# First ever build, help me pick out some stuff?



## Soylent Joe (May 27, 2009)

Hey guys, I started buying up things for a new PC I'm building about 3 months ago. This is my first ever build, so I'm learning as I go. I was trying to stay within the mid/high-range gaming area without spending a boatload. 

*Here's the stuff I've bought so far:*
-CM Storm Sniper case
-Corsair 750TX PSU
-Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P mobo.
-WD Black 640GB WD6401AALS 
-4GB G.Skill 1066 RAM (dual channel, 2x 2GB sticks)
-(2) LG 22X DVD Burners (I know, should have gotten 2 different brands/types for various reasons, but they were cheap)
-Xigmatek Dark Knight heatsink
-Arctic 5 Thermal Compound (and got a nice .5m nippon labs SATA cable with it for $1.50)
-1 Scythe Ultra Kaze 120x38mm fan (for the optional fan area on the bottom of the case)
-2 Logisys Blue LED 120x25mm fans (for the 2 optional fan areas on the side of the case)
-Rosewill anti-static wrist strap

All of that comes up to about $600. I got free shipping on 90% of the items 

*
Here's the stuff I still need to get:*
-Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
-Video card: (one of these)
1) EVGA Geforce GTX 275 (896MB)
2) EVGA Geforce GTX 260 core 216 Superclocked edition (896MB)
3) HIS Hightech IceQ 4+ Turbo Radeon HD 4870 (1GB)
-Zalman MFC1 Plus-B 6 Channel Fan Controller
-4GB G.Skill 1066 RAM (yes, 4 more gig)
-WD 74GB Raptor (for Win7, some games, etc.)
-Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit (a TV and FM tuner. I have to have one of these in every computer, I love them, and I have to have something to take advantage of the free cable that only comes through in the office due to retarded Comcast guys )

   All this stuff (just adding in $200 for the video card) also comes out to about $600. If I buy all this stuff, I will have spent around $1200 in the end, which I don't consider to be too bad. If I drop the additional unnecessary stuff (I know I've already bought some unnecessary things ) and get a less expensive video card, I could come out in the end spending less than $1000, but we'll have to see what happens. As of right now I have a 90-day pay period from my latest $250 Newegg purchase :/, so I may not be getting anything else untill the end of summer, unless I get a job (I'm 16). 

Unfortunately, I haven't tested out ANY of my purchased items, since I don't have a testing setup or any of the stuff to get this thing working. Since I haven't tested any of it, I could be sitting on top of a nest of DOA's (highly unlikely) and I'd be limited with my options since the Newegg warranties are dropping off of the items from my first order as we speak. But don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm just saying, it's probably better to save up all your cash, and buy everything at once. I'll do that next time. 

   I kind of wished I had done more homework when it comes to my motherboard. It's a really nice board, lot of features, great quality, but I should have gotten something with 2 PCIe 2.0 x16 ports. With the way it it now, I'll never be able to go SLI but I could do Crossfire if I wanted to, that's why I started looking into ATI and came up with my best pick with is that HIS IceQ. 

   Some people say that C2D processors are obsolete, but I don't want a quad core (not many programs use the extra cores, they're expensive, any of the Quad's that are in my price range have worse specs than the C2D I picked out) and there's no way I can afford i7 right now. 

   I was going to link all that stuff, but it's kinda too much. It's all on Newegg at this moment in time on May 27th, 2009. So just do a quick search and you'll find it. 

Thanks


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## aCid888* (May 27, 2009)

Get the 275, E8400 and youll be set.....I doubt you need 8GB of RAM.


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## PlanetCyborg (May 27, 2009)

aCid888* said:


> Get the 275, E8400 and youll be set.....I doubt you need 8GB of RAM.



+1 do that


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## Soylent Joe (May 27, 2009)

Ok, so you both agree that the 275 is best? Well, I knew it was best, but I didn't know about that ATI. 

But...but..it's only $50 for 4 more gig!


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## DanishDevil (May 27, 2009)

You'll probably never use more than 3.5GB's.  I have 4GB's and I have barely scratched the surface of 3GB's.


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## Soylent Joe (May 27, 2009)

Alright. What do you think a reasonable OC would be with the E8400 and the Xigmatek? 3.5?


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## Kenshai (May 27, 2009)

Don't bother with the 74g raptor either, a lot of the newer hard drives match the older raptor.

And  a friend of mine is running 4.0 on his 750i + E8400 with 1283. So it shouldn't be a problem.


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## Soylent Joe (May 27, 2009)

Kenshai said:


> Don't bother with the 74g raptor either, a lot of the newer hard drives match the older raptor.



Then what? Another 640GB to just have or put in RAID 0? I wanted 2 HDD's. Maybe I could get a 1TB WD, it's only $100 on newegg. Then again, my 640GB was only and still is $75 on newegg, and that thing is BAD. It's the only thing that I have tested.


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## Kenshai (May 27, 2009)

Your motherbaord supports raid, I'd just pick up another 640 black, throw some raid 0 together and have a good time.


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## Studabaker (May 27, 2009)

Soylent Joe said:


> Then what? Another 640GB to just have or put in RAID 0? I wanted 2 HDD's. Maybe I could get a 1TB WD, it's only $100 on newegg. Then again, my 640GB was only and still is $75 on newegg, and that thing is BAD. It's the only thing that I have tested.



The new WD black series drives are pretty fast, 32MB cache.

And the TX750 is awesome but has SO many cables.  Get ready for an adventure in cable management my friend.

Besides that it seems like you know how to pick your equipment! (or you've had some good help )



Kenshai said:


> Your motherbaord supports raid, I'd just pick up another 640 black, throw some raid 0 together and have a good time.



I support this message.


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## DanishDevil (May 27, 2009)

You should expect around 4GHz with some volts on the Xigmatek if you spend your time making it stable.  Just ask us here for help 

And I second not using the Raptor.  Too loud.  I use a single WD6400AAKS, and it's WAY quieter and probably a _tad_ slower than a raptor, so two in RAID 0 (even more so with WD Blacks) would smoke a Raptor.


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## Kenshai (May 27, 2009)

DanishDevil said:


> You should expect around 4GHz with some volts on the Xigmatek if you spend your time making it stable.  Just ask us here for help
> 
> And I second not using the Raptor.  Too loud.  I use a single WD6400AAKS, and it's WAY quieter and probably a _tad_ slower than a raptor, so two in RAID 0 (even more so with WD Blacks) would smoke a Raptor.



Actually the raptor is slower than the 640, in everything but random access time I believe.


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## Studabaker (May 27, 2009)

You can't argue against a combined 14.4K RPM.  These babies are frikkin fast.  FAST.


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## DanishDevil (May 27, 2009)

Kenshai said:


> Actually the raptor is slower than the 640, in everything but random access time I believe.



Slower than the Blacks or the AAKS?


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## crazy pyro (May 27, 2009)

Now you can get some proper help from people who don't spend hours finding the stuff and responding to threads. It's good to know you'll be overclocking at least a bit on the processor, bit of a waste to not overclock when you've got hardware like that.


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## Kenshai (May 27, 2009)

DanishDevil said:


> Slower than the Blacks or the AAKS?



AAKS for sure I haven't been able to use a black yet.


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## Hayder_Master (May 28, 2009)

you wont crossfire mobo , go for 4890
got higher clock core 2 duo like e8600 or e8700 if you don't have big knowledge in overclock
4G ram will be cool
my advice go for raid0 like 2x500 WD blue


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## Kenshai (May 28, 2009)

hayder.master said:


> you wont crossfire mobo , go for 4890
> got higher clock core 2 duo like e8600 or e8700 if you don't have big knowledge in overclock
> 4G ram will be cool
> my advice go for raid0 like 2x500 WD blue



The 640 blacks will be faster and he already has one, the E8400 is just fine for anything especially if he doesn't want to spend an extra $100 on the 8600.


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## r9 (May 28, 2009)

I think quad CPU is the way for new build. 
And DX11 GPUs are near.


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## DanishDevil (May 28, 2009)

r9 said:


> I think quad CPU is the way for new build.
> And DX11 GPUs are near.



A quad is honestly only needed if you're doing things that warrant using a quad.  Otherwise, a higher speed dual core will work better.


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## Kenshai (May 28, 2009)

Soylent Joe said:


> Some people say that C2D processors are obsolete, but I don't want a quad core (not many programs use the extra cores, they're expensive, any of the Quad's that are in my price range have worse specs than the C2D I picked out) and there's no way I can afford i7 right now.





r9 said:


> I think quad CPU is the way for new build.
> And DX11 GPUs are near.



As close as the DX11 GPU's are, I'm sure they aren't going to be cheap when first coming out, and the fact that dx10 still hasn't really taken off, I believe only the benchers will see much of a difference with the new cards, at least when they first release.


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

Alright, it sounds like 2 640GB Blacks are the way to go. Now, if I have them in RAID 0, and for some reason, one of them fails, will all data be lost on both of them? Also, I haven't heard a consensus for the video card, is it "If I just one one for now or always get the GTX 275, and if I may want to get 2 get the 4870"?


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## Studabaker (May 28, 2009)

Soylent Joe said:


> Alright, it sounds like 2 640GB Blacks are the way to go. Now, if I have them in RAID 0, and for some reason, one of them fails, will all data be lost on both of them? Also, I haven't heard a consensus for the video card, is it "If I just one one for now or always get the GTX 275, and if I may want to get 2 get the 4870"?



Yes.  Get a backup drive and put all your 'must haves' in there.

As for the video cards, lately I have been urging people to move away from multiple cards as much as possible.

I vote for the 275.


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

Alright. The 275 seems to be about as badass as you can get with a Nvidia card without spending a fortune. The standard 275 I'm looking at also comes with some game, Cryostasis I think. I'll have to go through and learn how to overclock for my CPU, probably won't be that hard. Also, is there just a switch on the mobo itself for RAID, or do you do it in the BIOS?


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## Studabaker (May 28, 2009)

Soylent Joe said:


> Alright. The 275 seems to be about as badass as you can get with a Nvidia card without spending a fortune. The standard 275 I'm looking at also comes with some game, Cryostasis I think. I'll have to go through and learn how to overclock for my CPU, probably won't be that hard. Also, is there just a switch on the mobo itself for RAID, or do you do it in the BIOS?



You just enable RAID in the BIOS, reboot then you'll see the option to enter RAID setup after POST, it'll give you time to push F12 or whatever so you can go in there and create your Stripe.  It's really so easy that it's scary 

Just be prepared as you will most likely need the Intel RAID drivers on floppy or USB/SD card or even a CDR before installing Windows. (Note: the drivers are in the UD3P setup CD but I always skip the drivers that come in the box due to them usually being dated)


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## BarbaricSoul (May 28, 2009)

You can get a GTX280 for about $30 more than a GTX275.


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## NastyHabits (May 28, 2009)

Get the Corsair HX750.  Modular cables.  Much neater.

Raid 0 rules.  "What if one drive dies?"  Who cares?  If you have only one non-raid drive and it dies, you still lose all your data.  Backup my friend.  Backup is your friend.  You will be so happy with your killer boot-up and program load times.  Two drives in raid 0, you won't regret it.

Get the GX 275.  It kicks butt in every category but power consumption (and price).  But you have enough power.

Looks like a great system.  Have fun!


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

Studabaker said:


> You just enable RAID in the BIOS, reboot then you'll see the option to enter RAID setup after POST, it'll give you time to push F12 or whatever so you can go in there and create your Stripe.  It's really so easy that it's scary
> 
> Just be prepared as you will most likely need the Intel RAID drivers on floppy or USB/SD card or even a CDR before installing Windows. (Note: the drivers are in the UD3P setup CD but I always skip the drivers that come in the box due to them usually being dated)




Umm...where will I get those drivers from?


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

BarbaricSoul said:


> You can get a GTX280 for about $30 more than a GTX275.



Linky link? From what I saw on this page, you're right, but it's not as good at the 275.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...er=BESTMATCH&Description=evga+gtx+280&x=0&y=0


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

NastyHabits said:


> Get the Corsair HX750.



Yeah, I didn't know about modular PSU's when I got mine. But, the one I have seems to be OK and pops says I can't return anything unless it's broken so I guess not. Maybe I could get some cable extensions, if that would help.


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## crazy pyro (May 28, 2009)

The point of modular's to avoid having too many cables. Also switching to modular would have made the build a fair bit more expensive, combined with them only having been announced at like 8PM GMT yesterday so you had no reason to know about them when you purchased your PSU.
According to the comparison charts in W1zzard's latest review on here the GTX 275 beats the GTX 280 in everything but the 1024*768 no AA test for COH (frames are both way up into the 300s anyway) and a couple of other points, the frame rate difference is always fairly small either way (within one or two frames).


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## Hayder_Master (May 28, 2009)

Kenshai said:


> The 640 blacks will be faster and he already has one, the E8400 is just fine for anything especially if he doesn't want to spend an extra $100 on the 8600.



no one 640 black can't beat raid0 of WD 500G blue , even green too 
and about e8660 im just put as an option if don't want go overclock


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## tzitzibp (May 28, 2009)

no need for an overclock, if he decides to go e8400.... it can handle any game you throw at it!


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

tzitzibp said:


> no need for an overclock, if he decides to go e8400.... it can handle any game you throw at it!



I don't think that the extra clock speed is really worth it when I can easily overclock to that speed. I know the factory standard 3.33GHz would be more stable, but meh, that's why I bought the Dark Knight.


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## pepsi71ocean (May 28, 2009)

i have found that the GTX 200 series cards like 3.4GHz and up for speeds to eliminate the bottleneck issues.  

My 280 actually slows my computer down when the cpu is stock, but overclocked to 3.4 it really comes out on its own.


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## Kenshai (May 28, 2009)

hayder.master said:


> no one 640 black can't beat raid0 of WD 500G blue , even green too
> and about e8660 im just put as an option if don't want go overclock




He already has one of the 640 black's I recommended him picking up a second one and raiding it.


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

Today, my case, heatsink, fans, and some other stuff was delivered. I love the Sniper so far. It's a lot bigger than I expected, seems well built. I had problems getting the right side panel back on, so I just left it off for now. Also, the Ultra Kaze is stinking huge, but it will fit as the back exhaust or bottom intake no prob. I didn't know that Arctic Silver 5 TC came in such a tiny container. For $8 I thought I'd get more, but it's ok. So far so good.


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## crazy pyro (May 28, 2009)

You only need to use a small amount of TIM, think that's why it's in such a small container (that and it contains silver which is expensive).


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## DanishDevil (May 28, 2009)

Yeah that tube of AS5 should last you at least 20CPUs including reseating.


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## Kenshai (May 28, 2009)

The mx-2 is just slightly better and not capacitive , or conductive at all.


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## Soylent Joe (May 28, 2009)

I spent about 3 hours working on the PC today. Got my PSU, HDD, disk drives, and 3 extra fans in. I routed most of the unneeded PSU cables away (Sniper is GREAT for cable management, no lie). I'm daunted by the task of hooking some (or all) of my fans up to the fan controller on top. I'm wondering if I should just wait for the Zalman controller, and not even try to use the stock one. Also, installing the 120mm fan on the bottom was a PAIN. If I would have just got a 140mm fan, I could have just clipped it in. Also, with my 2 Logisys fans on the door, I'm worried that the top of my Dark Knight may come in contact with the fans. I'll slip my mobo in there tomorrow and hold the heatsink on to see how high it goes. Hopefully I won't have to take any fans out.


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## NastyHabits (May 28, 2009)

Cool beans Joe!  Hope it all fits.  If not, well, that's how PC building goes.  There are always extension cables, drills, saws, case nippers, etc.  Where there's a will, there's a way.

Good luck, have fun, and keep us posted.


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## Hayder_Master (May 30, 2009)

tzitzibp said:


> no need for an overclock, if he decides to go e8400.... it can handle any game you throw at it!



did you think no need for overclock why he need good cooler 



Soylent Joe said:


> I don't think that the extra clock speed is really worth it when I can easily overclock to that speed. I know the factory standard 3.33GHz would be more stable, but meh, that's why I bought the Dark Knight.



so as i say 3.33 this is the stock speed of e8600 , the 8400 stock speed is 3.0



Kenshai said:


> He already has one of the 640 black's I recommended him picking up a second one and raiding it.



i don't know it is good idea to store all data in raid0 array , nothing for backup


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## Kenshai (May 30, 2009)

There isn't much of a difference between storing all your data on a raid 0 or a single hard drive. If the single hard drive fails, the entire thing will fail just like the raid array. Just store all your important information on a backup. I do it if I'm running a raid or not.


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## Soylent Joe (May 30, 2009)

Yeah, I agree. The only thing is, if one fails, only $70 worth of hardware fails, but if they both fail in RAID0, $140 worth of hardware fails. Even so, I trust the HDD and WD, I wouldn't expect them to fail or start giving me problems within the next couple of years.


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## crazy pyro (May 30, 2009)

You'll still only lose 70$ of hard disk, just if you've managed to get close to filling them you'll be losing over 1TB of data (I've not actually got that much storage between my family's five computers.)


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## NastyHabits (May 30, 2009)

Soylent Joe said:


> Yeah, I agree. The only thing is, if one fails, only $70 worth of hardware fails, but if they both fail in RAID0, $140 worth of hardware fails. Even so, I trust the HDD and WD, I wouldn't expect them to fail or start giving me problems within the next couple of years.



You would have to be extremely unlucky or experience some weird power surge for both drives to fail at the same time.  That said, you'd still be SOL on the data.  Backup, backup, backup!

I backup with an e-sata drive and keep it at work just in case I loose my data due to theft.


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## Hayder_Master (May 30, 2009)

Kenshai said:


> There isn't much of a difference between storing all your data on a raid 0 or a single hard drive. If the single hard drive fails, the entire thing will fail just like the raid array. Just store all your important information on a backup. I do it if I'm running a raid or not.



i mean the raid0 is risky , other HDD for important and personal data will be better , cuz any problem in FAT in raid0 array you need to repartition 



Soylent Joe said:


> Yeah, I agree. The only thing is, if one fails, only $70 worth of hardware fails, but if they both fail in RAID0, $140 worth of hardware fails. Even so, I trust the HDD and WD, I wouldn't expect them to fail or start giving me problems within the next couple of years.



i talk about software and logical problems not a physical problem , HDD's this time made very durable and also the NTFS keep the HHD away from this problems , but like is say above raid0 is risky any logical problem push you to repartition the raid0 array


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