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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Systems > New Build > [Solved] First Homebuilt I5 general + gaming

[Solved] First Homebuilt I5 general + gaming

Forum Systems : New Build [Solved] First Homebuilt I5 general + gaming

Hello. Profile: Noob. Tire of off the shelf machines with bottlenecks.

1) Interested in:
a) General computing, home network, since this will be a family machine
b) Homework, taxes, reports, homework, Quicken...etc
c) Lower end music composition (Cakewalk), electric guitar/keyboard
d) Occasional gaming (Crysis, Bioshock...etc)
e) Installing Bluray Drive so PC can double as entertainment center
f) Will be buying midsize 30+ inch HDTV which will double as monitor (1080+ pixel...?)
g) HDMI (audio/visual) NO adapters...I want to go direct from PC to HDTV
h) Windows 7
i) Longevity, ease of use,
j) Somewhere down the road I'm going to want to mess with overclocking....

2) After spending a couple weeks reading reviews and recommendations here are the components I'm looking at. I'm interested in advice/recommendations for possible bottlenecks, overkill, underkill etc etc.

1 Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

199.99

2 GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB
3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - Retail SATA 3.0, USB 3.0, 3x USB power

184.99

3 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM - Retail
Dual Channel Intel Core i5 & Core i7 CPU for P55 motherboard

114.99

4 Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

74.99

5 POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail (may upgrade to 2nd card at later date...)

99.99

6 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm
"heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail

28.99

7 LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20
LightScribe Support - OEM

104.99

8 Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

69.99

9 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80
PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

109.99

Total

988.91

Shipping and rebates not included

Reply to cajcas

Best answer

Mobo: Switch that for the Asus P7P55D-E Pro. The Gigabyte disables USB 3/SATA III speeds if you Crossfire. The Asus doesn't. They're about the same price.

HDD: Switch that for either Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB or Seagate 7200.12 500 GB. These are much faster, run cooler and quieter. They're also a lot cheaper/GB.

Optical: Ditch the BluRay, at least for a while. You can find a standalone BR player for less than an internal drive. Having it hooked into the computer offers no benefits at a very high premium. Wait until the costs come down. Grab a standard SATA DVD burner for about $25.

GPU: With the money saved from the optical, upgrade to the HD HD 5770. The 4850 is very weak for higher resolutions.

PSU: You don't need 750W. Here's a great combo with the Antec 300 Illusion and Earthwatts 650W for $130.

If you've got the budget left, upgrade the 5770 to a HD 5850. A 5770 is rather weak for 1080p resolutions. The 5850 would be perfect for everything except Crysis.

------------------------------ How to Ask for New Build Advice
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Reply to MadAdmiral

Agree with all of MadAdmiral's suggestions except the Blu-ray.

This ASUS combo drive is $110. There's also a LITE-ON combo drive at the same price. Of course, you can get a low-end player for about $10 less, but I think there's value in being able to have the PC fill that function.

And you would probably want to get a 5nnn series card anyway, as I believe they do sound through HDMI as well as video, which I have heard the 4nnn series does not? (Perfectly happy to be corrected if that info is incorrec.)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to coldsleep

Thanks...

I have taken your advice on the components with the exception of the graphics card. I'd love to install it but its too steep a price at this point.

I have not decided on the BR yet since I have done no research on stand alone players. Considering what we're doing a SABR would be fine.

Last question...is there any larger RAM I can install? My brother (codes for a large company) suggested installing 8 Gs of RAM since MS 7 is something of a pig. I have a newer laptop and it runs the same speed as my old one with XP installed...figures. Will this mobo run 8G's of RAM, is it really necessary and if so what sticks would you suggest?
Again, thanks for the help, it will be invaluable!

cx

Reply to cajcas

8 GB is really only necessary if you're doing a lot of editing or photoshop. It doesn't sound like you will be based on your initial post. I would start with 4 GB and only move to 8 if you feel like the system is sluggish.

Reply to coldsleep

If you are willing to overclock, the 4770 will pull way ahead of the 4850. It also has GDDR5 which is good for higher resolutions.

It also produces less heat, requires less energy. and is newer technology.

Message edited by whitefang on 03-12-2010 at 06:59:08 AM

Reply to whitefang

coldsleep wrote :

And you would probably want to get a 5nnn series card anyway, as I believe they do sound through HDMI as well as video, which I have heard the 4nnn series does not? (Perfectly happy to be corrected if that info is incorrec.)

Not a major point, but my 4870 encodes sound with HDMI, I'm not really sure when that started. I assume that's a function of both the card and the motherboard's chipset together.

Reply to jalek

Thanks again...

Here's my current build

ASUS CuCore Series EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Free ASUS USB-BT21 USB 2.0 w/ purchase, limited offer

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler

The Antec 300 Illusion + 650 W PSU combo

Windows 7

Missing anything before I grab the plastic?

cx

Reply to cajcas

Switch the Ripjaws to these CAS Latency 7 ones.

------------------------------ How to Ask for New Build Advice
Troubleshooting
Reply to MadAdmiral

Made the switch on the Ripjaws to the CAS latency 7.

Time to start filling out the order.

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know how things go together. Considering the build we have now this next machine is going to absolutely haul the mail!!!

cx

Reply to cajcas

Best answer selected by cajcas.

Reply to cajcas

Driver/Bios Update

Build is enroute. I've read that the latest drivers should be downloaded but what about the latest BIOS and utilities? I'd hate to screw things up right out of the box.

I've included the build below and thanks again for your help.

ASUS CuCore Series EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Free ASUS USB-BT21 USB 2.0 w/ purchase, limited offer

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler

The Antec 300 Illusion + 650 W PSU combo

Windows 7

Reply to cajcas

You shouldn't need to update BIOS out of the box. Basically, follow the steps in the "Step-by-Step Guide to Building a PC" sticky (or another guide you like). Any of those should walk you through step by step. Once you gotten the computer to post, enter BIOS and verify all the settings (RAM is especially important). Then boot from a OS install disc and away you go. Once you're in the OS, you should be able to find the newest drivers for everything very easily.

------------------------------ How to Ask for New Build Advice
Troubleshooting
Reply to MadAdmiral

Hello all...

Parts came in and went together like a charm. Took all day doing it but, since I haven't built a computer in a LONG time I needed to go slow to get it right.

Fired up with no problems. Have to run the front fans at low or at least one of them chatters. I fly for a living so I'm pretty sure one of the fans is out of balance.

CPU, i5 is great.
Ram is great
radeon 5770 is great.
HD is great.

Very pleased. Thanks to all who helped with special thanks to MadAdmiral. No bottlenecks and I'm looking forward to doing a bit of gaming...after I figure out how to get my wifes XP laptop to print off our Brother MFC 420CN printer...

Arg

cx

Reply to cajcas

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