Curse

Haruka · Aug 18, 2009, 02:24 AM // 02:24

This is my first time trying to build a computer. When I put these together, will it work, or will it blow up?

Core 2 Duo E8400
NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI
GeForce GTS 250 512MB
Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Case

Haven't decide on the sound card and cd-rom drive (suggestion?). I already have a hard drive and a monitor. What else do I need?

Will I be able to play Guild Wars (1 & 2), Aion, and future games with no problem?

I know it takes some time, but it's my first time building it...so please... Thank you so much for your time.

Link6590 · Aug 18, 2009, 06:37 AM // 06:37

Looks fine, its not nearly close to blowing up your machine. And besides, modern chips will often just shutdown when things seem to go sour. It should be able to handle all the games out there currently and in the foreseable future (Crysis

, and Aion and GW2)

Sound cards and cd-roms usually don't matter as much. Unless your a musician and in the music industry, most basic sound cards will do (and honestly, i know very little in that area). As for cds, a burner with a decent write speed will do (48x CD is common now).

The only thing I'd be wary of is the 500W power supply. With your set up right now, its fine, but as soon as you get a higher GPU (GTX 260+), your going to run out of Watts.

Do tell how much it costs in the end. Looks like a really decent rig for the price.

brbafkdnd · Aug 18, 2009, 06:37 AM // 06:37

So, what you have there is about a 700 dollar build without OS, Optical drive, hard drive, or a power supply.

Optical drive can be anything, you won't really need a sound card, but if you did here's a wishlist that I think will give you more bang for your buck.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/M...spx?ID=7529429
+
http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/...roducts_id=108

If you want an aftermarket cooler, I suggest http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233029
I'm assuming you have all the fans, cables, and thermal compound(artic silver 5 is my favorite)

Both your build/mine will be able to run gw/gw2 + aion no problem. But for more bang for the buck, use my build.

When building the computer, be sure to have your body electrically grounded, meaning preferably be working on tile, rather than carpet, wear rubber gloves if you have to, or use an anti-shock bracelet to assure that you don't cause any electrical shortages, thus ruining your components.

MercenaryKnight · Aug 18, 2009, 08:19 AM // 08:19

You should just buy a cheap anti static bracelet from newegg (under 10$ I am pretty sure). Attach it to a piece of metal and work away.

Also theres tons of videos on youtube/ internet somewhere. I think "how stuff works" website has a bit of an outdated video guide to building a computer. That was the video I watched before building my comp.

My main advice is stick everything you can in the mobo before screwing it down. The ram, gpu, cpu, cpu cooler etc. I just recently had to change my cpu heatsink fasteners because it broke. I decided to try and just get it set up then do it after I screwed it in and had trouble. So I have to take out mobo and do it again then screw it back down to the case.

Haruka · Aug 18, 2009, 10:56 AM // 10:56

I looked online, people say the best memory manufacturer is Crucial, what do you think?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Link6590

The only thing I'd be wary of is the 500W power supply. With your set up right now, its fine, but as soon as you get a higher GPU (GTX 260+), your going to run out of Watts.

Do tell how much it costs in the end. Looks like a really decent rig for the price.

I don't think I will upgrade the GPU in the next few years, but if I decide to, I can also upgrade the power supply right?? The 500W one comes with the case, so...

I haven't ordered them, so I don't know exactly how much I have to pay. But I added the prices on newegg = about $590, not including shipping etc. I'll add the total on here when I have ordered them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brbafkdnd

So, what you have there is about a 700 dollar build without OS, Optical drive, hard drive, or a power supply.

Optical drive can be anything, you won't really need a sound card, but if you did here's a wishlist that I think will give you more bang for your buck.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/M...spx?ID=7529429
+
http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/...roducts_id=108

I already have OS available to use, a hard drive, and the power supply will come with the case. As for the drive, I think I'll just rip one off someone's computer... Only need to be able to install games for now.

I'll check out the first link when I have a newegg account.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brbafkdnd

If you want an aftermarket cooler, I suggest http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233029
I'm assuming you have all the fans, cables, and thermal compound(artic silver 5 is my favorite)

It says the processor will come with heatsink and fan, but I'll still order a thermal compound just in case. Will these be enough? The case also comes with a fan.

And for applying thermal compound, just apply a thin layer between the processor and the fan? Like this?

Thanks for mentioning it, didn't know about thermal compound until now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by brbafkdnd

Both your build/mine will be able to run gw/gw2 + aion no problem. But for more bang for the buck, use my build.

So...able to run the games at highest settings smoothly and listening to music at the same time? Just to make sure because I'm tired of playing on a really old computer. I often see people teleporting...

Many thanks. Thanks for the tip MercenaryKnight.

Swath of Sorrow · Aug 18, 2009, 02:54 PM // 14:54

After having built several computers over the years and dabbling in overclocking, I like to consider myself a "computer enthusiast"

The E8400 is a great chip (especially if you get one with E0 stepping). My "old system" is similar to what you're looking at building. I have the E8400 C0 stepping chip in it and it's overclocked at 3.6Ghz 24/7 and runs great. The motherboard is a Gigabyte P35 that is now discontinued.

My new system has an E8600 running 24/7 at 4.2Ghz on this motherboard ( I highly recommend it if you have no plans on running an SLi graphics card setup)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359
it would save you some money over the XFX/Nvidia board which you could re-allocate elsewhere. My recommendation would be to get a case with no power supply for a little less $$ than what you have listed and invest in a quality P/S. It really can't be said often enough to not skimp on your P/S. A weak power supply can lead to stability issues, heat issues, graphics issues etc. Don't always trust the wattage ratings.. often times the 12volt rails are weak and the extra wattage is pushed to the 5v and 3.3v rails to achieve the total wattage rating.
Here's a quality P/S that would suffice for you.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341022

I have a personal preference for G.Skill RAM and have had great results from it. I have this in my system
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166

The GTS250 is a great card. I built a system for each of my kids using that card and it runs GW for them flawlessly at max res. (got a GTX 280 in my rig

)

If you have no intentions of overclocking, the stock cooler will work good enough for you (just make sure your case has good airflow), but if you plan on OC'ing an aftermarket cooler is a must.

dilan155 · Aug 18, 2009, 03:00 PM // 15:00

the main thing about power supply is to watch the 12V rail, because a lot of times the wattage might be high but the amps in the 12V rail is low, and this can cause a lot of problems, PSU is something you dont want to skimp over as if it blows if can cause quite a bit of mess for all your other components.

Haruka · Aug 19, 2009, 03:58 AM // 03:58

What is the difference between GDDR3 and DDR3? Does it matter which memory it uses? Is there a huge difference between 512MB and 1GB memory for a video card? Because if I pay a little more, I can get the 1GB version of the video card I listed, but I noticed the 1GB card uses DDR3...?

Link for comparing the 4 cards I'm looking at. Second one says 2.2GH memory clock, typo?

Swath of Sorrow · Aug 19, 2009, 04:11 PM // 16:11

GDDR3/DDR3 ... same thing...
as for the memory buffer size... it depends on the resolution you'll be running.. at lower resolutions ( ie:1440x900 or lower) 512MB would suffice and you may not even notice a difference with the 1G.. now if you're gonna run higer resolution say 1920x1200 or so... you'll definitely benefit from the 1G over the 512.
2.2GH memory clock is the same thing as saying 2200 Mhz.

dilan155 · Aug 20, 2009, 12:41 AM // 00:41

the only difference your gonna notice between 512 and 1 gig is when your using higher resolution, at higher resolution more detail need to be refreshed thus more vram is good, for lower rez like 1680x1050 512 should be good enough.

Haruka · Aug 23, 2009, 10:30 AM // 10:30

I've ordered them. I replaced the case I first picked and added a PSU Swath of Sorrow recommended and a thermal compound thing brbafkdnd recommended (thanks).

I should receive them on Monday. It turned out their warehouse is like 10 min. away lol. Total: $757. $64 tax and $33 shipping... I tried to keep it under $700... Anyway, thanks