Building a new comp

[Oziyn]

Ok guys so ive looked into making my own computer and im amazed.

I have found many cool things on the web so i have decided to slowly start building a cool new computer.

I wanna know what you think about this stuff but before i show u i just wanna say that i do not play very many games. I mostly design websites, 3d games, operating systems, themes, programs, flash animation and i also use photoshop a lot.

OK!!

So....

For the OS I'm still debating between Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1. (Free for me )

For the ram I'm pretty sure I'm doing this because of the great reviews and the super low price: SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (38.99$)

I found this nice hard drive: Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB (89.99$)

Check this DVD burner out!: Lite-On DVD writer (21.99$!!!)

Now this motherboard is actually pretty cool. Its got an ok graphics card already on it and its very cheap: ASUS P5N-MX LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7050 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (59.99$)

The CPU : Intel Pentium Dual-Core Inside 2.0GHz (69.99$)

Now this is my favorite Part about this computer that im making...The XION II XON-103 Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (69.99$)

She is the most beautfiul thing in the world.....AND IT GLOWS BLUE!!!!!

The case comes with its own power supply but im not sure if thats good enough. Its 450w. Please help me out with that question.

So people...

Tell me if all of this is worth the money.

Tell me if there are any better deals on the same or almost the same things.

Tell me if 450w is enough.

And finally...Help me out with my OS dilema

Thanks in advance,

Terry

[CoffeeFiend]

First, I thought you were in Canada? Or did newegg start shipping to Canada recently? Depending on where you live, there might be some good computer stores (there's so many of them... ncix, directcanada, canadacomputers, etc)

ncix's new specials are starting in an hour or so. With some luck they'll have some wicked deals (their current everyday prices are about the same as newegg in the first place)

Oh, and that computer is plenty fast to run Vista SP1 (disable the heavier things you don't want/like, and it'll run just as fast as XP)

And yes, 450w is plenty for a basic box (not that it's a great quality PSU, but it'll work)

Oh ya, one last thing: can't say I'm a big fan of that motherboard. Only 2 DIMM slots for a start.

[Oziyn]

ok well the motherboard is pretty good because all i need is 2.

and about the vista or xp thing. The problem isnt the speed im thinking about the security and i heard there was to much to load at startup

[Oziyn]

oh cool ncix is pretty good and a bit cheaper

THX!

Edited June 11, 2008 by Oziyn

[CoffeeFiend]

ok well the motherboard is pretty good because all i need is 2.

2 for now perhaps. But with Vista (and windows 7 next), and memory hungry apps (you mentioned photoshop), more is better. Especially if you decide to go for a x64 OS at some point. A board with 4 DIMMs will let you add a pair of 2GB sticks in a couple years for dirt cheap (probably 30$ by then). Also, that motherboard doesn't have a DVI out. And the fancier boards tend to be better for overclocking (and them core 2 duo's overclock like crazy, my e2160 went from 1.8 to 3.4 -- a 85% OC!) and have other nice things.

The problem isnt the speed im thinking about the security and i heard there was to much to load at startup

Vista is more secure in some ways, but that should be a non-issue with both. Too much to load at startup? Like I said, you can disable things you don't want... It loads in about the same time as XP here (never timed it, but never noticed much of a difference)

oh cool ncix is pretty good and a bit cheaper

THX!

You're welcome. Check their current specials. The page should go live within an hour or so. Should you find a part for cheaper elsewhere in Canada (and in stock), they'll price match it too.

[Oziyn]

ok well ive bin looking at some stuff and it ends up being that the processors and hardrives are a lot more expensive than newegg

[CoffeeFiend]

ok well ive bin looking at some stuff and it ends up being that the processors and hardrives are a lot more expensive than newegg

I thought I mentioned the specials Their regular prices are more expensive, but their year-round specials are cheaper e.g.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive 3YR MFR Warranty $85.99. 4$ less than newegg's, for 640 instead of 500 (again, nevermind newegg doesn't ship to Canada) Or if you want something inexpensive, and that 500GB will do, then they have a 500GB seagate for $67. It's like that year-round. They beat newegg on most prices. But yes, the e2180 is all of 3$ more (crappy specials this week really).

They have several 2x1GB kits of DDR2 PC 6400 around $35... Plenty of DVD writers around $25... Your XION case is like $53. $60 for that same motherboard.

And if you decide to get a nice video card instead of cheap onboard video, they have a GeForce 8600GT for $38.

Edit: The Hitachi P7K500 have awful seek times seemingly (18ms? wtf?), so I wouldn't buy one.

Edited June 12, 2008 by crahak

[Oziyn]

im thinking of keeping my motherboard. its got 4 slots for ram and i think i just wanna buy a duel core proccessor and yeah..itll be good... but i dont have any info on it so im kinda p***ed..

the name is: Hewlett-Packard HP d530 SFF(DV324S)

[CoffeeFiend]

im thinking of keeping my motherboard. its got 4 slots for ram and i think i just wanna buy a duel core proccessor and yeah..itll be good... but i dont have any info on it so im kinda p***ed..

the name is: Hewlett-Packard HP d530 SFF(DV324S)

No you're not gonna reuse that for anything. It's an old socket 478 board, for which they've stopped making CPUs for a good while (we moved to LGA775 back in 2004. And there never were any dual core CPUs made for s478 anyways). Also, no pci-e (old AGP, same story), old DDR (not DDR2), old 865G chipset and all. And nevermind HP's board suck in the first place...

There is nothing worth salvaging in that old box basically.

[Oziyn]

my friend showed me this cool website called tigerdirect and its actually really good because the prices are about 20 bucks cheaper than ncix.

so im gonna look at it right now and in about 30 mins im oging to post a new list of stuff

[Zxian]

If you live in Canada, the best way to find the cheapest components is to use www.shopbot.ca. Put in your search item, and it'll bring back all the prices from the cheapest stores.

Some of the stores that are high on my list (In approximate order of who I buy from): NCIX.com, Anitec, DirectCanada, NXSource, FrontierPC.

I'd recommend you get this motherboard instead: ASUS P5K-VM. It's more expensive than the one you chose, but the motherboard is one component you don't want to skimp on. Like crahak mentioned, depending on what type of work you do, you'll probably want to upgrade to 4GB later. You'll also have the added advantage of using an Intel chipset (I have a personal vendetta against nVidia chipsets).

Edit - you mentioned TigerDirect... ugh. I can't stand dealing with them. I'd personally wait until things go on sale at NCIX, or buy from other stores (take any from the list above).

[Oziyn]

do CPUs need fans?

[Zxian]

CPUs need heatsinks (which typically have fans attached to them), but as long as you buy the retail (i.e. not OEM) version of the CPU, it will come with a basic heatsink that will work fine for the most part.

[Oziyn]

cool

[CoffeeFiend]

my friend showed me this cool website called tigerdirect and its actually really good because the prices are about 20 bucks cheaper than ncix.

Hmm, no they're not cheap at all (except a couple things on special now and then). They're more like bestbuy/future shop than a computer store imo (craptastic is the word I'd use)

Like Zxian said, shopbot works nice, and if it finds something cheaper than ncix has, then ncix will price match it (often directcanada is cheaper, nevermind it's the same company as ncix).

NCIX.com, Anitec, DirectCanada, NXSource, FrontierPC.

canada computers is nice too if you're in ontario, but yeah, those are the main places.

As for the ASUS P5K-VM, it's nicer, but still no DVI out. Personally, I'd go with a nice full sized ATX board, like the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L for like 90$, then the 38$ GeForce 8600GT on it (only 15$ more than that board anyways, you do get 256MB of dedicated ram for the vid card out of it, better 3D perf, and more/better outputs). Nice and stable intel chipset (P35/ICH9), very good for OC'ing, has pretty much everything you could ask for: 4 DIMMs, lots of slots, high definition 7.1 audio with toslink and spdif outputs and all...

you mentioned TigerDirect... ugh. I can't stand dealing with them. I'd personally wait until things go on sale at NCIX, or buy from other stores (take any from the list above).

Ditto.