First Build - Curious ?

[wesley_of_course]

Wesley here ;

First -time to build a ' puter and was looking for some input or whatever
your opinion might be , all are welcome and I realize this is probably the
umpteenth time someone has posted somethin' like this , but I'm new
and willing so here goes ! Income Tax Refund ! , Woohoo !!!!

Motherboard : ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard 139.99

CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor 316.00

Video Card : eVGA 256-P2-N436-LX GeForce 7300GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
69.99

RAM : CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
110.00

Hard Drive : Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS 200GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

67.99

Case : RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black SECC STEEL ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply ?????????????????????

89.99

The case had a power supply , in other words not a clue ! , don't like doors tho.


Well Thanks for your time and I appreciate ALL comments and Please excuse the obvious

the newbiness coming thru ! Oh , Ubuntu of course and would like to try Sabayon eventually.
Package deal with the motherboard / burner ;

ASUS Beige 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 2MB Cache E-IDE/ATAPI Combo Drive

Well waddaya think ? Flame on ! Have fun !! #-o

[bward1]

Looks like a pretty good rig. I have three computers all running on asus mobos and all of em are running great. I have the same processor also, definitely a good choice. For running anything linux avoiding everything ATI is always good. The only thing you might want to consider, is if you are ever planning on using the SLI capability of that motherboard, you might want to have a bigger power supply. I would also recommend 2 gb of ram if you can afford it, otherwise go with one 1gb stick to leave yourself room for expansion in the future. Otherwise you have specd a great system. Have fun building it, and good luck.

[maniacmusician]

I was originally looking to buy that board as well. However, a lot of people seem to be having problems with it. Mainly associated with RAM and stabiity. see comments on newegg.

Also, the board is disproportionate to the card that you've picked. If you're going to actually use the SLI feature, you should probably go with at least a 7600GT.

However, I have a feeling that you won't be using the SLI (takes lots of power and money too :) ), in which case I would go for a different motherboard. In terms of specs, this board is nice, but it seems to have problems and has features that you may not use. It's true that it has perks such as quad-core capability, but by the time quad-cores are affordable, there will be boards that are much better suited to the task than this one.

Other than that, I'd say you're golden. Nice setup.

[kevinf311]

I have a brand new 7600GT Video card and it works wonderfully. Setting up the video drivers for 3D acceleration and TwinView was a breeze. With Edgy's built in AiGLX, installing Beryl was even easier. I recommend the 7600GT \\:D/

[~LoKe]

Get the E6300 instead and put the saved money into a better video card.

An E6600 with a 7300GS? 1GB of RAM?
o_O

Also, about the case, the PSU should be fine. But why buy a beige optical drive to put in a black case? Why get an IDE drive and not a SATA optical drive? I suggest you toss the Western Digital hard drive and get a Seagate Barracuda, 250GB SATA drive.

[jimrz]

nice rig
you are going to love the e6600

if you are going to mix sata and ide, check your mobo specs and avoid the"Jmicron" controller that allows this. it does not play well with linux. or you could just go for an sata optical drive to avoid the issue. i learned this while researching a box that i recently got, went all sata and no problems.

if you are planning on using RAID go for hardware rather than software and check the specific controller for linux capatability.

good luck and have fun building her.

mine = Core2Duo E6600 + 2x Seagate 250Gb sata 3.0Gb/s + 2 Gb RAM + sata optical drives + GeForce 7900 GT pci-e. so fast probs should have come with seatbelts ;)

[maniacmusician]

nice rig
you are going to love the e6600

if you are going to mix sata and ide, check your mobo specs and avoid the"Jmicron" controller that allows this. it does not play well with linux. or you could just go for an sata optical drive to avoid the issue. i learned this while researching a box that i recently got, went all sata and no problems.

if you are planning on using RAID go for hardware rather than software and check the specific controller for linux capatability.

good luck and have fun building her.

mine = Core2Duo E6600 + 2x Seagate 250Gb sata 3.0Gb/s + 2 Gb RAM + sata optical drives + GeForce 7900 GT pci-e. so fast probs should have come with seatbelts ;)
Actually, I'm pretty sure that all JMicron controller issues have been cleared up.

I do agree with what someone said above; your hardware is disproportionate. You have a high end processor with a lower end graphics card and a high specced motherboard (I'd take into account what I said about it above) . RAM is something you can always add later, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Saving for a better card is recommended. As far as the processors go, I guess you could downgrade to the E6300; but for a great price/performance ratio, I've heard that Intel's upcoming Core 2 Duo E4000 line is going to be better, as the lower end models will be able to overclock better to give you great performance.

Another good solution is to go with the E6600, choose an intel motherboard with an onboard GMA950 chipset, and save up to buy a better card than the 7300GS. That way, until you do, you'll have at least a decent GPU working for you. If you take this route, I also recommend the 7600GT (mine is an eVGA model), it's a great card.

So basically, that last paragraph is my best recommendation, unless you want to wait for the E4000 series and see if they're worth it. You'll also want to eventually upgrade to 2 GBs of RAM, you can never have too much :)

good luck.

[~LoKe]

The E4300 is no longer "up and coming". It's the best buy if you plan to overclock; if not, then, well, it's as good as the E6300.

[Polygon]

you might just want to go all SATA, as it seems to rapidly becoming the standard (my teacher bought a new computer and everything was SATA, not even an IDE connector on the motherboard)

[KaeseEs]

I just built a box with the same mobo - you'll be fine with Ubuntu 6.10. If this is to be a gaming rig, you may want to bring the CPU down to an E6400 and use the ~$100 to buy a better vidcard.You'll eventually want to add more RAM, but that won't be a major issue - honestly, you'll rarely use more than 300mb when you're not doing something media-heavy.

PS - with the P5N-E, my IDE DVD+-RW works fine, as does my SATA hard drive.

[logos34]

There's a couple of audio jack issues with that board:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Asus_P5NSLI?highlight=%28P5N%29


Why get an IDE drive and not a SATA optical drive? I suggest you toss the Western Digital hard drive and get a Seagate Barracuda, 250GB SATA drive


I don't agree. WD Caviar SE and RE sata's are excellent--probably the quietest and coolest around and very reliable (especially the enterprise-grade RE). But I'd look around for a 250gb KS or YS model with the bigass 16mb buffer--I saw a rebate sale just last week at one of the big box stores for the same price as your 200.

And whatever you so don't skimp on the power supply! Buy a quality power supply and case separately. unless you get a mid- to high-end case w/psu included (Antec, Thermaltake, etc) -- and even then I don't know. The psu on my antec sonata died after only one year! Makes me wonder if they don't stick the quality-control rejects in those cases...)

[~LoKe]

Western Digital hard drives are notorious for unexpected failure.

[wesley_of_course]

Wesley here;

Thank You LinuxHeads ! , for your timely response , most appreciated !

Maniac Musician ; Could you clue me in on an alternate board as gaming isn't
my main intention , SLI , was looking for a Total Linux compatible board to stack the odds in Linux's favor and mine .I do not want to mix IDE / SATA , SATA only .Good point. And how about this ;

eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail ?


bward1 ; I'll change that to one stick instead of two . Thank You

LoKe ; It was package deal , didn't notice color ! The case is out to lunch, don't want doors on it ,
I know it had doors but had been up awhile and will search better , Thank You

jimrz ; Jmicron = BAD , fixed or not . Thanks , duly noted .



Suggestions ???? , , , , , Any and all appreciated , now I'll go shopping again for a different board Intel P5N-E ? What about Asus ?

Thanks again for your timely replies .

[wesley_of_course]

:-\"

[seijuro]

I like MSI mobos great quality near oem prices.

[mips]

bward1 ; I'll change that to one stick instead of two . Thank You


Maybe I'm wrong but I was always under the impression you get better performance using two stick in a dual-channel configuration. The board has four slots so you can still expand if you need more later.

[~LoKe]

Two sticks of Dual Channel ram will destroy 1 stick of Dual Channel ram any day.

Get 2x512MB 800MHz ram, if you can.

[wesley_of_course]

Wesley here ;

Thanks ~LoKe , I'll remember that .

seijuro ; MSU ????? Could you point in the right direction or link ? :confused:

[wesley_of_course]

Wesley here ;

Looking for critics , OPINIONS , advice , have decided on the following
Tax refund is in WOOHOOOOOO !
Everything is from Newegg ?!?!?!?!?

HD = Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$ 94.99

Processor = Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
$ 316.00

Motherboard = ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$ 139.99

Memory = CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X1024A-6400 - Retail

$ 111.00

Video Card = EVGA 256-P2-N550 -T2 GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

$ 119.99

Burner = LG 18X DVD±R Super-Multi DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model GSA-H42N-BK - OEM
$ 29.99

Case = COOLER MASTER Centurion RC-534-KKR2 Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel, SECC chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail

$ 75.99

The cases I'm overwhelmed with ! Need , ( or think I DO ) , 400 watt at least ????
I don't care for doors on a case and would want Good cooling . Think I've covered it all
will pick up some Arctic also .

Comments , critics - don't be shy ! Haven't started gaming yet but who knows
maybe this rig will work for a few years ! Will pick up a Monitor also , just short on cash for now !

Thanks All ! Won't order till Saturday or Sunday , in hopes of some feedback before
the Monday , orders aren't processed on weekends to my understanding . Excuse the long post.

8-)

[~LoKe]

Buy the E6300 instead of the E6600. Buy the eVGA 7900GS instead of the 7600GT.