Need help building my own custom PC

[Note]

I have mixed feelings about the motherboard the reviews seem to be in between and are those video cards better then the one I had listed? Apoligies if these seem like ignorant questions.

[INFIDEL]

both those graphic cards are better then the one you listed.  but i would pass on "foxconn" MB last time i saw a "foxconn" in a rig it was crashing hard with mobo failure.

[XavierMace]

Yeah, either video card is a step up from the one you listed. 

The primary "issue" on that motherboard is that the manual was printed wrong and the clear CMOS jumper MAY be in the wrong position.  Stupid to be sure, but beyond that there doesn't seem to be any complaints about the hardware and the price is good.  As long as you are aware of that up front, no big deal.  Sadly, as with all things China made quality is hit or miss.  I've had boards that have issues with multiple RAID controllers being active at once (Asus), Faulty Driver CD (MSI), and missing RAID drivers (Tyan).  When I'm motherboard shopping, I'm looking a features and hardware reliability.  Missing/Faulty drivers are an annoyance but easily resolved by downloading the proper ones.  Misprinted manuals can be a bigger issue, but typically a corrected one is available online by the time you have the board in hand.  EVGA is the only brand that I've NEVER had any issue with which is why I say their GPU's are worth the few extra $.  If you were doing an Intel build, I'd recommend them for the mobo as well. 

Southbridge fans that burn out quickly or RAID controllers you can't boot from are issue that you can't work around.  I didn't see any mention of issues like that on that mobo so I'd say you should be good to go on that.  Foxconn like all manufacturers have had bad products.  But keep in mind we are talking about the company that OEM's most of Apple's hardware.  Apple hardware is not known for failing.

Edit: To be clear, I could give you links to a couple of better 880G boards but they are another $20-$30.  You aren't going to get a great board at $55.

[Fresnel]

both those graphic cards are better then the one you listed.  but i would pass on "foxconn" MB last time i saw a "foxconn" in a rig it was crashing hard with mobo failure.

Apple laptops use foxconn, for what it's worth.

EDIT: Whoops, bit slow to that party, haha.

[deathbydanish]

Yeah, either video card is a step up from the one you listed. 

The primary "issue" on that motherboard is that the manual was printed wrong and the clear CMOS jumper MAY be in the wrong position.  Stupid to be sure, but beyond that there doesn't seem to be any complaints about the hardware and the price is good.  As long as you are aware of that up front, no big deal.  Sadly, as with all things China made quality is hit or miss.  I've had boards that have issues with multiple RAID controllers being active at once (Asus), Faulty Driver CD (MSI), and missing RAID drivers (Tyan).  When I'm motherboard shopping, I'm looking a features and hardware reliability.  Missing/Faulty drivers are an annoyance but easily resolved by downloading the proper ones.  Misprinted manuals can be a bigger issue, but typically a corrected one is available online by the time you have the board in hand.  EVGA is the only brand that I've NEVER had any issue with which is why I say their GPU's are worth the few extra $.  If you were doing an Intel build, I'd recommend them for the mobo as well. 

Southbridge fans that burn out quickly or RAID controllers you can't boot from are issue that you can't work around.  I didn't see any mention of issues like that on that mobo so I'd say you should be good to go on that.  Foxconn like all manufacturers have had bad products.  But keep in mind we are talking about the company that OEM's most of Apple's hardware.  Apple hardware is not known for failing.

Edit: To be clear, I could give you links to a couple of better 880G boards but they are another $20-$30.  You aren't going to get a great board at $55.

Agreed, you have to adjust your expectations, you will never be able to avoid these kinds of issues 100% of the time. But with that, at the very least you can take comfort in the fact that Newegg is very good about customer service, if you get a motherboard that goes belly up on you from the start, they will do what they can to replace/exchange it. On another note, I'd like to say +1 on the SSD recommendation, if you can somehow squeeze it into your budget, it will probably provide the most noticeable upgrade for everyday use. If you have read the hype about SSDs and are worried about their functionality because they are new, all I have to say is don't worry. A lot of them are into their 4th or 5th iterations, a lot of the problems that plagued the initial SSDs are ironed out and as long as you aren't using your SSDs to host a file server or something crazy like that, you won't use up the write cycles on it.

[Ivan]

I used to build and sell computers at a place called Technology Partners in Phx (www.tpi-us.com) you might want to check them out on pricing too - they usually have some kickass deals on barebones computers, mobos and hdds. When I worked there they had infineon memory, among others. But They have all the components, and have a good  LOCAL warranty too. Just FYI

[INFIDEL]

whenever your doing a FIRST build i would suggest sticking with brands that are well known. ASUS is good for a starting build IMO, but I <3 my EVGA Classified

[XavierMace]

Personally Asus has burned too many bridges with me and you pay for their name.  Not to mention their CS sucks hairy monkey balls.

[INFIDEL]

Personally Asus has burned too many bridges with me and you pay for their name.  Not to mention their CS sucks hairy monkey balls.

I never had any issues with any ASUS board that I have used. But personally, they wouldnt be my top choice. I preffer EVGA, and sometimes even MSI over them

[INFIDEL]

Personally Asus has burned too many bridges with me and you pay for their name.  Not to mention their CS sucks hairy monkey balls.

I never had any issues with any ASUS board that I have used. But personally, they wouldnt be my top choice. I preffer EVGA, and sometimes even MSI over them

I <3 my EVGA Classified

Im geussing you have not paid the extra for one of these, you would quickly get over ASUS 

But hey, I still build with and recommend ASUS boards. but personally im sticking with EVGA now.

[XavierMace]

I've personally owned 6 Asus boards and built at least a couple dozen systems for other using them.  When you are buying their top of the line boards (IE a $350 mobo) you should not have to deal with issues like Southbridge fans that burn themselves out or RAID controllers that conflict with each other.

[INFIDEL]

When you are buying their top of the line boards (IE a $350 mobo) you should not have to deal with issues like Southbridge fans that burn themselves out or RAID controllers that conflict with each other.

DUDE THIS^^^ lol I completely forgot about that shit. I had pick up one of their "TOP LINE" models for a client build and the southbridge fans suicided, and the RAID had crossed lines. I was pissed. returned it to Newegg, and picked up a lower line ASUS without issues.

I cant belive i forgot about that. lol

[XavierMace]

Asus P6T6 WS Revolution.  Biggest pain in the ass I've ever used.  Doesn't overclock worth a damn, has trouble getting RAM to run at even advertised speeds, SAS controller (one of the big selling points) can't be used with the SATA controller (which is mentioned no where).  Yeah.  Regret buying mine since day 1 but that was in the beginning of the i7 days.  There weren't nearly as many options as there are now.  If I could do it over, I would have waited for EVGA to release one.