My Build (about $200 more since late February)

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Mr Subs

Mr Subs

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Jan 26, 2010
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Desktop:

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 ATX AMD Motherboard

ODD: Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model AD-7241S-0B LightScribe Support

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) HD-577A-ZNFC Video Card
↑Only Combo!↓
RAM: OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders

Case: NZXT TEMPEST EVO Crafted Series TEVO-001BK Black Computer Case

Monitor: Hanns·G HH-231HPB Black 23" 5ms Widescreen Full HD LCD Monitor Built-in Speakers

Speakers: LOGISYS Computer SP6006CL 2.1 Multimedia Clear Speakers w/Blue LEDs

Heatsink: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm sleeve CPU Cooler

Games/Accessories:

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack PC Game BLIZZARD

Keyboard/Mouse: Gyration 2.4GHz RF Air Mouse GO Plus w/ Full Size Keyboard

Surge Protector: BELKIN BP112230-08 8 Feet 12 Outlets 4320 Joules Pivot-Plug Surge Protector

Glasses: Gunnar G001-C001 Catalyst Metal Weezer Onyx Digital Performance Eyewear w/ i-AMP Lens Technology

Grand Total: $1,489.84

I can't believe all my sweet combo's went away. Anyone have any advice? Should I wait till summertime to look at the new nVidia cards or something?

World of Warcraft with an air mouse has to be a deathtrap, especially when Cataclysm comes out.
 
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cmcghee358

cmcghee358

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I personally would spend the extra 13 bucks to get a 955 Black Edition. The fact you have an aftermarket HSF listed tells me you might be OCing in the future, in which case a Black Edition CPU will prove well worth the price increase.

If you aren't going to OC, keep the 945 and drop the 212, if money is a concern. Other than that, looks to be a solid build.
 
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Mr Subs

Mr Subs

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Hi everyone,

Rezzing this thread because its almost the end of my school semester. I should be going to sleep or studying for Calculus right not, but I would really like to see some comments (much appreciated for your time and thought).

I will probably not be OCing any time in the near future because I will be destroying WOW WOTLK and Cataclysm if I end up getting this computer, so what I really need is FIOS. I probably won't be getting Crysis 2 cuz the trailer looked boring on X-Play. Hopefully there will be some more combos for me this summer, whenever I make a decision.

I think this computer would be cooler than a PS3 which I just want because of God of War 3 or a 360 which I want for Halo Reach, Fable 3, and Transformers. I think my cousin will be buyin a 360 this summer though. Two game consoles in the same house might be cool, but I can always find another friend or somethin with a 360 to do a co-op type multiplayer.

So, I have that tippin the balance a little along with a $2000 Alienware M15 laptop w/o the custom built accessory goodies. I can't decide between those four gaming devices! I need your help Tom's Hardware friends!

Thanks,
Evan
 
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Mr Subs

Mr Subs

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Hey yea,
I was wonderin if I should get that instead of what I have in this build.

O, nm that probably wouldn't work.

Now my total is $1,552.84.

Or, should I get this... Gateway DX4831-05 Intel Core i5 650(3.20GHz) 8GB DDR3 1TB NVIDIA GeForce G310 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

That would bring my total down to about $1,277, and the parts it has are good for WoW except the RAM I guess may not be the best for the MMO world, but do you think I could live with that until I wanted to replace the RAM.
 
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Mr Subs

Mr Subs

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So, not even Dell XPS 8100?

This is not better? I should stick with the $1500 custom build and just buy a mini later if I find out it can really handle WoW?

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™ i5-750 processor(8MB Cache, 2.66GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3 Year Basic Service Plan
MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
MONITOR 24.0" Dell ST2410 Full HD Monitor with VGA cable
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 5670 1GB GDDR5
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
SPEAKERS Logitech Z523 Omnidirectional Speakers edit
KEYBOARD Dell Studio Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
MOUSE Dell Studio Optical Mouse
My Accessories
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter , 24-Months
STORAGE BACKUP Western Digital 320GB My Passport Essential Portable Hard Drive
GAMING SOFTWARE World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Expansion Pack
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
SOUND CARD THX® TruStudio PC™

Both Studio XPS 8100 and Mini have:
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0 Multi-Language

Total: $1,893.00

I think the Mini will probably meet the minimum requirements for WoW.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/1649

O, and should I make it a Dual Drive desktop by adding the Blu ray drive you picked out for your HTPC machine.
ASUS Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model BR-04B2T - OEM
That raised it the $60, but the last total did not include the $70 dollar glasses (possibly $90) in my last post that was at $1550. So my total is really more like $120 more since April because of the loss of the Juniper combo, so now I'm looking at the $170 XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Support Video Card.
 
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cmcghee358

cmcghee358

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You downgraded the GPU, it has 8 GB of RAM(wasteful) a most likely severely overpriced 320 GB external, a sound card(useless), a very non-specific HDD(Manufacturer, platter size etc).

Long story short that Dell system is fluffed feces. So no, I wouldnt pay 1000 for that, let alone 1800
 
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cmcghee358

cmcghee358

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GPU: XFX 5850 309
CPU: AMD C3 Stepping 955 BE 160
HSF: Hyper 212+ 40
RAM: G.SKILL 4 GB DDR3 1600 CAS 7 109
Motherboard: Gigabyte 890XA-UD3 139
Power Supply Corsair 750W PSU 109
HDD: Spinpoint F3 500GB 55
ODD: LG DVD Drive 20
Case: NZXT Tempest Evo 109
OS: Win7 64 bit 100
Monitor: LG 22" LCD 180
Keyboard+Mouse: Rosewill Mouse+Keyboard 60
WOTLK: This. 37
Power Strip: Kensington 6 outlet 17

The total comes to 1444 before shipping and before rebates and combos (as these change)
What you got better: Better CPU, better Motherboard, better Gfx Card. Also a more powerful PSU that can handle Xfire later on if you so choose. The uber goggles were sold out, but to be perfectly honest, that money is better spent upgrading the actual computer rather than preparing you for marathon gaming sessions.

These are just my recommendations. You know what you need/want far better than I. So I suggest just using this as a guide to picking out parts. :)
 
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Mr Subs

Mr Subs

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K thanks. I have a few questions about these recommendations though if you don't mind.

First, the GPU is much more expensive, I know it is one of the most imorptant parts for me, so I'll definitely take it into more consideration. However, I dunno if i'll care to play anything really that graphic intensive. And, although the 5770 is well above my standards on the fps benchmark. I have heard that it creates green spots in some games and vertical what-cha-ma-call-its for a few in WoW.

For the CPU... I like the one I had because it only used 95 W and again I doubt I will be OCing. Since I'm not OCing is building this thing still going to be worth my time. I'll take that as a yes if you keep commenting on my parts list. I have also been looking at the Intel i5, and was wondering... Since that has better benchmarks for WoW and nVidia is usually recommended for WoW, should I go with Intel and nVidia?

Will I need the HSF w/o OCing?

Looks like the OCZ Platinum 1600 RAM went up about $20, so is that why I should look at the G-Skill now?

I think I would rather keep the following from my list...

PSU because I like to save power and probably won't be OCing

Monitor because I like big screens

Keyboard/Mouse because of the air mouse
 
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cmcghee358

cmcghee358

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It's your build to be sure. I know you are just playing WoW, but the 5850 will perform quite well on a 1080p monitor for a much longer time.

I'd like to suggest don't just look at what is enough for today, look at what will be a benefit a little longer term. I mean Cataclysm is coming out later this year, and it will be more graphically intensive than LK was.

As far as i5 vs AMD Quad Core? No they don't matter, at all. Both perform very well, and most games are GPU dependent not CPU.

And yes I picked the G.SKILL because its 1600, CAS 7 latency, and 109.00 shipped.

No you dont need an aftermarket HSF if you dont plan to OC.

If you never plan to Xfire, yes the PSU I selected was overkill. You'll do fine with a 500W
 
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Mr Subs

Mr Subs

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Alright I have to be missing something. I don't understand how the price went down ten dollars!

GPU & RAM:XFX 5850 & G.Skill Ripjaws
CPU:AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core
MOBO:GIGABYTE GA-890XA-UD3 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
PSU:CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
HDD:SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
ODD:LG Black DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Case:NZXT TEMPEST EVO Crafted Series TEVO-001BK Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower
OS:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Monitor:Hanns·G HH-231HPB Black 23" 5ms HDMI Widescreen Full HD LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DCR 15000:1 (1000:1) Built-in Speakers
Keyboard/Mouse:Gyration GYM1100FKNA 2.4GHz RF Air Mouse GO Plus w/ Full Size Keyboard
Game:World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack
Power Strip:Kensington 62668 6 Outlets Power Strip 15 Feet Cord Length

Total: $1,542.86

If I got this combo I would be switching the 5850 for a 5830 which would make the total $1,457.86. Should I?

Does that power strip protect the computer?

Do you think I could OC like barely 10% or so with this 550W PSU?

Will you pick me out a blu ray, please? Along with the software if it needs it like what you were talking about earlier.
 
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