So I'm building a new system...

Hey everybody. This is my first post here after having lurked for a while. I'm going to be building a new system here in the next month or so and I'd like some input on what I've selected. I haven't payed much attention to hardware for some time (a year or so), so I may not be quite up-to-date on my knowledge, but I've done some research (read reviews and such) on most everything I intend to put together.

If I can just get some opinions, tips, or STAY AWAYs on my build, I would much appreciate it.

Newegg link: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9788025

Thanks in advance.

 

Fairly decent.
I just got the W.D. Black 750GB.

Check Gigabyte's website to see if the RAM is compatible if you haven't already done so.
My personal experience Pioneer DVD burners have always performed better for me.

Welcome to the site.

 

Thank you, and yes I've made sure the components are compatible.

My only real concerns are any bottlenecking issues I may run into. As far as I can tell by reading/comparing specs, I shouldn't, but like I said, I haven't payed attention to hardware for about a year so I may be missing something crucial.

 

No real complaints but the graphics card is overpriced, you can buy an HD4870 for that much:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161268

The rest of the build is excellent, but you don't need the UD3P unless you plan to run crossfire in the future (very few people actually ever do this, they usually just buy a single card that's better as that is a much better value option)
so you can save 20 dollars by using the UD3R instead.

 

Thanks for the tips, especially regarding the mobo I had picked out. I always like to save a few bucks when I can. However, I am partial to XFX video cards only because I have had a lot of success with them in the past.

 

Yeah but you don't need the XXX overclocked versions, the normal ones are fine enough.

 

Oh, I see what you're getting at now. Thanks. I'll see about picking out a non-XXX card.

 

I forgot to ask before: Will my motherboard (GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R) require SATA drivers in order to recognize an optical drive (in which case I'll just buy an IDE DVD drive) or does it support SATA natively? I can't find an answer anywhere on the Gigabyte site itself or anywhere via Google.

I intend to install Windows XP x64 Professional.

 

It should be picked up by the Windows installer. RAID won't though.

 

Thanks. I don't plan on doing a RAID setup with this system. Just so I'm clear, though, I should be safe with only SATA drives, correct? I won't need to keep an IDE drive in order to install an OS?

 

That's correct.