New i5 System

[magruder13]

Hey guys, putting together a new i5 system for a friend, could you please look over my parts list and suggest any parts that are cheaper with a better value. Trying to make this a low cost build but get the value as high as possible, i have done a lot of reading on toms and used alot of its best part for the price charts for this build. I like to stick to main brands because ive had my fair run with cheap brands and i know its not worth the hassle.

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115219

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131623
(I really like the brand and it seems to be the only ATX sized mobo, im not against Micro ATX its just ive never used one before)

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136358
(i hear these are really good drives although i've never used one i typically stick to the 7200.12 drives)

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130509
(i've never made a non-gaming computer before so i guess this is a good card for the typical user and still has the ability to play some games and HD movies)

CD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
(everyone always seems to lice Antec so ill give them a try)

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227479
(Its just cheap and seems to be fast with that board, ive never used ram over DDR2 1066)

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341037
(Is that too much power, not enough?)

My goal is to be as close to $700 as possible although I'm at $713 right now. I have to still throw in some Artic Silver and im going to use the stock heat sync.
This computer is to be used for basic web browsing with a lot of power if it needs it. I want it to last a long time thats why i'm going with the new technology. I want to be able to play HD movies and have a decent screen resolution. Might upgrade to a bigger HDD not sure. If you do suggest a micro ATX mobo ill change over to a Micro ATX case although ive never built one before and not sure how cramped they are.
Thanks for your input.

 

[justinm91]

Alright. As far as parts and compatibility, everything looks fine. You might want to think about, as far as power, that my 1 GB DDR5 required 450 watts. Judging by the specs, and PSU, I would aim 550-600, just to have expandability room and such.

As for the card, it's cheap, 1 gig... it seems fine it might be slightly slow. From what I picked up though, it should be fine for mid level gaming, and (from the customer reviews) can run Modern Warfare 2, BUT I did see two issues with it dying a month in though that might be a cooling issue.

As for cooling, try not to use stock heatsinks, especially if it IS going to be used for gaming. Aim for a little better, though that case has great airflow for the other parts.

You also want to think about if you need to throw an operating system on it, which OS, 32 or 64 bit.. or, you may already have it.

Other than that, everything seems fine, but I am not cost friendly, might want to check out others for a cost friendly build.

 

[belial2k]

No need to get a 1gb video card if you won't be gaming, and the card you chose really can't use the 1gb anyway. I would recommend a 4650 or 4670 if you are sure you won't do any gaming on it, then even a 4350 would be enough to play HD video.
Two other things to consider. You can use a mATX board in a regular ATX case, you don't have to get a small case for it. Since you don't plan to do any gaming and don't need the advanced crossfire options you can get a better P55 based mATX board for about the same price.
The other thing to consider is going AMD. For net surfing and watching videos the i5 is a bit overkill, and you could save almost $200 by going with a 550BE and 785gx MB. Those MBs have built in HD4200 graphics which can do anything as far as video, web surfing and lite gaming. The 550BE can be unlocked into a quad core and overclocked to 3.4 - 3.6 on stock voltages. This setup is more than enough for your intended usages, and can save you almost $200.

 

[justinm91]

Well, then again, for just internet surfing, why not just go with a simple dual core? Yeah, it's becoming outdated, but anything quad core is kinda overkill. I mean, my pentium 4 works just fine for all of that (Except HD video... don't have PCIe slots on my old as dirt Mobo.)

As far as lasting a long time... what do you mean exactly? Like um, part durability? Or last a long time as in be the most modernized?

 

[magruder13]

First off thanks a lot for all the input its greatly appreciated.
Justinm91 when i mean i want it to last a long time I mean I don't want to NEED to upgrade for a while. I will upgrade things such as video cards in the future but Ide like to have the i5 last a long time.
And the i5 is a dual core.

 

[belial2k]

One thing I forgot to mention, if you don't already know it...the new i5s have built in gpu, so you don't really need an add in card for video with the H55 board....but for your uses I still think AMD might make more sense and save you a lot of money. If you are going to go with discreet video the i5 750 on a P55 makes much more sense for the same price.