Oh Mighty TomHardware. Aid me in my plea of aid!

Sorry for the overdramatic Thread title... XD

This is my first time choosing and building a PC. Some of the parts i am using are used.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week or next week.

BUDGET RANGE: $600-625 at most

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Net Surfing, Videos, Work, etc.etc.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED:speakers, keyboard, mouse, monitor, cd-drive, dvd-drive, case

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg and mwave. i heard of tigerdirect, but i heard some bad things about them.

PARTS PREFERENCES: intel processor. others are not caring.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe, If it's easy SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Not Necessary. Maybe if there is a huge performance gain.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: prefer 1600 x 1200 or 1600 x 900

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: CHEAAPP!!!! please. the more bang for buck the better. I'm hoping this system will allow me to play games like Mass Effect and Left4Dead1 or 2 at 1600x900 resolution with everything maxx. Will this work without lagg?

Thanks a lot!!!


Current Parts List:

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150394


Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115056

ASUS P5Q SE PLUS LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131347

HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725050GLA360 (0A35415) 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822145215

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145184

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler (is this necessary?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134


What would be a good power unit for this build?


I have an old computer case, no idea what it is, but will this suffice?





Thanks so much for your help!!

We need a picture of the case straight in from the side, and also from the back. Is there a fan in the side?

I'm thinking you need a new case at this point. A good 500W PSU will work, but you may want to rethink your build and go with an AMD X3 720

I also agree with proximon that you would probably get more bang for your buck going with amd instead of intel but its up to you

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128387
I love this motherboard it is similar in price to your ASUS that you where going to use. Plus it supports crossfire.
and as for the case it is very simple at most you need to watch for good airflow and 30 dollars w/ a 500 watt psu sounds kind of weird just make sure you have enough power for crossfire if thats what you decide to do (500watts is not recommended for crossfire with a 4870) and that your psu has all the connectors you will need!

Well to get a good psu just look at all the connections you may use like if you want to go xfire and each graphics card uses 2 6pin connectors (what the 4870 uses) you know you will need at least 4 6pin connectors. I would recommend going 650watt or higher if going xfire. if not then 500watt is good. give me a little bit to look and ill try to find a good psu. They do get pricey though. BTW r u interested in doing xfire?

That's a decent case but it won't work with the big cooler. It would work with the stock cooler. The problem is that the power supply mounts over the CPU, limiting you to low-profile coolers.

Rosewill has a reputation as a pretty low-quality PSU manufacturer. I would never trust one of my systems to a Rosewill PSU.

The Apex PSU mentioned above is a POS. The little red voltage switch on the back is a dead giveaway. That means the PSU has no PFC correction and should be avoided at all costs unless you want your new system to go up in smoke.

another vote for corsair, that case might not be the best choice for cpus that run hot so try to keep the tdps low.

i See nothing wrong with that power supply especially if you need to watch what you spend I can see how you might not want to go with the corsair psu.

The Kingwin is still a pretty low-end PSU. It's another one I would never trust a system to. A 72% efficiency rating is pretty low. If you can't afford a quality unit that will support crossfire you might want to just get a nice PSU that will easily power one graphics card for now.

If you are really on a budget you can get an OCZ, but i would suggest this Antec PSU, the earthwatts are pretty good and not super expensive either
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371015

For PSUs you should get one from Corsair, Antec, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, or OCZ, there are a few other brands that have good models, there are a couple of good cooler masters out right now with 80+ silver ratings but they are out of your price range.

Edit: nevermind the OCZ, that EA650 is cheaper than any of OCZs similarly powered offerings.

well the reason i say this is because i have a pc build inside a case like that even with stock cooler and once i put the sides on there basicly no ventilation at all.

would you use it with stock cooler?

If I planned on using the stock cooler and not overclocking, I'd go ahead and use that case.

There are also several low-profile 120-140mm coolers that can fit. If you use one of those and flip the fan around in the "suck" direction, you can blow the heat directly into a power supply intake...so long as the intake is on the bottom of the power supply.

Well not sure if you have set yourself on any build yet, but I threw something together which may work, but I will tell you it relies on a newegg combo so it can change in price.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDX945FBGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103675

GPU - MSI R4890-T2D1G OC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - OC Edition - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127427

Motherboard - MSI K9A2 CF-F V2 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130172

Combo Total - $374.97

RAM - OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G10664GK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227362
$47.99

HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319
$74.99

PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341017
$74.99

Case - COOLER MASTER Elite RC-332-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119189
$49.99

Total before shipping - $622.93

With shipping it would be around $640, it also has $50 in rebates as well so this build would end up being around $590, you can switch around a few parts here and there, the case I just chose because it had free shipping. But as I said newegg combos change often, but hope this helps you out a bit

That Asus 785G looks badass........From the heat-sinks to the ram slots.....

Asus really did a good job on the colors............

glad we could help