First Time Builder - Spec Check & General Questions

Krands1985 · 25 Aug 2006 at 13:14

I've decided, after reading these forums for the past few months, to build a new PC for myself. My current system is over 2 years old now, and showing its age. I was initially unsure about whether to build myself, since I've never done it before, but reading the forums has given me the confidence to do so.

I'm not an overclocker, so that's influenced a couple of my hardware choices, but here's what I've come up with over the past few weeks:

Potential Spec.
(System will be for gaming, web browsing, listening to music and some video editing)

CPU: Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC4200 Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB)
Graphics Card: HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Disk Drive 1: Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM
Disk Drive 2: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Disk Drive 3: OcUK Value Floppy Drive - Black
DVD-ROM: Samsung SH-D162 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM
DVD-Writer: Samsung SH-W163 16x16 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
Case: Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU)
PSU: Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk

How does that look - everything compatible? I've chosen most of the things from reading recommendations on the forum (eg. PC7+, the 7200.10), but I am still a little unsure about a couple of things.

I was originally going to go for faster RAM, but after reading this:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=4&artpage=1965&articID=472 it seems the cheaper PC4200 should be fine for me.

However, the main component I'm unsure on is the Motherboard. I originally looked at the "Intel DP965LT 965 (Socket 775)" then at the "MSI 965P NEO (Socket 775)". Is the DS3 a better choice than either of these boards? Or should I go for something else?

Also, is the floppy drive necessary? I've seen some people say you need it to install SATA drivers when setting up the XP installation, but others say they are fairly pointless.

I was also looking at the Belkin 4-Socket SurgeMaster - how useful would this be, and what sort of protection will it offer? I've never had any PC problems with powercuts or anything before and I don't live in an area where powercuts are common, but would it be a wise investment to protect my equipment?

Like I said, I've never built a PC myself before; I've installed a PCI TV card, and swapped hard drives between machines; but not built from scratch. Any important tips to keep in mind?

I've read some building guides recommended on here, and I think I'm now more worried about setting up the BIOS and installing Windows than the actual building! Is the system setup all fairly simple?

I think I've read too many things, and I'm probably just confusing myself unnecessarily! But obviously I want to make sure everything will work out OK, especially since it's my first time. Any advice will be appreciated

Oh, and apologies for the long post!

rmuir · 25 Aug 2006 at 13:27

All seems fine to me, though doubtless somebody with greater knowledge than i ( not hard admittedly ) will see an issue somewhere that ive missed.

Floppy drive is pointless, by and large, I too have seen folks mentioning them but I don't have one and haven't needed one thus far.

As for tips goes, sounds to me like you'll be fine with the experience you have had. I built in April and hadn't so much as opened the case of a pc before and all went fine. I say this to everyone, the cpu/hsf will take probably take a stupid amount of force to go on, so on that front i would mount that before putting the mobo in place in your case. I fitted the mobo first and was crying and all sorts cause the damn thing was flexing away.

Good Luck

MoRT489 · 25 Aug 2006 at 13:30

Hi

rmuir said:
Floppy drive is pointless, by and large, I too have seen folks mentioning them but I don't have one and haven't needed one thus far.

Floppy drive is not pointless if you ever want/need to flash the BIOS to the latest version, and its only cheap anyway.

Spec looks awesome. Only changes i would make would be the motherboard and RAM. The Conroe 6600 CPU and above run better with 975X chipsets rather than the P965 (such as appears on the DS3/DS4) so go for:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Asus_177.html (top one)
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/DFI.html
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_MSI_204.html (top one)

For future proofing they are all crossfire compatible, so if you want to in the future u could add another gfx card.

or if you're not bothered about overclocking the processor or crossfire then go for the DS4 or Asus P5B Deluxe (which have both received great write-ups on this site).

As far as the RAM goes, u are clearly not scrimping on any other part of the PC so spend an extra £20 and get the Geil 6400 DDR2 ram which is selling like hotcakes this month and is in the "this week only" section and is highly recommended by all who have it.

Building tip: its not difficul to put everything together, just treat everything carefully and follow the instructions

MoRT489 · 25 Aug 2006 at 13:33

Krands1985 · 25 Aug 2006 at 19:44

creed said:
As far as the RAM goes, u are clearly not scrimping on any other part of the PC so spend an extra £20 and get the Geil 6400 DDR2 ram which is selling like hotcakes this month and is in the "this week only" section and is highly recommended by all who have it.

What do you think of this from the link in my first post:

"On Intel Core 2 pure synthetic memory bandwidth benchmarks show a 30+% increase, but this does not translate in a noticeable performance bump in games and applications, where the increase, at best, is ~6% and this going from cheap high latency PC3200 to expensive low latency PC6400, and while these expensive modules do take the performance crown, their lead over the mostly cheaper PC4200 rated sticks is smaller than 3% in real world benchmarks."

Will it really be worth the extra money if I'm not overclocking? I've seen the PC4200 cheaper elsewhere, so it would be an extra £30 onto the cost for the Geil.

Edinho · 25 Aug 2006 at 22:47

I wouldnt bother with the raptor, personally. If your editing i'd get more space as opposed to an albeit (very) small speed increase.

Floppy drive are very rarely used now, even for BIOS updates. I would just go without and should you need one nick it off your old system if your keeping it. Problem is its sods law that you dont have one and will need it. Only senario is if your OS is utterly screwed and you need to boot with a floppy.

Gratz on taking the plunge. Welcome to the long, rewarding expensive road

squiffy · 25 Aug 2006 at 22:55

You don't need a floppy, BIOS flashes are usually done in Windows (and safe to do so)

I would use faster memory (that's 4300 not 5400?) Also another cooler ie Ninja/Mine.

wellibob · 26 Aug 2006 at 00:26

Floppy drive & memory card reader combined is a better idea than none at all. God save the floppy drive !!

Krands1985 · 26 Aug 2006 at 17:07

Well that Corsair PC4200 has gone up a bit in price on the other site I found it on, so I think I'll go with the Geil 6400 like you guys suggested. (I did a quick bit of maths and its only 2% on top of the price, but according to that RAM article it gives a 3% performance gain!

)

Cheers for the replies

Though I wouldn't be surprised to see another thread from myself sometime next week asking for help!