New Computer

Take into mind that this is my first time building a computer, but I know how they work and where everything goes. If it looks like something wont go together or theres a major piece missing, please tell me. It comes out to 826, which I think is reasonable. With tax and shipping.

If I get a Blu-Ray drive will I be able to play the movies with this setup?

Thanks, Ben

LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model LH-16A1S-15

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Acer AL2016WBbd Black 20" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100206L Radeon HD 2600PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

WINTEC AMPO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AMD2800-2G2K-R

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2.8GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO5400IAA5DO

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

[Arct1k]

Looks like you are on a budget I would get a core 2 intel at the moment - at stock speeds intel/amd are about the same in power/price however if you choose your components carefully you should be able to OC the intel very easily.

I'm not really that much of a hardcore OC'er but 5 mins changed my E6600 within runs ant 2.4 to 3.2GHZ - 50% extra for free!

The E6600 is 230 opposed to the AMD 5400 which is 99. I might upgrade the mobo and CPU later and use this one as a fileserver/router.

[Arct1k]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...227&CatId=1599

[wallot]

nothing worse than Intel CPU with nforce based mobo.
get a "proper" setup with intel based chipset

E6600 is kinda old CPU.

If budget allows go for E8200 but E4500 will be ok with P35 chipset based board

[Arct1k]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...060&CatId=1558

For Graphics - EVGA will let you upgrade in 90 days for just the cost differential - warantee is better than castle - only thing that is not covered is physical damage

[Arct1k]

I wasn't suggesting an E6600 that is what I have last year but don't really subscribe to nothing worse... 3.2 on air for an E6600 on a 680i isn't bad...

Originally Posted by Arct1k

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...227&CatId=1599

Thats the E4500, notthe E6600. I'm gonna stick with the AMD for now.

Originally Posted by Arct1k

I wasn't suggesting an E6600 that is what I have last year but don't really subscribe to nothing worse... 3.2 on air for an E6600 on a 680i isn't bad...

Must have missed that .. .

When we get our house finished and move this computer to the basement, I'm gonna get a intel. I'll probably spend around 250 on a processor then.

If you are watching HD-DVD or Blueray's on your computer, make sure your MONITOR and VIDEO CARD is HDCP compliant. Its pretty much a chip in the hardware that will let you watch these kinds of video discs.

I didn't know the monitor needed it too. The video card has it, though.

Originally Posted by bensf

Thats the E4500, notthe E6600. I'm gonna stick with the AMD for now.

You'll be happy with the 5400. That Sapphire board is supposed to be pretty nice too. All in all, I like it. It would be nice to go a little bit more on the graphics card though.

J.

[Finnster]

Make sure you get a high quality powersupply. Its often the most looked over, but a vital component to good operation. nothing too crazy needed, just don't go too cheap.

IMO HD video would be a but of a waste on a comp. The monitor is not really big enough to make the diff between SD and HD really jump out. Really even videos encoded smaller than SD look good on small monitors. Coupled with the loudness of the comp and less than awesome sound (notice no higher end speakers/sub on there) it doesn't make sense to me. Not like you can invite everyone to gather around the computer to watch either. If the drives were cheap then what the hell, but given the price i would skip it for now.


One other thing.. I may consider getting one 2gb RAM instead of 2x1gb. Unless you are going for really intensive processing (don't think so) really the diff between single and dual channel is not noticeable other than in benchmarks. The benefit would be the ability to add a 2nd 2gb ram later for dual channel and slightly better compatibility. Not a big deal either way, but something to consider.

[Serum]

I would personally take another hard disk; i have good experiences with a WD raptor, these disks have a 5 year warrantee, and their access times are very good. It takes a raid 0 setup of 'normal' disks to achieve the same read times. (but with raid0 the access times are getting worse) True; they are not as big as the 500 Gb, but i'm able to manage quite well with them. I used to run 4 250Gb disks in raid 10, and 2 of them went bad (because of a powersupply error) So yeah, i would also recommend a good powersupply. Get one with a 12cm fan, since they are able to move serious air without creating too much noise.

If you can swing it, i would also take intel over AMD. with the current ddr2 prices you don't need to worry about what size of internal memory to get.. :)

[squeeforever]

I personally like AMD, but the one Intel I had served me well. As for a power supply, I would get the X2 from Xoxide.com. I have it and its really good. Its also modular, which is a definite plus for me since mine has a window.