New Build - $750-$850 multi-purpose

[DSzymborski]

Approximate Purchase Date: Week after Thanksgiving
Budget Range: $750-$850 after rebates.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, office applications, STATISTICA, web-surfing
Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, OS, Monitor
Preferred Website(s) for Parts (from most to leat preferred): newegg.com preferred, tigerdirect, amazon
Country of Origin: US
Parts Preferences: AMD/Radeon, Mid-size ATX
Overclocking: Moderate OCing. I modestly overclock CPUs, but generally mostly conservative multiplier adjustments - if I'm at the point where I consider voltage tweaking and I have to fight a daily fight against the computer becoming the temperature of the sun, I usually just upgrade.
SLI or Crossfire: Crossfire definitely - I try to keep my computers fairly mid-range and I'd like the option of getting a 2nd card, though it's not an immediate necessity.
Monitor Resolution: Run well in 1920 x 1080 when get around to upgrading my monitor that doesn't support it (I'm not replacing the monitor right now)

I've built computers in the past, but I always like to get a couple extra eyes just in case I've overlooked something obvious or didn't consider a better option. Not shooting for a high-end build (obviously, or I'd set a higher budget). I do a lot of gaming, but I'm usually not hyper about playing everything on ultra-high at highest resolutions (I'm still puttering around on an ancient 4670). I just like to try to stay mid-range, so I'm mostly concerned with having an average gaming rig with as few roadblocks to staying average for a few years as possible.

Gaming is easily the most important system usage. While I work on the computer from home and will continue, I'm doing all those other non-gaming things very comfortably right now and I'd probably have to try very hard not to upgrade those other things immensely.

I will probably tinker with this based on Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, but this is the basic framework of what I'd like to build. I already caught that I accidentally picked the open box hard drive rather than a new one. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.


1

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
Item #:N82E16819103727
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$175.99
$165.99
1

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820231277
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$69.99
1

ENERMAX Staray ECA3171-BR-AP Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 3 Apollish Red LED Fan and Mesh Front

ENERMAX Staray ECA3171-BR-AP Black Computer Case - Retail
Item #:N82E16811124133
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$69.99
$59.99
1

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813157198
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$109.99
$99.99
1

Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Open Box: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822136514R
Return Policy: Open Box Refund Only Return Policy
-$25.00 Instant
$99.99
$74.99
1

Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B

Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B
Item #:N82E16827118039
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$19.99
1

COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS700-PCAAE3-US 700W ATX 12V v2.3 Active PFC Power Supply

COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS700-PCAAE3-US 700W ATX 12V v2.3 Active PFC Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817171054
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$89.99
$69.99
1

XFX HD-685X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

XFX Radeon HD 6850 HD-685X-ZNFC Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #:N82E16814150505
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
$199.99
1

Rosewill 4.7GB 16X DVD-R 100 Packs Disc Model RMR-SD100

Rosewill 4.7GB 16X DVD-R 100 Packs Disc Model RMR-SD100
Item #:N82E16817182225
Return Policy: Consumable Item Refund Only Return Policy
$16.99
Grand Total: $777.91

 

[Atotalnoob]

Don't get the WD drive, get Spintpoint F3 And don't touch Open box. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=spintpoint_F3-_-22-152-185-_-Product ~ 69.99

also drop the 965, yuou can't OC as well with it. Get Phenom X4 955 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&cm_re=955_phenom_ii_x4-_-19-103-808-_-Product ~ 155.99

I haven't heard of Enermax... probably cheaper cases.... HAF 922 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=haf_922-_-11-119-197-_-Product ~ 89.99 or Antec 300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 ~ 69.99

 

[DSzymborski]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah, didn't mean to do an open box. Sloppiness on my part - I'd never get an open box hard drive. Do you have a recommendation for a 2 TB? I'm a bit of a hoarder of files and disk images (my better half is always grumbling about my messy den, so disks are one thing I like to keep stashed away. I have files from nearly 30 years ago (for example, I finally finished a game of King's Quest III that I started in the late 80s).

Thanks for the tip on the 955 - they're close enough that a minor OC would make the diff, so if it's better, it saves some money.

I had never heard of Enermax either, but while researching cases, they got pretty good reviews at Hardware Secrets. Was curious if anyone else had any experience with them as I like 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinions. Unless someone has heard bad things, I might get the case and if I don't like it and I'll use it to upgrade my dedicated home media PC hooked up the entertainment center (right now it's 3 TB of internal hard drives and 2 1 TB externals but the Enermax has a lot of bays).

 

[Atotalnoob]

stay with WD then, for 2TB, or get 2 Spinpoints

 

[reaper2794]

Get 2 1 TB F3s, 2 TB drives tend to be more unreliable and they usually run at 5400 RPM which will cause a bottleneck, you want 7200 RPM or higher

 

[Atotalnoob]

yeah... I know... I was going to say F4, but I remmeber the model was 5400RPM, and I thought all of them were like that... wasn't sure, so I didn't say anyhing

 

[zooted]

yeah... I know... I was going to say F4, but I remmeber the model was 5400RPM, and I thought all of them were like that... wasn't sure, so I didn't say anyhing

From what I hear, the f4 runs about as fast as 7200rpm's. Don't know the validity of that though.

 

[Atotalnoob]

I don't know, I haven't been able to find a reliable review.... anyway, 2 F3s would still be better.