I5 760 Build

[Modestvolta]

I'm looking to build a new computer as just for fun project (casual gaming will be the main use after the build). Newegg has (what looks to be) a great combo on the i5-760 and an EVGA P55 SLI motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.493864

My question: what does everyone recommend as far as graphics, case, ram, and power supply?

I'd like to keep the graphics card to around $150, so anything in that ballpark (could be slightly lower or higher) - I think the most intense game I'll be playing is Dragon Age, and possibly if I get sucked into the Star Wars MMO group a bud is trying to put together. But I also could not care less if I only get a few million frames per second instead of a gazillion (exaggerating, but I don't know what is a good frame rate vs bad anymore)

The case and power supply I'd rather keep below $100 altogether (I know that's probably just asking for trouble...), but I don't even know where to begin with looking for something that won't fry my new computer.

I think I'm going to start with one 4 gb stick of ram and then allow myself to expand as the machine gets older. Does this one seem compatible or a good deal?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220480

Any thoughts/help?

Thanks!

 

[wielander]

For around $150 you have two good options for graphics cards:

You can either go low and get an HD 5770 for ~$125:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873&cm_re=hd_5770-_-14-102-873-_-Product

Or you can go high and get a GTX 460 for ~$170:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562

Both are very good video cards. If you plan to play games at higher resolutions (1920x1080 and up), I would go with the GTX 460. Also your motherboard supports SLI so you could add a second one later (if you ever feel the need).


I would highly recommend getting a 2GBx2 memory kit. The i5-760 has a dual-channel memory controller, and memory will perform much better in parallel. You really have no reason to add more memory for a casual gaming build, either. Games and general computing don't consume very much memory. You won't see any benefit from adding extra memory unless you are running one of a few professional type programs that are very memory intensive. Having more memory than you need doesn't really improve performance; the extra memory just sits unused.


There is a crazy deal on this Silverstone Case right now. Silverstone makes some of the highest quality cases. This one is pretty well made, reviews are positive, and has alot of premium features. It's hideous (in my opinion), but it's only $25 dollars with the promo code EMCYXYX52. Unfortunately you missed out on all of the good PSU combo deals that went with it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163168


The OCZ ModXStream 600W Power Supply would be plenty good for this build (unless you want to SLI two GTX 460s later). It's well built, 80 plus certified, and modular. Here are some nice combos:


w/Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 for $159 after $35 in rebates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.506261


w/EVGA GTX 460 768MB for $200 after a $20 rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.506265


w/4GB OCZ DDR3 1600 CL8 Ram $105 after $40 in rebates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492806


w/Hitachi Deskstar 1TB Hard Drive $90 after $30 in rebates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.506882


w/Lite-On 24x SATA DVD Burner $54 after a $20 rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.499345

 

[gordon_81]

i was going to say the same thing about the gpus, i would go for gskill ripjaws ram 2x2gb modules, welll i would be looking into the antec 200 or 300 case or the haf 912 as for the psu just make sure you get 1 of these brands, corsair, antec, xfx, seasonic and so on, the antec earthwatts 650 watt should be good enough to power your system and power 2 gtx 460s in SLI

 

[gordon_81]

the msi gtx 460 cyclone is a nice gtx 460 and as for the hdd i would go for a samsung spinpoint f3, i would stick away from OCZ ram, people are having problems with reliability, and i would get a gtx 460 1gb its worth it

 

[asteldian]

The msi cyclone is only $205 after rebate and the GT460 1gb is a great card.
The 5770 is fine if playing on less than 1920 x 1080 resolution though

 

[Modestvolta]

That GTX with power supply combo might be a winner!

Instead of going with the 2GBx2 memory kit, I might go 4GBx2 (overkill? of course, but I'll eventually want to go all 16GB that I can just for the heck of it).

And you're right; that case is awful to look at, but at least it's not hideous with a ton of lights on it also (for some reason I want to avoid too many lights on it... just me though). I'm pretty much just looking for a plain box that can hold my stuff in it. Should my motherboard fit in likely any standard case? Any other suggestions out there for a case before I bite the bullet on this one?

And does anyone have any suggestions on hard drives? I was thinking of going SSD for the OS (just curious to see how this works) and then HDD for everything else, but I realized I have no idea how to install my OS just to the SSD…

And thanks again!

 

[Modestvolta]

Last thing: will I likely need any extra cooling with this build? Just trying to figure out so I can build once everything's here and not have to worry about taking it apart later.

But seriously: really helpful y'all!

 

[itouchedyou]

you will only need cooling if you are planning on overclocking your cpu, which i would personally do with an i5 but that's just me. the performance difference won't be mind blowing but its nice to know you're getting the most from what you paid for.

as for ssd's, their speed is truly amazing and i would recommend getting one. its not hard installing windows onto it, when u put your cd in you just choose what drive you want to put it on and thats about it. it will give your computer that extra snap

 

[Modestvolta]

awesome, that about settles it on the SSD then. thank goodness for unnecessary purchases!

I won't overclock just yet (100% clueless for the moment), but that might be something I would be interested in doing down the line.

 

[gordon_81]

i would buy the ssd later as an upgrade when they become more mainstream, when prices decrease, as for the hdd i would go for a samsung spinpoint f3 hdd

 

[Gasleak]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163154 this is also a great silverstone case

 

[Modestvolta]

Best answer selected by modestvolta.

 

[gordon_81]

DO NOT get 8gb of RAM it is overkill spend the money you would spend on the extra 4gb of ram on something else more useful like on your gpu, get a gtx 470 for $300 here is a comparison of the two http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/180?vs=160