I need your wisdom!

[lak611]

Is your copy of Win7 retail or OEM?

[MayorHaji]

Originally Posted by Test.Dummy

I can't seem to find a 6gb ddr3. I only find 8gb and 4gb. 1tb sounds great but if I drop to 4gb ram, wouldn't it be too slow? Slow as in slow for the 1tb.

The ammount of ram won't have an effect on the speed of the hard drive. However, I'd recommend 8 gig of ram.

Originally Posted by Test.Dummy

I have nothing on a OS. I know thems expensive. Couldn't I use the product key from my laptop? Runs Win7.

The product key on your laptop is an OEM version most likely, and is tied to it. You'll need to plan to buy a new copy. Make sure it's Win7 64-bit. Since you're building new, buying an OEM copy will work and save you a little cash.

[BergerKing]

Comb your local craigslist for hard drives. There are people that I've seen that bought new ones and then didn't get around to using it, or opened the box and couldn't return a drive. Saw a 2 TB 7200 Caviar Black going for $95 the other day. There can be good deals if you look, and save on one end gives you options on another.

[SCrid2000]

Originally Posted by BergerKing

Comb your local craigslist for hard drives. There are people that I've seen that bought new ones and then didn't get around to using it, or opened the box and couldn't return a drive. Saw a 2 TB 7200 Caviar Black going for $95 the other day. There can be good deals if you look, and save on one end gives you options on another.

Not in Utah people here don't seem to understand that used electronics are worth less.

[MayorHaji]

Originally Posted by Test.Dummy

Currently I have:

Mobo:ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Z68 SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 ATX Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2200 Intel Motherboard - Amazon

Case:Cooler Master Cooler Master Elite 430 Mid Tower ATX Case with Window (RC-430-KWN1)

Fans: (2X) Cooler Master Computer Case Cooling R4-L2R-20AC-GP

Drive: Asus 24xDVD±RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

RAM:Corsair 6 GB PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-Pin DDR3 Core i7 Triple Channel Memory Kit CMX6GX3M3A1600C9

Graphics Card:Evga GeForce GT 430 1024 MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 DVI/HDMI/VGA Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1430-LR

CPU:Intel Core i5-2400 3.10 GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 Processor

HDD:Seagate Barracuda 500 GB 7200RPM SATA NCQ 16 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Desktop Hard Drive ST3500641AS-RK-Retail Kit

[Edit] All these are from amazon.

Now that I'm awake and have had some time to look up a few things, your case you have listed, when I looked on NewEgg, doesn't have a power supply. You'll need one. 330W or larger will be plenty for what you're doing. My personal preference is SeaSonic brands, but they are a little proud of their name, and deservedly so. Egg lists the SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply at about $70.

Also, swap out the Corsair 6 gig kit for 2 of these:
Crucial 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CT51264BD160B. I'm not a fan of "gamer" ram, as it can be a tad unstable at times. This Crucial stuff I listed isn't timed as agressively, and will run more stable.This will put you at 8 gig of ram on 2 sticks, and be a buck cheaper on egg.

Lastly, the OS, Win7 Home Premium OEM 64-Bit will be a penny shy of $100.

You might save a little cash if you get a motherboard that doesn't have onboard graphics, and I'd hold off on the extra fans and see if you need them. The one in the front and the PSU's, might be enough to keep things cool. You're not exactly buying lead melting heat generating stuff here.

All of this, unfortunately will put you over budget.

[Test.Dummy]

Originally Posted by MayorHaji

Now that I'm awake and have had some time to look up a few things, your case you have listed, when I looked on NewEgg, doesn't have a power supply. You'll need one. 330W or larger will be plenty for what you're doing. My personal preference is SeaSonic brands, but they are a little proud of their name, and deservedly so. Egg lists the SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply at about $70.

Also, swap out the Corsair 6 gig kit for 2 of these:
Crucial 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CT51264BD160B. I'm not a fan of "gamer" ram, as it can be a tad unstable at times. This Crucial stuff I listed isn't timed as agressively, and will run more stable.This will put you at 8 gig of ram on 2 sticks, and be a buck cheaper on egg.

Lastly, the OS, Win7 Home Premium OEM 64-Bit will be a penny shy of $100.

You might save a little cash if you get a motherboard that doesn't have onboard graphics, and I'd hold off on the extra fans and see if you need them. The one in the front and the PSU's, might be enough to keep things cool. You're not exactly buying lead melting heat generating stuff here.

All of this, unfortunately will put you over budget.

I'm okay if it goes a little over my budget, hells I did so much research yesterday I have a clear picture of what I want to get.

I just need some elaborations on your motherboard comment, doesn't have onboard graphics?

In the end, I got most of what I needed, holding off on the fans is great, I was freaking oot about the heat in there. But I kept pondering what power supply to get, how did you come about deciding on a 330w?

[Test.Dummy]

Originally Posted by BergerKing

Comb your local craigslist for hard drives. There are people that I've seen that bought new ones and then didn't get around to using it, or opened the box and couldn't return a drive. Saw a 2 TB 7200 Caviar Black going for $95 the other day. There can be good deals if you look, and save on one end gives you options on another.

I plan on improving my HDs later on, I want a good template.

[MayorHaji]

Originally Posted by Test.Dummy

I'm okay if it goes a little over my budget, hells I did so much research yesterday I have a clear picture of what I want to get.

I just need some elaborations on your motherboard comment, doesn't have onboard graphics?

In the end, I got most of what I needed, holding off on the fans is great, I was freaking oot about the heat in there. But I kept pondering what power supply to get, how did you come about deciding on a 330w?

The board you currently have, a Z68 chipset has integrated video. The P67 chipset doesn't. That's an example. It "might" save you a few coins to go with a board that doesn't have integrated video.

As for the 330w PSU:

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

Just plug in your info. I got a peak usage of 234W for your setup, which is in the sweet spot for where most 330W and 380W PSU's are most efficient (50% to 80% load).

Understand, that's MAX usage. It won't pull near that if it's sitting there, and your just reading web pages. Your max usage will likely occur during gaming or video encoding, etc.

[Test.Dummy]

Originally Posted by MayorHaji

The board you currently have, a Z68 chipset has integrated video. The P67 chipset doesn't. That's an example. It "might" save you a few coins to go with a board that doesn't have integrated video.

As for the 330w PSU:


Just plug in your info. I got a peak usage of 234W for your setup, which is in the sweet spot for where most 330W and 380W PSU's are most efficient (50% to 80% load).

Understand, that's MAX usage. It won't pull near that if it's sitting there, and your just reading web pages. Your max usage will likely occur during gaming or video encoding, etc.

I find that website hard! Suppose I buy the wrong one. I need a 500 and I got a 330, what can possibly go wrong?

[MayorHaji]

Originally Posted by Test.Dummy

I find that website hard! Suppose I buy the wrong one. I need a 500 and I got a 330, what can possibly go wrong?

Stick with the SeaSonic, and you won't have an issue. You'll even have room to upgrade to a decent video card and highend CPU with the SeaSonic 380W.

[Test.Dummy]

Originally Posted by MayorHaji

Stick with the SeaSonic, and you won't have an issue. You'll even have room to upgrade to a decent video card and highend CPU with the SeaSonic 380W.

Okay, I have everything now. The win7 OEM, once I install it, that's it right? I can't install it to any other computers?

[Test.Dummy]

Oh yeah. Rocking my computer soon.

[MayorHaji]

Originally Posted by Test.Dummy

Okay, I have everything now. The win7 OEM, once I install it, that's it right? I can't install it to any other computers?

Correct. Retail is the same way. 1 active license. However, Retail copies are allowed to be moved to a different machine. OEM's aren't.

[Test.Dummy]

My monitor won't come in a week or so, I wanna build my badboy up already, can I just connect it to my plasma tv for its first boot?

[MayorHaji]

You should be able to.