Comp. Techies.. give me some help here.

[MasterOfPuppets]

preacher, i don't know how much gaming your going to be doing, but some of the newer games require 1GB on the video card.

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by Preacher

Alright... TALK TO ME... How does this look?



I haven't checked compatibility of the Ram yet.. though it is DDR3 with the right clocking. BUt I just want to know if I am on the right track here. It is a tad bit too expensive at this point, but I figure I can cut one or two things down a bit as well as shop around for some better prices.

Also, I figure the power is overboard. I really don't know what I am doing with that, so some help would be apppreciated.

Are you talking about the PSU? 750W is just fine for what you are running. I'd also consider upgrading to a 1GB video card if you plan on doing some gaming. Otherwise, I think it's a great setup.

[steelreserve]

Well, if you wanted top-of-the-line, you're doing it right. That looks like a totally kickass system.

Couple little things I'd have suggestions for ... as others have said, a 1GB video card is going to be better than 512, so I'd opt for that if you can. Also, 750W is definitely not overkill for a power supply on a system like this; 700 is pretty much the bare minimum you want to risk having with a high-end machine. Always err on the side of having too much capacity, because the alternative is disastrous.

Looks like a pretty good motherboard, but long-term, you might consider getting one that can support 24GB instead of 12GB. This one is actually cheaper than the one you've got, but it has the same specs and supports twice as much memory, and at faster clock speeds (unless you want to get into overclocking the memory, which I wouldn't try yet). You'd give up one PCIe 16x2.0 slot, but I have no idea why you'd need four of them anyway. It's also only has 6 USB ports in the back instead of 8, but there are so many ways to split USB ports that who cares.

You got a real steal on the DDR3, you ought to be happy with that.

You're going to be pissed pretty soon if you don't get a bigger hard drive. Vista and the other basic programs have gotten so huge that they'll eat up half of your hard drive space on the first day. If you're going to spend this kind of money, the 300GB is the much better option.

Last thing: With a high-end processor like that, you will probably want a better CPU fan/heatsink than the standard Intel one that comes in the box. Id' recommend one of these monsters if you can fit them (keep in mind, the heatsink stands vertically above the CPU by about 6 inches):

Zalman 9900
Masscool 92mm

or if not, you can decrease in size with one of these until you find something that fits.

Zalman 9700
Zalman 9500

Zalman definitely makes the best CPU coolers, but they're all so damn huge. I couldn't fit one in my case.


Oh, and above all else: If you are assembling this yourself in a metal case, GET A PAIR OF ANTI-STATIC GLOVES AND A GROUNDING CLIP, AND LOOK UP HOW TO DO THAT RIGHT. You do not want to fry the CPU, motherboard or graphics card with static electricity as you're installing them, so make sure you're grounded. I wouldn't wear shoes while putting it together either, for the same reason.

[SteelersinCA]

I think he said he had 4 HDDs lying around, not sure the sizes though. I agree with Steelreserve on the power supply, especially if you ever SLI video cards, can be a big drain on the power and the multiple HDDs.

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by steelreserve

Oh, and above all else: If you are assembling this yourself in a metal case, GET A PAIR OF ANTI-STATIC GLOVES AND A GROUNDING CLIP, AND LOOK UP HOW TO DO THAT RIGHT. You do not want to fry the CPU, motherboard or graphics card with static electricity as you're installing them, so make sure you're grounded. I wouldn't wear shoes while putting it together either, for the same reason.

Somebody should tell that to the PC and UNIX Engineering groups where I work. None of them ever use anti-static gloves or grounding clips whenever they work on machines. And we're talking about several thousand dollar servers in many cases! I never, ever work in a machine or put one together without at least a grounding clip. I learned my lesson years ago when I fried a brand new motherboard putting together my very first PC, so like you, I can't stress this enough.

[Steelman16]

I agree with SteelReserve...you can't have enough power. 750 should be perfect. I'm running 580 watts, and it's just enough for my system. I use Hiper PSU's, highly recommended.

And yes! GET A GROUNDING CLIP! I learned that the hard way too...

[43Hitman]

Originally Posted by Preacher

Ok.

So I am back to the place where I am going to have to buy a new computer.

I have a few choices... However, here is one I am seriously thinking about.


Building my own computer. I have never done it before. I have installed memory and also installed a video card before.

I have done a little research concerning CPU's, Motherboards, etc, and want 1333FBS at the minimum and what may be a quad 2 or an I7 chip, however, as I have read around, I am not too impressed with the I7's yet.

I also want a 10,000 RPM hard drive (willing to have smaller drive for the speed as I have about 3 external hardrives laying around that I can attach for secondary files).

Lastly, I am looking at a 3 monitor flat screen setup.

Now, I know that I can build it, but I want to hear from those of you who know hardware. . . is it worth building it, or should I buy a prebuilt one? After all, I am going to have to buy windows for it as well, including Office. I can't budge on that as I need the OS for some of the work I do at school.

So what do you think? Is it worth it? and how inexpensive do you think I can build this things sans monitors.

Jumping into this conversation really late, but for what it's worth:
I built my own computer last year, and it was pretty simple. I, like you, had only installed upgrades like video cards and ram. I was surprised at how easy it can be. I did lots of research at Newegg.com on what was compatible with what. I also read lots of reviews of certain products, to make sure they would be compatible with my core idea. I will never buy another pre-built machine after building this one. I saved about 600 dollars doing it myself. If you have another computer hooked up to the internet while building your new one, it's even easier to do. Cause if you get stuck or are unsure of something, you can just google it.

[Preacher]

Thanks everyone.

I am going to put together another list with the the Quad 4 9650 to check out pricing differences... then post that one here.

Then comes the big issue... MAKING THE CHOICE!

[steelreserve]

You know, reading this thread made me go back and look at the price for the Q9650, and DAMN, has it come down.

When I put together my machine back in September, it was $319 for the Q9550 and almost $600 for the Q9650, which was the newest chip available at the time. Now it's $260 for the Q9550 and $300 for the Q9650. I guess getting the very latest chip to come off the line always costs about double the one that's been out for a couple months.

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by steelreserve

You know, reading this thread made me go back and look at the price for the Q9650, and DAMN, has it come down.

When I put together my machine back in September, it was $319 for the Q9550 and almost $600 for the Q9650, which was the newest chip available at the time. Now it's $260 for the Q9550 and $300 for the Q9650. I guess getting the very latest chip to come off the line always costs about double the one that's been out for a couple months.

Yeah, that is one issue I am having. I went and reconfigured the system with the 9650, and found I could do it for about 300 less. Not sure if 300 is worth it over the next 3 years.

Decisions decisions.