Nehalem Build (My second effort at a computer build)

[Xeiros]

I pursued the self building of a computer system earlier in the year on this forum, but never went through with it. I had decided to wait for Core i7 in order to future proof my system as I plan to simply upgrade it in the future.

No I will not be, nor do I ever plan to overclock. I will be using the machine for anything and everything save for gaming, and music/video editing. I am most unfamiliar with manufacturers per components and which ones to avoid. This is a build from scratch so the only part I already have is the USB mouse I'm using right now. The total cost of all parts must not exceed 2.5k.

A question if I may. Are there any online meta search engines that I can use to compare prices for components in order to find the best deal, rather than go to each vendor individually?

Components

Motherboard:ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650

CPU: Intel Core i7 920

Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Is this perhaps overkill for me? Would it be better to hold off on HD content for the future? If not, is the PSU I've chosen sufficient?

RAM: Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) x 3 (6 GB)

HDD: Two Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s. Would it be better to RAID these two, or Use one as a main and the other as a backup? Although, an external drive might serve for a better backup option.

Monitor: Acer P244Wbii Glossy Black 24" 2ms (GTG) HDMI 16:9 Full 1080P Widescreen LCD. Would it be better to hold off and get an SD monitor and lower end video card and upgrade to HD as mentioned with my video card later on? No I do not plan to use SLI or Crossfire.

Optical Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner. I am holding off on a blu-ray drive despite the HD monitor and video card. Is this the right choice?

OS: Vista 64-bit SP1

Parts that I am unsure of/undecided on.

Case: Unsure but I'd prefer a Steel Full Tower. Anything you guys could recommended would be most appreciated.

Wireless Adapter: I'm just unsure what brands are safe to buy and whether or not the N protocol is worth my time as of now. PCI or USB is fine so long as it is compatible with Vista 64 bit

Speakers: Nothing fancy. A 2.0/2.1 setup would be sufficient. Needs to have an audio out port.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Xeiros

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

try a P182 case, they are 1337

why do you need wireless? wired is the best way to go if your are gaming online.

I have the Logitech Z4's, fine for me.

[J400uk]

Try a Dell Studio XPS. Unless your overclocking, you get a hell of a lot more for your money than by going done the custom build route.

[Xeiros]

J400uk, I've had poor experiences with Dell in the past with both Desk and Laptops. I am building this just as much for the hands on experience that I sorely need. I understand that it is not the best choice to build a Core i7 machine at the current time, but I am willing to pay for it.

Mindovermaster, I will give that case and those speakers a looksee. Thanks. My connection at home is wireless as of current, that and I do not plan to game period let alone game online.

Edit: The P182 case does indeed look amazing. I'll go with that. Them Z4 speakers look mighty impressive and cheap too, again I'm goin fer em. Thanks again for the suggestions.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Xeiros

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Well, if your router supports N-draft, get N.

The best are Linksys, the cheapest are cheap.

[Xeiros]

Well since my current router does not support N, I'll go for the b/g adapters. My router is Linksys so an adapter by the same manufacturer does indeed make the most sense. I'll take a gander at my options. I'll have to make sure it is compatible with 64-bit Vista.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Xeiros

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

most N's are back compatible with G.

Just wondering, but if you are just building this for surfing, or graphic work, why i7?

[Xeiros]

That's what I understand and is good to know.

A few reasons. I always held back on specs because for the longest time I didn't understand good specs meant more than just playing PC games. I always got a weaker, slower system because I didn't think I'd needed it. I want to be able to run multiple intensive apps without slowdown. I don't want to have to go open Task Manager to see what process is eating what little resources I have. For the first time, not hold back on a computer purchase.

The laptop I'm typing this message on cost me more than this is going to cost me but did not have like all computers I'd bought in the past impressive or even average specs. I paid not for speed and performance but for good battery life and light weight. A poor choice.

Future proofing is another reason. I plan to build off of and upgrade from this system for many years and I don't think 775 will be the standard in that time even though there is no better time for a cheap 775 than now due to the i7 release.

[+shift. MVC]

Your CPU is more than enough for a GTX 260 Core 216.

Speakers, if you're looking for 2.1 then Logitech Z4 if you're not THAT worried about how they sound.

Otherwise there are the more superior Logitech Z-2300's and then the even better Kipslich 2.1.

If you want more speed from your drives then put them in RAID 0 but remember to regularly back up your data.

Edited December 5, 2008 by shift.

[Xeiros]

Yes the Z4 option looks great and I can always get new ones in the future. I can always go for the full HD quality sound experience later on when blu-ray drives are cheap and use the Z4 on my old decrepit laptop.

So RAID O distributes data across both my hard drives for better speed but if one drive goes, they both go? As opposed to using RAID 1 wherein it basically stores the files on one and mirrors them (backs them up) on the second but without any performance boost. Might just go for 1.

It would seem that the GTX 260 is so long that I'd need to remove the middle HDD cage of the P182. Might stick a fan in there instead if I can't use that space for the cage.

[+shift. MVC]

So RAID O distributes data across both my hard drives for better speed but if one drive goes, they both go? As opposed to using RAID 1 wherein it basically stores the files on one and mirrors them (backs them up) on the second but without any performance boost. Might just go for 1.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID_0#RAID_0

A RAID 0 (also known as a stripe set or striped volume) splits data evenly across two or more disks (striped) with no parity information for redundancy. It is important to note that RAID 0 was not one of the original RAID levels and provides zero data redundancy. RAID 0 is normally used to increase performance, although it can also be used as a way to create a small number of large virtual disks out of a large number of small physical ones.

A RAID 0 can be created with disks of differing sizes, but the storage space added to the array by each disk is limited to the size of the smallest disk. For example, if a 120 GB disk is striped together with a 100 GB disk, the size of the array will be 200 GB.

So yes, it distributes data across two drives; only draw back is if one fails you lose all your data. RAID 1 you would have a minor level of redundancy, but with 2x640GB hard drives, you would only have 640GB versus the 1.28TB you would have with a RAID 0.

[Xeiros]

I've been looking at the second disk as my backup drive although an internal backup drive might not be such a good idea. Once the 640 GB is full, I'll uh put in in an enclosure and remove it as a full backup. Then format the primary drive and then raaaaaage at the fact the I have to buy larger and larger drives to backup the accumulating data while simultaneously buying larger primary drives when the smaller ones get full and being forced to spread data across multiple disks.

Or maybe once my 640 RAID 1 gets near full I can errr back them up to yet another external drive and then uh get rid of the RAID if thats possible and use the second HDD as my primary source then be forced to buy a 1 TB + external drive to back it all up.

The sheer amount of data computer enthusiasts who properly back up their data over the years must be astronomical. Now I'm not sure what I want to do. I know I'm thinking too far ahead. I'm making things more complicated than they need to be.

Might just go for one 1 TB HDD and back it up on an equivalent external drive later on. Makes thing nice and simple for me.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Xeiros