Question About Building a PC

[Octavious]

Well, I'm looking into building up a system for myself, to operate my games along with some other programs. Being a CS&E Major, I also run AutoCAD, TurboCAD, Autodesk Inventor for different classes. I'm wondering if my setup seems 'ok' or if it seems like it would have some lasting power. At the moment i'm looking to make this upgradeable in the long run too. basically, i'm building it for now, however I want it to have lasting power for about 3years-4years. Also, I'm wondering if my Power Supply will be able to handle my setup, or if I should look for a bigger one. At the moment here's my current idea:

Motherboard:
ABIT KN9 SLI NVIDIA Socket AM2 (940) ATX Motherboard
- Chipset: NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP
- Front Side Bus: 1000MHz
- Processor Interface: Socket AM2

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2.80GHz Socket AM2 OEM Processor
- Socket: AM2
- Front Side Bus: 1000MHz (2000 MT/s)
- Cache: 1MB

Power Supply:
Ultra X-Finity 600-Watt SLI-Ready Power Supply

HDD:
Seagate
- 500 GB HDD
- 7200 RPM
- 16 MB Buffer
- SATA-300 Interface

Sound Card:
(A Little Weak for hardcore gamers, But i'm just looking for a decent card)
Creative Labs
- Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card

RAM:
Ultra 1024 MB
PC3200 DDR
400 MHz


Video Card:
(I'm thinking this should take care of the programs I want to run now, I'll most likely up it this Nov/Dec)
XFX GeForce 7300 GT
512 MB GDDR2
PCIe
Ultra Silent Cooling (meh?)
Dual DVI
HDTV

Additional Pieces:
Also, I currently have a DVD burner and CD drive, as well as a floppy drive. So those aren't an issue. If anyone has some advice, or tips, or anything, please feel free to throw it at me, but be gentle. I've Actually never built a PC 'alone' before, the last one I built was with my grandpa who's a EE Major, so I'm trying to go into it myself for a side-project as well as some learning. Thanks!

[Sigi]

I would double check if the card you picked is compatible with the CAD program you will be using. Other than that, you might consider going to 2 gigs of ram, perhaps a more powerful power supply(for the love of god, get a QUALITY power supply!) On a similar note, make certain the case you choose has adequate cooling, or at the very least, easily-expandable cooling. Try to pick a case that has rolled edges- your fingers will thank you for it.

Check with your college to see if you can get software through MSDN's academic program (I've gotten WinXP pro, Visual Studio .net, and some other goodies for free. You might be able to get Server 2003 through it as well.)

Get a good UPS. If you want a system to last, I cannot stress how important it is to have a source of good n clean power. If you do not need to use dialup, do NOT install a modem. It's just another way for a system to get fried in a storm.

When you build your system, save your receipts and boxes. MAKE CERTAIN you have *ALL* documentation necessary for the part warranties.

Other than that, that's all I can remember for now. The other builders will probably have more tips, etc.

[Octavious]

Thats the only thing I was really debating. I know the power supply can...handle it...but I don't want to just 'handle' it. Is there a power supply you could reccomend? Oh, and the Video Card should work fine with said CAd's. The labs I do work in run similar cards, and they work well. Kind of why i lean'd towards GeForce.

[Popeh]

It's been a while since i built a PC, so slightly out of date with latest components.

However, off spec everything looks perky except the RAM. If your running Windows XP on your new system, 1024MB will be fine - for now. If you plan on running Vista, i'd probably double this up.

I've always been a fan of AMD and it's proved many times over capable of running Autocad nicely.

EDIT: 2 posts while i was typing that out lol. A 500w PSU could 'handle' your system, i'd say 600-650 is ideal for now with what your getting, but as the above poster mentioned spend more on quality, or you will be going through quantity. ;p

[Sigi]

Historically, I've had good experiences with Antec power supplies, however things might have changed. Do your background research... (I've always go for the "Ask my tweaker friends" approach, and they've usually said Antec.)

Do your groundwork. <<<< best tip ever given by my old instructor.

[Isiolia]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2.80GHz Socket AM2 OEM Processor

Of note, OEM processors don't come with a heatsink/fan, and generally as a result, carry far less of a warranty.
Since this is a first build, I would recommend buying a "Retail" CPU and just using the heatsink/fan it comes with. They tend to be good for running the CPU at stock speeds. While an OEM CPU is cheaper, keep in mind that you'll need to buy a cooling solution of some kind anyway, which will at least decrease the savings, if not wind up costing you more.

Ultra 1024 MB

Unless you are really on a budget, consider 2GB of RAM (or more). Also be sure to consider configuration. Though you don't -need- to buy in pairs, if you want to use Dual Channel for a performance boost, you need to. If using that, you'll want matched pairs as well.

Video card, hard to say. I assume you picked it for budget concerns? IMO, it'd be better to at least jump to a 7600GT if not something better. The "Ultra Silent Cooling" just indicates that it has a heatsink with no fan. Great if you are planning on later sticking it into a HTPC or something, but you'll need to ensure your case has good cooling to properly support it.

There are some pretty solid cards out for under $200 though. Radeon x1950, some 7900 variants, etc. I'd consider putting a little extra in now for something that you'd use for a year or more rather than plan to upgrade in a few months.


Also, don't forget a good case, unless your current one is still good.

[Octavious]

Oh, yea the case I have is more then capable of holding this, I measured it out etc, and actually talked with my G-pa about it before looking into it.

I'll definitly upgrade to 2 GB of RAM, later this year when I upgrade to Vista, at the moment I think i'll probably stick with 1gb. Possibly go to dual channel to help this out.

And as far as video cards, i'll look into a little better card. I was debating a larger hard drive, or possibly buying a seperate HDD to stick the OS on, don't know about that at the moment.

[Isiolia]

Especially considering that you're doing actual work with the computer, buying two HDDs would be a good idea I'd say. Doesn't mean you shouldn't back stuff up, but generally if something bad happens, it's your Windows/programs drive that needs reformatting >_>
It's also convenient to just copy your current projects to both drives periodically, for a point of redundancy.

[Furtwangler]

In the past when I bought mine and I'd suggest it to anyone else, I just bought a small 20gb HDD for my OS and only my OS, some random programs are installed in that directory but other than that it's empty. Reason being if I ever have to reformat or have OS issues, all I have to do is reformat my OS drive and I have backup install's etc on my other HDD, making for an easy recovery.

[Octavious]

I kind of have another question on that. Should I run the OS on a faster RPM HDD? My friend is trying to convince me to unload on a Raptor 10k RPM HDD 80GB, for OS & some applications. I don't think it's really worth it to drop $ on that kind of HDD for just the OS, would a 7200 RPM 40GB Seagate do just fine?

edit: SideQ, if I go for a lower end Video Card, since the Motherboard supports SLI, Do you think it'd be wise to just do an SLI Setup with 2 of a compatible SLI setup? Or Upgrade to a single Video Card?

edit2: I'm thinking about donig an SLI Setup, and using my 42in HDTV to function as the monitor, with DVI interface. I'm thinking this would look good..

[Skyylya]

Set up your OS on whichever one is faster, by both rpm and cache speed.

Not to change your mind, but Core 2 duo's are much better for handling things now than AMD's, and for MOBO's i've read a lot of reviews and ASUS MOBO's are kicking ass. go with a socket 775 and a C2D e4300 or e6400 or if you have the funds get the e6600. make sure that your get decent ddr2 ram that's pin-compatible with the board you get, p5B MOBO get's a lot of attention and you could put 1 gig of corsair or geil ultra RAM into. For vid card you probably don't need a 8800 but a 8600 gts or 7500 would work, the 8800 gtx kicks ass though if you've got the money to spend. If you wanna OC it try to get a MOBO with intel p35 chipset, it's very strong and can handle it well. I just OC'd my E6600 from 2.4 to 3.2 very easily and still very stable at good 40's range temps.

Power supply, i just got a ultra x 750w PSU for my PC i just built and under graphic load it's buzzing a little, i'm going to return it and get a 620w seagate or tagan or something. corsair and enermax are also good brands for PSU, and anything 550+w is more than enough.

samsung spinpoint is a great HDD right now, get the 16mb cache at 7200rpm's for your main one, can't go wrong there. GB size you can change depending on what you think you'll need, that's somewhat secondary.

and lastly as someone said, make sure you get a good 3rd party cooler. arctic freezer pro 7 seems to be popular, as is zalman if you have room for it.

I just built a PC and all i wanna do is build another, it's so much fun

[Isiolia]

Yeah, if you can swing the cost, Core 2 Duo is the way to go right now.

However, AMDs have had massive price drops, so that may be a factor, considering other component selections.

edit: SideQ, if I go for a lower end Video Card, since the Motherboard supports SLI, Do you think it'd be wise to just do an SLI Setup with 2 of a compatible SLI setup? Or Upgrade to a single Video Card?

edit2: I'm thinking about donig an SLI Setup, and using my 42in HDTV to function as the monitor, with DVI interface. I'm thinking this would look good..

SLI really isn't the way to go 99% of the time. Unless you're breaking the bank and putting in two top end cards, you can generally just get a single card that'll outperform two lower/midrange cards for less money.

Part of the reason to go with a better card to start with is that it's something you generally -replace- rather than add to.

As for using the HDTV, would look good, but remember that most HDTVs are lower resolution than monitors. Would be good for gaming or watching videos, be sorta meh for using the computer in general.

For a HDD, I'd get something of a decent size honestly. Windows + apps has only been getting bigger >_>
10k RPM would be good, but I don't think the performance boost would be that great for the kind of system you're looking to build.
I'd say to just go with a 160-250GB drive for system and applications, since that's the general "low end" for a drive these days. The cost per GB between that and most 80GB drives or something is a lot better.

[Skyylya]

Yeah, if you can swing the cost, Core 2 Duo is the way to go right now.

However, AMDs have had massive price drops, so that may be a factor, considering other component selections.

If time isn't an issue and you don't wanna get it soon, july 22 is the estimated day for a big price drop in C2D's also since they are going to be increasing the number of C2Q's or whatever.

At some point in the next couple months anyway, iknow nvidia GPU's are going to be dropping too pretty soon, I might be confusing the dates.

One of them is july 22, the other is later in the year like sept or something.

[evilbau]

I kind of have another question on that. Should I run the OS on a faster RPM HDD? My friend is trying to convince me to unload on a Raptor 10k RPM HDD 80GB, for OS & some applications. I don't think it's really worth it to drop $ on that kind of HDD for just the OS, would a 7200 RPM 40GB Seagate do just fine?

It's both a good idea and can be not worth the money haha. It is just like setups with RAID, only you can say if you want to spend the extra money for this sort of thing. I, personally, would not because I would prefer extra storage space. I would get 2x 400-750GB SATA drives on the cheap, and you won't have to look at getting any new HDs for the life of the computer.

As an example, I got 2x 80GB for one of my computers about 4 years ago, and it was gigantic at the time, and small-ish now but 160 GB is still more than enough since i have changed the role of that computer (no longer my main comp). You don't want drives that are too small for storage later on. I like getting multiple of the same drive so that later I can RAID them up and use them as a file server, i hate having hard drives that are too small to waste the space in the comp, but large enough that I don't want to throw them out.

[sekaran]

You don't always need that 600-700+ power supply. Get a good quality PSU and you'll be fine. I have a Corsair 520HX and it runs my computer well. If you can wait a month, Intel should be having another round of price cuts if you want to go that route.

[Yangsing]

Core 2s are much better and can be found really cheap now a days. Around the mid 100's I believe for a lower end core duo. Get Intel.