New build trying to hit $1000 or different alternatives.

[fish_86]

Hi all. Just throwing my thoughts out there to see what anyone thinks. After all the research and back and forth deciding I came up with a conclusion of what i want built for a new system.

$180 Mobo................asus A4A79MT Deluxe
$180 Processor ........965BE
$100 Heatsink...........Noctua NH D14
$110 DRAM................Crucial Ballistix ddr3 1333 (2-2Gb) 4Gb Total
$410 Video................Saphire ATI 5870
$120 Power Supply...Crucial 750W
$150 Case.................CHIEFTEC Dragon CH07B-B-OP Black ATX Mid
$0 HD....................I have a WD 80 GB sata drive. want an ssd drive
$1250....Total

I like to build a decent system about once every 5 years with usually no upgrades along the way. I'm only playing games like counter strike source and WOW. Yes i know...i think this is probably over kill for these games, but i am a man and love to have big quality toys. I tend to pull up lots of applications at times which i think the 4 core would be nice.

I would like to stay at $1000. So what i was thinking about doing is downgrading a few things for a year and when the price drops i'll buy the current hardware on my list later. I thought about putting a $80 althon2 X3 435 rana 2.9Ghz, a $100 4850, and dumping the heatsink and using stock untill i upgrade. I figure in the long run i'll pay the same or less and have a few backup parts once i upgrade. This moves me down to about $700. I thought by time i upgrade the processor they will be out with the 6 core processors. somthing else i need to consider is windows 7. I'm thinking of going with the OEM 64 bit ultimate.

Future wishes: 24" widescreen, 80G SSD Intel or OCZ, crossfire just for the hell of it and when things get cheap.

I'm currently running a 939 socket mobo, 256mb ddr2 nvidea video, 2gb i think ddr2 400 ram, 19" monitor.

Its slow with wow especially in cities, getting glitchy, and lately i've been having trouble with internet pages loading slow, which may not be the hardware. I've never tried overclocking until i'm ready to get a new computer just to try and preserve parts, but i wish i knew a little more about OC.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Lots of bad parts there. Here's what I'd build:

CPU: X4 955 $161
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $140 (if you want to Crossfire later)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $30. Only needed if you overclock.
Case: HAF 922 $90 after rebate
PSU: Silverstone 750W 80+ Bronze $110 after rebate
GPU: HD 5870 $395

Total: $1,041.

A SSD in a useful size will cost $300+. I'd suggest getting a newer 500 GB platter drive (Samsung F3s or Seagate 7200.12 500 GB or 1 TB).

 

[fish_86]

May i ask which parts you feel i picked out where bad in your opinion and the reasons why? I'm just curios. some of those parts where picked off of toms and anandtech articles. I considered the 955 but it was only $10 cheaper the time i seen it. Thought crucial has always been a good ram brand. my psu was rated good. gpu not sure what brand and why to go with a spacific unless it gives a lifetime..gpu brand was kind of determined by customer reviews.

The case! I'm not liking this bottom mount thing going on! who can convince me its the way to go and do all psu work on the bottom? can i just flip them over to put the fan in the upper position?

I figured to stick ati with an amd mobo. this is partly the reason i didn't go with gigabyte. gigabyte was actually my first pick but i think a different model. I really don't want to skimp on the mobo.

Keep in mind i won't build this until next month. Hoping prices will go down and I'll have my tax money to help determine where i want to go with this.

Thanks for the posts

 

[MadAdmiral]

Bad isn't exactly the best choice of words. Waste of money may be a better one.

The CPU cooler is crazy expensive, especially when the CM Hyper 212 at $30 is one of the best out there. The PSU is a very poor choice as far as quality is concerned. Going with a cheap PSU is the quickest way to ruin a good build. I'm generally just a fan of sticking to Antec and Coolermaster for cases. GPU brand doesn't really matter, so go with the cheapest. The 955 is a better choice if you plan on overclocking. The 955 and 965 are basically the same chip, just one has been overclocked slightly in the factory.

Bottom mounted PSUs are a thing of genius. You do just flip them over for the fan to point up. The reason it's so good is that the excess cables are already out of the way of everything, eliminating the need to pay a premium for a modular unit.

The board I recommended is one of the best. It's got USB 3/SATA III support and great Crossfire abilities. It's one of the best, most future proof boards available for AMD.

 

[fish_86]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm pretty sure i'll be taking you up on the build you suggested. You have conviced me to give the tower a try even though i've had my doubts on bottom mount. I like the case you suggested too.

You don't have any brands you are more impressed with for the GPU? I seen XFX had the double lifetime which i don't understand the whole "double" thing and it seems like a lot of people like saphire. Why wouldn't anyone look towards the asus if they are the ones who designed the GPU? Maybe the question i should ask is which one over clocks the best?

Thank you again for the help. You are helping me finalize my decision.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The double lifetime means that if you sell it, the warranty goes with it. I don't particularly favor one brand over another. There isn't any performance difference, only looks and warranties. I would look for any in a combo with another part or the cheapest one.

 

[jivdis1x]

If you building your system next month then keep an eye out for the 60GB ssd to install the OS.

Got mine for $130-60GB for OS is plenty

+1 the bottom mount for psu in the case idea. Don't introduce the psu heat into the system.

Case appearance is very important to one's taste, especially when you have to look at it for the next 5 years. But choose one with bottom mount.

If you decide to stay to stock clock then stay with stock sink.

Dont know what games you play but if you dont mention it; it not important
Why not go with a lower end hd5000 series instead of the 5870.

With the money left over you can get a good size SSD. I would not use the same HD. The HD is a hugh bottleneck.

Your glitching trouble is possible sign of hard drive failing.

My system is 1.5 years old
Abit p35 mobo $100
started with q6600 oc 3.2 $190 upgrade to q9550 oc 3.7 $250(improve heat problem)
640GB WD Black $80(OS drive) upgrade 60GB ocz agility $130
2x640GB RAID0 WD black $160(Data drive) upgrade 3x640gb Raid0
6GB ddr800 corsair $60
zalman 9700 $50
CM 690 $80
corsair 650w $90 upgrade corsair 750w $100
HD4870 $200(2x22inch asus LCD) and HD2600xt $20 (samsung ln52b750 TV and sharp 52inch tv)
3xLG 16x burner $25 each(need raid0 to use all 3 at once)
Windows Vista ultimate retail $50 upgrade windows 7 ultimate $50

Those are old prices; you can get these for alot less now

Staying under or close to 1k is achievable.

I personally dont play fps that much so the 4870 is also an overkill but I like the ati card due to built in HD sound into HDMI. I do alot of video trans-coding. Coming from the oc q6600 to the q9550 improve transcode time on project that normally takes 1hr45min to 1h15min. I understand there is 500mhz different but those were the max stable clock for both cpu.

Good shopping with your build

 

[fish_86]

What 60 Gb ssd did you end up getting at $130? I was looking towards intel then ocz because of there firmware, read write ratings, and life expectancy. I'd like to get...I think its the OCZ Vertex "2". I don't think its on the market yet but i think toms had an article on it. OCZ had a different company working on some high end firmware giving this model very good ratings for read, write, and life expectancy.

About the build I decided on a whim to do something a little different. I had a brand new 939 socket mobo and some ram that aren't being used. last night I found the 939 socket processor on zipzoomfly. So I bought the processor, and a cheap video card and i'm going to play with the 2 computers that i'll have for next 2-3 months. Heck if it runs everything I need it for ok i might try and keep it for a year. Then i'll re-assess and buy the parts I want now for cheaper. I'm curious about the new generation stuff too.

I really would like an ssd on my next system and i'm hoping a little later they will be more affordable and also i'd like a larger monitor. I figure the longer I can hold off on buying the better stuff the better i am where technology changes all the time. As long as my comps are doing what i need then that's all i should ask for.

 

[jivdis1x]

OCZ Agility - newegg had 3 days sale but just keep an eye out cause the same one goes on sale often.

Arrive yesterday and just finished clean install into my system. The thing is so sweet.
Took a little effect but everything is sailing.

Had to move to different controller.
The P35 mobo came with 2 controller. The matrix was running the RAID. Had to put on the controller that was set to IDE.

 

[fish_86]

Out of curiosity are you running XP, vista, or 7? 32 or 64 bit? Do you know how big the windows 7 install is? How much of the drive do you intend to fill up where it is a 60Gb. The stuff I've read says its better to leave at least half the drive empty for utilizing the life expectancy and speed of the drive.

I need to read some other forums on the install and running the drives. I'm curious to see what problems people come up with and how to fix them. Where they are kind of new they just seem a little buggy from other things i've read.

Are you just setting it up to run apps and games then saving all data on another drive?

Thanks for the posts

 

[MadAdmiral]

Windows 7 is about 16 GB. You should leave at least 20% of the SSD empty. If a game is about 10 GB, you can install 3 or 4 games on a 60 GB SSD in addition to the OS.

I have no idea on fixing the bugs.

That's the idea of SSDs. They don't like to write constantly, so you install the programs on them and save data elsewhere.

 

[irule9000]

if you would rather go intel i was screwing around on newegg and here is what i found:

dvd burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167
hardrive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148451
cpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
gpu/psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.325925
ram/case http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.343344
win 7/ mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.332875

 

[MadAdmiral]

There isn't much I like about that build. The HDD is small and very slow. Considering that the HDD is always the slowest part of the PC, that's not a very good idea. The HD 5850 is alright, but the 5870 is much more powerful. The OCZ PSU isn't that great of quality. It's usable, but I wouldn't count on it for the 700W advertised. The RAM is slow and that case isn't a great choice for such expensive parts. The board is a very low quality choice.

 

[fish_86]

When looking for PSUs is a person making a good choice as long as they go with a Bronze or better rating? Or are there other things that need to be taken into consideration? I realize the psu is often overlooked when doing a build and I've made this mistake before therefore causing my systems to flaw faster. what should a person look for?

I wasn't sure where to post this but was wondering what kind of different softwares are out there to check out your system and see how stable it is. like memtest86 and cpuz. Whats good, bad, free, and costs?

 

[MadAdmiral]

There are other things to take into account. The efficiency is very important, but in larger sizes, isn't an indication of quality. For this range (700-750W), not having an 80+ typically shows the lack of some quality. Typically, I stick to recommending Corsair, Antec (Earthwatts or TruePower), SeaSonic, Silverstone, and PC Power & Cooling, as all of these are high quality manufacturers with a history of providing quality units. I sometimes recommend others, including certain OCZ models, but that's only for low budget builds.

The most important PSU spec is the output on the 12V rails. This shows the true amount of power the unit can supply. OCZ's aren't often put on Newegg (which indicates something by itself), but the ones that are out there aren't very good.

The "Step-by-Step Guide to Building a PC" sticky has a lot of testing software links. All of those would be good to run.

 

[fish_86]

The step by step guide. Are you referring to a place on tomshardware or another site? can you post the link

Thanks

 

[MadAdmiral]

It's one of the stickies for the New Build forum http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274745-31-step-step-guide-building

 

[fish_86]

MadAdmiral did you have any other HSF recommendations other then the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus. I'm not thrilled with the base (press fit looking heat pipes). Would minor gaps between the block and heat pipes make much difference? I'm sure the thermal paste will take care of some of it.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I believe it's not much of an issue with the thermal paste. I do know that it's one of the best (if not the best).