$700-1100 gaming / photo editing build - advice needed

[teqvet]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next month

BUDGET RANGE: $700-1100

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: heavy use for MMO gaming and photo editing (RAW format)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor (possibly? not sure if Hanns·G HG-216DPB Black 21.6" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD
needs to be upgraded or if it will suffice)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg preferred

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference - not educated enough to make a call on it.

OVERCLOCKING: No, again not educated enough.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No plans

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680 x 1050 preferred

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I want to stay away from 'deals' with MIR unless they are still the best bang for the buck at the price before the MIR. I have never had luck with MIR's in the last 5-7 years and the experience I've had with various customer support in that area solidifies those feelings.

 

[jchan]

Suggestion:

Case: CM 690
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
$70 w/ free shipping

HDD: WD Caviar Black 640gb OR Samsung Spinpoint F3
Spinpoint: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
Caviar: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
Spinpoint is $55 and the Caviar Black is $75

DVD/CD Burner: LG Black Thingy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144
$28

CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 BE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674
$196

Heatsink: Scythe Mugen-2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093&Tpk=scythe%20mugen%202
$37

Memory: G. Skill 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189
$80

Motherboard: ASUS M4A78T-E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366
$135 .... but its $120 after MIR ... i think asus honors their rebates

PSU: Corsair TX650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
$100 ... but $80 after MIR ... and i also think corsair honors their rebates

GFX Card: XFX 4890 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150359
$200

And that covers about everything ... unless you need an OS also.
That comes out to roughly $900 i think ... unless i forgot somethin.

So you have leftover $200 ... buy urself a nice SSD or somethin

 

[teqvet]

I'll need an OS also.. planning on a 64bit version.

 

[jchan]

wait for windows 7 in october, or just get vista with the free upgrade coupon. I think windows vista home prem OEM w/ coupon is $110 on new egg.

You got like $90 left over to upgrade whatever you want

 

[teqvet]

Why a heatsink if I am not planning to OC?

 

[jchan]

oh u arent? well alright... then i don't think u should get a black edition... those are made for overclocking.

I would recommend an E8400 or an E8500 dual core from intel than. Those come with stock coolers. Black editions don't come with heat sinks.

It should be the same price with the dif. mobo and ram... maybe cheaper

 

[teqvet]

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

How does this look? I was looking at the quad core because the extra 2 cores would help when editing photos of the format I work with.

and...

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

 

[jchan]

get the Q9550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041
$220


and this motherboard should be fine

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359
$105

And just letting you know, the caviar blue is slower than the caviar black, but consumes less power and emits less heat.

It's all up to you

 

[smithereen]

Phenom II Black Editions come with heatsinks. The only one that didn't was the Athlon 6400+.

 

[jchan]

oh my bad, i musta misread somethin somewhere....

Then scratch the stuff i said, go for the phenom II BE 955 ... thats prob. one of the better proc. u can get w/ that budget