tips for a new guy building a rig

[Sazdek]

well after much browsing of this forum and vent conversations with my guild ive decided i may give a crack at building my own rig. so far ive got a few of the parts suggested to me but then i game to a bit of a startling realization that perhaps i may end up forgetting something. so, sans a keyboard mouse monitor what are kind of a list of things i need? im going to keep this thread updated mostly for myself as a refrence point and adding in points for parts i need, doing research, finding compatabilities, and posting my results here to be scrutinized and hopefully flamed to hell. edit: my budget is up to and around 1100 with a bit of leeway on it. i dont need all sorts of super extravagant parts. everything just needs to fit together and not blow up.

anyways here's what ive got thus far:

cpu: i5-2500 sandy bridge http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-073-_-Product
Motherboard: ASUS P8H67-M http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131686
Graphics: Radeon 6850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-348-_-Product
Internal HD: Western Digital http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-534-_-Product
Ram: ripjaw 8g http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-308-_-Product
case: Antec 300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066
power supply: Antec 80+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-015-_-Product


this setup is at about $754.89 *squeal*
much thanks to imRAGING for helping me via pm to pick out some parts and further fine tune this setup while keeping costs low. much love bro

OS: wind 7 (duh)

Mouse: Razer Naga
Keyboard: Logitech G510

by all means, criticize me. im trying a crash course in how to do this in roughly 1-2 weeks.

[Nab]

For the Video card i would get: ATI Radeon HD 5700
http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt...-overview.aspx

And Ram: get about 4G it should be more then enough.

[Sazdek]

any perticular reason why? performance wise is it better or is it personal preference?

[Fuzzbutt]

Parts to seriously consider are your MOBO, Ram, graphics card, CPU, PSU and Hard drive. Fancier cases cost more, but you can get a good metal one (Antec 300) for around $50.

There really isn't much to criticize about what you've provided so far. If you're looking for a board with that many PCI express slots, though, I assume you're thinking about upgrading to more than one graphics card in the future.

Not only does WoW not take advantage of Crossfire/SLI, but the board you chose only supports Crossfire. If you're looking for a multi-card set-up in the future, I would suggest selecting an AMD graphics card if you are set on this mobo or else a mobo that is compatible with SLI.

It also scares me a little when anyone suggests a mobo that costs more than their graphics card. I'd also throw in that your mouse costs more than your graphics card. I'd suggest a better graphics card. ;p

[Phocket]

Make sure your motherboard is the same socket type as the processor (in your case, it should be an AM3 socket). Also, check the DDR specifications of the ram (DDR, DDR2, or DDR3). Personally, i'm running an AMD Athlon II X3 (unlocked 4th core) @ 3.0ghz, 4gb of DDR3 Corsair Ram, Nvidia GTS 450 Fermi 1024mb GDDR5 video card and an Asus mobo (can't remember exactly which one and slightly too lazy to look it up).

Cases are more of an aesthetic thing, but generally a Thermaltake or Coolermaster case works well. As far as the graphics card you're mentioning, i'd upgrade that to at least a Nvidia 450 or higher (personal bias against Radeon, all their cards have burnt out on me within a year).

Power supply: I run my rig with a 600w PSU. If you want to go SLI or Crossfire or plan on overclocking, i'd get nothing less than about 750w.

Edit: Noticed you were on Laughing Skull, I am as well lol.

[Sazdek]

well if this gives you guys any clue....i had to google wtf you meant when you said mobo >.< (is .02% more technically savvy now)

and phocket your name looks familiar as hell....i know ive seen you somewhere D=

on a last note, the mouse was a birthday present =3

[soapy]

I'm surprised no one has told you not to buy a 6 core processor. It's a complete waste unless you are ripping and encoding bluray movies, producing your own HD video or doing some massive multitasking. And multitasking, I'm talking 20+ things at once.
If this is a gaming rig, not many games out there utilize more than 4 cores, WoW only uses 2. Save some cash and get a Phenom 2 4 core. You won't see a performance difference. I actually prefer the intel CPU's for superior performance. a i5 will cost you less and almost double your processor power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115074
For instance. That CPU has on-board graphics capabilities (if you were building a simple PC). 32nm manufacture tech (means lower power consumption and lower heat, greater OC capability) and has auto turbo boost up to 3.4 Ghz. And it costs less than that quad core, and will out-perform it. I have a i7 920 and it blows that 6 core out of the water... here is a CPU Hierarchy Chart.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...x4,2791-6.html (most recent I could find on Google.

I suggest you make the switch over to Intel for this build. You will be much happier.

Also Intel has support for triple channel memory, which also increases performance. So I'd go with either 6 gig, or 12 gig. I have 6 and haven't had any issues yet.

PSU: Go with a modular http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817207003 is a sick one.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Corsair%20800d is my dream case. Oterhwise your case is up to you. The only thing cases provide is a mount for your parts, and cooling. so your application will determine the type of case. You should research this one on your own.

[Sazdek]

updated with what i think is the correct ram though im trying to figure out which stats between the cpu and ram im trying to match up T.T

[soapy]

You need uto update your Mobo to something that i5 can fit into...
like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138289

then RAM as well...
like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231225

I tried to keep the prices near each other.

Your case.. It has a bottom mounted PSU. thats find and dandy.. unless your computer will be placed on carpet. If it is, that Case won't allow your PSU to get any air and could cause a over-heating issue. Just make sure it's on a desk, a board... something that will allow air in through the bottom.

[Sazdek]

updated PS, mobo, and cpu.

what should i be matching up with my graphics card? is it my motherboard?

edit: yeah considering im going to be putting a lot of time and effort into this i dont think my computer will even see carpet let alone sit on it =D if need be i might build a mounting bracket into my desk just to keep this thing off the ground.

[Phocket]

just checked back in on this, make sure you're not buying an AMD motherboard for an Intel processor. That will not end well when you get the parts shipped to you.

For my setup I listed above, I can run WoW on Ultra with an average of 40-50 fps in Org, and spent less than $400 on parts (had an old case lying around...only thing I could salvage was the DVD drive from it.) That being said, you can spend a decent amount of money on parts that will last you for the next few years or you can go budget with your build.

[SugaRush22]

does it have to be AMD? the 6 cores really dont matter right now for gaming. The new sandy bridges are out from intel and i have a pretty good build for you that its just a little over your budget but you can modify as you like. plus i built this with upgrading in mind. like a new i7 chip in 2 years and maybe another video card for crossfire later. If you get the mobo thats is a step below this one and only get the 4 gs of ram, you can drop the power supply to a 750 and save almost $200

case www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
Hard drive www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136770
video card www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125348
power supply www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009
Ramx2 www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
motherboard www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128464
CPU www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115076
Windows OEM www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
Disk Drive www .newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Sorry didnt take into account for mouse and keyboard and i cant post links yet so your going to have to copy and paste and put them back together

[Sazdek]

aren't i missing things like an internal hard drive and my disc drive and such? like i said...im exceptionally nubtastic at all this..

[SugaRush22]

opps sorry forgot to add the disk drive, ill update it in a sec

[Fuzzbutt]

Intel CPUs are nice, but if you aren't doing anything much more intensive than playing WoW, that's an extra $100 that you would be much better off sinking into your video card.

You can get a good AMD CPU for around $150 and a good mobo for around $100. I would suggest a graphics card by a reputable brand and a nice PSU that will last you awhile. When I was building my first desktop, I was told a good PSU can last around 10 years and a bad PSU can destroy your entire system in less than 3. I really like the Corsair 750tx.

You can get a good hard drive for around $70. The WD Caviar Black drives are excellent. If you want to blow a bit more (and still get a mechanical HD), you could always get an SSD for faster load times for your OS and WoW.

Your disk drive should only cost about $20, unless you want to go for Blu-ray.

What is your actual budget for this entire project? It might be helpful to put that in your original post.

[Sazdek]

thank you suga, that's actually just about the budget i set aside for myself (give or take a little obviously lol) but that is pretty perfect as far as i can tell. im definately looking for the ability to upgrade in the future. essentially keeping the same rig and just adding/replacing as needed. though i was wondering isn't that a bit of a tiny hard drive? 320gb or is there a method behind that madness (albeit im not planning on having like my full musical library on this thing.....thats what my droid x is for and my backup laptop.)

edit: i did list it...not entirely noticable though i suppose...it's around 1100-ish. depending mostly on how much wife ass i kiss. but then again...it's my tax return ill do what the hell i want. and ffs if i spend about 1500 bucks on this (monitor and new keyboard included) and the whole thing persists for 5 years (lol) then it's worth it. besides ill buy her a pedicure while i set it up....should shut her up.

[SugaRush22]

the small harddrive was so i could keep it in budget, it was getting a little high.

[Sazdek]

ah i gotcha =D pre shipping it come out to be about $1095 for me including the OS (which i may not need if i know someone who has one already)

[Nab]

Get the Video card i told you,(ATI Radeon HD 5700) it's very good for games/WoW i am told. if price is an issue then don't buy this one since it isn't the cheapest.
Best of luck.

[Sazdek]

im actually having a hard time finding that perticular one. lots of radeon hd 5700's but im not sure which one you are implying =X