New Gaming/Photo PC approx. $1000

[jtf8751]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Anytime

BUDGET: Approximately $1000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, movies, photos, home surveillance

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, tigerdirec,t etc.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel, AMD, MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, most known brands

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1080

Guys want to build a moderate gaming pc, not top of the line but something I can upgrade later on the down the road and is up to date now. I can go over a $1000 a little bit. Would like a nice 22 inch monitor or so to go with it if i can, it not no big deal. Want really good video card, would like quad core processor with at least 4 GB of ram. I will be using this for my home video surveillance system also. What do you guys suggest, any help is appreciated.

 

[jtf8751]

Anybody?

 

[mavanhel]

CPU: Phenom II x4 940 BE $165.99

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 $139.99

RAM: Patriot Viper II Sector 5 4GB $109.99 (before $10 MIR)

GPU: XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 $189.99 (before $20 MIR)

HDD: Samsung F3 Spinpoint 500GB $54.99

Case: Antec 900 $89.99 (on sale now at newegg)

Monitor: Hanns-G 22" $149.99

Optical Drive: LG 22X DVD+R $28.99


Total: $929.92 (before $30 MIRs)

At this price you give yourself room either to save some money, or even bump the CPU up to a Phenom II x4 965BE at $30 more than the 940.

 

[jtf8751]

Thanks for taking the time to put something up for me. Looks pretty good, how does the AMD compare to the I7 and such? ATI card instead of a Nvidia? I know its more but just wondered. Anybody else have any comments or want to add to this build?

 

[mavanhel]

I mostly went with AMD because it's a lot cheaper and easier to stay in budget range. The i7 would be fairly tight on your budget (as even the least expensive one is nearing $300). If you did want to go with Intel you could go with the i5 processor at $199.99 which keeps you nicely in your budget. With the i5 I would suggest the GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P at $184.99 for your mother board (almost the same as above). With these changes, your total would come to $1008.92 before $30 in MIRs.

 

[jtf8751]

What is the performance gain going with the i5? You like gigabyte over the other boards? Just asking. How does the ATI card compare with top Nvidia cards? Use the same memory? Thanks again.

 

[mavanhel]

Well, at stock speeds it seems like the Phenom beats the i5, but not by a whole lot as you can see here. This means that an OC'd i5 shouldn't have much of a problem beating the Phenom, especially when some posters around here have said that they can easily get a stable OC of over 4GHz on the i5. As for the Gigabyte thing, I just know them better so I generally suggest them. As for the 4890, this card will definitely keep up with the nVidia cards in its price range. This card is great and will play any game on the market, just maybe not at full speeds. For that you could get a second 4890 later.

Just a side note: Personally I would choose Intel because I am a bit of an Intel fanboy, but the Phenom I gave above is also a great CPU.

 

[jtf8751]

Thanks man, I think I might go with the i5 combo. So you suggest the i5 750? Just wondered about Gigabyte. What is comparable to the 4890 card in the Nvidia? I may want to go a little more on the video card, but depends on price. Should I go with faster memory on the ddr3?

 

[mavanhel]

It seems as if the 4890 is comparable to the GTX280, and is at least on the same playing field as the GTX285. If you were going to spend more on the GPU, I'd suggest the HD 5850 although that will give you about a $150 jump in price. It might also be worth it to (if you cannot afford the immediate $150 jump) wait a little bit, save up some money, and if you think you need to, get another 4890 to put in XFire. But it's up to you and what kind of stretches you're able to put on your budget.

 

[mavanhel]

I woulad suggest the i570 aswell http://tsutton.site90.net/imgs/signature_smiley1.jpg great CPU!

Could you give a link or something for that cpu? I've never actually heard of it...

 

[jtf8751]

Thanks man, so I take it your a fan of the ATI cards? LOL....I've always had Nvidia, never tried an ATI card so thats why I keep asking about it. So that Gigabyte board will run in Xfire mode eh? What about the memory?

 

[mavanhel]

Ya, I've noticed ATI are really breaking into the market, especially because they are generally lower priced than the nVidia cards. The board will run XFire, and also SLI. That's the great thing about the newer boards, you don't have to stick with one or the other anymore. And what about the memory? It's 4GB of good memory with good timings. This is the better version of the memory I put in my sister's computer and it works great. You almost definitely won't need more than 4GB of ram, although you could always get more if you needed it.

 

[jtf8751]

Yeah thats true, I will check them out. On the memory, I meant should I go with a faster speed?

 

[mavanhel]

You definitely could go for something with a CL7, but remember that this will most likely push you further past your budget mark.

 

[jtf8751]

Now that last motherboard works with an i5? I see it says i7? I might go with one with a CL7 but doesn't that board support 2200?

 

[mavanhel]

Yes, that mother board supports i5 as well as i7 (listed in the specifications). Just to be sure that we're talking about the same motherboard I'm going to repost the link to it here to make sure we're on the same page. You should be able to find everything you need underneath the "specifications" tab on the right. There it also mentions that the board does support DDR3 2200.

 

[jtf8751]

Yeah its the same motherboard and yes I see it supports i5 now, just missed it earlier. Ok last thing, would you still go with the same memory (patriot) if I went with 2200? And know how much guys have overclocked the processor with the gigabyte board? Guys ever overclocked the memory?

This board have enough room for the big video cards with big heatsinks?

 

[mavanhel]

That mother board is going to be fine. If you have a really fat GPU it's possible one of the PCI ports might be covered, but you'd still have the other one to use. As for overclocking memory, I know it can be done, but I've never done it personally. It might be best for you to check out the overclocking section of these forums to get some help there. Have fun with the build!

 

[jtf8751]

Does the ati 4890 have a big gpu/heatsink on it? Cause a problem? What about the nvidia 285? Big gpu?

 

[mavanhel]

Those will both be fine. The 4890 I'm pretty sure is a fair bit smaller than the 285

 

[impaledmango]

ya the 4890 is average sized (i think 10") but it packs alot of punch for the price. I have mine overclocked to beat gtx 285 and almost that of 5850!

 

[jtf8751]

ya the 4890 is average sized (i think 10") but it packs alot of punch for the price. I have mine overclocked to beat gtx 285 and almost that of 5850!

What kind of heatsink did you use on the 4890 to cool it down when overclocked? What is it overclocked to? Thanks.

 

[impaledmango]

it's 1000/1100 and I'm using the stock fan at 50% and stock voltages. The temps are average for the card. 60c idle 70c at 100% (those are normal for this card)