Computer Parts: Recommendations?

Um, hello there. I'm not really sure if this goes here or not, but Hardware seems to fit a bit more since Games seems to be specifically games.
Anyway, I'm currently building a computer for when my current computer craps out, the new one I'll be using for gaming, mostly.

The current parts I've decided on are:

Casing: Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BK Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Turbo LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

Video Card:
GIGABYTE GV-N275UD-896I GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

CD/DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Cooling: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler

Monitor: Acer X213Hbid Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 20000:1 (ACM)

Keyboard / Mouse Combo: Logitech 967973-0403 Black 104 Normal Keys PS/2 Standard Deluxe 250 Desktop

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

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I'm on a $1300-ish budget for the hardware, and I've got most of it figured out, the total coming to about $1220. I'm not really sure if all of these parts are even compatible, to be honest.
I'm not really tech savvy, so I'd like to ask the people here at MG for some help regarding recommended OS, anti-bad stuff software, switch out X for Y, and all that.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

You did very well for your first specced build! It's all good. I have the ASUS P5Q-Pro and a Q6600 and I love it. The only thing I might take a second look at is the PSU if you think you might get another GTX275 in the future. I have the Corsair 750W TX and I love it!:drool

One thing I would really reconsider is your case as it has a sideways mounted HDD cage and the Corsair has very thick cables so they don't like to be bent 90 degrees. I have a CoolerMaster 690 case and fitting the power cables was horrid. I finally gave up and switched motherboards and PSU's with my other machine. Still a great PSU, no doubt about that!

Here's pic:

http://yfrog.com/04mlna0031j

 

It looks good to me. However I would suggest looking into another case. Sunbeam isn't a well known brand which can lead to cheap manufacturing. I would look into a case with free shipping to save like $20

Here is an NZXT Alpha Case with free shipping. Tho it's a mid tower It should fit all your stuff.

 

If your just a gamer a Dual Core should work just fine for ya. Myself I would simply look into a bare bones type setup. I just recently replaced my setup. I see your an Intel Fan which is cool. IMHO I prefer AMD. But thats just me. I Got the Tower, Power Supply and Cpu for 350 bucks.

I went with the AMD PHENOM 2 Dual Core 550 3.1 GHz. Gamer Type tower with Plenty of Air Cooling. This setup Runs Like a Champ. I do my shopping for my Barebones setup and cpusolutions.com.

They Pre assemble it. Its under Warranty for a year. Then all you do is add the ram and hard drives, video card DvD burner. With your budget, You could really have a screaming computer.

AMD will release a 6 core soon, I am sure Intel will as well. IMHO I will stay with the dual then someday MAYBE make the jump to the 8 core when It comes out. From everything I have seen and read I am simply Not impressed with the quads, Not from AMD or INTEL. Just my 2 cents for whatever its worth.

 

You are correct a AMD dual core will work but overall a quad core is better for other stuff besides gaming However not many game use Quad core and in some cases a fast dual core will beat a slower quad core CPU.

 

The case might not be the best for thermal management and looks to have a ton of cheap and nasty plastic which is easy to break off if you sneeze.

Some decent gaming cases are from the Antec series with excellent thermal potential and they don't have the PSU (which you don't need anyway):

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $59.95

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $99.99

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case $159.99

CoolerMaster also make some good gaming cases that allow good airflow potential.

Good brand with the PSU but I always seem to note that the enthusiasts tend towards the "HX" of these models:

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX $149.99 ($119 after rebate)
Not sure why but most have the HX.
Same as AD has:
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V $99 after rebate which is only $10 more than the one you listed.

 

Thanks for the help, everyone.

In the future, I might get another GTX 275, I'm wondering if this is a possibility with this rig?

 

The mobo you have chosen only has a single PCI-e x 16 slot and you would want to rethink the PSU?!?

nVidia SLI zone recommended PSU:

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

 

In that case I think I'll just stay with a single GPU.

Updates specs, more or less:

Casing: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Turbo LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

Video Card:
GIGABYTE GV-N275UD-896I GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

CD/DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Cooling: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler

Monitor: Acer X213Hbid Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 20000:1 (ACM)

Keyboard / Mouse Combo: Logitech 967973-0403 Black 104 Normal Keys PS/2 Standard Deluxe 250 Desktop

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Thinking of switching out the current motherboard with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131297

 

P5Q Series are great motherboards. I own a P5Q-E in my system and very happy with it. Also know a few people with similar p5q series board and they are happy as well.

You can get a Corsair 850 Watt PSU for only $20 more

Mouse/Keyboard I use a G11 and MX518 mouse and very happy with both. They both run about $110 together.

Otherwise good setup there.

 

good looking setup and the q9550 runs anything I throw at it like a champ. The soundblaster you listed I have tried before but went back to onboard since it was no better and in some instances worse then onboard (go figure)

 

I find that kind of hard to believe. I own a Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Gamer and notice a big difference between onbaord and using it.

When I moved from onboard to a Audigy SE I notied it as well. Just my two cents

 

Just curious isn't this I5 going to perform better than the quad and yet it's $30 cheaper? just throwing it out there. Will mean new mobo though. Having a look for reviews now.

 

Yes it may but it will cost more in the long run. New Mobo and new ram. I5 only works with DDR3 ram

 

Well DDR3 will price compete with DDR2 in many cases, and possibly offer more future proofing. You would have to go for the 3x1GB kits though or 3x2GB (need a 64bit OS for this). Anyway it is just a thought I would certainly be aiming for an I5-I7 system for future proofing for a while. Actually it looks like I'm wrong as the I5 boards have 4xmemory slots.

 

I7 supports triple channel memory, I5 only supports dual: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/intel-core-i5,review-31674-2.html

 

Yea I saw that and and mention it at the end of my post "only 4xmemory slots" it looks like the I5 on only has 4 cores without HT (so four threads) compared 8 potential threads with the I7.

 

The i7s only have 4 physical cores, but they have hyperthreading making 8 virtual cores.

 

Hey everyone, quick update on the parts.
Newegg keeps on discontinuing parts, so that's a bit problematic.

Casing: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

Video Card:
EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

CD/DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Cooling: XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler

Monitor: Acer X213Hbid Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 20000:1 (ACM)

Keyboard / Mouse Combo: Logitech 967973-0403 Black 104 Normal Keys PS/2 Standard Deluxe 250 Desktop

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

 

My suggestions

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 384 GB more space for only 30 more

I herd people have also had issues with tower heat sinks on the p5q boards. I have a p5q-e which has the same chip-set cooler and a 120mm tower heat-sink will not fit. P5q-e and p5q deluxe have pretty much the same layout.

I have a Noctua 92mm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608003 and it just fits. I would highly suggest this for this board or another 92mm tower heatsink. This cooler keeps my Q6600 cool.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

I'm considering swapping the GeForce GTX 260 with the Radeon 4890, but I'm not sure about it.

Will I need to swap out other parts? Find another motherboard/CPU?

Also, how does cooling work, exactly? Will one fan be enough to keep my entire computer at a non-melting state?

Sorry about the questions, as you can see, I'm not exactly a hardware wiz-kid.