First Time Home Build - Seeking Around $900 after rebates

[Paulson13]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1 to 2 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: $900 After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Surfing the net, BOINC (ie. SETI etc.), managing/converting mp3s, watching movies, photo mangagement(not at professional level), encoding video, word processing, gaming.

RTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor(i have an old dell 4700 era, not great but can make due if new monitor is too costly while planning this build.), speakers (i use headphones), external hard drive, wireless card(worked on my old dell don't know if it will work on new system).

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: I live in the United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: I would like to use Intel i5 660 and Invidia gpu (but don't know which one). Oh and I think a P55 will do. I didn't provide any links (sorry) I just get overwhelmed at all the varieties and brands.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe, I like the idea of having the room to use SLI even though I probably won't in this build unless it's within price and makes sense, I like the idea of future upgrades.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: If a new monitor fits in this build I would like a 22" and up HD LCD

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I want W7 x64, Quiet and COOL, don't need any flashy LED's for the case, plenty of PSU with 80+ Gold pref., did I mention plenty of cooling?
My previous system was a dell 4700, I think I'll be Wow'd by just about anything new but want to be smart and choose products that have some capacity for future upgrades. And Quality is super important to me while also keeping my budget in mind.

 

[Paulson13]

Can anyone help this noobie out?

 

[duk3]

What sort of gaming?
ATI gpus are better at your budget unless the applications you are running get benefits from CUDA.
And the i5 750 will destroy the i5 660 at all of the stuff you want to do.
Why do you need an 80+ Gold PSU?

Without really knowing, how does this look:
http://i46.tinypic.com/n5pgk6.jpg

 

[Paulson13]

Thanks for the reply duk3,

I admit that I'm flexible on the cpu. Casual at best gaming if at all, I plan on filling my gaming needs on a PS3. I was looking at the 80+ Gold because of how it uses power, but that may be overkill ( I'm a noob afterall.)
The 660 had higher 3.33 as opposed to the 750 2.66. But that can be addressed with OC right?
Could even go for the i7 920 if it fits the budget and makes sense.

 

[duk3]

The i7 920 doesn't really fit the budget.
If you want a bigger monitor, I could put together an AMD build with a larger monitor and a cheaper CPU/graphics card.
The 660 has only 2 cores opposed to the 750's 4 cores.
This makes a difference in applications using more than one thread like the photo/video editing software you were talking about.
The 80+ gold PSUs are pricey (140$ for cheapest one on newegg).
What case do you like? Is the Antec 300 a good case appearance or what?

 

[Paulson13]

apologies duk3, just now saw your link for the build.

I like what you put together! I forgot to mention that I also have an external DVD burner, so that could save $22 from the build or towards something else.
Would it be doable to get 2 lowered priced gpu's and pair them up for similar or better performance?
Case looks good!

 

[duk3]

No problem
I would stick to one GPU at the start, especially if you aren't doing much gaming.
What games are you playing and how big (resolution) is your current monitor?
With the $22 from not buying a DVD burner, I would get a hyper 212+ from microcenter for some CPU cooling.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397

I also put together an AMD build for you with a 1680x1050 22" monitor.
You could go for more graphics power (5770 and x3 440) or a 4th CPU core (250 gts and x4 635)
Note that you also may have a chance of unlocking a hidden 4th core on the x3 440 processor with the motherboard, however this is definitely not guaranteed, if you need an x4, buy the x4 at first.

5770 build: http://i46.tinypic.com/15gxpiw.jpg

250 gts build: http://i50.tinypic.com/xf7ucm.jpg

 

[Paulson13]

what about these for starting ground?

EVGA GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130514

EVGA MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188055

Intel i5 - 750

Both the EVGA's have good rebates right now

I like the monitor you found! I don't know the res. of my current but it's old and square shaped. If it doesn't fit the price for an intel build then i will hold off on getting a new one for a couple weeks or so until I can afford it.

 

[duk3]

If you aren't playing games, I would maybe even go cheaper on the graphics card.
However, if you want to spend about that much on the GPU in case you pick up SC2 or something, I would look at this amazing deal on the 5750:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127494&cm_re=5750-_-14-127-494-_-Product

The card is faster and is $114 vs $125.

The motherboard appears to be pretty good, if you aren't playing games why do you need sli/xfire though?

I might look at this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412

It has only one pcie x16, however it is 15$ cheaper and has sata6/usb3 support, which is good for when those devices become more mainstream.

 

[Paulson13]

You bring up a very valid point on the need for PCIe x2, I don't when I think about it. One will suffice for my needs. So by cheaper for my wants/needs would a GT 220 or so suffice (a plus that it has CUDA for my BOINC computing)? Def. an entry level card but will get me running and can always upgrade in the future. Also the MB you pointed out looks nice and I like that it has some "future" mainstream tech.

So it sounds like we reduced the price/need for the MB by going the PCIe 1x16 route and also on a GPU.

Looks like with your help I'm making some headway. Thanks!

 

[duk3]

That sounds like a good plan, the gt 220 should be good for desktop use and CUDA, not really sure how much worse the 220 is vs the 250 in CUDA use though.
If you have the money, the 250 *may* be worth it. Other than that, the build sounds good to me!
I am out of town for the weekend so I probably won't be able to help out until sunday night or so.
Good luck!