Hi guys... Im building my first computer... I want it to stay in the 750-825 dollar range... Because I dont live in the states the prices here are a little over the prices you guys have in the US. So anyways here is what I thought about getting. I dont know what PSU to get or what case to get, please give me advice on that... Anyways here is what i have until now... intel core 2 duo e6550 box asus p5n-e sli ocz ddr2 2048mb (1024mb x 2) 800mhz cl4 "reaper hpc" leadtek nvidia geforce 8600gt extreme 256mb pcie western digital wd3200AAKS 320gb sony nec - optiarc ad5170a x18 dvd so please tell me what psu i need, what case i need, and if there are any parts which are not worth their price (and what i should switch them with). also please give me advice about common mistakes made by first-time computer builders. (well this is not exactly my first time- i have changed RAM, changed hard drive and cpu and graphics card, but i have never build a comp from scratch.) also i want to be able to add more ram in the future and to add a second graphics card. do i need to buy a cooler for the cpu? will the parts work ok together? will they last? Thanks sooooo much!!!
Well, first off your motherboard. The p5n is a 650i chipset board. That means that if you plan on adding a second video card in the future you will get really crappy performance compared to a 680i board. So you may want to consider changing that. If you are worried about prices (and are willing to do your research on overclocking) get a E2xxx proc instead of E6xxx. It will save you LOADS of money and you can overclock it to run just as well. The video card you have chosen is really a piece of junk.. If you plan on playing anything newer than two years old I would recommend you get a 8800GT (you can find them for $260 someplaces now a days.) If you really really want a crappy 8600GT, make sure you get the DDR3 version, as the DDR2 is complete junk. Your system is not all that demanding, you should be able to run all of that off a 500W PSU pretty easily. Just make sure it's a decent brand name (See Big B's stickied PSU post for ideas.) You can use any case you would like. That's the fun of new builds because that's the most obvious customization. Get yourself any ATX form factor case that you like and you're set to go. As far as cpu HSF goes, if you plan on overclocking get yourself a good aftermarket HSF. There's a good stickied post in the Cooling forums. As far as first time builder mistakes go, I list my mistakes the first time I built a rig. - Setting the HSF on the proc. Make sure you don't use too much thermal paste. All you need is basically two rice grains worth of paste on the proc. Make sure you get a good solid connection. - Front panel connectors. This ruined my day the first time I ever build a rig almost ten years ago. My mobo manual was absolute crap and I couldnt tell what to do with the case FP connectors. Make sure that you follow the instructions on your mobo and case manuals and get this set up. If you don't get these jumpers placed correctly the system wont boot..
