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[Solved] $1200 Budget First Build

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - [Solved] $1200 Budget First Build

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Best answer from dndhatcher.

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I'm looking at my first build, and wanted some opinions on what I'm planning on putting in it. Thanks for your help in advance!

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 2 weeks to 2 months

BUDGET RANGE: $1200 before rebates (I don't want to count on them being honored)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: HD video playing/editing, storage, light gaming, media center

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, anywhere that might be cheaper

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US

PARTS PREFERENCES: Windows 7

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe (if cheaper for the same performance)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: at least 1920x1080, until something higher comes out for TVs

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Must have a good looking case (it'll be in my living room). Reasonably quiet. No Blu-Ray drive needed. Must play full HD video. Not sold on needing 2x1 TB drives right away.

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Two

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

Motherboard:
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO

Video Card:
XFX Radeon HD 5770

Power Supply:
Corsair 650W ATX 12V

RAM:
G.SKILL 4 GB (2x2 GB) DDR3 1600

Harddrives (2):
Samsung Spinpoint F 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB

Optical drive:
LITE-ON Black 24X

OS:
Windows 7 Home

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The 5770 you have listed will let you play games at that resolution at high/very high settings. It will play Crysis at medium. Its probably overkill for movies. You could survive on a 5750 if you want to play games at medium/high settings.

Good Coolers would be Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus or Xigmatec s1283 (rifle cooler or red scorpion or dark knight). They run $30-$40 but should get you an easy 400-500MHz speed increase in that case. If you dont want to get a cooler right now and get the 965, they are very close in price (thank intel and the i5 for that

)

You could save money by going with a Ph2 955 black CPU.

Thats a solid gaming machine build.

If you decide to overclock the CPU you will need to get a good CPU cooler/fan.

Reply to dndhatcher

Agree with dndhatcher. 955 can easily be overclocked to ~3.9 GHz without much additional cooling effort, more if you spend on a good cooler. 965 cannot be clocked much higher than this (it's the same silicon anyway), so while spending a lot more on it, you'd gain very little.

You could save some money on the mobo by using ASUS M4A78E-T, which does everything you're planning to do. If anything, spend more on the graphics card given the resolutions you're planning to run.

Reply to lok

I looked at the x4 955, and it only saves $20. I've never done any overclocking before, but if it'd be easy to get more for cheaper, I'm all for it. Any recommendations on a cooler?

I couldn't find that mobo. I looked on Newegg, and couldn't much that's cheaper than the one I listed?

What video card would you recommend? I'd prefer to get one with Direct X 11 support just to stand a better chance of lasting for a bit, assuming that's even possible...

Reply to MadAdmiral

Best answer

Message edited by dndhatcher on 11-12-2009 at 02:13:35 AM

Reply to dndhatcher

Alright, I think I've gotten it mostly nailed down. I think I'll go with the 5750, x4 955 and pick up the Xigmatec cooler. That'll save me $20 overall.

One last question. I was looking through more power supply info and was wondering if there'd be much of a difference using a modular PSU. I know it helps on the air flow, but wouldn't want to sacrifice too much for that. I found one that was only $10 more, and from what I've read, is still fairly high quality (XIGMATEX 650W 12V Modular). Should I go with this instead of the Corsair I already have in my build?

Reply to MadAdmiral

Modular wont help your air flow at all. You have an Antec 902, one of the best designed cases for airflow.

Leave your extra cables on the floor of your case. Mount your DVD on the second slot from the bottom (leaves a nice area beneath the DVD to stash the cables). Move both fan/drive bays above DVD so one pulls front air to the GPU/PSU and the other blows front air across the RAM to the CPU.

Reply to dndhatcher

Won't moving the fans cause the air flow to move straight across the top of the case, bypassing the components? Should I get an extra fan for the side to combat this?

Reply to MadAdmiral

No, do not get a Xigmatex psu, if you want modular get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341017
It will be sufficient for crossfire later.

Reply to Sonic-Boom

Look at the picture of the case.

Remember the PSU is at the bottom so the motherboard CPU/RAM region is all the way at the top and the GPU is in the middle just below rear fan.

The GPU and PSU expelling air out the back pull air in from the side vent even without a fan in it.

Counting the 9 drive slots from the top down, a front fan in the 2-4 slots will blow straight over the RAM at the CPU. A front fan in the 5-7 slots will blow at the GPU with some going down to the PSU and some going up over the northbridge area. That leaves slot 8 for the DVD and slot 9 (the bottom) for cable storage.

Reply to dndhatcher

I guess you're right. I thought the middle slots would be too high up for the GPU. I'll probably wait for Black Friday to see what deals are happening, but I'll be build it in no time. Thanks for all your help!

Message edited by MadAdmiral on 11-12-2009 at 03:33:08 AM

Reply to MadAdmiral

Take a look at ZipZoomFly.com's offerings as well. I recently built a 955/ASUS M4A78T-E system and found that their package pricing was considerable cheaper than NewEgg. My experience with the latter is good, too, though.

Reply to lok

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[Solved] $1200 Budget First Build

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - [Solved] $1200 Budget First Build