Building first computer, would like advice

[Bucky Ball]

Antec case with 85+ 500watt Antec psu, AU$200. This is a reliable and cheap combination. There is a calculator on their site you might find useful. The link is in my computer build HOWTO link below.

[constellanation]

not nearly as flashy a case as some mentioned, but as a brand antec is pretty solid, I have the antec 300 if you have questions about it or maybe want a picture of it open...

[Brent0]

You're almost done with the list. Some things to consider:

1.) Buy an SLI bridge as those cards do not come with one
2.) Maybe consider an SSD for Windows 7. You won't regret it.
3.) Buy Windows 7 unless you are going to get it some other way...
4.) I'm not sure about the power supply you chose. Corsair and Antec are generally the better brands. Don't cheap out on the PSU!

Good luck with the parts. Building a computer is actually quite easy. Just search for some tutorials on YouTube and you're set.

[ThatBum]

I like the Antec P183, especially with the side window the way Puget Computers builds their rigs, but eh. And 500W isn't nearly enough for what I got. I tried a calculator and it said I need 748W. Not sure how legitimate that is, because it's Newegg's.

Also, 460 or 465? I think the major difference is that the 465 can do more than 2 way SLI.

[ThatBum]

Brent0:
The SLI bridge comes with the motherboard. Also SATA cables for the hard drive and DVD drive.

I don't really trust SSD's. I don't think the technology is quite there yet. I'm a bit worried about the level of maintenance they require (minimizing writes, TRIMing, etc). I don't really care about load from disk speeds. I like-y computational power. It's all about the FLOPS and Tri/sec, baby (cost permitting, of course).

I heard Thermaltake power supplies are good, particularly the Toughpower ones. But I'll go and get Corsair, I saw one that was good by them.

Also, is my memory good for my motherboard? I know the speed is good, but what about things I don't know much about, like latency and stuff?

[Brent0]

I don't really trust SSD's. I don't think the technology is quite there yet. I'm a bit worried about the level of maintenance they require (minimizing writes, TRIMing, etc). I don't really care about load from disk speeds. I like-y computational power. It's all about the FLOPS and Tri/sec, baby (cost permitting, of course).

Also, is my memory good for my motherboard? I know the speed is good, but what about things I don't know much about, like latency and stuff?

That's true. Also, SSD is still a new technology and will definitely get cheaper and mature a little.

The memory should be fine. The speed differences with lower latencies are negligible. But if you care, the lower the latency the better. And the lower the voltage the better, too.

[ThatBum]

Someone here said to check if the memory is certified to work with the motherboard, or something to that effect. Just making sure.

If you're wondering where the speakers are, I have a big 330 watt ghetto blaster in my room with a USB interface, so there's that. The speakers in the monitor are there to I don't wake the house up at night.

[Bucky Ball]

I tried a calculator and it said I need 748W. Not sure how legitimate that is, because it's Newegg's.

Try the Antec calculator. But remembering it does apply to their own PSUs which are generally well efficient, not the silver box variety.

[Brent0]

Try the Antec calculator. But remembering it does apply to their own PSUs which are generally well efficient, not the silver box variety.

I tried it with his proposed system and it was 500 watts minimum. With power supplies, you should get at least 200 watts extra for future upgrades. I would still go for the 850 watt.

[Warpnow]

Overkill, and too expensive. You'd likely not even notice the difference between that machine and a $600 build unless you used benchmark tests.

Let's say this build lasts you another six years. In three it will be below average. In five it will be ancient. By year six, people will view at as a piece of history.

That's the necessary evil of technology.

Build a $600 machine, and in three years, replace it, and build another, and then another in three years, and you'll have a great machine for the next decade, rather than a beast for two years and a mediocre machine for the rest.

Course, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you'll build another $1600 machine in 2-3 years. But my guess is if you could regularly do that you wouldn't be running a Pentium D machine right now.

I've known alot of people, usually younger, who build their first PC and spend thousands on it. I knew a guy in high school who spent $3k on a computer with money his grandma gave him because he told her he "needed a better computer for school".

What he ended up with were some parts it took him four months to get together. Eventually (with way too much help from me), he got it running, and he bought some nice games for it, and really enjoyed it, for about a month, until he stopped being excited about how awesome his computer is. Not its not that awesome, just another dual core machine with two out of date GPUs and outdated DDR2 ram, and his Grandma isn't paying for another desktop.


Just my $.02, and I hope I didn't offend anyone, but I generally think building these kinds of super beastly PCs that cost an amount expressed with a comma is a mistake for 99% of people.