Hey everyone. I've never built a computer from scratch before but I've upgraded my old Athlon XP and RAM before so I'm still a novice.

I've just ordered this build from Newegg for $644.62 USD after Tax and Shipping before $30 USD MIR. $614.62 after everything.

Here what I've ordered from the EGG, I'm so excited. I plan to OC the Allendale, it's got a 12x multiplier.

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Mainboard $89.99 USD
XFX Geforce 8800GT 512MB /w Free Company of Heroes $129.99 USD
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 2.4Ghz Dual Core $119.99 USD
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DD2R2 800 (PC 6400) $60.99 USD w/ $30 MIR
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200RPM SATA $47.99 USD
LITE-ON 20x DVD+-DVD Burner SATA $28.99 USD
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit System Builders $99.99 USD

Subtotal: $627.93


I have a P150B and a 430 Earthwatts already at my home. I've totally taken out my Athlon XP mobo as well as the CPU, RAM, and gfx (its so old I can't tell what card it was, i know it was AGP x4 and an ATI), all ive got from the old build is the MS keyboard, some altec lansing speakers and a Logitech gaming mouse. Any recommendations on a monitor? I didnt buy one off Newegg because I want to see how they perform with my own eyes before I buy. Im thinking about going with a Dell around 20-22", maybe a Samsung, ive heard they have more vibrant colors.

Also, I'm not sure the 430w PSU will supply the GPU with enough power. Can someone help me on the subject? There are 3x 12volt rails. Each with 16A (amps?) for a total of 384w output. Nvidia recommends 450w for the 8800gt, I'm not sure about the amperage on the 12 volt rails. Should I just buy a 620w PSU? I don't ever plan to SLI because I'll need a new case and mobo.


Also, I plan to OC to CPU to 2.7 with a 225FSB x 12 Multiplier until i can get a Artic Cooling Pro heatsink and fan. Then I'll try 250FSB x 12 Multipler for 3Ghz clock speed. The case is small, it'll just fit the 8800gt so I don't want to bring the temps too high with OCing. I have some Artic Silver 5 left from my CPU upgrade from a long time ago to help keep temps down as well.

To prevent shorting the mobo, when installing the mobo, do you guys screw in your standoffs, then put the washers on top before laying the mobo on it and screwing it down just tightly so it doesnt unscrew by itself? I just wanted to make sure if thats the way to go.

this builds for school mostly, but i want to play company of heroes, my old games like wow, warcraft 3 frozen throne, call of duty 2, and some new ones like call of duty 4, maybe even crysis on medium-high depending on how good the drivers are. for school, i need it to run CAD and Photoshop easily, but thats for the future, i could always upgrade to 4gb then. 2gb is plenty for now right?

Since I'm a Friggin New Guy, I need some advice to building this system together. Any advice for this N00b would be appreciated. Also, I still have time to change my order, but I'm pretty much set on everything. Thanks in advance.

To start off, 430w should be enough... BUT!! your power supply is probably several (at least 2) years old. In which case a new Corsair 450 will fit you super! If you plan to overclock or add more storage in the future, you could snag a 550 just to be WELL within your margin of power.

Duh... Just read that you do plan to overclock. Ya grab a corsair 550, it will server you very well.

Great idea boonality,

Ill definitely look up the Corsair 550w. You're right, my PSU is definitely old, its between 1-2 years old but i think it can run my new system. Im just gonna have to see if its true and upgrade it the corsair 550w psu if my earthwatts 430w cant supply enough power to the system since the 550w costs $89.99 USD after MIR. thanks for the advice

Boonility,

i just read that the ga-p35-dl3r supports ide, its got one port at the bottom right corner. im going to add an ide 40gb hhd from my old computer for more hard drive space or use it to keep an image of my operating system using the bios to do it. that psu upgrade is looking likely especially with OCing.

has anyone used Crucial Ballistix RAM before? Ive read its good memory that can hit 1200mhz with 4-4-4-12 timings. Has anyone had any experience and can offer me some advice on memory ratios and overclocking?

F.N.G....LOL...

Serious note though, very nice mid-budget build, might want to step up to 4gig for Vista, even though its 32bit. What is the cost of Vist 64 since you are needing to run Photoshop and CAD...might be worth it to support the additional RAM? Are quads out of the question? I would think CAD would be demanding and like 4 cores. Just an idea...I know the Q6600 is around $199 depending on where you can find it.

4-4-4-12 is pretty tight at that speed, usually I set at 5-5-5-15/18 or even 6-6-6-15/18 once I get the CPU, FSB and CPU voltage figured out. Leave your RAM volts at AUTO until you get the timings you want to try for and then work with the voltage then...

Check the 'How to OC dual and quad core CPU's' sticky note in the overclocking section...its pretty useful for anyone needing specific information on how to OC.

First things first. get the Corsair 550 here, this is the first of the month and the price went up about $10, but it's still the best price on this PSU;
http://www.buy.com/prod/Corsair-VX [...] 52646.html
Now you're going to need a cooler for that CPU;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003
Lastly and I hate to say this, but return those Ballistix. I was a big Crucial Ballistix fan for many years, but they are now JUNK. I'm returning the ones I just got, they are part of the reported bad batch(97432).