Looking to get new computer so suggestions please!

[Calia]

Hey everyone long time no talk I know but I finally got a new job and stuff so yay money slowly coming back in and I have decided to start saving up to build a new computer but I am having some issues with choices to be made.

I don’t wanna spend 3k on a machine
I am not overly sure how to build from ground up though I have the basic idea with the exception on where and how the new multiple processors work and how to place them if it’s any different than a single core machine
Looking for enough power to play games like Left4Dead and Fallout 3 though my major gaming time is dedicated to RPG’s still and looking at the new Star wars mmo The Old Republic so I need to be able to run them and if it can handle them it will be fine handling my Photoshop, video and music editing I do as well I figure
I have started some browsing and piecing together a machine via Tigerdirect.com but I’m also questioning getting a Mac…..

EVGA P55 LE Motherboard - $169.99
Intel Core i7 920 Processor - $279.99
OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum RAM - $95.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB Hard Drive - $64.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - $199.99
EVGA GeForce 9600 GSO Video Card - $69.99
CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full-Tower Case - $139.99 (really love this case )
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - $69.99

I have an older 5.1 soundcard on my other desktop that I am debating if it’s worth switching around or not and I also am still in search for a nice LCD monitor thinking 22” or so widescreen HD so on so forth
So that it is all the parts listed are found on Tigerdirect.com it’s based off a barebones kit they are offering with a processor switch on my part so lists suggestions and reasons for suggestions would be awesome

Thanks
Chibi_Kanrei

[420]

I used to build my computers from the ground up and it always cost me around $2K but I found a much cheaper solution that I like.

Dell acquired Alienware a couple years back and you can get an Alienware case if you buy an XPS desktop.

Here is the thing about Dell, their cases rock and they put together a real nice motherboard/processor/RAM combo for a real low price. The thing you want to look out for is the fact that their video card selection is limited and overpriced, and their built-in "Sound Blaster" cards aren't recognized by Creative Lab's sound drivers.

So here is what I do, I buy a Dell XPS with the cheapest video/sound options then I buy my own video and sound card for it from a local store.

I just built a Studio XPS 9000 (no monitor) with these specs:

Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
3GB DDR3 Tri-Channel SDRAM at 1066MHz - 3 DIMMs
1TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Price: $1,049

From a store near me called Central Computers:
Video .eVGA Geforce 9800GT 512MB DDR3 PCI-E2.0 HDCP HDTV 512-N973T $125.95
Sound Creative Labs SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio (SB1040EF) PCI-E 1x $55.95

That's a near top-of-the-line computer for $1230.90

You can add a 21.5" monitor from Dell for $230, bringing the grand total to $1460.90 with monitor.

Throbble and I both run systems like this now and they have been great.

-420

[Calia]

I took a look the Dell XPS 9000 is a decent setup I made a couple small changes.


Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
21.5 inch Dell S2209W Full HD Widescreen Monito
ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard

Total Price: 1,384  -  42 a month which I can afford

now the nearest computer shop to me is bestbuy :S so I still may order a Graphics Card off Newegg or TigerDirect

And should I look at EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - $199.99 or .eVGA Geforce 9800GT 512MB DDR3 PCI-E2.0 HDCP HDTV 512-N973T $125.95

and is the default case what is avilable no pretty lights like Alienwares come with huh?

-Cal

[Mo]

Alienware is absolute garbage.

Don't get those POS Nvidia cards get an ATI 5770, it's brand new and supports DX11.

[Calia]

I have always used Nvida so the thought of getting an ATI card never really crossed my mind till you mentioned it lol.

ASUS Radeon HD 5770 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI - $169.99

is that the one you are talking about? and if you think Alienware is garbage make a suggestion dont just slam it and not give me a back up solution

I wouldnt mind making the monthly payments to order thorugh dell but in the end I would end up paying more but I would have my new PC sooner as well :S even though im still very much in love with the specs on the case from my first post

CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full-Tower Case
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&Sku=C283-1187 there is a link to it and a sweet video to display some features

so im still open to suggestions I just started my new job last week so im still waiting on my first paycheck and such so after i get caught up on my bills this will become my top saving/ investment!

[420]

Alienware is absolute garbage.

Don't get those POS Nvidia cards get an ATI 5770, it's brand new and supports DX11.

Can you back this up with data? How is Alienware "garbage" and what is so special about DX11?

-420

[Soul Sojourner]

Can you back this up with data? How is Alienware "garbage" and what is so special about DX11?

-420

What the...? What are you talking about!? It's owned by Dell! What does Dell produce that isn't garbage!?

[Mo]

Can you back this up with data? How is Alienware "garbage" and what is so special about DX11?

-420

Every Alienware system I've come across has had major issues.  I think they are all cause by weak air flow through their god-ugly cases.  Video cards overheating etc.  Their support sucks, they are overpriced.

Example, friend of mine called Alienware to help him out with his system that was having all sorts of problems, I think he was out of warranty so they quoted him $2000 to ship it back and fix it for him.  Wtf is that all about honestly?

Personally I build all my computers.  Dell is ok, if you go for their XPS line but avoid Alienware computers and cases.

Have a look at these guys: http://www.hypersonic-pc.com

Also you can't just buy a computer and rip and replace the video card without making sure it's coming with a power supply that can handle your new card.  High video cards need LOTS of power, so be careful about that.

ATI is great, I'm using a 3870X2 and it's still kicking ass.  I don't think I'll need to change it for a while.
DX11 is the new version of DirectX that will ship with Windows 7, so you might as well get hardware that can support it.

[Mo]

Here's a shot of my two computers.

The one on the left is my Windows PC.  I'm big on air flow and cool components.  My CPU cooler is a large Ninja Scythe tower, and notice the two giant fans on the side there.  Never had any issues with this computer.  It's got a PC Power and Cooling power supply (one of the best brands).

The one on the right is my Linux server, running LM and hosting all my media.  That's an Antec Nine Hundred case, one of the best cases I've ever seen.  Air flow is amazing, it comes with 2 front fans a rear fan and a large top fan exhaust.  Very nice.

[Soul Sojourner]

I always build my own as well. I've never trusted anyone but myself to build me what I want built and to build it right.

When it comes to alienware though, I've never personally owned or used one. I really don't know if they're good or not, I was just talking shit and making fun of Dell, as I've hated every Dell computer I've used. (and e-machines)

Mo, I think next time, you should spend a little less on your computer, and a little more on your camera. You're trying to show your computer and all I see is a picture of a black blob.
Once again, I'm just talking shit. But your image really does suck. =P

[Tyrael]

I actually agree with hell on that one... your camera sucks :p
I can barely see anything but black blurry thingies with blue lights.

My case is the only part i dont like from my pc... it sucks. My xfx9800gtx+ its already like 55ºc just on iddle and 60-70ºc on games and thats raising the fan speed manually, if i left it with the auto fan speed the card would have been fried time ago...

Now on topic, i never used alienware but i aggree that theyre pretty much overpriced, for another thing i think its too soon to get windows 7, like when vista just came out it had a lot of incompatibilities with programs a games, i have no idea if windows 7 is going the same way actually... just my opinion :p.

[Calia]

From what I have been hearing Windows 7 is pretty much what vista was supose to be and failed to live up to. sadly most machines are shiping with windows 7 now. I dont have vista never have used vista short of setting up a laptop for a friend and have never heard a single good word about vista besides oh look at the pretty moving backgrounds.

as far as dell goes i have never had an issues as long as you take care of your machine -shrugs- I have a dell desktop that is coming up on its 12 year mark and is runnign just fine keeping in mind I have not placed any upgrades in it i use it to host folders and music across the 5 networked computers in the house.

as far as airflow goes that is one of my primary concerns I live in a house the 4 cats and a dog hence the case I posted had
3 x230mm gans and a 140mm fan all inclouded + its alot of mesh for airflow and it has a set up for a water cooling system which I have no idea how to set up lol

and seeing as I have never built a PC from the ground up I wasnt sure what to look for and such so yeah I see more debate on dell and alienware than how that first post of a build might work here are some suggested parts or those parts wont work to geather you you pain in the A$$ find somthign diffrent

-Calia

[Mo]

Windows 7 is excellent.  I'm using it on two PCs.  My camera is my phone so obviously it's not the best, but it's more of a lighting issue in this case than a camera issue.  The picture doesn't look like blobs with blue lights to me....you people are crazy.

[Meclar]

Lighting and it's out of focus

[Mo]

BAH

Ok i'll get a better picture of it later today1!!!

[Meclar]

hell of a rats nest ya got there too

[Mo]

You mean the wires?  Ya well what can be done
I need to improve on my wire management skills.  Anyhoo here's updated photos hope these are better.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Soul Sojourner]

That picture also sucks balls. But I can at least make out some buttons this time.

Don't talk to me about lighting issues... I live in a basement with no windows... I've never been able to take good pictures down here without a good camera.

My old school, my dad, and many friends have had Dells. Some of my friends have had E-Machines... they've all sucked ass. My dad's old Dell has higher specs than my wife's computer... her computer is and has always been faster...even when we did a fresh install of XP on my dad's HDD or even when her computer had half as much RAM as it does now, it was still faster than his. All of my friend's Dell's and E-Machines have similarly sucked, as well as the school's... and they had a shit ton of them. I was doing an associate technician job for the school, so I had first hand experience with those computers and they never failed... to suck ass.

I've personally never been given a reason to like Dell.

When it comes to pre-built computers, I've had some good experiences with some HP's and I actually respect an Acer machine. If only a little bit; more than most.

I don't blame you for the cords, Mo... I've always had similar problems. It can't really be helped unless you build everything else around the computers, rather than set the computers up around everything else. It's just the way it is when you've got more than one machine.

[Soul Sojourner]

Hey everyone long time no talk I know but I finally got a new job and stuff so yay money slowly coming back in and I have decided to start saving up to build a new computer but I am having some issues with choices to be made.

I don’t wanna spend 3k on a machine
I am not overly sure how to build from ground up though I have the basic idea with the exception on where and how the new multiple processors work and how to place them if it’s any different than a single core machine
Looking for enough power to play games like Left4Dead and Fallout 3 though my major gaming time is dedicated to RPG’s still and looking at the new Star wars mmo The Old Republic so I need to be able to run them and if it can handle them it will be fine handling my Photoshop, video and music editing I do as well I figure
I have started some browsing and piecing together a machine via Tigerdirect.com but I’m also questioning getting a Mac…..

EVGA P55 LE Motherboard - $169.99
Intel Core i7 920 Processor - $279.99
OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum RAM - $95.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB Hard Drive - $64.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - $199.99
EVGA GeForce 9600 GSO Video Card - $69.99
CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full-Tower Case - $139.99 (really love this case )
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - $69.99

I have an older 5.1 soundcard on my other desktop that I am debating if it’s worth switching around or not and I also am still in search for a nice LCD monitor thinking 22” or so widescreen HD so on so forth
So that it is all the parts listed are found on Tigerdirect.com it’s based off a barebones kit they are offering with a processor switch on my part so lists suggestions and reasons for suggestions would be awesome

Thanks
Chibi_Kanrei

Sorry, I haven't replied to this part of the topic yet, I was being lazy and not wanting to actually suggest something useful.

I'm not going to list what I think you should have in the way of specs or blah blah. You said you wanted it affordable, and what you got there looks fine and must already be good with you, instead I'm just going to recommend, or not recommend, certain brands and whatnot.

Your List:
EVGA P55 LE Motherboard - $169.99
Intel Core i7 920 Processor - $279.99
OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum RAM - $95.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB Hard Drive - $64.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - $199.99
EVGA GeForce 9600 GSO Video Card - $69.99
CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full-Tower Case - $139.99 (really love this case )
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - $69.99

Motherboard and Processor look good to me, and OCZ has been releasing quality for awhile now, especially in the RAM department. Seagate used to be one of my faves, but I'd change that to a Western Digital. Seagate has been up and down with their products for awhile now... not sure what's going on there. No problems with the video cards, though I'd personally go with ATI, but either way you can get some good cards. Cases... I could build a computer in a well ventilated box and be happy, so long as it had the proper protection. I don't like the PSU... to be honest... that was one of the first things I looked at and probably the only reason I'm making this post. lol. I would definitely recommend a different brand. Maybe something from Corsair or FSP Group... those are usually some quality power supplies; I'd always use Sparkle back in the day... Like I said, OCZ is a good brand too, I haven't tried their PSU's though, but I wouldn't be afraid of trying them either. Something like this would be perfect, though admittedly a little more costly than the one you've got listed:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Goddamn... Newegg has a good deal going on that right now... I almost want to buy it just because. lol.

Anyway, just my opinion, take it as you will.

Also, I didn't see any DVD drives on your list, so unless you already got one, it might be good to remember one. As for the monitor, I've been satisfied with Asus, but I also like Acer. So those would be my recommended brands.

[Calia]

Sorry, I haven't replied to this part of the topic yet, I was being lazy and not wanting to actually suggest something useful.

I'm not going to list what I think you should have in the way of specs or blah blah. You said you wanted it affordable, and what you got there looks fine and must already be good with you, instead I'm just going to recommend, or not recommend, certain brands and whatnot.

Your List:
EVGA P55 LE Motherboard - $169.99
Intel Core i7 920 Processor - $279.99
OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum RAM - $95.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB Hard Drive - $64.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - $199.99
EVGA GeForce 9600 GSO Video Card - $69.99
CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full-Tower Case - $139.99 (really love this case cheesy)
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - $69.99

Motherboard and Processor look good to me, and OCZ has been releasing quality for awhile now, especially in the RAM department. Seagate used to be one of my faves, but I'd change that to a Western Digital. Seagate has been up and down with their products for awhile now... not sure what's going on there. No problems with the video cards, though I'd personally go with ATI, but either way you can get some good cards. Cases... I could build a computer in a well ventilated box and be happy, so long as it had the proper protection. I don't like the PSU... to be honest... that was one of the first things I looked at and probably the only reason I'm making this post. lol. I would definitely recommend a different brand. Maybe something from Corsair or FSP Group... those are usually some quality power supplies; I'd always use Sparkle back in the day... Like I said, OCZ is a good brand too, I haven't tried their PSU's though, but I wouldn't be afraid of trying them either. Something like this would be perfect, though admittedly a little more costly than the one you've got listed:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Goddamn... Newegg has a good deal going on that right now... I almost want to buy it just because. lol.

Anyway, just my opinion, take it as you will.

Also, I didn't see any DVD drives on your list, so unless you already got one, it might be good to remember one. As for the monitor, I've been satisfied with Asus, but I also like Acer. So those would be my recommended brands.

Oh that's fine lol and I was thinking of switching out to the card Mo had suggested possibly two but one to at least start with and thanks for the heads up with the PSU that sale is nice i may pick it up as soon as I get my first paycheck just started working at a news paper hehe working 3 - midnights >.> and once i have that i wont have and excuse not to build from ground up than i will just have to suck it up and buy windows 7 out right which im strange in I dont want to spend alot on a OS but dont mind a higher price on parts lol >.<

so after i check to see what my checks are gonna be like will be the deciding factor in how i go about getting this thing than we just have to pray i can put it together as I have never mounted a mother board processor or well the only things I have done is psu and normal card and drive replacement :S

-Calia

[Soul Sojourner]

You could always try a Linux Distribution. I'm quite fond of Linux myself. Ubuntu has a lot of features and is quite user-friendly. It's also very light compared to some other distributions. Although I quite like Debian, the download and burning times and so forth will be considerably shorter for Ubuntu. And you can try it IN windows, to get a feel for it. A good reason I recommend Ubuntu over other distributions at this time.

I'm not sure how well games interact with Ubuntu, because I haven't tried any on it myself. Others have said they can get them working just fine, but there may be some know-how required, I'm not sure. If you do decide to check out Ubuntu, check out there website and make sure they have drivers and whatnot to support the hardware you're going to get. It's always good to research first. Check hardware compatibility and all that, make sure everything is going to work together, before you buy.

Windows 7 is obviously going to be the new 'standard,' so it would be a good thing to get. But I am like you, I don't like spending money on an operating system. Not a lot of money anyway. I can handle 40 bucks, but 100+ is ridiculous. Also, about your HDD, I'd go for at least 1 TB. Games and media are only going to get larger in file size and I spent close to what you'd be paying for that one on a 1 TB HDD from Newegg.

Well, if you have a computer that is crappy and you don't care about it, you could take everything apart and put it back together a few times, look things over, maybe get a feel for it. Just make sure it's one you don't want or care about... otherwise, if you screw something up... yeah.
I have a tower sitting right next to my desk actually... and one by the bed... and one in the bathroom on the floor... and an emptied out one which my kitten is using as a playpen... and more in storage. lol Also more IDE cables than I know what to do with! Especially now that they're becoming obsolete... I always did like IDE, but SATA is so much more convenient. So yeah, I don't know what it's like to not have any unimportant computers around. Haha..

Mounting a processor isn't hard at all, everything is pretty much self-explanatory, just make sure to check that there is thermal paste pre-applied, if not, you'll need to buy some and apply some yourself. Most likely you'll have nothing to worry about, I've never bought an intel processor that didn't already have some on there. Though that doesn't mean I didn't take it off and put AS5 on instead.

[Mo]

I wouldn't put together a PC if you've never done it before.  Too many things can go wrong that might ruin a component.

Windows 7 is $30 for students with valid student email.  Not sure if you qualify, but Google that one.
Linux will suck for gaming.

[Soul Sojourner]

I wouldn't put together a PC if you've never done it before. 

I began learning how to build computers with one opened up in front of me when I was like 14. Fun times.

When you're spending big money on it already, it is quite risky if you don't know what you're doing. You could probably pay a technician to do it though, if they fuck up then it's on them. If you insist on doing it yourself though, like I said, do your research first, maybe even look up some guides or something. Newegg has tips and help and so forth as well.

One newbie mistake I made once, is I screwed the motherboard right into the case without any supports, booted it up and fried my board. LOL... Don't do that.

Ubuntu is pretty sweet, but he's probably right about it not being good for games. (Like I said, I haven't tried it.) I bet it could made to work alright, but as I said, it may require know-how (or in other words, be a pain in the ass).

I am wiping Ubuntu from my 40 gig, and putting XP on it with security tools and backups, and a second partition of XP for testing new apps. (in case of viruses that slip by security) Then I'm partitioning my 500 gig with Ubuntu(or Debian), Vista (or Debian), and 7. My TB will be my normal usage drive with XP. I am a bit weird I know, but I like to stay familiar with multiple OS's in case I end up having to work on a comp with one. Unfortunately... I am not very familiar with Macs... so that could be a challenge.

[Meclar]

Putting a computer together is pretty easy.  I'm sure Calia can handle it.

[Calia]

Wow that is a lot of info for my brain on 3 hours of sleep lol. I do happen to have one junked PC sitting here that i can take a look at was a friends comp. which I couldnt save from its un-timely demise at the hands of a fried motherboard.

I will be using windows 7 and may be back in school (as long as College students count) by the time i get money around to get this thing built so i can shell out 40 bucks for an OS and not break regret it

I had planed on getting to know linux system as my home network is starting to grow in size and number of PC's I have been toying with the idea of putting together a backup server type thing running Unix ( I think its called)

Mounting the MoBo is my biggest worry with building the new PC next to mounting the CPU but you said that one is not as hard as it seems and what is AS5 thermal gel ( I know what thermal gel is just wandering if there is a brand I should get a tube of)

Placing cards and HDD and drives and so on is cake so no worries about that I will look into a TB of HDD space ( who would have thought just a few short years ago I remember finding myself wandering why the hell would a home user need that much memory, and I still find my self wandering because I have not yet even filled  the 250gb I have :S but I have alot of thigns spread out on multiple PC's 350gb( nearly 100gb of this is taken by WoW and my OS and Anti-virus lol) in the one I use to run apps and games currently, 120gb + 250 external on the one as a file sharing backup server, 160gb on room mate's PC

Back on mounting the MoBo just really quick I know the Case im looking at has the wholes preset for many diffrent MoBo types is that half the battle or will I learn what im looking for by striping an old PC?

umm yeah I know I have more questions but cant think straight atm and have rambled on enough I think

-Calia

Added

Putting a computer together is pretty easy.  I'm sure Calia can handle it.

I like to think of myself as a capable computer person and normally that has prove some what true I just get worried when dealing with allot of parts that I wouldn't have the money to replace and while I may have taken some basic computer certifaction courses in school they no where nearly covered things like MoBo mounting and such mainly just how to deal with and change a PSU :S...something about making sure we didn't kill ourselves in the process thing

again rambling
-Calia

[Mo]

One newbie mistake I made once, is I screwed the motherboard right into the case without any supports, booted it up and fried my board. LOL... Don't do that

lol ya I did the exact same thing.  That was pretty stupid lol.

[Soul Sojourner]

Wow that is a lot of info for my brain on 3 hours of sleep lol. I do happen to have one junked PC sitting here that i can take a look at was a friends comp. which I couldnt save from its un-timely demise at the hands of a fried motherboard.

I will be using windows 7 and may be back in school (as long as College students count) by the time i get money around to get this thing built so i can shell out 40 bucks for an OS and not break regret it

I had planed on getting to know linux system as my home network is starting to grow in size and number of PC's I have been toying with the idea of putting together a backup server type thing running Unix ( I think its called)

Mounting the MoBo is my biggest worry with building the new PC next to mounting the CPU but you said that one is not as hard as it seems and what is AS5 thermal gel ( I know what thermal gel is just wandering if there is a brand I should get a tube of)

Placing cards and HDD and drives and so on is cake so no worries about that I will look into a TB of HDD space ( who would have thought just a few short years ago I remember finding myself wandering why the hell would a home user need that much memory, and I still find my self wandering because I have not yet even filled  the 250gb I have :S but I have alot of thigns spread out on multiple PC's 350gb( nearly 100gb of this is taken by WoW and my OS and Anti-virus lol) in the one I use to run apps and games currently, 120gb + 250 external on the one as a file sharing backup server, 160gb on room mate's PC

Back on mounting the MoBo just really quick I know the Case im looking at has the wholes preset for many diffrent MoBo types is that half the battle or will I learn what im looking for by striping an old PC?

umm yeah I know I have more questions but cant think straight atm and have rambled on enough I think

-Calia

Added
I like to think of myself as a capable computer person and normally that has prove some what true I just get worried when dealing with allot of parts that I wouldn't have the money to replace and while I may have taken some basic computer certifaction courses in school they no where nearly covered things like MoBo mounting and such mainly just how to deal with and change a PSU :S...something about making sure we didn't kill ourselves in the process thing

again rambling
-Calia

I wouldn't even worry about buying thermal paste. I can almost guarantee there's stuff pre-applied. When you get the processor, just check, if there's not, then go ahead and order some. 1 tube is usually enough for like 6 computers... so there's not much point in buying some unless you think you'll be putting that many comps together any time soon. If you did buy some, I'd recommend AS5 above all the rest. That's Arctic Silver 5. However, unlike many others it contains silver which could potentially fry a computer component, so you have to make sure you're putting on very little. It will spread out with the pressure, and then spread even more with the heat later. I've never had any problems, but I've never put on too much either...

You'll be able to line up the holes with the ones on the motherboard when you get it, that's quite simple. Just make sure you screw the  standoffs in those holes between the motherboard and the case, and screw the motherboard into the standoffs, or other type of supports if it comes with some already in or something.

lol ya I did the exact same thing.  That was pretty stupid lol.

It may be a common beginners mistake. lol

[Meclar]

Thermal pads might be cheaper they're less messy too