My $1000 First Build (January) - Thoughts

Icaraeus · Oct 9, 2013

I've taken a couple of months to figure out and choose all the parts I want to build my first desktop PC - it sets me back $1000. I made a little change a couple of days ago, but I think all the parts are good for now. Can anyone give some feedback on the parts I've chosen and how well it'd perform at general use and gaming?

G-Skill 16GB Ripjaws ddr3-1600mhz RAM - PAID

Seagate 2TB 7200RPM HDD - $100

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - PAID

ASUS ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (MOBO) - $130

Razor Blue DeathAdder Optical 6400DPI Mouse - $50

Microsoft Sidewinder X4 - $50

Intel Core i5-3350P - $170

AMD R9 270X - $200

Optical Disc Drive - $30

Antec P280 - $140

Thermaltake TPG-750M Grand 750W Power Supply - $130

Marcopolo123 · Oct 9, 2013

mehh

windows 7 ultimate
16gb memory

why

spentshells · Oct 9, 2013

Spend less on a better PSU

Corsair tx 550watt
xfx is putting out a good psu these days 450or 550 watt

Icaraeus · Oct 9, 2013

Well since you aren't really recommending anything different (apart from the PSU) how well should this build perform at general use and future gaming (stuff like Battlefield 4, Watch Dogs etc.)?

Marcopolo123 · Oct 10, 2013

get fx 8350.

if you choose intel and dont wan to overclock get i5-4330/4570 and b85/h87 motherboard. z87 motherboards are for overclocking

spentshells · Oct 10, 2013

Spend the money you saved on PSU on a better graphics card. 7950 is pretty cheap these days. If you save 50 on the psu you can afford the 7950 over what you have selected for a good performance boost.

Icaraeus · Oct 11, 2013

My budget is strictly $1000. The PSU is 80+ Gold Certified, so it should be good enough. I also read that the R9 GPU has similar performance to the HD 7950, so would there be much point spending $50 extra for a little bit more performance?

spentshells · Oct 11, 2013

Icaraeus :

You are wasting money on that Power supply. A good 550 watt would save you some money and offer similar performance.

Icaraeus · Oct 11, 2013

What do you think of the Corsair AX750W 80+ Gold PSU? It's currently on sale for $150 though should drop to $130 or lower by January. I intend to keep the PSU for around 7+ years which is why I chose the 750W over the 550W (to last an upgrade or two and also because it's apparently better at outputting the right amount of watts to my rig compared to 550W).

mc962 · Oct 11, 2013

It actually has a newer version called the AX760

*I didnt even know they were still selling the 750 version

Icaraeus · Oct 12, 2013

Well the AX760 apparently isn't much of an improvement over the AX750 and is priced $20-30 more for the 80+ Gold version. I just want a quality PSU that will last me a long time without a hassle at $130 or less, which the AX750 seems to meet in all the aspects.

If there are any other better components without increasing the price (strictly $1000) then it'd be great if you can recommend me any, otherwise I'll just stick with what I currently have.

On a side-note like I was asking before (but remains unanswered), I was wondering what kind of performance I'd be looking at with the above rig in terms of general-use and gaming and if I have any bottlenecks (there shouldn't be since you're all recommending different PSU's).

Marcopolo123 · Oct 12, 2013

case is too expensive and bad

Icaraeus · Oct 12, 2013

What would u recommend?

Marcopolo123 · Oct 12, 2013

Fractal arc2

Icaraeus · Oct 12, 2013

Well after reading about the Fractal Arc R2 case I was checking the prices and found one as low as $65. This leaves me enough to buy an optical drive with BR support (the $30 only has DVD/CD) so I found one for $60, dropping the price to $955.

This leaves me with enough headroom to improve some of the stuff in my rig - what would you guys suggest? I want to keep the PC inaudible doing general-use stuff and barely audible at full load (which wouldn't matter as I wouldn't hear the PC anyway).

mc962 · Oct 12, 2013

It would cut into your funds a bit, but the Fractal R4 case ($90) has sound dampening foam in a lot of spots. It's fairly inaudible, I didn't really hear it much at all before I put my gpu in, and I only hear it now because I got a loud Gigabyte card (even then it's not particularly noticeable)

Icaraeus · Oct 13, 2013

I chose a better LG optical drive than the previous one I had on my list for only $10 more. I'm also going with the Fractal R4 case over the R2 case seeing as it's quieter overall. This puts the total at $990, $10 lower than the maximum I intend to spend for my desktop PC. Below is the new build - let me know what you think.

Windows 8 Professional 64-bit (I also own this)

G-Skill RipJaws X (2x8) 16GB DDR3-1600mhz RAM

Seagate 2TB 7200RPM HDD - $100

ASUS ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - $130

Razor (Blue) DeathAdder Optical 6400 dpi Mouse - $50

Microsoft Sidewinder X4 KB - $50

Intel Core i5-3350P - $170

AMD R9 270X - $200

Fractal Design R4 - $90

Corsair AX750 80+ Gold Approved PSU - $130

LG CH12LS28 12x SATA (Internal) Optical Drive - $70

mc962 · Oct 13, 2013

Looks fine, I personally don't like spending so much on peripherals as I can put that money elsewhere, but for most it's a personal thing. Short of some unforseen defect it's not like it's really hurting anything.

Other than that it looks good

*I might prefer a 4xxx series haswell cpu with the appropriate lga 1150 board since it doesnt seem like you plan to overclock; but the 3350p will do things just fine, chances are it might cost a bit more anyway
**One thing to keep in mind if you didnt already know, that cpu has no integrated gpu, so you must plug the graphics card and have it working properly before you will be able to see anything (and plug the screen into the card of course)

Icaraeus · Oct 13, 2013

Assuming that I just used any M&KB I currently own instead of buying new ones, what changes would you make over the current build (costs $890 then)?

Also, how long could I go without requiring me to change the parts?

Marcopolo123 · Oct 13, 2013

get i5-4330/4570 and b85/h87 motherbord

z77/z87 motherboards are for overclocking which cant be done with a i5-3350p/4330/4570.

spentshells · Oct 13, 2013

keeping a psu for 7 years is a horrible idea, sure it could last that long but electronics are not built to last like they were years ago.
Also where you live can be problem for electronics unless you have no variation in temperature and no dust at all.

My $1000 First Build (January) - Thoughts

Honorable

Honorable

Judicious

Honorable

Honorable

Judicious

Honorable

Judicious

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Honorable

Judicious

Share this page