Advice on a 1st time build

[Meyer09]

UPDATE: Added/Changed some parts
Here's an update:

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359
$114.99

Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BA-WOPSU Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166004
$64.99

Galaxy 98TFF6HUUEXX GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162028
$119.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
$89.99

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152
$24.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206
$119.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395
$59.99

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145215
$64.00


Grand Total: $658.93
Plus Shipping: +$32.58
Mail-in Rebates -$120.00
Final Total =$571.94



Here are some components i'm leaning towards. I was wondering whether there might be any compatibility issues between some of them? Also, if there were cheaper parts of comparable quality, that would be lovely as well

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 3.5" 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30

EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI FTW ATX Intel Motherboard

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPI

Galaxy 96GGF6HMFEXX GeForce 9600 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7400

PPA 1424V 8 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

and

LOGISYS Computer Area 51 CS51WBK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[unibrow1990]

For a video card i would look at a HD4850 or 9800gt, both are more powerful than the card you picked and you can find them for the same price or cheaper

and you should get an aftermarket Power Supply from a good brand like Corsair or OCZ, a power supply that comes included with a case is usually really poor quality, underpowered, and can be prone to failure.

My personal opinion is that unless you have a really awesome surround sound system buying a dedicated soundcard isn't worth it.

other than that it looks like a really good build

 

[Grownman]

Looks great so far, as what unibrow said, get a good PSU. Brand names such as Rosewill are not reliable, if you read its reviews on newegg, the very first three reviews on the page of the product all failed within 3 months of usage. Something like a Corsair, Pc power and cooling etc. PSU is something that you don't want to skimp on.
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W - $65 on Newegg after MIR.

Lose the sound card for now and use onboard and spend the extra on the PSU.
I currently use the on board sound from my 780i and its fine for me when I am gaming i can hear everything to breathing and footsteps etc in game on headphones.

 

[LittleLizard]

i would get a gts 250. for the price and the possibility of sli, is great. also look for a good psu like a cheap corsair or something

 

[BarbaricSoul]

i would get a gts 250. for the price and the possibility of sli, is great. also look for a good psu like a cheap corsair or something

I agree. I have the same motherboard your looking at. It's a excellent board from a excellent company. But if your not gonna use the SLI option, you might aswell get a intel chipset board like the DFI BloodIron P45 board. The BloodIron only cost about $107 on newegg, and except for the SLI option, will do everything the 750 ftw can do better(intel chipsets allow for better OC'ing)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136060

 

[Meyer09]

Thank you for your suggestions!

I'm a little worried about what hard drive i should buy. it seems like there are a lot of reviews talking about their hard drives failing. Seagate and Western Digital both seem to have a lot of those. Any thoughts?


Also, what benefit is there for having a north and south bridge?

 

[Grownman]

i believe the reason why seagate drivers were failing was because people were updating their firmware and i guess seagate didn't test it enough and it ended up locking up the drive or something like that making the drive useless.

Currently, I am using a Seagate 500gb 32mb cache hd. Its wonderful fast and not loud at all either. I don't know about western digital but think both companies are good.

 

[Meyer09]

Chipset Price: $89.99
Chipset Manufacturer NVIDIA
GPU GeForce 9800 GT
Core Clock 600MHz
Stream Processors 112
Memory
Memory Clock 900MHz
Memory Size 512MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

Chipset Price: $99.99
Chipset Manufacturer NVIDIA
GPU GeForce 9600 GT
Core Clock 650MHz
Stream Processors 64
Memory
Memory Clock 1800MHz
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

This was one of the 9800GT cards i looked at. The only difference i saw was in memory size, memory clock, and core clock. the 9600 was higher in all of them. What would this mean in the difference of quality?

 

[unibrow1990]

This was one of the 9800GT cards i looked at. The only difference i saw was in memory size, memory clock, and core clock. the 9600 was higher in all of them. What would this mean in the difference of quality?

1) 512mb is plenty of video memory for a card like that 1gb is only good for really high resolutions or lots of AA and AF filtering.

2) Both cards have the same memory speed, the difference is that the 9800 is listing the actual memory speed of 900mhz and the 9600 is listing the effective memory speed of 1800mhz which is doubled. The important thing is that both cards are running at the same speed memory, it's just a different way of writing it.

3) The 9800 uses a completely different and much more powerful core than the 9600 so it is able to offer greater performance at a lower clock speed.

4) also look at the number of stream processors on each card, the 9800 has twice as many and stream processors are just as important as the memory or the GPU core.

The 9800 is the more powerful card of the two of those without question and definetly a great deal for only $10 more.

Also as a side notes on the hard drive, if you buy a Seagate or a Western Digital you will be getting a quality drive. Both companies have of course had hardware problems from time to time but what technology company hasn't at some point.

Also, what benefit is there for having a north and south bridge?

lol, both are chipsets on the motherboard and are nessesary for a computer to run. Getting a better quality north or south bridge gives your computer more capabilities in a variety of area from what type of connections the motherboard has to how high you can overclock your components.

 

[Meyer09]

I figure it won't make much sense to get a board with SLI if i'm not planning on using it.
How well would this board work? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380

in comparison with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136060 it looked pretty similar.

 

[Grownman]

The second board you can use sli however cards will be running at x8 speed (1/2 of the full x16)

 

[LittleLizard]

yes it will work, but in comparison to the dfi one, the dfi one kick it ass.

also, if you dont want to run multiple graphic cards, grab the best single slot mobo out there, the gigabyte ep45-ud3r http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

EDIT:

The second board you can use sli however cards will be running at x8 speed (1/2 of the full x16)

you cant do sli on p45 chipset, only crossfire

 

[Meyer09]

Here's an update:

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359
$114.99

Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BA-WOPSU Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166004
$64.99

Galaxy 98TFF6HUUEXX GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162028
$119.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
$89.99

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152
$24.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206
$119.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395
$59.99

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145215
$64.00


Grand Total: $658.93
Plus Shipping: +$32.58
Mail-in Rebates -$120.00
Final Total =$571.94


Any last suggestions?

 

[unibrow1990]

I don't see any problems with what you have, it looks like a great system

TYhe only other consideration i can think of is whether you want to overclock your CPU or not, if you do you probably want to invest in a aftermarket cooler.