Building my first desktop, how do these parts look?

[holdie]

So I'm going to give a shot at building my own desktop...after reading up a bit and getting advice and such, I have a preliminary parts list that I chose off of Newegg. What do you guys think about the following? I'm hoping to make it last a while (4 years, maybe) before I need to do any serious upgrades. It will mainly be used for movies, photo-editing, researching/internet surfing, and maybe some gaming.

* Case
o Antec - 50.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193752 (combo deal w/ power supply)
o Lian Li - 79.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154
* Power Supply
o Antec - 50.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193752 (combo deal w/ case)
o Antec - 69.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
* Motherboard
o Gigabyte - 134.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
* Processor (CPU)
o Intel - 167.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
* Memory (RAM)
o Kingston x2 - 51.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134581
* CD-Rom Drive or DVD Drive
o LG - 23.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152
* Keyboard
o Logitech - 13.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126017
* Monitor
o Asus - 159.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236053
* Video Card
o EVGA - 129.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130468

I'm totally open to suggestion/criticism...the whole thing totals between 800-900 dollars, depending on what choice I went with on the power supply/case. Again, I've never done this before, so if there's anything obviously missing or not compatible or something, let me know.

thanks

edit: oops, forgot the hard drive...
Western Digital - 94.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

[Pasdar]

Change the CPU to an AMD cpu, also change the motherboard and fan of course. At the same price you'll have something much more powerful. Samsung monitors have the best reputation. I have one myself.

[WatchingThePain]

Looking good, have you checked the HCL so that all this won't give you problems.

[b@sh_n3rd]

Change the CPU to an AMD cpu, also change the motherboard and fan of course. At the same price you'll have something much more powerful. Samsung monitors have the best reputation. I have one myself.

Even I'd say an AMD...see my sig? :D

[holdie]

I'm gonna say "no" since I'm not sure what an HCL is haha

[SunnyRabbiera]

Change the CPU to an AMD cpu, also change the motherboard and fan of course. At the same price you'll have something much more powerful. Samsung monitors have the best reputation. I have one myself.

Feh Intel will be fine, I would get that processor myself with that price...

[HappyFeet]

It seems like you made some good choices, but personally I would rather have this Quad core (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471). Plus it's only $20 more. But I agree with your choice of Gigabyte mobo. I use them exclusively.

[Pasdar]

Feh Intel will be fine, I would get that processor myself with that price...

"fine", when you're spending that much money its important to get the max for what you pay. We all know you can get something more powerful with AMD for the same price.

[Sinkingships7]

Like others have said, you should definitely change your CPU to an AMD, and of course your motherboard will have to be changed to one with an AM2/AM2+ socket.

Also, you're getting a really good graphics card. Don't tease it with that RAM. You should get a 2 x 1GB set of DDR2 RAM, at minimum. 2 x 2GB, or 4 x 1GB, wouldn't hurt either, since you don't seem to be under an extreme budget (it's only ~$20 more).

[hyperdude111]

I think the AMD quad core is a similar price.

[Jekshadow]

Make sure it has:

500GB-1TB hard drive.
4GB MINIMUM of ram, 8-16 recommended.
4Ghz+ AMD processor
Nvidia GeForce 9200 (or better) GPU
Ubuntu 9.04 x86_64 (64bit)

[holdie]

Thanks for the suggestions...I'd like to stick with Intel on the CPU, although people have suggested that I go with a quad-core processor since they aren't that much more expensive and that's where the field is heading...this is what I'm goin with now

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

I was also thinking about getting a pricier Power Supply since I've been told they have a tendency to short out if they're cheapos...I might go with this one unless the one I was going to get before was fine

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
(it has a 20 dollar rebate which puts it at like 75 bucks...not bad...

finally, as for the RAM I was planning on getting 2x2gb, probable going with this now

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122



as for the operating system, I may try and dual boot an ubuntu OS, but I need to have windows because I use Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and a bunch of other EEG programs that are windows-specific...either way, I've got my laptop to experiment with linux


also, no one mentioned what HCL was...should I know this?

[HappyFeet]

but I need to have windows because I use Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and a bunch of other EEG programs that are windows-specific

You could run windows in virtualbox for those things. Plus, if you run vbox in seamless mode, you won't even see the windows interface. It's like running those apps natively in linux.

[CJ Master]

also, no one mentioned what HCL was...should I know this?

If in doubt, run to wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_Compatibility_List

[WatchingThePain]

Hmm I have an AMD quad but it's a Phenom I.
When I go to Phenom II like a dragon platform kind of then I will want AM3 not AM2+.
At present I am hangin back waiting for prices to drop.
Right now Phenom II is best value for money imho.

[mister_k81]

Make sure it has:

500GB-1TB hard drive.
4GB MINIMUM of ram, 8-16 recommended.
4Ghz+ AMD processor
Nvidia GeForce 9200 (or better) GPU
Ubuntu 9.04 x86_64 (64bit)

16GB of ram recommended? Isn't that a bit overkill at the moment? :) I'd imagine that anything between 4-8 would be satisfactory enough for a current-gen PC.


It seems like you made some good choices, but personally I would rather have this Quad core (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471). Plus it's only $20 more. But I agree with your choice of Gigabyte mobo. I use them exclusively.

I'm considering building a new PC soon, and that doesn't look bad for the price :-k... Though, two concerns I have are that I've heard the AMD processors generate more heat than the Intel processors, and that they have a higher wattage ratting in general.

[Pasdar]

I'm considering building a new PC soon, and that doesn't look bad for the price :-k... Though, two concerns I have are that I've heard the AMD processors generate more heat than the Intel processors, and that they have a higher wattage ratting in general.

That's not true, that only used to be with the old Athlon cpu's. You can look up wattage and heat on wikipedia and compare. Many times AMD has much lower or the same.

[holdie]

so I've changed my selections a little bit and put them into a wishlist form to make it more easy to browse...I switched a bunch of stuff up, but most notable went to an AMD phenom 2 processor and decided to forego the graphics card to save some cash (that way I can afford the monitor)...what do you guys think?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15546967

[Pasdar]

That will be an awesome PC. Do you want to use the on board video card? There are two problems with that (I know you're trying to keep cost low, however, with such an advanced system as the one you've chosen, you might as well wait until you have some more money to spend for the video card):
1. Your system is very fast and it will be using an on board videocard. On board video cards are usually slower than stand alone ones.
2. The on board video card is an ATI, and currently the proprietary drivers for LINUX are not as good as the NVIDIA ones. However, if you want to use open source drivers, many people say it's good. I've never tried it.

If you want a cheap (but good) video card, you should get this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130297
$40 for GeForce 8600 GT

Or if you want to spend more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130435
$110 for GeForce 9800 GT

The monitor is better than the previous one too. Also I'm not seeing a fan. It would be nice to have a high quality silent fan on the CPU.

[holdie]

I hear ya on the graphics card, I had initially planned on getting one, but I figured since I don't do a ton of gaming really (the most graphics-intensive thing I do is probably photoshop and watching movies) I could try the integrated first and upgrade later if I felt I really needed it...the lower price for graphics allows me to get that 24 inch monitor........which is awesome :D

And I hear you on the ATI drivers as well, although I'll be running XP on the machine as well as ubuntu until something better comes along

is the fan that big of an issue do you think? I'm not planning on overclocking or doing really intensive gaming or anything so I didn't think it necessary

[.Maleficus.]

Stay with Intel. Also, you might take a look at the Q9400. It's a bit better than the Q6600, a little bit cheaper too. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115131) Otherwise, the Q8x00 series is even less, I'm not sure how they compare to the Q9x00s though.

[Pasdar]

I hear ya on the graphics card, I had initially planned on getting one, but I figured since I don't do a ton of gaming really (the most graphics-intensive thing I do is probably photoshop and watching movies) I could try the integrated first and upgrade later if I felt I really needed it...the lower price for graphics allows me to get that 24 inch monitor........which is awesome :D

And I hear you on the ATI drivers as well, although I'll be running XP on the machine as well as ubuntu until something better comes along

is the fan that big of an issue do you think? I'm not planning on overclocking or doing really intensive gaming or anything so I didn't think it necessary
Ahh, if you're not a hardcore gamer, then that's an awesome system. ATI is much cheaper than NVIDIA anyway, they're much better too, on windows it will always out do nvidia at the same price.

The reason I mentioned the fan is that you don't have one in your list. You always need a fan for your CPU. I wanted to ask if you've ever put a PC together, but then I see the title again "building my first desktop" heh. You need a CPU fan for your CPU, and since that's the thing that (together with the Fan in the power supply unit) that makes most of the noise, you should get a very quiet one. They usually mention how much noise it makes.

[Xbehave]

Nice setup, definitetly a good call on mobo, my only advice is
1) more hurtz != better, sobear that in mind when compairing AMD to intel, traditionally AMD gave you more bang for your buck but i don't know the situation now
2) the ATI OSS drivers are great for everyday stuff (except gaming), but the nvidia closed drivers are the best for gaming.

[Xbehave]

The reason I mentioned the fan is that you don't have one in your list. You always need a fan for your CPU. I wanted to ask if you've ever put a PC together, but then I see the title again "building my first desktop" heh. You need a CPU fan for your CPU, and since that's the thing that (together with the Fan in the power supply unit) that makes most of the noise, you should get a very quiet one. They usually mention how much noise it makes.Most boxed CPUs come with a fan. I've found that the biggest noise maker in my setup is the graphics fan so it may be worth building it and figuring out which fan (if any) is too loud. I've found that it may worth investing in a sturdy case (is 16lb much?) to keep noise in the case.