My New Build Log

[NeoHavoc]

**EDIT**
I changed the title of this thread since I am no longer looking for opinions on what parts to order, and this is now just a place for me to log what is going on with the build and to ask questions that come up during the build
**/EDIT**

Well everyone, I have been hanging around these boards for a little while and after exhaustively reading though all the reviews, opinions, and flames and think I have come up with a system that I will be happy with. However, since you all are the guru?s of all that is pc building I would like to run the list by you first.

Also, since I am sure someone is going to ask what I plan to use this for here is my short spiel on that. Basically I want a computer that I can play any of the current games out there without having to drop every setting to the lowest. I am not a hard core gamer (I work too much to have all that extra time), but I would like to come home and play a couple hours of some new game if I am in the mood. I also started burning ?backups? of my movies so I need the hard drive space to handle a few images at a time. I also have a large song collection so that adds to the space needs. Aside from normal computer functionality, I always used to enjoy ?tweaking? my computers, and now that I am out of college and have money again I am getting back into that hobby, so over clocking and some other fun stuff will be done on this rig.

I feel pretty happy about this list, but as you will see I am still torn between two motherboards and am unsure if I am going a little overboard with my power supply and ram selections. My other area of concern are the hard drives?.I know everyone seems to be pushing Seagate drives, but on paper the ones I picked just seem to be so much better.


Case
COOLER MASTER CM Stacker STC-T01-UWK Black/Silver Front panel with Black side panels Aluminum/Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

Motherboard
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Or
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI AMD Motherboard - Retail

Video Card
eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Power Supply
PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC ATX12V 510W Power Supply - Retail

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail

Memory
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Platinum System Memory Model OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K - Retail

Misc.
LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader/Writer - Retail

Storage (2 of them)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail

OS Drive
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

CPU Cooling
ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail

 

[CalvinHobbes]

IMO you're spending way too much on a case and PSU. I would also spend less on the memory. You could use the money to get the GTX or save the money until the next new video card comes out.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes
IMO you're spending way too much on a case and PSU. I would also spend less on the memory. You could use the money to get the GTX or save the money until the next new video card comes out.

Don't listen to him, NEVER skimp on PSUs. Get the PCP&C.

 

[wpshooter]

First of all, let me say that as far as GURUs are concerned (although I have built and repaired a few computers in my time), I don't consider myself a GURU, and I seriously doubt that there is such a thing - every computer built is at least a somewhat different experience.

Then, you might consider a LIAN-LI case.

If it were me I would prefer SEAGATE drives, but WD might be my second choice.

I would choose the ASUS m/b.

I see nothing wrong with your power supply choice.

I like Zalman.

Good luck.

 

[NeoHavoc]

LoL...well so far I have one person telling me to get a cheaper case, and one telling me to get one that is $100 more. I do love the lian-li full tower case, but $250 on a case is a bit too much for even me to accept. The cooler master just seems to fit my idea of a good case for an ok amount of money. Though I do wish they made a chambered case like the 2100 but for less money.

As for the power supply comments, I kind of agree with the three of you. I do think I am getting one that may be a little over priced, however I also know that I shouldn't go cheap on it either. I basically wanted to know if the one I picked really is worth the money, or if I could save some cash and still get plenty of quality and meet my needs.

 

[atybimf]

Everything looks nice. I own the same video card and that particular model (N516) is the best combonation of performance and value.

 

[NeoHavoc]

Alright, so what do you know.....I got past that whole should I or shouldn't I stage and just decided to pull the triger and order the parts. As of today I have everything except the case which should be ariving sometime later today, and the motherboard, which thanks to it being out of stock everywhere I just got it put on order around dinner time. I paid for 2 day UPS so if I am lucky and Santa likes me, I may, just may get it before Christmas.

Anyway, the list I put in my first post stayed the same except for a couple things. To save $$$ I went from two of the 320 gig drives to just one, and while the PCP & C PS looked great and everyone loves it, I went with the OCZ 520 watt to cut back on the spending a bit. Oh, and I also got rid of the multi-card reader thing.

So anyway, since this is gonna be my project over the christmas break does anyone have any pointers, comments, or general ideas I should be thinking about as I build this? Oh, and while yes, there most definitely will be some OC'ing in the near future, for now I just want it running stable at stock speeds. I will be going from an AMD Athlon 1ghz compaq to this, so I think I will be plenty impressed without any OC'ing.


**EDIT**
oops, forgot to mention I decided to go with the ASUS A8N32-SLI board

 

[MSilvius]

I am going to build a system with the same hard drive, graphics card, and the asus A8N32. For your case I wound reccomend the Antec P-180, unless you have your heart set on a Full tower then go with the CoolerMaster. Ive heard the Antec is very quiet and comes with three 120mm fans so that should keep your system cool enough. I would reccommend an Antec TruePower2.0 550 Watt. It is cheaper and Antec is a good respectable brand. Definately go with the Asus A8N32.

Good luck with your system.

Antec P-180 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?
Antec TruePower2.0 550 Watt - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931


Mark

 

[Some1ne]

Lian-Li cases are pretty, but overpriced. I like the Antec recommendation, especially if the P-180 has sliding drive rails. I love the ones that came with my Antec Sonata (and also the sideways mounted drive cage, that makes accessing the drives much easier).

Motherboard
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Or
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI AMD Motherboard - Retail

Both of those boards are needlessly expensive. SLI just isn't worth it, unless you need to have two of the fastest video cards available now, and will actually be using using them in contexts where they actually provide extra performance. Save some cash and get a high-end non-SLI board.

Storage (2 of them)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail

For a little bit more, you could get 4 of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148065

...and then with the right mainboard run them in RAID-5. If you did this, you could also forget about the raptor, because the RAID-5 array would be vastly superior, so you could partition it and use it for both the OS and storage. Give that between your two 320 GB's and the raptor you've got about $470 budgeted for storage, you could even step up to either slightly larger drives for the RAID-5, or 16 MB cache drives, or SATA300, without spending any more than you currently are. RAID-5, because you know you want to.

CPU Cooling
ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail

There's really nothing wrong with the HSF that comes with the 3800+, even if you plan on overclocking. I think there's an article up on the main anandtech webpage where they overclock a 3800+ to 2.6 GHz using the stock HSF. You could save some cash and just use the stock solution, maybe plus some AS5.


Other than that it looks good, if a little pricey.


Edit:

Don't listen to him, NEVER skimp on PSUs. Get the PCP&C.

You're oversimplifying. The PSU selected *is* overkill for his needs. There's nothing wrong with it, but the system in no way requires such a robust PSU. It's not "skimping" on the PSU to get one that actually meets your needs instead of one that vastly exceeds them, it's skimping on the PSU when you get a $30 case, and use the 500W PSU that comes included with it...that's a bad idea, but getting a smaller PSU more suited to what you actually need is not a bad idea in and of itself.

 

[ub3rnewb]

You could easily cut back on the power supply without problems. A good Antec, Enermax, or OCZ with dual (or triple) 12V rails, something the PCP&C surprisingly lacks, would work fine. The performance gained by the nForce4 X16 versus standard SLi is negligable, (sp?) and Lanparty's are the ultimate overclockers board, so I'd reccomend that DFI. You could get a less expensive case, but if you like the CM, then go for it. Everything else looks good, just remember to get an extra fan or two, and maybe a fan controller. Xoxide is a good place for cooling related stuff, as are a few other sites.

 

[NeoHavoc]

Oh wow, I don't check the forum for a day and suddenly I get a bunch of responces. Well anyway first off thanks for all the input everyone. As I said a few posts up, everything is already ordered, well actually, except the motherboard which is comming in today everything is already sitting in a pile in my room.....so aside from returning items and reordering, the part list stays the same.

As for the MB, I don't really plan on using the SLI feature of it, so I know that portion was a waste of money, however I do really like the passive cooling and the 8 phase power on it. Also, since I usually don't rebuild but once every few years I figure spending a little extra on the latest MB out now would be ok since I never know what features I will want and need down the road.

What else....oh yes, the p-180 suggestion. I was with everyone 110% on that one, until I sat back and thought about having to deal with a case door every day. I absolutely have having to open stereo cabinet doors every time I want to play a dvd or xbox or something, and that only happens every couple days. So I could imagine how annoying it would be fiddling with a computer door every day. If they would have made that case sans door I would have been all over it. The Lian-Li was like that, however it was also $100 more. The stacker while it wasn't cheap, won't make me feel sick for taking a dremel to it....the 2100 however...I think I would start to sweat just by thinking of plugging in the dremel.

Anyway though, the part debate is over for the most part now. Now it is time to deal with all the little quirks of trying to get it all to work together. So I am sure once UPS manages to finally show up at my door and nothing turns on in my rig *knock on wood* I will be right back here with some more questions.

 

[NeoHavoc]

Just a quick update. Got the motherboard in and spent the past couple hours plugging it all in. I would post a few pics, but well I am too embarased to let someone see the inside before I get a chance to do some cable management. Also still looking for one of my windows cd's so all I could do was boot into bios and make sure everything was being seen.

Few things of note already. The case intrusion feature is the largest pain in the @$$ ever! Took me about 10 reboots and finally just giving up on it and putting the jumper back in to get the comp to boot. Also, for a case so large, cable management is not looking like it will be all that easy. Speaking of cables, the case has 6 front usb connections, but i don't think (as far as i can tell) the mb supporst that many extra ports. I could only see 2 plugs on the board. Hmm, while on things I don't like about the case, the front grill covers are very hard to get off, but on top of that they are very easy to push in too far and then takes way too much effort to pull back out. Oh, and the video card and mounting screw didn't line up perfect and it took a little more force than i wanted to use to get the screw in. Also on the vid card the power plug took a whole lot of effort to get in. The last thing that came up is how is just idle in bio's the system is telling me i am at 35c. Conciddering nothing is really running and i have a zalman 9500 on it I thought it would be lower than that. I heard the thermal paste can take some time to set in and become more effective so I am not going to worry about that at the moment.

 

[perucho07]

Hello NeoHavoc,
Your choices are very good. I'll give you another good choices.

CASE
Thermaltake Armor Full Tower

MOBO
MSI K8N Diamond Plus

PSU
Enermax Liberty 620w

CPU
X2 4400+

RAM
Corsair XMS2048C2pt (2GB) + OCZ Booster in slot4

About your VC choice, I disagree. Please make the sacrifice and get the GeForce 7800GTX 512MB. A powerful video card is very important!, IMHO.
Cheers and enjoy your new rig.
Pedro