lock.

EDIT: Just to reiterate, I think the best option is going with a much cheaper E4500, which you can get sub-$100 and overclock like a champ, and wait for the 45nm to settle in. Hopefully pricing will have come in a bit by the time the ~2.8GHz you get out of the E4500 no longer cuts the mustard. It'll save you cash in the long run and give you an idea of how necessary those two extra cores are when it comes time to upgrade.
 
[quote name='Serik']The Q6600 goes for $250 everywhere I've looked; if it were $200, I'd buy it in a second.[/QUOTE]
Micro Center. They've had the deal going for nearly a month now. It's a brick and mortal deal, so the price comparison assumes you've got an MC nearby.
 
[quote name='dothog']Micro Center. They've had the deal going for nearly a month now. It's a brick and mortal deal, so the price comparison assumes you've got an MC nearby.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I've been thinking about checking my local MicroCenter for the Q6600. However, the clock speed is 2.4 GHZ, and if I wanted to overclock I'd have to purchase a cooler as well. I agree that investing in a quad-core processor seems to be a wise choice (assuming that I could nab one for ~$200 + tax), but I'm trying to keep my PC build cost-effective (the extra cooling hardware for overclocking adds $).

Currently, quad-core CPUs seem to be lacking in terms of gaming (for obvious reasons, as games are not currently made to take advantage of more than 2 cores very efficiently). According to some charts on Tom's Hardware, the E6750 outranks the Q6600 in terms of gaming. I suppose that I just need to have more faith that future games will truly use the power of over 2 cores.
 
[quote name='thegamer4787']Yeah, I've been thinking about checking my local MicroCenter for the Q6600. However, the clock speed is 2.4 GHZ, and if I wanted to overclock I'd have to purchase a cooler as well. I agree that investing in a quad-core processor seems to be a wise choice (assuming that I could nab one for ~$200 + tax), but I'm trying to keep my PC build cost-effective (the extra cooling hardware for overclocking adds $).

Currently, quad-core CPUs seem to be lacking in terms of gaming (for obvious reasons, as games are not currently made to take advantage of more than 2 cores very efficiently). According to some charts on Tom's Hardware, the E6750 outranks the Q6600 in terms of gaming. I suppose that I just need to have more faith that future games will truly use the power of over 2 cores.[/QUOTE]
Most overclockers would recommend that you don't use stock cooling. I'm not "most OCers," I'm an amateur and a cheap one at that, so I can dig on wanting to save some cash. If you're going to goose the E6750 to ~3.4GHz, you're going to need a decent cooling solution. I can't say if the stock heatsink/fan will provide that.

All I know is that if you increase the voltage you increase the heat exponentially. I'm more comfortable with as cool a CPU as I can get, so I use a lapped Tuniq to keep my core duo ice cold. It's the only extravagance in my build. People say it's overkill, and they're right, but the way I look at it, it's something I'll eventually need in order to OC once I upgrade to something quad. (Including the Q6600--even at $199, which is an awesome price, I'm not sure if those extra cores are worth it. I'm holding out hopes that I'll be able to find one of the 45nm quads two summers from now at a decent price.)

I think you've got a good build going. I'd still push the new 9600GT on you. It's a great deal and it'll save money over one of the 8800s. And I also think you've still got money to save on your CPU. Right now, for gaming anything over 2.6-2.8GHz is gravy. Why not take advantage of that, overclock a cheaper duo to ~3.0GHz (which should be reasonable performance for long enough), and pocket the savings?
 
I just picked up a Q6600 Go CPU for $199.99 at MicroCenter, so I'll be using that in my build. Also, I already bit on the $160 (After Rebate) Amazon.com deal for my 8800GT.

So Serik, if I find any deals on the E6750, I'll post them here because I assume that you are still looking for one.
 
[quote name='thegamer4787']I just picked up a Q6600 Go CPU for $199.99 at MicroCenter, so I'll be using that in my build.[/QUOTE]
Good luck. The Q6600 G0 is a big favorite among OCers. I remember last fall I read a guy on AnandTech bragging about how he could get it to ~3.4 (stable) on stock cooling and 4.0 with some badass liquid cooled system. I think you'll be really happy with it. It sounds like you can get it to a very comfortable 3.0GHz, which will be fast enough for a while. If you're willing to OC and you want four cores, the Q6600 at $200 is an unbeatable deal. Here's hoping your build goes together nicely...
 
No MicroCenter nearby :( Hell, I'm leaving on a roadtrip tomorrow and none are along our anticipated route either. So I'll probably stick to a
 
Alright, so at this point I need to find a great Power Supply rated around 650W and a great Case. I was looking at this deal, but it seems that the PSU in the bundle could have gotten higher review scores:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

The Antec Case is part of a newegg.com bundle with a 650W Antec PSU. However, I believe that this deal ends tomorrow.

Edit: After reading more about the Antec PSU, I think I'll pass. However, the newegg deal on the Antec 900 case seems pretty good.
 
[quote name='Serik']No MicroCenter nearby :( Hell, I'm leaving on a roadtrip tomorrow and none are along our anticipated route either. So I'll probably stick to a
 
I just built a system last week and went with this,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182070
I got it on sale for 109 so it was a good deal.
But I had a butt load of extra plugs to have to deal with inside the case....
So if I were to it again I'd go with a modular plug power supply so I could only plug in the power cables I was needing.... something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152026

Only prob with that one is the fact that it ,might not have the juice you were needing.


edit: that one you have posted looks like a good one though
 
Updated the original post with potential parts and links. Please feel free to comment on the motherboard, psu, and case choices (including prices).
 
Thanks Rags. I was looking at buying that exact burner from newegg, given its great price and review scores, but it's always good to hear that another cag is happy with it.
 
I went with a Western Digital 500 GB HD, but still have not found a way to get the partition to go for the full 500 GB. Someone later told me that it's a WD problem that does not "allow" the computer to recognize ove 130 gGB, and there is some patch you have to get.

So, I'd b leary with a Western Digital drive if your getting a large hard drive size
 
Hey guys, I've finally put my build together and all seemed to be running fine (I was looking at some of the bios settings), but after about 1 or 2 minutes of being powered on, my computer will just shut itself off without warning. I'm thinking that it may be some sort of power or heat/temperature related issue, but I'm not positive. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Yeah that sounds like a heat issue. Try looking at the temperatures in your bios or download speed fan (which a quick google search should find). Also try leaving your case open when you power it up to check if all the fans are running. Maybe you just forgot to plug one in.
 
Thanks for the help DrFoo, just before checking this thread for replies, I did notice that my CPU temperature was much too high. I need to double check that the CPU cooler is installed correctly.
 
Make sure all 4 plastic "feet" are securely fastened onto the motherboard. You should hear a click for each feet as you gently using mild pressure to push each of them down individually. Once they're all in the fan should not move what-so-ever.
 
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