VanillaGaming

my computer is taking a shit and im looking to build a new rig, problem is im a noob and dont know whats compatible with what!!
im looking to spend about a grand. would like a new hard drive tho, i just got myself a evga gtx275 sc edition. will take my blue ray dvd and other dvd burner out so im good there. any help would be sweet, thanks guys!!

well, you already got yourself a graphics card, so that cuts the cost way down.

Only question: Intel or Amd processor?

I went on newegg and found that This coupled with This along with a mid tower case, 4 gb of ram, harddrive, copy of windows 7, amounted to around 750 $ without shipping and handling.

This and this, coupled with case, ram bla bla bla… got to around 775$ without shipping and handling.

I’d recommend the i7 processor.

I looked over Dericks rec-ed specs, and it looks great.
Check Xoxide.com for cases and peripherals, if you feel like blowing away some of that spare cash.

I’d change the cpu to pretty much any i7 that has a 90w tdp rather than a 130w, you’ll get cooler temps that way. My personal preference is to buy an atx mobo rather than a “micro” unless your building a small system. I built a system before xmas using this board which, although I didn’t pick it, turned out to be a great board. Got some rather nice overclocking done with it before I punted it off to the persons house. It’s only the third time I’ve done an intel build though, so I’m not necessarily saying you should buy that board. I’m an AMD man myself. :)

If your into overclocking, look into an ASUS crosshair- their not too expensive, and they run on an amd processor. you can overclock every single little setting you could possibly imagine- without needing the knowledge of an IT professional.

k i think i want to try an amd then, do i have to get an ati gfx card or do i go with my nvdia

here’s what i have so far
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131392&Tpk=crosshair%20ii -mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 -processor, better then the i7??? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129064 -i like this cuz it comes with psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145278 i was thinking this ram
what should i get for ram? i really dont want to use anything out of my old computer
is the evga gtx275 superclocked a good card?

but for real i dont know this is my first build i want it to be sweeet!!!
i have a creative xfi xtreme gamer sound card

anything im forgetting??

btw i have a 24 inch gateway monitor and a 19 inch dell that i rarely use so i will need the power i guess for it right?

i bought a asus p6t n had nothing but problems with it because of my nvidia 260. it would boot 1 out of 3 to 5 times n it was just plain annoying. Get home from work n thats the last thing you want to deal with. But I just upgraded to a ati 5870 n love it. The board n gpu just didnt mix well. That being said my advice would be

To google “motherboard name problems with ________” and do a search for the ram you want and the gpu. That way you can see if people are having problems. A mobo over $200 if all about overclocking so ask yourself if your really going to overclock. if not then take that extra cash n get a nice case that will last a few new builds.

snu

also i would look at getting triple channel ram since your getting ddr3. n look at 6 gigs, so that would be three 2 gig ram sticks. But make sure it works with your mobo. Every motherboard should have a list of compatible ram on their home site.

that geforce is midrange. so ull be able to play tf2 maxed out at 60fps no problem. sometime next year you’ll probably have to start lowering from high to mid quality, but thats the life of a pc gamer. seeing your fancy $$ parts get old. if you want the best bang for you buck check out ati’s sub $200 range cards. they will most likely smoke the 275 n you could then hack ur 275 in as a physx processor. just throwing ideas out there.

I also have an ASUS Motherboard. Then again I have an Radeon 4850 so :P

I’ll look into the board you want, make sure no one else had any problems with it, If there’s a problem I’ll look into a new board for you.

Read some of the reviews. It appears people have a few problem with updating the BIOS, Had that problem with my board and it was an easy fix. Didn’t see any problems with compatibility issues on the board though, so go for it.

Double edit: For RAM I say 4 gigs is a good starting point, you can add more after If you need it. I don’t know which company to recommend though.

thanks for all the help guys, ive never done anything with a mobo so i dont know how to update it or whatever

anways that mobo im looking at is dual channel setup

so whats a good ati gfx card that is gonna do better then mine?

A 5850/5870 will outperform a gtx 275. I wouldn’t bother hacking the old card back in for physx, it’s a crap technology that’s going to be obsoleted by open standards that will work on both ati/nvidia platforms and it gives very little visual improvement in the games that support it anyway. Unless you like really realistic looking pieces of cloth in mirrors edge, or a few extra bits of paper flying around in batman of course.

The ram you picked out is fine. The crosshair board is fantastic. I’ve built a couple of machines using it and never had a problem, great for overclocking too. The cpu isn’t faster than a i7, intel still outperform amd, but it’s plenty fast enough, more so when you get a decent overclock on it.

I have that exact case you’re looking at, if possible I would buy something different. I hate not having my drives mounted sideways for easy access and fitting a 58xx graphics card is a squeeze because they’re so long. Something like this, is pretty nice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129061

You’ll need to grab a psu separately though. I’d go with a minimum of 650w, modular ideally to make cable management easier, and it needs to be good quality like a corsair.

cool dru thanks!!
i was looking at those gfx cards and i don’t really want to spend another 400 bucks for an ati but i might have to lol, and can u recommend me a good psu then? i don’t know what to look for as far as they go. ive read that you want one with constant power? is that true?
what bout this psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

am i going to need some of this stuff??
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

heres a gfx card but what brand is better? and whats the difference?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121345&cm_re=ati_5870-14-121-345-Product

sorry guys i got one more stupid question!
i don’t want to use anything from my old computer if i don’t have to so what would be a good network card? 1 for 20 dollars or a supposed gamer card for 100? seems pretty expensive for a card!

also i would like to put the 2 xtra fans in the front of it so i need help finding a good fan :) i think it said they are 120mm

Jsun ive barely read any of thease posts. My responce is you dont need any of “that stuff” or thermal compound. unless you plan to really hardcore your PSU.
-Graphics right now with direct x10 emerging, go for an ATI or a Nvidia based card.
-usually boards come now with a decent network “card” build in.
-Usually you cant fit two 120s in front of a computer (the hdd area im assuming.) When looking at fans look for a good airflow to noise ratio, and the power connector should be either 4pin molex if you dont plan to control the fan speed or 3pin if you plan to hook it up to a controller or your motherboard directly.
Four Pin Molex

Three Pin Molex

The Money you could be saving with Geico

*Geico theme song playing (you know you hear it) *

You seriously don’t use thermal compound?? You are out of your fucking mind. I would grab a tube for sure unless your heat sync has a pad.

thanks for the info ejanks and everyone, i think i have what i need and got a list of shit. when i get some plow money i’ll prolly order it up!!!

I believe all heatsinks that come with intel processors (since I’m an intel fanboy) come with thermal paste already on them. I, of course, can’t speak for those AMD heatsinks. I’ve only ever dealt with Zalman third party fans, and they’ve all come with a little tube of thermal paste to put on the processor. If I were you RyanVDA, I’d wait and see what come included in your purchase before you go waste any money on stuff you don’t need.

I learned that the hard way when I built my first computer… I ordered all these extra cables only to find out they were included with the motherboard.