Going to be first-time computer builder, need advice/help

[Broodyr]

So I'm looking in to making a computer from scratch for my first time. I know I have all the required components, but I'm mainly wondering if some of them will bottleneck others, if some aren't compatible (but I'm 99% sure they are, as I've done research and according to the stats, they are), or if you can recommend something better for about the same price or less. I'm not sure if I need a heatsink, as there are 4 fans installed in the case, but if I do need it, tell me. Here's the list of parts, with the link to them:

Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (Looking into other in a different thread here)(Swapped with: ) COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

HITACHI Deskstar HD32000 IDK/7K (0S00164) 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (Swapped with: ) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1501FASS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

ASUS EAH5870/2DIS/1GD5/V2 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDP118-08 (Swapped with: ) HP Black SATA 24X Multiformat DVD Writer

Creative 70SB073A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Swapped with: ) ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

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

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7Q-8GBRM

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor Model HDT55TFBGRBOX

Windows 7 Ultimate

Any answers, tips, or recommendations will help. Also, I'd like it if you could also say if this is better than a normal high-end gaming computer or not, which is what I'm going for. And as well, if you think all these will fit in the case, which was my main concern.

 

[HILLBILLY]

Looks like an awesome setup you're going for,
The Mainboard looks absolutely epic, and the AMD hexa-core should be nothing short of insane...

The only thing I would change in that setup is the CD drive, go for a newer one with a SATA interface, rather than that IDE drive. faster data transfer, and much much neater cabling.


With regards to setting it all up, it's all pretty straight forward, the CPU, RAM and add-in cards can only go in one way (provided you don't force them...) and the motherboard manual usually always has the Pin-Header layout labled clearly for you. Just remember to constantly earth yourself on the case (bare metal parts of the case...), as static electricity can kill pretty much all of those components, and double check that you have everything connected in the right places before you even consider turning on the power.
Apart from those few things, the other major thing you have to do is pray to God that none of the parts are Dead on Arrival*...

(*Although there is a slim chance of a component being DoA, it was proven to myself and my best mate on Tuesday that it can still happen...)

Anyway, best of luck with it, and I hope it all goes well for you,

~Hillbilly

 

[danpass]

........................

The only thing I would change in that setup is the CD drive, go for a newer one with a SATA interface, rather than that IDE drive. faster data transfer, and much much neater cabling.

....................

Agreed on the optical drive and would add that it include the ability to burn. And if you're investing that much money go for the Blu-ray burners.

 

[kodi]

Lots of good reading HERE on hiding the wiring and making it neater and better for cooling I have modified my 900 similar to the first article.

 

[Broodyr]

Thanks for all your responses. But @danpass, sadly I probably won't be able to afford that extra 200~, as I'm not the richest, so I'm affording for it by selling this computer (probably a bit under $1000), a game console + some games, and then some of my own money, so yeah. And my bad, I didn't see the 'DVD Burners' category as well as the 'DVD Drives' one, and I thought it was the same thing, so now I am upgrading on that. Again, thanks, I'm sure it'll turn out fine.

 

[HMonk]

I would suggest you employ a second HDD. Why? Many pragmatic, everyday functions; I'll mention just two. You can configure your OS across two HDDs and increase performance (reduce seek times). Secondly, any computer aficionado knows that regularly created image backups are essential. That same aficionado knows that you do not store image backups on the same HDD that is being backed up. Why? If your HDD bricks you backup is rather useless. Therefore, the aficionado employs at leat two HDDs (internal or external).

Depending on what you are doing with your rig, heat may or may not be an issue. Perhaps to attenuate noise levels, out of the box, Antec recommends setting the fans on low (assuming your case has the tri-speed fans); I have all of mine set on high. I OC my Phenom, have an XFire setup, and three HDDs. Under a load, my CPU averages mid 60s, gfx mid 40s, and HDDs high 20s. Noise? A bit, but playing games or listening to MP3s while computing, I hardly notice it.

Monk

 

[Broodyr]

Well, I may look into that because of the performance boost, but for me, I'm actually not too keen on backups. Simply because it can take a while to back it up, and I don't store any vital files on my computer, so I can simply download whatever I had again. And if I really need something, I'd e-mail it to myself as an attachment for later use, or use an online backup site (I use ADrive.com, with 50GB of free backup storage). I appreciate the input though.

 

[HMonk]

"Hmmmmmmm," Monk said, he's "not too keen on backups."

One good reason: look at all of the folks here who lost data or spend hours/days trying to restore a corrupt system. Ever lose a "saved game" file and have to start over? By implementing a rational partitioning protocol, you can accomplish image backups very quickly. For example, I put my OS and utility apps on a 100GB partition which, presently, contains about 60GB of data; less than 20 minutes to back up. It will take you considerably longer to reinstall/update your OS and your apps.

Nevertheless, I appreciate "to each their own."

Monk

 

[A Guy]

"Hmmmmmmm," Monk said, he's "not too keen on backups."


Monk

I guess to each his own as well, but backups for me are not just about files and folders, but the entire Operating System. My backups are system images (Acronis, Paragon, AND Windows ). If you have something befall you, or you do something stupid (it happens), 20 minutes and EVERYTHING is back as it was, and you are happily on your way. Look at my system specs and you will see 2 HDDs, never considered anything else. Just some food for thought as Monk will agree.

A Guy

 

[HMonk]

"Hmmmmmmm," Monk said, he's "not too keen on backups."


Monk

I guess to each his own as well, but backups for me are not just about files and folders, but the entire Operating System. My backups are system images (Acronis, Paragon, AND Windows ). If you have something befall you, or you do something stupid (it happens), 20 minutes and EVERYTHING is back as it was, and you are happily on your way. Look at my system specs and you will see 2 HDDs, never considered anything else. Just some food for thought as Monk will agree.

A Guy

Amen to that Guy. I am sure that many of us never miss an opportuinity to tweak this or that and recall the headache we once created for ourselves in the process. An image backup/restore boot disc within arms reach works better than two aspirins. I don't use online backup sites, two reasons: (1) running in the bkg, they consume bandwidth, and (2), if my OS boots to a BSOD, how do I access my online backup? But, you are so right: "to each his own."

Monk

 

[bobkn]

Here's a minor personal preference:

I've had a few LiteOn drives with surprisingly short lifetimes. There may be better inexpensive choices (Samsung, LG).

 

[Broodyr]

Here's a minor personal preference:

I've had a few LiteOn drives with surprisingly short lifetimes. There may be better inexpensive choices (Samsung, LG).

Yeah, I had said I was getting a different drive in a post, but thanks for responding anyway.

EDIT: Whoops, I just noticed it was LiteOn too. I guess I can give it another check.

 

[Sanvean]

I have never been a fan (no pun intended lol) of stock cooling. If you are going to push the system, I would look at some AM3 socket cooling, if you can fit it into your budget.

 

[zzz2496]

I suggest you change the Soundcard to some other maker, Creative's driver's quality isn't exactly top notch these days, and X-Fi is a complex, feature rich audio processor, bad driver = bad headache... I suggest you use Asus's Xonar series, the driver is way better than X-Fi, because it's simpler than Creative's, simpler = less prone to problems...

zzz2496

 

[bobkn]

I suggest you change the Soundcard to some other maker, Creative's driver's quality isn't exactly top notch these days, and X-Fi is a complex, feature rich audio processor, bad driver = bad headache... I suggest you use Asus's Xonar series, the driver is way better than X-Fi, because it's simpler than Creative's, simpler = less prone to problems...

zzz2496

On the other hand, I haven't been impressed by the driver updates for my Xonar DX (the cheap one). I presume that Asus is dependent on CMedia for drivers.

Has anyone produced a soundcard yet that's really made for Vista or Win7? The X-Fi seemed to be built for DirectSound, which is no more.

 

[zzz2496]

bobkn, Xonar series is simply an audio I/O, it doesn't contain any processing capability. As you can see in my specs, I use Asus's Xonar HDAV 1.3, as a sound card, it performs remarkably. No driver headache, sounds wonderful, no feature you confused on, no weird modes, no wuss, nice card overall, nice driver overall. It doesn't hinder standby/sleep, it doesn't crackle (DPC latency issue) and never had it crashed on me yet (~a year of ownership). Driver is ~15MB, way smaller than Creative's, eats very small amount of memory too. I rarely open Xonar control panel these days, once set, you never open it ever... That my humble opinion...

zzz2496

 

[Broodyr]

Ok, I got the Xonar D1 7.1, plus it was cheaper than the X-Fi one too! I'm still looking into the CD burner though.

 

[Broodyr]

Sanvean, sorry, I'm not 100% what a socket cooler is? I googled them and it came up with Thermaltakeusa » Cooler » CPU Cooler » AMD Socket AM3 / AM2+ / AM2. Is this right? Or is a socket cooler something else.

 

[bobkn]

bobkn, Xonar series is simply an audio I/O, it doesn't contain any processing capability. As you can see in my specs, I use Asus's Xonar HDAV 1.3, as a sound card, it performs remarkably. No driver headache, sounds wonderful, no feature you confused on, no weird modes, no wuss, nice card overall, nice driver overall. It doesn't hinder standby/sleep, it doesn't crackle (DPC latency issue) and never had it crashed on me yet (~a year of ownership). Driver is ~15MB, way smaller than Creative's, eats very small amount of memory too. I rarely open Xonar control panel these days, once set, you never open it ever... That my humble opinion...

zzz2496

I guess the Xonar DX worked OK for me, with the exception of the Creative EAX emulation components. That was mainly an issue with some of the later Win7 X64 betas (ones not released to the public). The latest drivers still give trouble on sites that use MS Silverlight, not that most people will care about that. One work-around was to not install the EAX emulation at all. ("HSMgr" related stuff.)

I tried the Xonar because of the poor driver support for my old PCI X-Fi card under Vista. Whether Creative has since cleaned up their act, I can't say. Their habit of storing megabytes of stuff in the Windows Registry never appealed to me.

At the moment, I'm using my onboard sound (ADI Soundmax 2000B). Sounds different from the Xonar DX, but not always worse.

For Brood619: I'm not Sanvean, but "socket cooler" is another name for CPU heatsink and fan. There are many third-party ones available, and Thermaltake makes some good ones. Thermalright and Noctua are others, but there are many more. A lot of people who aren't extreme overclockers (and who don't want to spend a lot) seem to like the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2 w/ PWM Fan - (Sockets 1366 / 1156 / 775 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 / 939) - FrozenCPU.com

My own DVD burner is a Samsung SH-S203B. I don't use it heavily, but I've been happy with it. I belive that it's no longer available, but I hope that its replacements are as good.

 

[A Guy]

Might I add my recommendation for CPU cooler?

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus:

Review

Review

And on Amazon:

Cooler Master 212 Plus

Great bang for your buck cooler, fits in my midsize case (Antec 300). A Guy