Greetings,

After much research, I have come to the conclusion that building my own PC is indeed far cheaper than purchasing a pre-built PC from elsewhere. This is my first time building a new PC, however, so I have a few questions.

First and foremost, I went to http://www.newegg.com/ to get all of the parts necessary. Smart move, correct?

The following is everything that I purchased. I was wondering if someone could help me figure out whether or not they're all compatible with each other (I don't know how to figure that out). I was also wondering if anyone could recommend me a guide for putting the PC together once all the parts arrive, or even if I need one at all.

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Operating System

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

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Processor

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

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Motherboard

ASUS Striker II NSE LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131293

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RAM

OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

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Video Card

ECS N9800GTX-512MX-F GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134043

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Sound Card

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006

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Hard Drive 1

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152052

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Hard Drive 2

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012

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Optical Drive

ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135143

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Power Supply

Antec TPQ-850 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009

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Chassis

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

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Keyboard

Microsoft Comfort Curve Black 105 Normal Keys 9 Function Keys USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard 2000 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109149

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Mouse

Microsoft SideWinder HKA-00001 Black 9 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired 2000 dpi Mouse - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105074

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Headset

Genius HS-04A 3.5mm/ 6.3mm Circumaural Full-size Stereo/ PC Headset

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826179031

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Read my blog it might give you some ideas. (3rd one)Angry_Bosmer

Thank you.

unless you are just wanting to blow money, you dont need DDR3 becuase right now it has no real advatage over DDR2. so if you scaled back to DDR2 you could save alot by maybe getting a 750i chipset instead of a 790i. Now if you just got the money to spend I say go for it, everything looks good to me.

Buy 1 more 4gb of ram just so you can brag ! :P

Only a truly mad man would buy DDR3 RAM right now!daytona_178

Wow, thanks a ton on the DDR2 suggestion. I originally picked something like this, but some official from Lambda-Tek told me that I should get the DDR3 because of performance issues (aka: spend more money).

Is this what you guys are talking about?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

If so, thanks a ton on the suggestion. This saves me hundreds of dollars.

What do you guys think about the motherboard I chose? Does it look like all the parts are compatible with each other? Because once I get all the parts, I'm going to have to try to put them together myself (and I've never built a PC before).

What do you guys think about the processor I chose? I had to seriously downgrade the processor from the one I originally chose (cause the one I originally chose cost like $800). Do you think the processor is still really good, or would you guys suggest a different one?

Now that I'm saving about $200 on this DDR2 RAM you guys suggested, I can probably afford to get some sort of upgraded part for that amount. I'm trying to get a PC that would cost $2000-$2500. Maybe I should upgrade the video card?

Only a truly mad man would buy DDR3 RAM right now!daytona_178

Does that mean i'm mad?:o

Why would you bother getting a sound card if you're getting crap headphones?Trilvester

What kind of headphones would you recommend?

[QUOTE="daytona_178"]Only a truly mad man would buy DDR3 RAM right now!andyroo08

Does that mean i'm mad?:o

Pretty much!

[QUOTE="daytona_178"]Only a truly mad man would buy DDR3 RAM right now!andyroo08

Does that mean i'm mad?:o

Yes :lol:

"Joking"

But the DDR3 is overexpensive. You probaly noticed the performance boost but is it worth the price.

Just get two of the same hard drive and go raid0.artiedeadat40

This.

In case you dont know, if you have 2 similar hard drives you can set them up in RAID 0 to deliver double the performance of the first one. In technical terms, RAID 0 would count only 1 HDD, hose space is equal to twice the size of the smallest drive, and splitsup the data between the two to allow faster access to things. Yu will find this solution gives you the best of both worlds, speed and space. The downside however is that if one of the drives dies out or something all your data is lost because your data was split and no one drives contains your things.

Also, since your not going to go for a 790i board, I would suggest the 750i FTW. I hear it is great at overclocking and supports DDR2. The next thing I would do is get the 8800 GTS (G92) since theres not much of a difference between that and the 9800 GTX besides 3-way SLI, which you will no longer have the option of doing. A full tower might also do you good since a good one will not cost you much more than the Antec 900 (You might have heard great things about this case, but thats back when it was like $70 and am unbelievable value. For the $120 that its going at now, I would definately suggest you just go for a full tower like the Thermaltake Armor.) Lastly, I would get a CPU cooler since you seem to be looking for the best of the best. The Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme is about as good as it gets, though it is pretty huge and requires a separate fan, it is definately worth it.

[QUOTE="Trilvester"]Why would you bother getting a sound card if you're getting crap headphones?TurtleMilk

What kind of headphones would you recommend?

As others have mentioned. Tone down the motherboard, ram, video card (8800gts G92 512mb), and to be honest, that power supply is also a bit overkill. Unless you have your heart set on it, i'd recommend something in the 600 range.

If you opt to buy that raptor (as i did) rather than setting up a RAID 0, be sure to get extra HDDs for storage since the capacity on these drives is tiny.

As for the headset, i have this one and the sound is fabulous. On a plus side, they're also cheap.

Word of advice, don't spend more than $1500 on your rig because it's overkill. You'll be better off saving that extra 1000 and buying yourself a new video card in 3 years.

Read my blog it might give you some ideas. (3rd one)Angry_Bosmer

Wow, that's quite a bit of misinformation, you might want to research that and re-write it before you suggest people to use it as a guide.

"when the P4 Ghz is 1.8 and under, it's single core. 2.0 and higher are duals" where did that come from, LOL? I used to have a P4 3.2 GHz single core, my buddy is running a 3.06 GHz P4 single core. No P4 is dual core, there are Pentium D's that are 2 P4's together. And there are P4's with hyper-threading, but that's far from dual core.

If you're going for a high end system I'd recommend to wait one more month and see what the new ATI and NVIDIA cards are going to do. The next NVIDIA series is going to use an all new architecture and there's a big chance that it's going to be much faster then the current cards (ie 9800 GTX). I think that the first benchmarks are going to be out next month.

Except for that it's fine, although that PSU is still seriously overkill for the system.