New build for Student / Casual Gamer

[Wyko]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within two months

BUDGET RANGE: 900$

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Vb.net Programming, Word processing, Watching Video

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, HDD, disk drives

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com (is there a better one?)

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Anything nice

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like a quiet PC that will work solidly for a long time. I play mostly simple games like Warcraft III, but once in a while I find myself playing Prototype or something interesting like that. It's painful playing that at 8-10 fps...

PARTS PREFERENCES: I've come up with a nice looking build. Please, improve it, tear it apart, tell me how I screwed up or what I could do better. I know I need RAM and a cooling device (right?). The case I chose because, one, It looked really nice; Two, it has the buttons on top and it will be on the floor; and three, because it specifically advertised it's silence. Any advice would be appreciated!


COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Acer H213H bmid Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen 16:9 LCD Monitor

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor Model HDZ720WFGIBOX

 

[stevensl2]

If your purchase date is within 2 month's wait till the last week, then repost. By then there will be many new parts out and no to mention the price drops of the items you have listed here.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Couple of things. You are missing a power supply. Also, personally I think your spending too much on the case, but it's up to you. You are also missing memory it appears.

For example, here's what I have for a case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811162042

Add an exhaust fan to the back under the power supply, your good. Power button is not on top, but it does a great job of keeping things cool.

You may have intended to run your old PSU, but that card is a monster, I'd reccomend something with some muscle to it.

I'd like to get someone else's opinion, but this PSU is a regular 75, but has a rebate to bring it to 25. But it's 2 12v+ rails at 25 amps each, so should be plenty of juice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017


How about ditching the processor and board you picked and look here. Don't get me wrong, you picked a good chip and I'm a fan of Gigabyte boards, but with your budget you can get a lot more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.230082

A lot of guys may not go for biostar as much, but personally, I've used biostar boards before, and have always found them to be a decent product.

So far we're at 415, plus the video card you picked out puts it to 560.

For memory, check the list of approved memory for the board, and get some other opinions.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148262

This is 65, so up to 625.

The monitor you picked for 160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009157

785 total so far.


The processor they give you a heatsink and cooling fan. So unless you want to really overclock, you should be ok for now on the stock unit. But with the extra 115, figure in shipping, maybe a little for a new hard drive. Or pick up a new game. However, do you need an OS? If so, I think for 110 newegg has Vista oem that inlcudes an upgrade coupon for Windows 7 when it's released, I would probably go with the 64 bit version if it were me, as the 32 bit OS's only allow your system to use about 3-3.5 gb of memory.

Any other suggestions guys? Also, check out tigerdirect.com. They have always been great to deal with as well. I once had a board go bad just outside the 30 day mark, and they sent me an upgraded board at no extra cost which was awesome! Personally, I know a lot of guys on here love newegg, I haven't had any problems with them, but I know other folks who have had problems with products when they ordered from newegg, luck of the draw I guess.

 

[lebaneseguy]

this would be a great build for you budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006- 119.00 power supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131398 99.00 motherboard ( it is crossfire ready)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394 145.00 graphics card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675 170.00 processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193 80.00 DDR3 ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 75.00 HDD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188 31.00 dvd burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 65.00 case

the total should be around 840$ if you want to spend the rest i would suggest upgrading to an amd 955 Black edition and an XFX HD 4890

 

[batuchka]

Ya lebaneseguy is on the right path for me: one ought to hit a quad with even less than your proposed $900 budget hehe

 

[Wyko]

Whats the big difference between lebaneseguy's 80$ Ram and Ohiou's 66$ Ram? The 66$ ram has a higher rating (DDR3 1333 vs DDR3 12800). I thought that the higher rating made it superior? Or is the addition of the heat sink in the more expensive one important enough to justify the lower rating coupled with the higher price?

I'm really excited to get the quad core processor too. Someone on newegg.com said you could overclock it to 3.7gh; is that seriously possible? I haven't used a desktop computer in years, so I've never experimented with overclocking. But gains like that seem to make it eminently worthwhile to try!

If I do decide to overclock my computer (or, even if I don't) should I spend a bit on a better cpu cooler? Someone mentioned that my stuff would become really hot in there and I want everything to work perfectly for a long, long time.

A question about the i5 coming out: Does anyone know if it would be worth it for my needs to get that cpu instead and switch to an Intel build? I've heard a lot of hype about the i7 and the i5 seems like it would work perfectly in my price rage.

I also saw this nice combo that gives me a PSU with a Radeon HD 4890 1GB Graphics card. Does that seem like a good deal to you guys?

And last, what exactly makes the motherboard lebaneseguy recommended better than the Gigabyte one?


Current build:

 

[lebaneseguy]

That gigabyte one is basically an am2 board with am3 capability it uses ddr2 as opposed to the ddr3 one in the 785g and the 785g has an onboard video card

the reason the 66$ dollar one is cheaper is becuase it is ddr2 and not ddr3 which is the newer type of ram making it more expensive

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Uhm, that memory I suggested is in fact ddr3. However, the ram lebaneseguy suggested is actually faster.

As opposed to the Asus board, here's a gigabyte with the 785g chipset, and in a combo with the faster ram.

155 bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.237034

So cuts you by 25 bucks.


Same combo on video card and PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.233576

Take the extra 25 and grab the 955 with the unlocked multiplier, or stay with the 945 to save some cash. If you intend to overclock, the aftermarket cooler is advised. If not, the stock cooler should be fine. However, you can always get the new cooler later.

 

[Wyko]

Okay folks. Final-ish build. Look good to everyone? Any ideas on how I can slim down without significantly affecting performance? Will all of this stuff actually work together properly? With your approval and if you can't find any way to improve this, I buy it in two days

$840 after all the instant savings, coupon codes, and mail in rebates.

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Acer H213H bmid Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen 16:9 LCD Monitor

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDX945FBGIBOX

COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ

HIS H489F1GP Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...

 

[overshocks]

You don't need a 750W power supply if you only have one 4890, unless later on you want to buy another one. Also, if you aren't in a hurry, why not wait for the i5 to come out? Prices will drop significantly.

Also why not get a bigger monitor? At least 22". 22-24 is nice for gaming. Running 1920x1080

Get this cooler instead. It is way better than the one you selected and cheaper.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[Wyko]

You don't need a 750W power supply if you only have one 4890, unless later on you want to buy another one. Also, if you aren't in a hurry, why not wait for the i5 to come out? Prices will drop significantly.

Also why not get a bigger monitor? At least 22". 22-24 is nice for gaming. Running 1920x1080

Get this cooler instead. It is way better than the one you selected and cheaper.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

As far as I can tell, that cooler wouldn't fit my motherboard. It fits an AM2 and I have an AM3. Right? And I haven't seen any specs for the i5; will it really be worth it? I feel like I've got a really gorgeous rig right here.