Can someone help me with my computer?

[RandomFact314]

I am building a computer, I am in college for computer programming, I know what Im doing, I just need extra advice if all the parts im getting for the computer im building are compatible, if anyone knows how to determine this, check it all out and let me know plz

BTW, I know its ecomodder but I know some of you guys are computer savvy too

Newegg.com - HIS H467QS1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996684 - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

I know that the video card should fit in the mobo, and the ram should also fit, the processor is the same pin set for the mobo, all that should be fine...
I have no idea if the power supply has all the cords that all the hardware needs and if there are enough connections on the mobo for the other hardware...ie: I have a sata optical drive and a sata 1tb hd already...

thank you to anyone that replies

[theycallmeebryan]

E8400 is a great CPU for general use. I used to have it and was able to overclock it to 4.0ghz on good air cooling without many problems. The factory heatsinks are not sufficient if you are planning on overclocking. If you want to overclock, look for a new heatsink with a 4 or 6 or 8 heat pipe design with a grill, those work best.

That motherboard is a pretty decent choice. It has plenty of connections for everything that you have, so you wont have to worry about that.

The memory you chose is more than you'll need. With the e8400, you'll only need ddr2 800mhz memory.
I had this memory combined with my e8400 and it ran well (they overclocked over to 1100mhz no problem):
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Desktop Memory

Or go with the 4gb version for a little more:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Desktop Memory

The graphics card you are looking at is going to be the bottle neck if you decide to do any sort of high end gaming. I would suggest getting at least a Direct X 11 video card so that you are set for any thing out there right now. Heres a good option:
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100284L Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

[McTimson]

What do you plan on doing with it? Gaming, or just general school work?

Everything you have should be compatible with each other, any PSU made within the last couple of years will have all the connections you need, so I wouldn't worry about that. The main thing to worry about with PSU's is the actual wattage rating, which is usually less than what the manufacturer says it is, especially if the manufacturer is selling most of their products on eBay or something. Corsair is good though, so you're fine with that.

Are you planning on overclocking at all? If so, I would highly recommend an aftermarket heatsink, the stock Intel one isn't bad compared to their old ones, but it'll still get hot.

With DDR2 being as cheap as it is, I would personally go with a 2x2GB RAM package, GSkill is cheap, and works great. I think I have the same RAM that theycallmeebryan linked to, and I haven't had any problems with it at all.

What OS are you planning on running?

[RandomFact314]

To answer a few questions,
-I plan on using it for: 1) mostly a lot of gaming, NFS: shift is first on my list.... 2) a little photo editing and video editing.... 3) a tiny bit of movie watching

-Yes I plan on buying a better heat sink, I do plan on over clocking but not imediantly, more like when I start to need to when games get more demanding...

-also I would like the things that I get to make this computer pretty upgradeable as I have to

-the OS of choice will be Windows 7 64bit

-Thanks for all the suggestions....KEEP EM COMING! I really want to build the system on a little bit of a budget so dont go suggesting quad i7 systems and stuff, no $400 graphics cars, If you have suggestions, try to keep the parts your suggesting somewhat near the price of what I have already posted. Im willing to go up a bit for the graphics card though because i was wanting to go 5000 series but wasnt sure yet

[RandomFact314]

BTW, the graphics card suggested has a few ratings saying that the fan keeps burning out and that it isnt compatible with windows 7 64bit so IDK, any other video card suggestions?

[McTimson]

You don't need to jump to the 5000 series - but I would at least go with an HD4850, it's around $120 now, and plays everything just fine.

Since you are going to be using somewhat demanding programs, and you're using a 64bit OS, I would definitely go with 4GB of RAM. If it weren't as cheap as it is, I wouldn't recommend it

As far as upgradeability - you're already choosing a platform that is being replaced. So, upgrades will really only be video cards and maybe more RAM, and hard drive space. I don't think anything new is coming out for the LGA775 socket, everything is moving to LGA1366 and DDR3.

You might as well buy a decent heatsink now, and get the OEM version of the processor (it just won't come with a heatsink). Games aren't going to need an overclocked E8400 for a long time, it'll be much more dependent on the video card. Except for GTA4, but that doesn't count, because it barely runs on anything out there without a patch.

[McTimson]

Also, don't rely entirely on Newegg reviews...some of them can be pretty dumb. There was a guy who couldn't get a heatsink to fit in his case, so he sawed off the tops of the heatpipes, and was surprised that the pipes were hollow, and even more surprised that the heatsink didn't work that well after cutting it up like that.

[RandomFact314]

Well I definantly dont think I have to worry about hard drive space, I already have a Western Digital, SATA, Caviar Black, 1TB.... hahaha.... 1TB is overkill as it is...

The only thing I wasnt sure about is if I should get another HD for just the OS, I see some people do that?

[McTimson]

It's nothing you have to 'worry' about...if you want to do it, go for it, but you won't really see performance improvements or anything. It'll give you some more space, but it's not necessary. For absolute performance, people are probably getting a solid state drive for their OS, so they can boot up and load things quicker. In benchmarks, sure, it'll be faster, but for their price right now, I can't see it being worth it for the typical computer user.

And that 1TB will fill up faster than you think... I thought the same about my 2TB of space, now I've only got about 150GB free.

[Daox]

I have been extremely happy with my last build (about a year ago). I built it to use as little energy as possible, but I still wanted to be able to game. So, I got a hybrid SLI compatible motherboard (GeForce 8200 chipset) with hybrid SLI compatible video card (GeForce 9800 GTX+). This allows me to turn off the video card when I don't need it saving quite a bit of power. The processor I went with is a 45W 5050e Athlon 64 X2. Its a bit on the slower side, but its the fastest thing they had in 45W. To top it off, I got the only 80 plus silver certified power supply I could find. The machine idles at around 58W and if I ever need the power for gaming (the 8200 isn't horrible actaully) I just power up the 9800 GTX+ and go (which kicks power usage well over 100W).