Opinions on my new build needed, please. <$1000

[twelvesaints]

Hey guys, I'll be building a new system in about a week, and I'm fairly sure about my components, but I just wanted a second opinion from some people who are more knowledgeable about the recent products. Also wanted to make sure all parts and voltages were compatible, if you know what I mean. Any recommendations/suggestions you have, reply away.

Purchase Date: This week.

Budget: <$1000

Parts not required: case, PSU (have brand new case + Earthwatts 650 lying in wait), mouse, keyboard.

System Usage: gaming, school, web surfing, some multimedia editing.

Country of Origin: USA

Preferred Website: As long as it's reputable, it's good by me. I used Newegg for most of my generated parts list, but that was for convenience. I'll buy it where it's cheaper when the time comes.

OC: Yes, processor is more important, graphics maybe later

Monitor Resolution: I'd like to have at least 1920x1080 capability

---------------

My build so far:

CPU: Intel i5 750 2.66 quad-core cpu - somewhere around $190-200

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131410&cm_re=Asus_P7P55D_LE-_-13-131-410-_-Product - if you have a better option, let me know. -$135

RAM: 4 gb G.Skill Ripjaws : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 -$105

DVD drive: Lite-on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334 -$30

GPU: Radeon HD 5770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864 -$185
I may buy another 5770 that's cheaper, unless someone has a reason not to.

HD: This was my choice, but uh, it's gone now. I need a suggestion for this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

CPU cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

OS: MS Windows 7 64-bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 $110

Total shipped as of right now - $806

I still need a HDD and a monitor. I really only need a 500 gb HDD right now, so I'll assume it's about $55. That brings me to around $850. A monitor I want will be around $150-$200, so I need to shave a bit of costs where I can, if anybody has any suggestions.

Here's a couple monitors I was looking at; hopefully some of you have an opinion on these as well. They're for gaming too, mind you.

Acer 24" Refurb - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5363708&CatId=4420 - $160

Samsung 23" http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4844066&CatId=4420 -$199

Asus 23.6" - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052 - $199

Thanks in advance for the help; hopefully somebody has a good suggestion for a bit of cost-cutting without sacrificing too much performance so I can stay in budget.

 

[Niklas_13]

This mobo has USB 3.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412

HDD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395

Monitor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236051

 

[ares1214]

heres whi would go with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.338965

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.339722

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118032

final price is 955.91, and it has a great monitor included. it is about the same, maybe a little faster or better here and there, like the mobo, cpu cooler, but the best feature is that it is 50$ under your budget, rather than 50 over, so you can either play with the extra 50 to get better things, or just keep it and save up for another house anyway, hope this helped...

 

[twelvesaints]

That ram/gpu combo has got ram with some fairly shaky reviews....I was hoping to buy something a little more reliable out of the box. Any other suggestions? I do like the mobo + cpu combo, I may go with that one.

 

[ares1214]

believe me, i have used that ram plenty of times, and not a single problem...half of the time on newegg, people posting bad reviews are because:

they broke the product themselves
they didnt get a mail in rebate
they thought it cost to much
they dont know what they are talking about
shipping was late or expensive
.......

so you can see why i wouldnt take newegg reviews to be worth that much...you can get a different set, but it would likely cost the extra 50$, since it has a 20$ mir, and comes comboed with just about everything...if you reallyyyyyyy want to do it, just look into g.skill, or corsair, and make sure it has low timings (7-7-7-) and below 1.65 volts, like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145285

 

[twelvesaints]

Alright, that's what I was wanting to know. Anybody know if they're planning on bringing back the Samsung drive I posted? I was really wanting that drive......

 

[JackNaylorPE]

MoBo - I'd move to the Asus USB 3 / SATA III MoBos
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621&cm_re=Asus_USb_3-_-13-131-621-_-Product

GFX Card - The 5770 can't maintain 30 fps with even early DX11 titles.....58xx is entry point for DX11 at 1920 res.

HS - Budget choice is Xigmatec S1283

check reviews here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm#INTELHEATSINK

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=371&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=15
Hard Drives - Check out the performance charts and pick whatever 500 GB per platter drive performs best under your usage patterns. The WD Black 2 TB is a good choice but at smaller capacities, you are limited to the Seagate 7200.12 or the Spinpoint F3. The 7200.12 excels in gaming, multimedia and pictures whereas the F3 wins at music and movie maker. See the comparisons here (copy past link in manually, link won't work in forum):

(http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/compare,1006.html?prod[2371]=on&prod[2770]=on)

Look at the tests that reflect your usage and choose accordingly.

 

[twelvesaints]

I still think the 5770 is the best way to go, and it once again was voted the best card for the money in 02/10 by Tom's Hardware in its price range.

 

[shineon2010]

The samsung Spinpoint F3 has been off and on the last couple days on newegg. I just emailed them and they said they should be getting a new shipment of them(500gb, 1tb and 1.5tb) early this week. If you cant wait then ebay has the 500gb $55 shipped http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SAMSUNG-Spinpoint-F3-HD502HJ-500GB-SATA-7200RPM-HD_W0QQitemZ380206453714QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item58861213d2

 

[twelvesaints]

Alright, thanks. Does anybody know if i'll need to buy thermal compound if I go with the non-stock heatsink?

 

[Niklas_13]

This HSF comes with paste http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 ( but if you feel you might have to reset the HSF at all it might not be a bad idea to buy some spare

 

[twelvesaints]

Thanks for the help.

 

[twelvesaints]

I almost forgot...do most components (i.e. dvd burner, hard drive) come with the SATA cables? I don't want to be completely pissed when everything arrives by having no cables......also, is there anything else needed for a PCIe card? Only thing I can see so far is the monitor needs an hdmi cable, and I'll pick that up for sure.

 

[Guest]

SATA cables come with the motherboard. Upon close inspection of the motherboard image with some googling, that ASUS P7P55D LE board comes with 2 SATA cables.

Regular hard drives/ DVD burners don't come with SATA cables unless they are the RETAIL version.

 

[Black Hole]

To save a bit more money you might want to try these:
Optical: $20 after MIR
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010321

HSF: $30 (Free shipping)
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1266285504&sr=8-1

HDD: $55 after MIR (if you can't wait for the samsung)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010083&prodlist=celebros

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I still think the 5770 is the best way to go, and it once again was voted the best card for the money in 02/10 by Tom's Hardware in its price range.

Not a bad choice at lower resolutions but, as THG also said, it can't maintain 30 fps at the OP's resolution in DX11