General PC with Room to Grow (~$800)

[Sophtie]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: before august

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: surfing the internet, light gaming, heavy ms office use

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg

PARTS PREFERENCES: i5-750, at least 4gb ram

OVERCLOCKING: No SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080. 32"inch, 120hz lcd tv with pc inputs.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I want something that excels at multitasking, has a cpu/motherboard that will last 4-5 years, has room to upgrade down the road and can handle some light gaming (I don't do any pc gaming right now but Diablo 3/Guild Wars 2 may change that). Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[dndhatcher]

I would go with an AMD CPU/Motherboard with onboard graphics, then add a GPU this Nov when GW2 comes out.

 

[jbakerlent]

^+1. What is your budget though? When you say heavy Office use, what do you mean exactly? Are you running lots of long macros in Excel or just typing lots of documents?

 

[Sophtie]

roughly 8 bills is my budget, it can go a little over. as far as 'heavy office use' (i now realize how ridiculous that sounds) lots of excel. the i5-750 is the one thing i'm not willing to compromise on though it makes the budget thing tricky. i know it doesn't have onboard graphics either which is fine, id rather get something like a radeon 5450 now and upgrade later should i need. thanks for the quick replies though! i think i like this forum.

 

[jbakerlent]

My vote would be for a X4 955 build. It will work just fine for your uses and will likely be more upgradeable than the 1156 socket. If you disagree, I can post an i5 build as well.

955
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

785G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128432&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276

500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

520W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

That comes to only about $550 so you could easily add a GPU, if you like.

Really all you would need to change out for an i5 build is the motherboard.

 

[Sophtie]

no i dont disagree, i'm just illogically set on having the i5 750. what motherboard would you recommend for that and would all those parts you have listed work with it? thanks.

 

[dndhatcher]

i5 750 ($200)
ASUS P7P55D-E Motherboard <USB3, single GPU slot> ($155)

5450 <barely handles HD video> ($50) or 5770 <gaming power now> ($165)

the rest of the parts list looks good

 

[jbakerlent]

^ Agree.

Here's another mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

 

[steadfast1984]

the thing with "upgrading later" is you gotta put out more money then you need to. instead of spending 150 bucks on a card now then 150 bucks on a card later to upgrade, spend the 200 bucks once and save yourself money. only the most outrageous people buy new graphics cards every time a new one comes out. you don't really need to do that. buy a good one now that will last the computers whole life.

 

[Sophtie]

hmm....didnt think about that. good point though.

 

[Sophtie]

now before i do this, i might as well ask another question. a buddy of mine works for dell and can get me a dell xps 8100 with a 5450, i5 750, wireless n card, integrated sound, windows 7 home 64 bit oem, 4gb 1333mhz memory, 500gb hard drive and a 1yr warranty in the price range im looking at. i dont know what brand and model the memory, hard drive, optical drive or motherboard is but other than that, why should i NOT buy this? thanks again.

 

[coldsleep]

i dont know what brand and model the memory, hard drive, optical drive or motherboard is but other than that, why should i NOT buy this? thanks again.

You've pretty much just stated the reason right there. Well, also the PSU. By building it yourself, you can control the quality of the components. You also have the manufacturer warranties to rely on, which should be longer than 1 year in almost every case.

The reason regulars on this forum aren't interested in pre-built computers is because typically those businesses cut corners on some of the less-visible parts, such as the power supply, RAM, and hard drives. This doesn't make them bad people, but it does mean that the parts may not be as good as if you bought them yourself and built the computer on your own.

 

[Sophtie]

alrighty, so this ought to do me then?

dvd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

wireless: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320048

psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

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

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102859

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

comes to $920 so if i can save a few bucks here and there by using other parts that be great, if not i'll have to hold off till i have the extra scratch.

anything else i might need?

 

[jbakerlent]

Looks very good. I found just one combo.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.395259

 

[dndhatcher]

You might consider is bumping the 5750 up to a 5770. You get almost 50% faster performance for only $25-35 more.

If you are near a microcenter, they sell the i5 for cheaper if you pick it up in the store. ($180 right now).

Right now newegg is selling the 300 illusion in a combo with their EA650 PSU, which would save you some money.

I am think that seasonic 520 you linked is also the Antec Neo Eco 520 (seasonic makes antecs PSUs).

Unless you specifically know that brand, I would get a USB wireless device. Its much easier to deal with and is portable to other computers.

 

[Sophtie]

so this for the video card? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131328

and oh yes, there's a microcenter about 30 min away. i bought a powerspec desktop from them a long time ago. haven't really been there since but i will.

 

[Sophtie]

oh and any suggestions for a wireless card? b/g/n preferably.

 

[dndhatcher]

For $5 more get the model with 1GB RAM. Only having 512MB video RAM will be a very noticeable downgrade.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131330

Or go for the $160 one with the lifetime warranty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462


Reliable looking b/g's start at $13, b/g/n's at $20. You can buy 2 for the same price as the internal cards. From my limited experience (a few of each) they are equally <somewhat> reliable but USB is cheaper and easier to replace. Rosewill, Zonet, ASUS, D-link, SMC are brands I have used.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2050410031+1133010001&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=31&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

 

[coldsleep]

The only major downside to USB wireless NICs that I have run into is that they tend to have a shorter range than their PCI counterparts. Likely due to the amount of antenna available.

That being said, USB devices are much easier to deal with, and are portable to other devices (printer? PS3? Tivo? whatever) if you end up going wired with your PC later on.

 

[Sophtie]

found a usb adapter that should work.

microcenter has an i7 930 for 199. is that a good deal? worth getting over the 179 i5 750? would i need a cpu cooler for either?

how about this combo from newegg? if that case and psu are alright that would save me a little.
http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-11-517-003-_-05142010

 

[dndhatcher]

199 is great for a 930 (normally $280), but it needs a different (likely more expensive) motherboard called x58.

Gigabyte X58A-UD3R is about as cheap as a decent x58 motherboard gets, and got a buy recommendation from its review here at Toms ($209)

The azza case and OCZ Fatal1ty PSU are OK. The case fans are a bit small (90mm) and Azza is a cheap brand (see the reviews about it being flimsy and hard to work with) but it sure is inexpensive.

The azza case is also only 7.5 inches wide so you will be limited to a 92mm CPU cooler like the Coolermaster Hyper TX3 ($20). With a wider case (8 inches) you could get a Coolermaster hyper 212+ for $27. Even the hyper TX 3 should let you do a nice overclock like 3.0-3.2GHz leaving turbo on. The fan will spin up more under load so it will be noisier than a 120mm cooler like the hyper 212.

 

[Sophtie]

ah, i did not realize 120mm fans would not fit. thanks.

saw this browsing microcenter: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0327568

would be much cheaper than building it though i realize the parts may not be as high quality. thoughts on this pc?

 

[jbakerlent]

If you have a budget greater than $200, I (and most people on the forum) see no point in buying a prebuilt PC.

 

[Sophtie]

haha, just figured i'd ask. well then, here's the final list:

cpu: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0317379
gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161317
psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022
dvd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030
case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136358
memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425
os: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
wireless: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166037

grand total: $854.60. a little above my target but still doable. does anyone see any problems with compatibility? any products of dubious quality that you have other recommendations for? i'm mechanically inclined and decent with computers but this is my first build so i'm a bit nervous about buying all this stuff online then hoping it works and that i dont have to return stuff. thanks guys for all your help so far.

 

[fastx21]

I thought you wanted something to grow? 1156 is dead right there. So is the 5770. I say this because even two 5770s won't handle much of the future games, and obviously no one should be buying two in a new build. And a horrible choice in mobos if you wanted to crossfire. Which you stated you did not but you get a board with that option. Also if you did the 550w psu won't do you any good.

Also why a WD Green drive? How about a better choice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&Tpk=spinpoint%20f3%20500gb

Rethink your build before you click order.