first build compatibility check

[PCrasher]

hey! im finally building my first pc as a birthday present, I've chosen the main parts, just need to know if its all balanced out, no weak links and of course compatible, thanks

CHENMING 601AEBL-U-W Blue 1.0mm SECC Server Computer Case - Retail - 55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811125438


ATX 2.01 Upgraded, Dual 12V Rail Power Supply
Rosewill RV500S-2 ATX 2.01 500W Power Supply - Retail - 52
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182020

DFI LP UT nF4 SLI-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - 170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136158


AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail - 322
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual - Retail - 215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145575

SAPPHIRE 100129L Radeon X800GTO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - 174
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102601

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM - 141
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144160

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card - Retail - 120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188

Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail - 232
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121120

im looking to overclock it, and itll be used for music, gaming, light grapghics...
Thanks for any comments!

lets hope this machine doesnt know whos putting it together haha

[pop pop]

At a glance, it looks pretty good, with no conflicts. You might consider a second drive other than the Raptor--for data, backups, and to just plain give you more room than a single 74 GB HDD. I don't see an optical drive. I would consider a third party HSF, especially if you're going to OC. The PSU has good power, dual rails, the right connectors, is ATX 2.01, has a nice big fan--but I don't know about Rosewill's efficiency, stability, or reliabilility.

The speakers are fabulous, but do you really need half a kilowatt? They'll make your ears bleed and your neighbors very unhappy. :D

[jlreich]

The speakers are fabulous, but do you really need half a kilowatt? They'll make your ears bleed and your neighbors very unhappy. :D
Hey he is in PA., maybe if he turns it up I can hear it here in Ohio. :cool: I hope he has good taste in music. :p

I agree if OC'ing is planned get a good HSF. Also agree with the PSU issue, look at Saphalline's sticky (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39018) for some good PSU's.

One thing though, if you are getting a SLI mobo lose the ATI card as it will not be able to do SLI. You need a SLI capable Geforce v-card. Again look at Saph's sticky for recommendations.

Also what is your budget and what will you be using this system for? That will help us to make better recommendations. :)

And welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif forums.

[PCrasher]

1. I have a 160gb and ill either add a 74 gb raptor for a raid, or add the sata II 3.0gb/s which i heard were good

2. Checked out HSF, somthing like ARCTIC COOLING Silencer64UltraTC:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186123

3. I looked at the PSU's, question is would a $90 430w PSU be better than a 500w from rosewill for the computer.. which personally i have no experiance with but read good reviews on.

4. so far you guys are being great, so i will consider taking in song requests when im hooked up, if your in ohio or antartica... ill make sure you hear it... haha :)

budget was about 1000 - 1200 which im pushing.. meaning ill wait a bit longer save up a bit more.. and im waiting for my birthday gifts (dec 8th) hopefuly they'll be wrapped in little envelopes ;)

thanx again

[hockey man]

You should get an SLI video card if you have an SLI MOBO. Look at 6800Gt.

[PCrasher]

So im looking at the 6800gt's, and im not totally an idiot, but how does:
memory core
memory clock
memory interface
and memory size
all translate into performance?
how does it balance out?
what really matters??

[pop pop]

Here's a PSU I recommend--I have one and it's great (also on sale now for $89): Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2 550 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103932)

[saphalline]

Wait, you're going to pair a 160GB SATA with a 74GB Raptor in RAID? Which RAID level? I would think JBOD would be your only choice in the matter, but then again I wouldn't suggest putting a Raptor in RAID unless it's with another Raptor.

If you're that tight on money, just go with the stock CPU cooling. AMD CPU's can reach pretty good OC'ing levels with the stock cooler. Later on, you can upgrade to the next level - a nice Zalman cooler. Those things are in the $40-60 range, though, so definitely wait on that if you have to.

The two most important components in any computer are the mobo and the PSU. For SLI, get a 500W high quality PSU at the very least. I've also heard good things about Rosewill's PSU's, but not great things like the PSU's in my sticky. Spending over $100 on a PSU may seem useless when you could put that money into a faster CPU or better vid card, but consider that cheap PSU's often die within 6 months and can potentially fry some of your expensive parts! :eek: All because you tried to save some money. Take it from of those of us who know and have learned this lesson (I have personally seen a cheap PSU die with fire coming out the back and everything) don't skimp on the PSU!!

About the SLI mobo, you do know what SLI is, right? No offense, but we get a lot of builders who pick an SLI mobo because it's expensive and it must be good, right? And then they pick an ATI vid card to go with it. And then they wonder why we say that wasn't a good idea. :p

For in-depth info on vid cards and what the specs mean, read this thread (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39536).

[rond36]

1. I have a 160gb and ill either add a 74 gb raptor for a raid, or add the sata II 3.0gb/s which i heard were good

The motherboard that you have listed doesn't support SATA II 3.0gb/s

May I suggest the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136157) For $4 more you get an additional 4 SATA II 3.0gb/s ports for a total of 8 SATA ports.

As mentioned above buy a video card that supports SLI or buy a motherboard that does not support it there isn't any sense throwing away money on something that you cant use with an ATI video card. Here is a board without SLI DFI nF4 Ultra-Infinity Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136163) $75 cheaper!

[PCrasher]

The motherboard that you have listed doesn't support SATA II 3.0gb/s
I think my ears are bleeding without the z-5500's...
I was looking at the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D first, thats why i assumed the sli version would take sataII

I've also look up SLI and video cards a bit more, i guess if i have the extra 500 bux for 2 7800GT's so i can have twice the fps - it might be worth it
in my case, I'll probably back down to the non SLI and stay with 1 cheaper but still fast card, and throw the few extra bucks towards a PSU

Side note: i wasnt planning on raiding the 160gb with the 74gb... when i can pair it up with another 74... or more.. that will be in a raid configuration.. and ill probably be asking questions over here when it happens hahaha

[jlreich]

SLI is cool if your into gaming, which it seems you are. If it fits your budget get an SLI mobo, you can use just one v-card for now and add one later if you want. We are just saying it has to be a Geforce SLI capable card. One ATI card will work fine but will not work in SLI mode.

But if don't think you will want or need two use SLI then save your money and get a non-SLI mobo, and whatever type of v-card you like.

[PCrasher]

Your totally right, and im overwhelmed by the help you guys were to me... as much as i want the sli... it depends on the inflow of cash on my birthday haha... ill still be asking a few questions till then, you guys rock...

[hockey man]

Yes, ask away! Maybee I missed it, but what is your budget?

[PCrasher]

budget is like this... i started aiming for 1000 without the audio (its going to be a gift)
and now im stretching around the 1200.. wich i dont think is that bad, to my knoledge most of the componets are the bang for the buck, and still keeping things fast..
at the moment im looking at the asus sli premium, it has the sli (maybe im not buying 2 cards now, but ill be able to if i want) it supports the sataII which i need for the raptor and it has 3 pcis which is always somthing good. it all comes down to reliability, stabality and ability of overclocking

Whats your opinion between the 2 (asus vs DFI in SLI)?

[hockey man]

I would go with the ASUS. One thing here though. . .you seem like you want to overclock. Overclocking is not a "anyone can do it" action. It can seriously "burn" you if you don't know exactly what you are gettin into. I would not recommend it to anyone who is a hardware newbie. I don't overclock. In reality though. . .your specs should run anything without needing to overclock.

[PCrasher]

Strong point, i wont say this outloud, so ill squeek it *i had a 700mhz celeron emachines* and it burnt out a few months ago... ive always loved computers and hardware... but never had the cash to back it up, and i seriously want to learn... i have a basic idea in overclocking.. very basic just from reading.. proper cooling, right voltage, safe tempertures, torturing, looping and checking... ofcourse i would need much more before i check how long itll take me to burn 1300 bucks.. and ill ask away before i try anything crazy, i think some people enjoy taking part of the project...

what can you tell me about overclocking a system like the one im looking at...?

[saphalline]

By the way, the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D does indeed have SATA 2.0. It's a typo on Newegg. If you go to DFI's website and check it, there's SATA 2.0 on there.

With the slew of new ATI vid cards coming out, I wouldn't suggest SLI for your budget. It would eat up too much money and you don't know when you'd have the money for a second vid card. Save the cash and drop down to a mobo based on the NForce4 Ultra chipset. Just my opinion, but that's a tight budget for an SLI mobo.

OC'ing a K8-based CPU? Well... let's just say it's a little weird. With the onboard memory controller and lack of FSB, it's a little weird. It can still be done quite easily, but you have to know what to OC and what it does.

[hockey man]

I would do some pointed google searches. Maybee Saphalline can help point you in the right direction. Most importantly though- I wouldn't do anything to it unless you are triple sure that it will be o.k. Makre sure you have great cooling- really great cooling! I like Saphalline's suggestion of dropping to the Ultra. It is a great chipset.

[rond36]

By the way, the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D does indeed have SATA 2.0. It's a typo on Newegg. If you go to DFI's website and check it, there's SATA 2.0 on there.

My bad, I should have checked DFI's site.

It has 4 SATA II 3.0 GB/s ports.

The DR has 4 SATA I 1.5 GB/s and 4 SATA II 3.0 GB/s ports for only $4 more

[PCrasher]

I was wondering what was better...
1) getting two sataII 74gb raptors configured in raid
2)getting one sataII 74gb raptor
3)getting two sataII 36gb raptors configured in raid

2 74's is pricey but is the speed increase of two drives in raid really that much faster than 2 36's in raid?

[hockey man]

Personally, I would get one 36 Gig Raptor as my OS HD and possibly program files, then buy a 160 gig one for storage.

[PCrasher]

ok, but later on if i want to add a 36gb to get the additonal 50-80% speed, would i have to format the drives?