Summary: I'm planning to build my first PC and am hoping for a little guidance. I plan to use this PC for general productivity, movies and music, and light gaming. Although I am not a serious gamer, I want a PC that can play Starcraft II at the highest graphics settings. I'm looking for something that will last two to four years, once upgrades are factored in.
Approximate Purchase Date: This weekend if possible, but probably early next week
Budget: Roughly $1,500 to $1,600 after rebates
System Uses: Productivity, movies and music, casual gaming (must be capable of playing Starcraft II,
preferably at the highest graphics settings)
Parts Not Required: Keyboard and mouse; hard drive. I need to purchase a new monitor and new
speakers.
Preferred Vendors: Newegg and Amazon (for the free shipping)
Country: United States
Overclocking: Aiming for a moderate CPU overclock (say 3.6 or 3.8)
SLI/CF: Maybe down the road as an upgrade, but not now.
Monitor Resolution: The monitor I'm looking at is 1080.
Additional Comments: I'm not sure about the GPU. I waited for 6000 series cards to come out and I'm basically picking between the 470 the 6870. I'm pretty sure the factory-overclocked 470 I've selected will give me a little better performance than the 6870, but I'm not sure whether the 470 will be a problem if I decide to add a second card sometime down the line (heat, power?). Without further ado, here is what I have so far:
CPU and SSD Combo: Intel i5 760 and OCZ Agility 2 90GB SSD--$342.99 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.533171
Motherboard and OS Combo: ASUS P7P55D-E Pro and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit OEM--$259.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.533940
Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB DDR3 1600--$79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226103&cm_re=mushkin_blackline-_-20-226-103-_-Product
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 470 Super Overclock series--$279.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125338&cm_re=gigabyte_470-_-14-125-338-_-Product
PSU: XFX Black Edition 750w 80 Plus Silver Modular--$129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003&Tpk=xfx%20750w
Optical Drive: Lite-on DVD Burner--$21.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334&cm_re=lite_on_dvd-_-27-106-334-_-Product
Hard Drive: Re-using 1TB drive from my old (current) system. The drive is a recent add-on, so it should work fine.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+--$28.65
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Universal-Heat-Pipe/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288332379&sr=8-1
Case: Storm Scout--$79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196&cm_re=storm_scout-_-11-119-196-_-Product
Speakers: M Audio Studiophile AV 40--$149.99
http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-AV-Powered-Speakers/dp/B000MUXJCO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1288332625&sr=1-1
Monitor: ASUS VH242HL-P--$209.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236066&Tpk=asus%20vh242hl-p
If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thanks for the help.
(Edited to include combos.)
Approximate Purchase Date: This weekend if possible, but probably early next week
Budget: Roughly $1,500 to $1,600 after rebates
System Uses: Productivity, movies and music, casual gaming (must be capable of playing Starcraft II,
preferably at the highest graphics settings)
Parts Not Required: Keyboard and mouse; hard drive. I need to purchase a new monitor and new
speakers.
Preferred Vendors: Newegg and Amazon (for the free shipping)
Country: United States
Overclocking: Aiming for a moderate CPU overclock (say 3.6 or 3.8)
SLI/CF: Maybe down the road as an upgrade, but not now.
Monitor Resolution: The monitor I'm looking at is 1080.
Additional Comments: I'm not sure about the GPU. I waited for 6000 series cards to come out and I'm basically picking between the 470 the 6870. I'm pretty sure the factory-overclocked 470 I've selected will give me a little better performance than the 6870, but I'm not sure whether the 470 will be a problem if I decide to add a second card sometime down the line (heat, power?). Without further ado, here is what I have so far:
CPU and SSD Combo: Intel i5 760 and OCZ Agility 2 90GB SSD--$342.99 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.533171
Motherboard and OS Combo: ASUS P7P55D-E Pro and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit OEM--$259.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.533940
Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB DDR3 1600--$79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226103&cm_re=mushkin_blackline-_-20-226-103-_-Product
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 470 Super Overclock series--$279.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125338&cm_re=gigabyte_470-_-14-125-338-_-Product
PSU: XFX Black Edition 750w 80 Plus Silver Modular--$129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003&Tpk=xfx%20750w
Optical Drive: Lite-on DVD Burner--$21.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334&cm_re=lite_on_dvd-_-27-106-334-_-Product
Hard Drive: Re-using 1TB drive from my old (current) system. The drive is a recent add-on, so it should work fine.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+--$28.65
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Universal-Heat-Pipe/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288332379&sr=8-1
Case: Storm Scout--$79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196&cm_re=storm_scout-_-11-119-196-_-Product
Speakers: M Audio Studiophile AV 40--$149.99
http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-AV-Powered-Speakers/dp/B000MUXJCO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1288332625&sr=1-1
Monitor: ASUS VH242HL-P--$209.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236066&Tpk=asus%20vh242hl-p
If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thanks for the help.
(Edited to include combos.)
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