First build, suggestions and help please.

[RHoptowit]

Hello everyone, thought i would introduce myself as i am new to the forums here and am in the slow but steady process of piecing together my first PC. i have been lurking here for a short time now, trying to take in as much information i need to know. But it is a daunting task, all the acronyms and tech jargon make my head spin.

I have been mainly looking at what all of you have done with your systems, but paying special attention to what other first time builders have put together. i limited myself to a budget of $1500 (not including the monitors, keyboard, mouse, etc). and so far this is what i came up with...

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=11484634

i guess the main question here is, will this all work together nicely? And also, are there any components i listed i should consider replacing to get the better bang for the buck? in the future i would more then likely overclock, and sli. so another question i have is will this setup leave me room in the future to do just that?

i plan on using this PC for school work, gaming (mainly SC2, fried my laptop playing it. so new PC build.), and just browsing the net. pretty much what the average engineering student would use this comp for.

 

[GKil164]

To be honest with you, that looks like a great build. It seems to all check out and be compatible. You picked some good names as well, EVGA, XFX, Corsair are all great companies.

Just makes me want a new one myself!!

 

[RHoptowit]

^thats great! but i was thinking of changing a couple of things. should i switch out the GPU with a 470 model? and get a better cooling system for the CPU? also was thinking of switching out the case with this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163154

any opinions on the this new case vs. my original intended buy?

 

[Indigo]

Just keep in mind the Silverstone is longer than your usual ATX case, so you're going to have a huge footprint compared to the Thermaltake. Either case would work for me, but the Thermaltake would get my first vote if space is a concern, if not, they're both fine cases.

If it were me, to save some cash and boost performance to a high level, I'd ditch both nVidia cards and get an HD 5870 because of the price point compared to a GTX 480. The GTX 480 doesn't offer enough performance for me to even consider plunking $500 down on it when the 5870 can do 80-90% of the performance just fine under $400.

 

[RHoptowit]

^thanks for the input on the case. but i believe you might be thinking that im planning on getting two nVidia cards? just planning on getting one GTX 460, and in the future maybe another. but that card you mentioned sure is awesome. but a little too pricey for my $1500 limit.

but just for the sake of understanding, if i were to go with the HD 5870 would my mobo be compatible?

 

[Sporego]

^thanks for the input on the case. but i believe you might be thinking that im planning on getting two nVidia cards? just planning on getting one GTX 460, and in the future maybe another. but that card you mentioned sure is awesome. but a little too pricey for my $1500 limit.

but just for the sake of understanding, if i were to go with the HD 5870 would my mobo be compatible?

Yes, but for the graphics card I would recommend you to go for the best gpu you can get and then upgrade later

 

[RHoptowit]

^def what i am planning on doing

changed the GPU to the HD 5870 to see the pricing. not much more over my limit.

just wondering if anyone on here does that RAID thing? i was wondering if my mobo would support that.

 

[Rakuma]

Did you go through and see if there was any combo deals that could help you save some $$ or have more $$ to apply to another part of your build?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.441471.13-188-065 (Motherboard w/ OS) Save 10.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492898 (if you don't mind switching to G-skill memory) Save 30.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.504999 (processor with cooler) Save 12.00

Something to keep in mind.

 

[BRUTUS]

i'll just say this,
Build it mentally with compatible components.
Phisicly requires a lot of knowledge by.
YOU OR A FRIEND .

 

[BeastOnceAgain]

Your Mobo seems overkill the USB 3.0 will be nice, but you dont need much of anything else unless you plan on having a million input devices and overclocking on a higher level. You could save money there. And then maybe kick your 6 gigs up to 8. Also, why not pay the extra 15 dollars and get the 950? Check out this ram too... 2 kits GSKILL.

Oh yeah, I always recommend the Corsiar H50 for cooling your psu. Cheap and amazing, it also is a million times easier if you install it while you do your build instead of later. Then you have to take everything out to mount the bracket..