APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within 1-2 weeks
BUDGET RANGE: $1200-$1500 after rebates/discounts
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming primarily
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: n/a
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, amazon, tigerdirect
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: n/a
OVERCLOCKING: Possibly, I'm reading up on it a little
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No (initially), Maybe (future)
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 (seems like the best value 16:10 = expensive!)
CPU
AMD Phenom II x4 955BE $160
MOBO
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX $140
or
GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX $140
or
BIOSTAR TA890FXE AM3 AMD 890FX $140
RAM
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) $80
GPU
MSI GTX 470 $250
or
XFX Radeon HD 5850 $245
SSD
Crucial RealSSD C300 $145
HDD
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $75
PSU
CORSAIR 650W $80
Case
Antec Three Hundred Illusion $55
or
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 $90
or
COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced $90
or
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 $100
HSF
Scythe SCMG-2100 $35
Monitor
ASUS 23.6" $180
or
SAMSUNG 24" $230
KB/Mouse/DVD/OS
(not worried much here, plain keyboard, gaming mouse, cheap dvd burner, Windows 7 home, just putting in for total $) ~$200
Total ~$1400-1500 (probably -$50 to -$75 or so for combos)
So, I've done a whole bunch of research, but have a few questions remaining. To some extent, I feel like I'm going in circles, so I figured I'd post and look for some help.
As for pricing, I understand the deals come and go, so take the prices with a grain of salt. Also, don't worry about recommending combos, I'm really trying to get an idea about the relative tradeoffs of a few items. I don't mind going back and doing some leg work figuring out the optimal combos to price things out.
Question 1: If priced similarly, is the GTX 470 a better buy than the HD 5850? Most of what I'm reading has me concerned about heat/noise for the 470, but the benchmarks seem to place it well ahead of the 5850. Based on sheer performance vs noise/heat, I would lean towards the 470, except there's also the next question.
Question 2: Is there any reason to choose one of those mobos over the others? They all support 2x PCIe 2 x16 (I don't see myself going so that doesn't add a bonus for the Biostar) and SATA 6. The Biostar doesn't support USB 3.0, so that's a small strike against it. None support DDR3 1600 w/o OC. From what I can tell, none of these boards will support SLI, should I wish to do that in the future, making the 5850 look even better, performance be damned. Any advice here?
Question 3: Which case should I choose? I'd like to just drop the $50 on the Antec, but am concerned (particularly if I go with the GTX 470) about air flow, and which case will have enough fans. I've picked a HSF to try to alleviate any concerns if I do OC the CPU, but I'm suspecting that one of the $100 cases would suit me better in the long run. Again, any thoughts?
Question 4: This isn't really a question so much as a comment. I've got a Samsung TV, had it about 2 years now, and I love it. That said, it's hard to justify spending an extra $50 just for the name. The ASUS monitor is basically the same size, and has the same response time. Both have excellent reviews, so I'm leaning towards pocketing the money. I could be convinced otherwise though.
Question 5: Are there any general conflicts seen with this build? It's been a long time since I built a computer (around 1999/2000). The last time I went to build, the prices to get it built for me were insanely competitive (something like a 5-10% markup). That's not the case anymore, and my frugality seems to be winning out over my laziness. So basically, I just want to make sure that I'll have enough power, the components I choose will fit into the case I choose, and most importantly, I can keep things running nice and cool, especially if I decide to OC.
Thanks in advance for all your help!
BUDGET RANGE: $1200-$1500 after rebates/discounts
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming primarily
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: n/a
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, amazon, tigerdirect
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: n/a
OVERCLOCKING: Possibly, I'm reading up on it a little
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No (initially), Maybe (future)
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 (seems like the best value 16:10 = expensive!)
CPU
AMD Phenom II x4 955BE $160
MOBO
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX $140
or
GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX $140
or
BIOSTAR TA890FXE AM3 AMD 890FX $140
RAM
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) $80
GPU
MSI GTX 470 $250
or
XFX Radeon HD 5850 $245
SSD
Crucial RealSSD C300 $145
HDD
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $75
PSU
CORSAIR 650W $80
Case
Antec Three Hundred Illusion $55
or
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 $90
or
COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced $90
or
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 $100
HSF
Scythe SCMG-2100 $35
Monitor
ASUS 23.6" $180
or
SAMSUNG 24" $230
KB/Mouse/DVD/OS
(not worried much here, plain keyboard, gaming mouse, cheap dvd burner, Windows 7 home, just putting in for total $) ~$200
Total ~$1400-1500 (probably -$50 to -$75 or so for combos)
So, I've done a whole bunch of research, but have a few questions remaining. To some extent, I feel like I'm going in circles, so I figured I'd post and look for some help.
As for pricing, I understand the deals come and go, so take the prices with a grain of salt. Also, don't worry about recommending combos, I'm really trying to get an idea about the relative tradeoffs of a few items. I don't mind going back and doing some leg work figuring out the optimal combos to price things out.
Question 1: If priced similarly, is the GTX 470 a better buy than the HD 5850? Most of what I'm reading has me concerned about heat/noise for the 470, but the benchmarks seem to place it well ahead of the 5850. Based on sheer performance vs noise/heat, I would lean towards the 470, except there's also the next question.
Question 2: Is there any reason to choose one of those mobos over the others? They all support 2x PCIe 2 x16 (I don't see myself going so that doesn't add a bonus for the Biostar) and SATA 6. The Biostar doesn't support USB 3.0, so that's a small strike against it. None support DDR3 1600 w/o OC. From what I can tell, none of these boards will support SLI, should I wish to do that in the future, making the 5850 look even better, performance be damned. Any advice here?
Question 3: Which case should I choose? I'd like to just drop the $50 on the Antec, but am concerned (particularly if I go with the GTX 470) about air flow, and which case will have enough fans. I've picked a HSF to try to alleviate any concerns if I do OC the CPU, but I'm suspecting that one of the $100 cases would suit me better in the long run. Again, any thoughts?
Question 4: This isn't really a question so much as a comment. I've got a Samsung TV, had it about 2 years now, and I love it. That said, it's hard to justify spending an extra $50 just for the name. The ASUS monitor is basically the same size, and has the same response time. Both have excellent reviews, so I'm leaning towards pocketing the money. I could be convinced otherwise though.
Question 5: Are there any general conflicts seen with this build? It's been a long time since I built a computer (around 1999/2000). The last time I went to build, the prices to get it built for me were insanely competitive (something like a 5-10% markup). That's not the case anymore, and my frugality seems to be winning out over my laziness. So basically, I just want to make sure that I'll have enough power, the components I choose will fit into the case I choose, and most importantly, I can keep things running nice and cool, especially if I decide to OC.
Thanks in advance for all your help!
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