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Help me with my mid-budget PC build please.

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Hi all,

I am looking to build a new PC as dealing with my 6+ year old PC is really wearing thin on me. I wish to upgrade to something that's in the 1k range, slightly over is fine. The main things i want for this PC are:

1. Room to Grow
2. Be able to play games such as SC2 on max settings without any hiccups
3. Be able to play 1080p videos flawlessly

I have dug through the 'budget' PC threads and found they rely too much on timing with the combo packs and MIR and such. I stumbled upon a thread that had this build in it though and was updated not too long ago.

Quote:

Gamer: $1,022.89 Updated HDD

* CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGMBOX - Retail
* MOBO: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
* RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
* HSF: COOLER MASTER Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU ... - Retail
* HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
* PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
* GPU: XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity
* DVD: LITE-ON Black 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support - Retail
* Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
* Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

This build will allow you to play games at mid. to max. settings at a monitor resolution of 1920x1200


This build, from what i can tell, covers most of my desires in a new PC.

My questions are:

Assuming I'll be running Windows 7 Prof. (which I will be) wouldn't 8gb of ram be more appropriate? or is this overkill? (suggestions on ram would be awesome.)

The HDD is nice, but (excluding SSD's) what would be more appropriate for a system drive?

As for the power supply, it seems the same case in this build has a combo on newegg with another 750w psu by rosewill, would the price drop be worth it?

Finally, are there any better/more bang for my buck alternatives to the 5850?

Id also welcome any suggestions to help get me on my way with getting this new PC as I would like to start purchasing equipment by this weekend.

Thanks for any and all constructive replies.

Edit: Adding other forum friendly information for these kinds of posts

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor and Speakers.

Country of Origin: US

Parts Preferences: AMD, but its not a strong position and I am open to suggestions.

Overclocking: Maybe in the future

SLI or Crossfire: Again, maybe in the future

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

More about : mid budget build

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1) 4gb ram is plenty for windows 7 and even for hardcore gaming builds as well, you can always add more later down the line should you find the ram bottlenecking your system which is unlikely. You usually need more only if you are doing some heavy multitasking and/or graphic processing.

2) What you look for in a system drive is speed so it will load programs faster. That Spinpoint F3 is as good as it gets and the right balance of performance per cost without going into SSDs and faster rpm HDDs. Check out the hard drive charts for a better comparison. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/benchmarks-1,50.html

3) You should stick to reputable name brands for your PSU. A no-name brand PSU can cost you your system if it malfunctions. Rosewill does not have such a good reputation with their PSUs but their cases are pretty decent. Stick with known names like Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, Coolmaster to name a few. Also stick with an 80 plus certified PSU, it will save you big bucks in the long run by not wasting power generating so much heat all the time.

4) Sure there are, for the price of an HD5850 you can get a GTX470 which gets better scores in benchmarks or maybe even crossfire two HD5770s. You can even save $100 getting a GTX460 if you're willing to overclock. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/164?vs=160

The build you quoted is a pretty solid build and future proofed for a few years. Probably save a few bucks going with the Rosewill Challenger case instead if you don't care about the lights. The real question is what your budget is towards the build? If you can throw in more you can probably get a better or twin GPUs, more ram, better CPU or SSDs. If its too much you can downgrade some components and upgrade them later when you have the need for it.

Well, as I mentioned before around 1k, so say 800-1200 or so is the range I'm looking at.

If I were to get a different/better GPU what would be suggested? Say if in the future I might want to Crossfire/SLI

But one thing I worry about is cooling, I'm assuming this build as is wont have an issue, but as I add another card/different cards, more HDD's more memory, maybe overclock a little, would there be easy adjustments (more fans/better fans) that could be made to accomplish it without overheating? - Again this isn't required but just in case i later decide that I want to.

you can probly get by with an 870 mobo instead of the 890.

look into the HAF 912

an overclocked GTX 460 will meet or exceed a HD5750 for less money, or you can get a GTX 470.

Even with a 470, you don't need a 750W PSU. 550-600w will handle any of the 3 cards mentioned in single card mode.

look to combo as much as you can. EVERY part you mention is in some combo with some other part. With combos and a GTX 460, you can push that down to $600-700 with Windows 7 included.

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I wouldn't be so optimistic as to $600-700 but $800-900 seems more reasonable. ScrewySqrl is right about the combos though. Most of those parts in the build a very common/desirable parts and thus newegg has plenty of combos for them that will save you money.

You would definately want to stick with the 890GX if you want to CF/SLI down the line because it gives you 8x/8x as opposed to 16x/4x the 870 gives.

If you want a better CPU you only have 4 other single card options, HD 5870 (~$400), HD 5970 (~$650), GTX 470 (~$340) or GTX 480 (~$450). Maybe start off with a twin GPU CF/SLI instead? A good start would be two GTX 460 in SLI, they just about match the stock HD 5970 which is basically two 5870s on a single PCB. If you prefer not, maybe go with the GTX 470 instead and get another down the line when you want but the HD 5750 is just plenty fine as well.

If you plan to CF/SLI at a minimum you will need at least 850W PSU.

The Rosewill Challenger shouldn't have any cooling problems, even if you OC and throw in more ram, another GPU and more HDDs. It comes with 3 stock fans (front, back, and top) with room for 2 optional side fans whereas the HAF 912 comes with only 1 front fan with room for 1 back and 1 side fan. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is one of the best CPU coolers you can get before going to liquid cooling.
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