Fix My Build! Repost

[y4na]

I live in Canada, Ontario, and I am thinking of buying all my parts from BestByte because they offered free wiring and free Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit if I buy all my parts from there. I'm open to suggestion like where to get Windows Vista Home Premium for free and where I can learn how to wire like a pro.

Here is my build:

AMD Phemnom II X4 955 3.2GHz 8M AM3 Blk $259
Asus M4A78 Plus sAM2+ DDR2-1066 PCI-E MB $94
OCZ 2G8004GK 4G PC2-6400 Gold Edit Dual $64
Gigabyte HD4890 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E 2.0 $235
WD WD5000AAKS 500GB 16mb 7200 SATA $60
LG GH22NS50 22x DVDRQ SATA BLK $29
OC Power Silencer 750W Crossfire Ed. $149.95
Coolermaster CM590 ATX Case BLK NO PS $80

Total: $970.95

This does not include tax which is %13 I believe in Ontario, Canada.


Other thoughts:

I'm probably going to go with the AMD build and the ATI graphics card due to pricing, and I am going to have this computer for the next 4 years, and I'll be upgrading my rig about every year with new ram and graphics cards.


Questions:

Would the Cooler Master NV690 work with my ATI and AMD build? Because I really like the colours and the design of the case.

Should I downgrade my graphics card to the Sapphire HD4850 1GB DDR3 HDMI PCI-E which is 139.95 which is almost a hundred dollars less?

Should I buy my parts elsewhere and build it myself? If so how should I wire it, I don't want to break the parts.

Where can I get Windows Vista Premium 64 Bit for free?

What monitor should I be looking at? I don't want those huge ones that can be passed as a widescreen TV, I was thinking of less then 23".

Should I downgrade my processor to AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz 8M?

[Airbozo]

I have the CM690, and it will work for your build. I love my CM690. I _think_ the NV690 is just the same case with some pretty changes to it.

No issues there.

Not sure about the video card, what are you using the system for?

Getting Vista premium for free is not going to happen. Legally.

I love my 22" widescreen monitors. Plenty of viewing area.

The rest of the build looks ok.

Building your own system can be challenging the first time. After that it becomes easy. If you can, pick up one of the books about building PC's. Even the Dummies book is going to be of great help. HERE (http://www.dummies.com/store/product/Building-a-PC-For-Dummies-5th-Edition.productCd-0471767727.html)


If you do decide to build your own, just make sure you are careful. Static kills memory and CPU's quite fast. Look through some of the other builds to see how people handle the wiring. On the CM 690 I was able to run most of the wires behind the motherboard tray and it looks really nice.

Don't be afraid to ask questions even if they seem stupid. We were all in your shooes at one point and everyone here is really helpful.

Welcome to the boards!

[slaveofconvention]

Building PC's is both daunting for the uninitiated and amazingly easy once you actually have a go. Pretty much every part in a modern PC will 1) Only go into one place and 2) only go the correct way around - you really do have to TRY to get it wrong. As Bozo said, you can always ask for help on here and you'll get it quickly.

Nothing is free - if they were going to give you vista for free, that probably means there's more than enough profit in the hardware prices to write it off against that and STILL make a decent amount - especially if they're also offering to throw in the labour too... Chances are if you shop around online, you'll end up saving enough to buy vista and stay the right side of the law with your OS...

Again with the building thing - it really isn't as hard as you probably imagine. I once spent several hours on the phone with a woman (who had never been near the innards of a computer) in australia talking her through building a PC from scratch (I'm in the UK - SO happy I had a really good long distance calling deal at the time heh) - it was MY fault because I'd gone and found the deal for her online WITHOUT realising it said "Kit" in the description - so when it got delivered in 4 boxes, she almost had kittens - but it worked first time and is still working today (it was an Athlon XP1800 if I remember correctly, which would make it about 6 or 7 years old now) ...

I have never, in my life, heard anyone say "Are you sure" as many times as she did during that phone call :D

[y4na]

I have the CM690, and it will work for your build. I love my CM690. I _think_ the NV690 is just the same case with some pretty changes to it.

No issues there.

Not sure about the video card, what are you using the system for?

Getting Vista premium for free is not going to happen. Legally.

I love my 22" widescreen monitors. Plenty of viewing area.

The rest of the build looks ok.

Building your own system can be challenging the first time. After that it becomes easy. If you can, pick up one of the books about building PC's. Even the Dummies book is going to be of great help. HERE (http://www.dummies.com/store/product/Building-a-PC-For-Dummies-5th-Edition.productCd-0471767727.html)


If you do decide to build your own, just make sure you are careful. Static kills memory and CPU's quite fast. Look through some of the other builds to see how people handle the wiring. On the CM 690 I was able to run most of the wires behind the motherboard tray and it looks really nice.

Don't be afraid to ask questions even if they seem stupid. We were all in your shooes at one point and everyone here is really helpful.

Welcome to the boards!

Thanks I'll look for this book at my library, if not there I guess I'll buy it.

[farlo]

maximum pc has a really straightforward guide for building a pc. it was one of their articles long ago, well 6 or 7 years ago, that made me decide i could build my own.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/build_your_own_no_compromises_1_500_pc

[y4na]

maximum pc has a really straightforward guide for building a pc. it was one of their articles long ago, well 6 or 7 years ago, that made me decide i could build my own.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/build_your_own_no_compromises_1_500_pc

OMFG Thanks! It's perfect! Lol and it's my exact budget also. + Rep

[farlo]

that is an old guide from april 08. the parts if still being made would be dated and definately lower in price.

edit: newegg doesnt have alot of those parts for sale anymore

another edit: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/dream_machine heres a newer guide from july of this year, 3 different configs they have listed, and the guide is a little cleaner.

[y4na]

that is an old guide from april 08. the parts if still being made would be dated and definately lower in price.

edit: newegg doesnt have alot of those parts for sale anymore

another edit: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/dream_machine heres a newer guide from july of this year, 3 different configs they have listed, and the guide is a little cleaner.

I would rep again if I could. Thanks

[farlo]

no problem, just glad to help.

[crenn]

Please note, if you buy Vista home premium now, you can upgrade to Windows 7 for very cheap (the cost of the postage) via the microsoft website.

[x88x]

/\ This is true, but since you're not looking to build the thing until Christmas, that'll be sufficiently after the Windows 7 Release Date (Oct 22) that you should be able to find OEM copies by then.