Building a computer! HELP?

[Chuckler3]

Alright.. I'm piecing together my next computer as my laptop doesn't seem to like to work anymore. I'm not much into gaming, but I do dabble here and there. This will be a media center of sorts as I'm a big fan of downloading movies and would also like to hook this up to the TV. I'm trying to keep this as cheap as possible as well as upgradeable. Here is what I have amassed so far. Any input is greatly appreciated.

CPU/MOBO combo ::::UPDATED::::
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190810

Case/Power Supply combo
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Hard Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Video Card ::::updated::::
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130325

Memory
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Drive
Newegg.com - PLEXTOR Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD Super Multi Burner - CD / DVD Burners

CPU Cooler
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

I know.. it's all newegg.... anything i need? Anything i could save some money on?

 

[txyaloo]

I don't like Plextor drives or AMD processors, but that's just personal preference. Others have no problems with them.

I'd also spend the extra $30 for a 1tb+ HDD. If you want this to be a media center, you'll want the extra storage. I have over 8tb, and it still isn't enough. Blu-Ray rips take up a lot of room.

I'd save money and buy one of the motherboards with a built in ATI radeon HD 4500 or greater. That chipset will hardware accelerate HD discs and downloads which is worth it if you want a media center. It's not so great for playing the latest games though.

 

[Chuckler3]

thanks for the input.. another forum is pointing me in the direction of the core 2 quads.. but they're pricey...

 

[Chuckler3]

updated cpu/mobo as well as the video card.

 

[theraapster]

I would say a core 2 quad is way overkill if you are just going to be playing back movies, so unless you are going to be doing a lot of encoding, a C2D should be just fine.

I also agree with txyaloo that you should go ahead and bump up your hard drive to at least a terabyte, no since wasting a valuable port on your mother board and space in your case with "just" a 640GB drive.

 

[LaFlavor]

I'm not sure why they're telling you to go with quads, unless they know something I don't. Generally, very few applications currently take advantage of more than two processors.

Maybe with the new windows coming out, they will? I don't know, but with current programs, you'll get better performance out of faster clockspeed duos than slower quads.

 

[Chuckler3]

interesting.. i'll look into the duo's.. i'm trying to keep everything as up to date as possible while limiting my future upgrades by doing them now.. i'll look into the bigger hard drive.. prices on higher rate duo's are the same as the mid sized quads so i will probably stick with the one i have in place at the moment and focus on the hard drive.

 

[focussvtracer]

i havent herd to many good things about gigabyte mobo's
i would look at evga or intel chipsets
and i have that cpu cooler it works great 2+ years now

 

[focussvtracer]

also its better to have 2 hard drives instead of 1 big one
you can use raid 0 or 1 for speed or to back up files

 

[Chuckler3]

i'll have to look into that.. i may be waiting as i just received a beautiful 11 inch crack in my windshield.. gotta love that..

 

[Blown 89]

While Plextor makes good drives Pioneers are better and they're slightly cheaper. I'd go with a Seasonic S12 or Forton powersupply myself. It's the most important component in a build by a large margin and I wouldn't trust that to a Rosewill.

 

[txyaloo]

also its better to have 2 hard drives instead of 1 big one
you can use raid 0 or 1 for speed or to back up files

Raid 1 is not a backup solution. Please don't tell people it is.

Also, I'd rather have a big drive with a chance to recover my data if something should happen than a Raid 0 array where if one drive fails or the stripe becomes corrupted you lose all your data. Raid 0 is great for speed with the right hardware, but it's not something most home users really need to run for any reason.

 

[LaFlavor]

i havent herd to many good things about gigabyte mobo's
i would look at evga or intel chipsets
and i have that cpu cooler it works great 2+ years now

I don't know where you've heard this. Gigabyte makes great mobos, especially for the price.

Also, the P45 chipset on the one he has picked out is an intel chipset.

 

[James Snover]

I can second the opinion about AMD processors. I do not like them, I have only ever had two AMD-equipped systems, and I got rid of both o fhtem as fast as I could. I originally thought the problems in both systems were due to 32-bit Vista, but once I got Intel cpu's in them, they work well.

Jim Snover

I don't like Plextor drives or AMD processors, but that's just personal preference. Others have no problems with them.

I'd also spend the extra $30 for a 1tb+ HDD. If you want this to be a media center, you'll want the extra storage. I have over 8tb, and it still isn't enough. Blu-Ray rips take up a lot of room.

I'd save money and buy one of the motherboards with a built in ATI radeon HD 4500 or greater. That chipset will hardware accelerate HD discs and downloads which is worth it if you want a media center. It's not so great for playing the latest games though.

 

[Fordman9870]

you might check out 3btech.net or pricewatch.com I saved tons building mine there

 

[astrodudepsu]

i havent herd to many good things about gigabyte mobo's
i would look at evga or intel chipsets
and i have that cpu cooler it works great 2+ years now

also its better to have 2 hard drives instead of 1 big one
you can use raid 0 or 1 for speed or to back up files

You have been misinformed. They make great mobo's.

RAID is not for beginners. I would not recommend a RAID solution here.




What I need is a BUDGET. Tell me how much you want to spend and I'll spec you out a computer.

 

[RDJ]

You have been misinformed. They make great mobo's.

RAID is not for beginners. I would not recommend a RAID solution here.




What I need is a BUDGET. Tell me how much you want to spend and I'll spec you out a computer.

best advice in the thread right here. Without having a specific budget you will get literally hundreds of opinions and most of them will be wrong for you.

 

[StangJason]

i havent herd to many good things about gigabyte mobo's
i would look at evga or intel chipsets
and i have that cpu cooler it works great 2+ years now

That's the same mb I've got and it has been a very good one so far and gets very good reviews on newegg.com

It's a little bit more expensive and rated lower in power than the one you picked out but this is one of the best PSUs you can buy. PSUs are sort of like car amplifiers you can buy a 1000 watt amplifier and see it outperformed by a good 50watt amplifier.

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104034