I want to Build my Own Pc but I Need A LOT of Help

[PaulieG]

You can't go wrong with Brandon's, MM's, or CDA's suggestions. I've have many current generation chips and boards, and for most anything you do, both platforms will serve you well. If I have one opinion, it's on the board. I've owned probably 14 different Intel 1366 and 1156 boards over the last 2 years, and I can say that Gigabyte boards have been the best by far in terms of performance and reliability. With AMD, I would recommend Asus first, then Gigabyte and Biostar. If I had to pick a configuration for you, I'd probably offer something very close to Brandon's, though I'd add an SSD for a boot drive, and to save a little cash I'd go with a gtx 460. That's just me though, as I'm not an avid gamer.

 

[Blaiyan]

so i like the

i7 950 processor
both cases look great to me
ddr3 3 x 2g ram
I think I should go with the 850w psu
as for graphics card i'll stick with the one from amazon it's about the same but $120 cheaper.
also i'll stick with the pioneer bluray drive i found on amazon
I think i'll get a 500GB HDD for my main HD. Might be more stable than a 1TB.

as for OS. Shoud I get windows 7? Does the cooling gel for the processor come with it? Do I even need it? Can i get that at newegg if so? Should I also buy the wrist band grounding clip for static?

 

[PaulieG]

so i like the

i7 950 processor
both cases look great to me
ddr3 3 x 2g ram
I think I should go with the 850w psu
as for graphics card i'll stick with the one from amazon it's about the same but $120 cheaper.
also i'll stick with the pioneer bluray drive i found on amazon


as for OS. Shoud I get windows 7? Does the cooling gel for the processor come with it? Do I even need it? Can i get that at newegg if so? Should I also buy the wrist band grounding clip for static?

Windows 7, without question. Get some good quality thermal paste. It will help keep temps down. You may want to consider an aftermarket cooler too, if you ever want to overclock your cpu. No need for the antistatic band. Just make sure you work on a hard surface, and ground yourself by touching the case frame before working on the build. I've built nearly 500 systems, and never shorted out a board doing a build.

 

[Josh154]

so i like the

i7 950 processor
both cases look great to me
ddr3 3 x 2g ram
I think I should go with the 850w psu
as for graphics card i'll stick with the one from amazon it's about the same but $120 cheaper.
also i'll stick with the pioneer bluray drive i found on amazon
I think i'll get a 500GB HDD for my main HD. Might be more stable than a 1TB.

as for OS. Shoud I get windows 7? Does the cooling gel for the processor come with it? Do I even need it? Can i get that at newegg if so? Should I also buy the wrist band grounding clip for static?

Look at my post.. You don't have to get the 932 if you don't want too.

The PSU i reccomended is a very good one. It's the HX series which is much better than the TX brandon suggested.

The GPU you found on amazon is already 1 generation old. A gtx 570 performs like a gtx 480 and uses less power and less heat.

A bluray drive isn't a bad idea. Just get it off newegg.

Just grab the 1tb drive if your doing a lot with video stuff. It take's up quite a bit of space eventually and you will want a 1tb. A 1tb drive will last you as long as a 500gb drive and their is no problems with stability.

Definitely go with windows 7. Xp is getting way out dated and you NEED a 64-bit version.

The stock intel heat sink fan comes with the core i7 as it is a retail version. These already come with pre applied thermal paste so no need for that. If you look at my post above though it will be very beneficial on thermal paste and a different CPU cooler.

 

[PaulieG]

Look at my post.. You don't have to get the 932 if you don't want too.

The PSU i reccomended is a very good one. It's the HX series which is much better than the TX brandon suggested.

The GPU you found on amazon is already 1 generation old. A gtx 570 performs like a gtx 480 and uses less power and less heat.

A bluray drive isn't a bad idea. Just get it off newegg.

Just grab the 1tb drive if your doing a lot with video stuff. It take's up quite a bit of space eventually and you will want a 1tb. A 1tb drive will last you as long as a 500gb drive and their is no problems with stability.

Definitely go with windows 7. Xp is getting way out dated and you NEED a 64-bit version.

The stock intel heat sink fan comes with the core i7 as it is a retail version. These already come with pre applied thermal paste so no need for that. If you look at my post above though it will be very beneficial on thermal paste and a different CPU cooler.

The only thing that makes the HX series "better" is the modular design. The circuitry is nearly identical. If modular cables are worth the $40 extra, then go for it. I personally like them, because you avoid having to tie back unneeded cables, and gives you more room inside of your rig, but some would argue that that a modular design can create some power stability issues.

 

[Blaiyan]

Hey man! It can be a bit nervous building your own PC for the very first time. I built my first this spring when i was 15, and although it had some very good components it also had some very poor components. My budget was less than half of yours though so with a budget like your's you can build a VERY VERY good computer. Shoot it's even better than my current build what you can get!

You say you want to watch and encode HD video? I'd say a i7 with your budget would be great Ill throw together a parts list here quick for you.

Processor-Intel core i7 950

Motherboard-EVGA X58 SLI

RAM-Mushkin Blackline 3x2gb CL8 DDR3 1600mhz

GPU-Evga gtx 570

Case-CoolerMaster HAF 932

HDD-Samsung spinpoint f3 1tb

PSU-Corsair HX 750w

DVD burner-Asus Sata DVD burner

OS-Windows 7 home premium 64-bit
Total price so far $1466.91, now if you wan't to overclock that chip your going to need a better heat sink fan for the CPU.

Best cpu heat sink fan for the money!

You will then need some thermal paste to go between the processor and heat sink.

This thermal paste is starting to take over

Total price shipped will probably be about $1530 max. I know it's $30 over your budget but this is all high quality components and this build will last you a long time and not age quickly.

Thank you. Wow where do I start. Okay you guys love that graphics card haha. But i'm going with something cheaper. The windows 64 bit. will all the software i've downloaded for windows xp work on w7 64bit? I see that's OEM and quite a bit cheaper than the regular price. Exactly what does it lack? I don't know how to overclock and won't go there. I don't want to make my system unstable. As for the drive i'm going with a blu-ray/dvd/cd one. Are you guys sure I should go with a 800w psu? I like the board too but the gigabyte has my eye.

 

[Red_Machine]

As long as the software is fully coded in 32-bit (99.9% of stuff this decade was), you'll be fine with 64-bit. OEM is no different from retail, except you don't get a box.

 

[Josh154]

Thank you. Wow where do I start. Okay you guys love that graphics card haha. But i'm going with something cheaper. The windows 64 bit. will all the software i've downloaded for windows xp work on w7 64bit? I see that's OEM and quite a bit cheaper than the regular price. Exactly what does it lack? I don't know how to overclock and won't go there. I don't want to make my system unstable. As for the drive i'm going with a blu-ray/dvd/cd one. Are you guys sure I should go with a 800w psu? I like the board too but the gigabyte has my eye.

Yeah, go for that gigabyte board then. Here is another good gigabyte board that's cheaper. The gtx 470 isn't a bad card either so go for that if that's all your budget can reach. Overclocking isn't hard at all and im sure after you get the rig you will want to OC it as their is a huge performance benefit.

 

[Blaiyan]

Look at my post.. You don't have to get the 932 if you don't want too.

The PSU i reccomended is a very good one. It's the HX series which is much better than the TX brandon suggested.

The GPU you found on amazon is already 1 generation old. A gtx 570 performs like a gtx 480 and uses less power and less heat.

A bluray drive isn't a bad idea. Just get it off newegg.

Just grab the 1tb drive if your doing a lot with video stuff. It take's up quite a bit of space eventually and you will want a 1tb. A 1tb drive will last you as long as a 500gb drive and their is no problems with stability.

Definitely go with windows 7. Xp is getting way out dated and you NEED a 64-bit version.

The stock intel heat sink fan comes with the core i7 as it is a retail version. These already come with pre applied thermal paste so no need for that. If you look at my post above though it will be very beneficial on thermal paste and a different CPU cooler.

Thank you so much josh. This is a big help. I'll go with the psu you suggested. okay, it's Thermal Paste (cooling gel lol).

But it's so much more. I definitely think about it if it's less power and less heat. Maybe by March, April it will have dropped slightly in price? Hopefully.


Sorry for the late post. Windows crashed and I had to start up again.

 

[Josh154]

Thank you so much josh. This is a big help. I'll go with the psu you suggested. okay, it's Thermal Paste (cooling gel lol).

But it's so much more. I definitely think about it if it's less power and less heat. Maybe by March, April it will have dropped slightly in price? Hopefully.


Sorry for the late post. Windows crashed and I had to start up again.

Yeah no problem man! If you see any helpful posts you can hit the thanks button in the bottom right of the post. So their has been alot of helpful post's in here that im sure people would appreciate if you thank'd them with the button

Anyways yeah, it's up to you on the PSU. It's a modular PSU that you don't have all the extra bulk and cables that your not using and don't need to hide. Im currently running a modular PSU and im glad i am. All im using is 1 string of sata cables and 1 string of molex cables so those other strings would be getting in my way.

Weird i just had a problem with my m2000 and now all it's doing is loading windows and BSOD's

 

[Blaiyan]

As long as the software is fully coded in 32-bit (99.9% of stuff this decade was), you'll be fine with 64-bit. OEM is no different from retail, except you don't get a box.

That's it. And I save about $100-$200? Hold on but does it also lack any documents or manual that I might want?

 

[Beertintedgoggles]

Just a quick heads up, check to see if there is a Microcenter near you. You can grab that i7 950 for $199 there: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0346210

 

[PaulieG]

That's it. And I save about $100-$200? Hold on but does it also lack any documents or manual that I might want?

You really don't need any doc for Win 7. If you really need to troubleshoot, google is your friend.

 

[Josh154]

Yep, i forgot to mention that! I'm taking a trip to texas after christmas and will be stopping at a micro center and picking up a 950 for that 200 deal!

 

[Blaiyan]

Just a quick heads up, check to see if there is a Microcenter near you. You can grab that i7 950 for $199 there: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0346210

Cool. I just checked and it looks like they just opened a store in Yonkers, NY. In the Bronx and I live in Queens. Though i've never been to the bronx I could probably have someone get it for me or maybe they'll ship it to me. That will probably be like a $80 savings. Thanks man. I may pick it up first next month if it's still the same price.

 

[Blaiyan]

Silly Question but Why are the memory slots different colors on the gigabyte motherboard?

 

[Josh154]

Silly Question but Why are the memory slots different colors on the gigabyte motherboard?

Just different color comobos compared to different other brands. Say there is 3 blue slots and 3 white slots all the blue slots is 1 channel and all white slots is another channel.

 

[brandonwh64]

Different channels

Make sure you get windows 7 x64 home or pro (ultimate is a waist for normal use)
x64 will let you use your 6gb of RAM

 

[JrRacinFan]

Just trying to understand something:

Why not go with the Xeon I posted? 4core 8 threads just like your i7 950 and costs hundreds less to build, comes with a blu ray burner, not slacking in the graphics nor in the ram department. It isn't no slouch.

Newegg.com Account Login Page

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K56W Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic...

GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 AT...

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready...

Intel Xeon X3440 Lynnfield 2.53GHz 8MB L3 Cache LG...

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RP...

LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-R...

Could even add an SSD or another 6850 to that.

 

[brandonwh64]

That is true the X3440 is a nasty chip! i have a X3430 (same as x3440 but without HT) and i wprime32 @ 7.9 sec and on my i7 its @ 6.7 sec, there very close in performance but with the extra HT it would run close to the I7 950

 

[brandonwh64]

OMG! Mushkins 2x2gb DDR3 1333mhz CL9 1.5V>>> 42$ shipped!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748

i see these chips doing 1600mhz 8-8-8-24 1.65v

 

[Blaiyan]

Just trying to understand something:

Why not go with the Xeon I posted? 4core 8 threads just like your i7 950 and costs hundreds less to build, comes with a blu ray burner, not slacking in the graphics nor in the ram department. It isn't no slouch.

Newegg.com Account Login Page

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K56W Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic...

GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 AT...

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready...

Intel Xeon X3440 Lynnfield 2.53GHz 8MB L3 Cache LG...

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RP...

LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-R...

Could even add an SSD or another 6850 to that.

I like the graphics card. That board seems to have some features that the more expensive one doesn't but the GA-X58 says it's triple channel and has a higher memory capacity. Also it has support for a 6 core cpu if I ever wanted to upgrade mines in the future.

Does that Blu-ray writer do double layer?

 

[GSquadron]

Wait at least a month to get your hands to the new 1155 lgas from intel.
I heard that the mobos are already out to buy, but there are no processors

 

[Black Haru]

Wait at least a month to get your hands to the new 1155 lgas from intel.
I heard that the mobos are already out to buy, but there are no processors

I somewhat agree. since it is going to take you a few months to get the cash together, consult us again before you buy anything. 90% of what we recommended won't change, but (such as will likely be the case with Intel's new line) if by chance something better/cheaper has come around, then you don't want to regret getting a bad deal.

 

[PaulieG]

I like the graphics card. That board seems to have some features that the more expensive one doesn't but the GA-X58 says it's triple channel and has a higher memory capacity. Also it has support for a 6 core cpu if I ever wanted to upgrade mines in the future.

Does that Blu-ray writer do double layer?

They are different platforms. The 950 is 1366, and the xeon system is 1156. All 1366 boards are capable of triple channel, 1156 just dual. The 1156 will be cheaper, the 1366 is a slightly better platform.