Want To Build A New Computer under $700

[phillyphries]

USAGE - Mostly gaming, Burning/watching Movies, Internet, etc.
NOT REQUIRED - Speakers, Internet adapters, Moniter, everything else not listed...
BUDGET - $700 and Below.

Here are the parts I am going for so far.

Barebones - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4621095&CatId=2405
A Single GTS 250 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130468
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro CPU Heatsink - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
Some Arctic Silver 5 Compound - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

I hope if you see something better, you can tell me. By the way I need to know shipping too. My zip-code is 85305 so if you don't know the zip code, here it is.


MANY THANKS!

 

[Helloworld_98]

you are kidding, right?

you'll be lucky if that build lasts 9 months.

 

[phillyphries]

Whats the problem with it?

 

[dirtmountain]

I think he's probably referring to the Diablotek power supply, it's a low quality one.

Here's an alternate AMD build, it provides a faster CPU, overclockable motherboard (Intel brand boards don't overclock well) , crossfire capable, better hard drive, faster graphic card and a much higher quality power supply. Under $700 even with shipping.

CPU/mobo combo $205
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.205337

RAM - 2x2 GB DDR3 $73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146868

PSU - PC Power and Cooling 750w $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Case - Rosewill Windknight $60 and free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147135

Graphic - XFX HD4870 1 GB $147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394

HD - WD 640 GB caviar black $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

burner - Liteon SATA $28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106291

$687 not counting shipping ($16 to me) or rebates.

 

[hunter315]

The board only supports DDR3 so swap the memory out for this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

Adds a little bit to the price but not much

 

[phillyphries]

I think he's probably referring to the Diablotek power supply, it's a low quality one.

Here's an alternate AMD build, it provides a faster CPU, overclockable motherboard (Intel brand boards don't overclock well) , crossfire capable, better hard drive, faster graphic card and a much higher quality power supply. Under $700 even with shipping.

CPU/mobo combo $205
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.205337

RAM - 2x2 GB DDR3 $73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146868

PSU - PC Power and Cooling 750w $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Case - Rosewill Windknight $60 and free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147135

Graphic - XFX HD4870 1 GB $147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394

HD - WD 640 GB caviar black $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

burner - Liteon SATA $28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106291

$687 not counting shipping ($16 to me) or rebates.

Thank you very much! I just read something that said a 4870 is faster than a GTX 260, which is way faster than what I wanted before.

 

[macabre215]

Thank you very much! I just read something that said a 4870 is faster than a GTX 260, which is way faster than what I wanted before.

Most of the time they trade blows on different games, but overall the 1GB 4870 is faster.

Go with the build that other guy is suggesting but I would just change a couple of things.

Same 4870 but free shipping: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010488&prodlist=celebros

I like Corsair psu's more: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007112

And I always buy HD's from ZZF: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010082

The biggest reason I use ZZF sometimes is:

1. ZZF can be cheaper.
2. They offer free shipping a lot of times when newegg doesn't.
3. They use Fedex as their default carrier. I have had at least five or more HDD's fail with the biggest culprit being UPS being slightly faster, but with that speed comes damage......

 

[shortstuff_mt]

www.zipzoomfly.com also packages their hard drives in a nice little foam enclosure instead of just wrapping it in bubble wrap and hoping for the best.

 

[macabre215]

www.zipzoomfly.com also packages their hard drives in a nice little foam enclosure instead of just wrapping it in bubble wrap and hoping for the best.

Exactly, and they have come a long way since this thread, Newegg hasn't. Not saying I hate them, I love the Egg but I prefer not to buy things that dislike being thrown around from them.

http://www.hardforum.com/archive/index.php/t-991300.html

12-15-2005, 10:26 AM
Newegg does not properly care for hard dries during shipping. The bubble wrap and peanuts they use allow the drive to slide around in the box, exposing it to unnecessary shock. One only needs to look at drive "reviews" on Newegg, with users complaining about their drives dying within the first month, to realize that they need to do better.

ZZF and HyperMicro use foam shells arond the drives, making them a much better choice for buying HDDs. ZZF is worth the extra bucks.

Also, on PriceGrabber, Newegg has a 4.63 rating, ZZF 4.61 (and ZZF has more reviews, >17K for ZZF while Newegg only has just over 9K). I just don't see how ZZF can be that bad in terms of service.

 

[rockyjohn]

I agree with the Corsair PSU, although you could get by with a smaller unit - 550w is more than ample for the system you plan or 650w to add plenty of room for expansion.

I prefer the Corsair PSU primarily because of sound levels. The P&C Silencer is the Rolls Royce of PSUs, althought I have seen contradictory info about noise issues. I have seen online reviews at respected sights reporting noticeable noise - and then others reporting the noise at the normal level and some forum posters stating emhatically that there is no noticeable noise.

You might want to become familiar with silentpcreview.com whose purpose is self explanatory. About the PC Silencer 610 they report:

The acoustic performance is fairly good, staying modest in our test setup till well past 300W, which is about as high a peak load as you'll encounter in a sane quiet PC. Above this power level, the fan noise rose to a higher level than any other PSU tested in recent memory. It's a moot point as anything above 30 dBA@1m or so is simply too loud, but the fan behavior is indicative of a decision to keep the unit well-cooled, especially at higher load, even at the cost of higher noise.

Heres the link to the page with the quote (which also includes some nice graphs):

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article864-page4.html

 

[rockyjohn]

Most of the time they trade blows on different games, but overall the 1GB 4870 is faster.......

What I have seen is the nVidia 260 generally beats the ATI 4870 which usually beats the nVidia 250 - and pricing generally reflects this ordering.

The THG test result summary for 1900x1200 with high quality settings are:

4870/2GB 160
260/816MB 151
4870/500MB 135
250/1 GB 110


http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,1345.html

I generally prefer the nVidia cards because I think the Cuda acceleration is going to become increasing valuable as programs are now starting to tap into it and ATI is way behind on this.

 

[macabre215]

I agree with the Corsair PSU, although you could get by with a smaller unit - 550w is more than ample for the system you plan or 650w to add plenty of room for expansion.

I prefer the Corsair PSU primarily because of sound levels. The P&C Silencer is the Rolls Royce of PSUs, althought I have seen contradictory info about noise issues. I have seen online reviews at respected sights reporting noticeable noise - and then others reporting the noise at the normal level and some forum posters stating emhatically that there is no noticeable noise.

You might want to become familiar with silentpcreview.com whose purpose is self explanatory. About the PC Silencer 610 they report:

The acoustic performance is fairly good, staying modest in our test setup till well past 300W, which is about as high a peak load as you'll encounter in a sane quiet PC. Above this power level, the fan noise rose to a higher level than any other PSU tested in recent memory. It's a moot point as anything above 30 dBA@1m or so is simply too loud, but the fan behavior is indicative of a decision to keep the unit well-cooled, especially at higher load, even at the cost of higher noise.

Heres the link to the page with the quote (which also includes some nice graphs):

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article864-page4.html

I've been pissed off at PC power ever since the lies about modular psu's they tried to bestow on everybody. On top of that, OCZ is in charge of the company now. P&C is no longer the same company is it?

 

[phillyphries]

Okay well since I am going to be using this computer on a 17", It's not really necessary playing on Gigantic resolutions. I am only going to play on a nice 1280x1024 res. So I'm thinking, a 4870 1GB will do more than fine. And I have switched the case with an Antec 900, because of my cooling needs. However, I *MIGHT* add another graphics card in the future because I have a very nice 32" 1080i HDTV that I would love to play my strategy games on.

 

[macabre215]

Okay well since I am going to be using this computer on a 17", It's not really necessary playing on Gigantic resolutions. I am only going to play on a nice 1280x1024 res. So I'm thinking, a 4870 1GB will do more than fine. And I have switched the case with an Antec 900, because of my cooling needs. However, I *MIGHT* add another graphics card in the future because I have a very nice 32" 1080i HDTV that I would love to play my strategy games on.

A 4850 or GTS 250 would be fine for that.

 

[phillyphries]

A 4850 or GTS 250 would be fine for that.

Yeah, but I still want to max the settings too.

 

[redgarl]

Don't buy from tigerdirect, they are inflating prices.

Are you canadian? if so use NCIX... if you are american, Newegg and NCIXUS are the store you should look into.

NCIX got a price match policy allowing you to get the price of the competition. I have said hundreds of $ because of that policy and their RMA department is fantastic.

For that price, I would get a

Phenom II X3 720BE
Asus motherboard
2X2GIG of cheap DDR3
1 TB hard drive
4870 graphic card
a corsair or OCZ power supply 600W minimum

 

[redgarl]

I think he's probably referring to the Diablotek power supply, it's a low quality one.

Here's an alternate AMD build, it provides a faster CPU, overclockable motherboard (Intel brand boards don't overclock well) , crossfire capable, better hard drive, faster graphic card and a much higher quality power supply. Under $700 even with shipping.

CPU/mobo combo $205
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.205337

RAM - 2x2 GB DDR3 $73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146868

PSU - PC Power and Cooling 750w $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Case - Rosewill Windknight $60 and free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147135

Graphic - XFX HD4870 1 GB $147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394

HD - WD 640 GB caviar black $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

burner - Liteon SATA $28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106291

$687 not counting shipping ($16 to me) or rebates.

Get that

 

[macabre215]

Yeah, but I still want to max the settings too.

Well both of those cards can play anything at 1280x1024, that resolution is more cpu dependent. But you might as well get that 4870 because it's not much more. Price to performance is better for it.

 

[rockyjohn]

The price/performance ratio more or less goes up in lockstep for the two manufacturers. And ATI is faster at this level, nVidia the next, then an ATI card, then an nVidia card..... On the other hand the nVidia cards have cuda - a feature software vendors are starting to use more often.

 

[macabre215]

The price/performance ratio more or less goes up in lockstep for the two manufacturers. And ATI is faster at this level, nVidia the next, then an ATI card, then an nVidia card..... On the other hand the nVidia cards have cuda - a feature software vendors are starting to use more often.

This is similar to the old argument about Quad vs Dual core, problem is CUDA isn't easy to program for and if the software companies don't see where it's cost effective they aren't going to do it. Buying into new technology is usually a waste of money for consumers at first.