muckle

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2010
312
0
18,790
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: mid september

BUDGET RANGE: $1,000 maybe slightly over

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, web surfing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: (US

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD or Intel, leaning toward 5850 for GPU

OVERCLOCKING: / / Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes / / eventually - one card to start

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (e.g.: 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: looking for best gaming build going either with an i5 intel proc or an AMD proc which i know less about but am not opposed to. 4 gigs of ram. HD at least 750gb. Mobo should be upgradable. I do need Windows.
 

mgrzTX

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2010
206
0
18,710


Just FYI you didn't specify a monitor resolution.


Here's something I would do...

CPU/Mobo i5-750/Asus Mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.495074

OS/Case: Antec 300/Windows 7 64 bit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437504.11-129-042

PSU/Ram: Corsair 850 W/ 4 Gb Gskill Ripjaws

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492823

GPU: XFX Radeon 5850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150477

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint f3 w/15$ off promo code

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

DVD: Sony DVD burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

and use OEM heatsink until you decide to OverClock.
 

inane_asylum

Distinguished
Dec 20, 2008
113
0
18,690
I posted in your other thread, but here you go...

1gb Spinpoint/Thermaltake case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492986

ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA/ASUS DVD-ROM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.496783

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)/CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492823

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz/XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.494114

Win7 OEM for System Builders: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116752

Total before shipping: $1044.91

The only thing I'm not sure about is the ASUS DVD-ROM, but it got good ratings and came with the combo...
 

muckle

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2010
312
0
18,790
i know i want to do crossfire in the future and prob start out with a ati 5850.

Now I probably won't buy for 2 or 3 weeks, but I'm trying to get an idea of my design.

CPU/MOBO combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.480252

this seems sufficient for me - the MOBO looks good and upgradable. I could get an X4 635 2.9x4 for 99 and save a little money even. depends on the performance hit.

RAM/GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.493443

from what i understand this is a good version of the card. I intend to add another later.

CASE/OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437504.11-119-216

i heard this is a good case!

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003

dont know much about power supplies but this was recommended.

Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

i guess this is worth adding.

this build comes out to 996.92 before shipping. please let me know what you think.
 

mgrzTX

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2010
206
0
18,710


The Ram/PSU combo me and Insane_Asylum poster is a really good deal, the PSU you picked out is good too, but Corsair is probably the best brand for PSU's and the GSkill Ram is definitely more reliable than the RAM. Consider that Ram/PSU combo and just purchasing a gpu by itself...
 

muckle

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2010
312
0
18,790


That comes out to $987.92 with those changes. Still would like input on the mobo and CPU. i'm primary gaming. I have no allegience to AMD or intel.... but i was lookin at the i5's.

this seems like a solid build tho.

MSI 890FXA-GD70 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX + AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.480252

Win7 + COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437504.11-119-216

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB + CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492823

Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

GIGABYTE GV-R585OC-1GD Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ ATI Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125318



$987.92 before shipping! can I do better for my primarily gaming pc...? if so plz elaborate. and at the risk of throwing in a can of worms tell me how this CPU+mobo would compare to an i5 for my purposes.
 

mgrzTX

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2010
206
0
18,710
Here's a decent article with some comparisons

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/819

There will be plenty of people who tell you both ways, but the i5 is a bit better and a bit more expensive. Although the Mobo I orginally recomended does not come with USB3.0/SATA 3. Here's probably a better option as far as "future proofing" goes...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.495056

That's 22$ more than the current Mobo/CPU combo your using, and I would probably go with the i5, but honestly you can't go wrong with either, so if for some reason you find yourself rooting for the under dog all the time, then buy the AMD cpu because you'll be good either way.
 

muckle

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2010
312
0
18,790

 

mgrzTX

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2010
206
0
18,710
That GPU takes up 2 PCI-e slots and just about any 5850 will take up 2 slots, so I wouldn't worry about that. I usually recommend XFX GPUs to people because I've had good experiences with my cards going bad and their "lifetime warranty" coming through. But it's 20$ and that card looks pretty good to me!

Only other thing...I would consider either the Spinpoint f3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

or the 1.5 TB Caviar black w/ promo code is <10$ more than the 1 TB version...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136592&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-592-_-Product

Otherwise looks great to me!
 

muckle

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2010
312
0
18,790


HD recommendation, dndhatcher? I'd like a TB but like 750gb would suffice. Also it'll prob be a week or two before i purchase to take into account for limited time promos.
 

mgrzTX

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2010
206
0
18,710


Are you saying the Caviar Black is not a new fast model like the f3? I could be wrong, but I don't think the WD model would be that much slower than the f3, slightly but not by any large amount.

But the f3 definitely gives you better price per gigabyte, better performance etc. I was just throwing out something else that had more storage.
 
That is precisely what I am saying.
That 1.5TB model is the same as the WD1001FALS (3rd from the bottom).
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/HDD-6Gbit,2528-7.html

The F3 is almost 50% faster in throughput. The overall performance difference isnt quite that high obviously, but it is very noticeable to have your boot and load times drop 25% when you upgrade from an older HDD to an F3 (which I experienced myself upgrading from an old Seagate 7200.10).

 

mgrzTX

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2010
206
0
18,710


This I'm definitely not posotive about, but I had been under the impression for a while that the WD1501FASS=WD2001FASS= 4th from top on that list. And WD1501FASS /= WD1001FALS. Which would make the performance difference very slight.
 
I have not heard that WD released a new 500GB or 1.5TB model with 500GB platters yet, but the manufacturers dont make it easy to keep up to date. The WD1501FASS does Passmark up with the WD1002FAEX, well above the WD1001FALS. Both are 10% below the Samsung F3 models for some reason. I dont know how Passmark weights things so I am not sure how valuable that is to know.
http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/hdd_lookup.php?cpu=WDC+WD1501FASS
 

mgrzTX

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2010
206
0
18,710


Thanks for that Link, they sure do make it hard to keep up w/ what exactly is inside your HDD for sure, pain in the butt! :cry: