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Help me with a build

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Hello,

I am looking to build my first computer.

Budget: $800-$1,000

Used For: Gaming, watching HD movies and surfing the internet.

All parts will be bought from CompUSA locally.

I do not require Monitor, everything else I need.

I like the Cooler Master HAF 932 Case.

Thank you for your help in advance.


So far I have:

Case
CPU
DVD-R/W
Mobo -- Not sure if this mother board runs i5

More about : build

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Why CompUSA? Why not just buy from Newegg? You'd save a lot of money and get better selection.

Here's what I'd build (using Newegg prices):

CPU: i5-2500K $225
Mobo: ASRock P67 Extreme4 $156 with shipping
RAM: Corsair XMS3 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 9 $40 after rebate
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $60
GPU: GTX 460 1 GB $170 after rebate or HD 6950 $260 after rebate
PSU: XFX 650W $74 after rebate and shipping (with the GTX 460) or Antec Earthwatts 750W $80 (with the HD 6950)
Case: HAF 922 $100. Very similar to the 932, but a much better value
Optical: Cheapest SATA DVD burner $16
HSF: Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B $43 with shipping

Total: $884 w/ GTX 460 or $980 with HD 6950. That's after rebates and shipping. Also wasn't sure if you needed a copy of Windows (here's a combo with the F3 or not. If you need more room in the budget than what you get with the 6950, you could drop to the HD 6870 or HD 6850.

Also, the 6950 has the interesting feature that if you flash the BIOS to that of a 6970, it will run like one. That's a huge free performance boost.

MadAdmiral said:
Why CompUSA? Why not just buy from Newegg? You'd save a lot of money and get better selection.

Here's what I'd build (using Newegg prices):

CPU: i5-2500K $225
Mobo: ASRock P67 Extreme4 $153
RAM: Corsair XMS3 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 9 $40 after rebate
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $60
GPU: GTX 460 1 GB $170 after rebate or HD 6950 $260 after rebate
PSU: XFX 650W $74 after rebate and shipping (with the GTX 460) or Antec Earthwatts 750W $80 (with the HD 6950)
Case: HAF 922 $100. Very similar to the 932, but a much better value
Optical: Cheapest SATA DVD burner $16
HSF: Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B $43 with shipping

Total: $881 w/ GTX 460 or $977 with HD 6950



Could you do it on CompUSA website? I am in Deerfield beach FL.
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I'm not doing it on CompUSA's website, but feel free to try it out.

The i5-2500K destroys the X6s. It's even faster than the $1,000 i7-980X in some applications. I wouldn't touch an AMD build right now. They're just too weak.

That's the CPU.

That board will work, but the second PCIe 2.0 slot (the one for the video card) only runs at 4x. That makes it useless for Crossfire/SLI (dual video cards). The Pro version has the slots running at 8x, which is useful. It is more expensive though.

I wouldn't touch a $300 board. Besides, that's not compatible. It's an LGA1366 socket board, and the CPU is an LGA1155 socket.

You can't find either the Asus P8P67 Pro or Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 locally? I'd probably just wait until it's in stock. Or settle on the MSI P67A-GD65. I can't find if the second PCIe 2.0 slot runs at 8x or not, but there's a very similar one (the GD63) for $40 less. That's generally what the price difference is between a board with a 4x slot and one with an 8x slot.

Also, the speed of the second PCIe 2.0 slot doesn't make them bad boards. It just means you won't be able to Crossfire/SLI later. The P8P67 and UD3 are both great boards, as long as you understand what you're buying. If you have no interest in adding the second video card down the line, then it makes no difference to you. If that's the case, you could also drop the PSU down a notch or two. A 450W would be enough for a single GTX 460 and a 550W would be able to handle the other cards just fine.

Then you don't need Crossfire. You'd be able to do that with a much less powerful GPU, like the 5770 or even lower. 1280x720 is tiny these days. It doesn't take much to game at that resolution.

Actually, no you didn't. That's a LGA1155 board, but it's a really bad one. Intel's motherboards are pretty much the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality. I wouldn't touch it.

Given your TV/monitor's resolution, any of the other boards you linked to would be fine. The only "problem" with them relates to trying to run two video cards at the same time, where they would be extremely handicapped. However, given the low resolution you'll be playing at, you don't need a second GPU. If you were to step up to a 1920x1080 (1080p) TV/monitor, you'd still be alright with a single GTX 460. You'd get amazing performance with the 6950. Unless you were trying to game on multiple montiors at the same time, you'll be just fine.

Knowing what you've got for a monitor, I'd acutally recommend getting the GTX 460 (the $900ish build). You can leave out the HSF for now, which would allow you to afford a 21"-23" 1920x1080 monitor. You'd still get great performance from pretty much every game out there (you'd have no issues with MW or SC2 whatsoever).

I'd go with either the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus or Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (sometimes called the SCMG-2100). You don't have to have one right away either. You can wait until you want to start overclocking.

I'd start getting concerned once you're significantly above 70 degress Celsius. Keep in mind that with Prime95, you're forcing the CPU to run at 100% load for an extended period of time. You'll almost never run that hot under real world conditions.
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