Hi! Thanks for clicking on my thread. Without further ado,
Approximate Purchase Date: whenever, I'm actively looking at deals and want to try to get the best price at the best time
Budget Range: preferably $700 USD after rebates, but I'm willing to spend less or more, $600-$800
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, schoolwork, media
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers, OS, monitor*** (I'm looking to buy a new monitor but it doesn't have to be part of the budget)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I only know Newegg, but will buy from anywhere that is reputable and will ship to California
Country of Origin: USA
Overclocking: no
SLI or Crossfire: no
Monitor Resolution: at least 1440x900
Additional Comments: I'm looking to build a new PC because I'm afraid my 3 year old leisure laptop will have problems running new games such as: Starcraft 2, Dragon Age 2, The Witcher 2, Mass Effect 3, Diablo 3, and any other games from the Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises. So I'm looking to build a longterm gaming PC.
I've perused both tecmo34's and Proximon's excellent threads on builds and parts, and have picked out the parts that I think are good for me. But I'm just a newbie, so this is just me asking for advice from the pros . I want to make sure that each part is compatible, and if there are better alternatives to a part, please let me know!
Parts Preferences: edited on 2/11/11 to fit suggestions
Processor
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX ($160)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii_x4_965-_-19-103-727-_-Product
Motherboard
ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard ($90) ty aznshinobi, batuchka, aebome
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198&cm_re=asrock_870_extreme3-_-13-157-198-_-Product
RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL ($50) ty aznshinobi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277&cm_re=skill_ripjaws-_-20-231-277-_-Product
Graphics Card
DIAMOND 5850PE51G Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ($165 AR) ty aznshinobi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103085&cm_re=5850-_-14-103-085-_-Product
Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($65) ty aznshinobi, aebome
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint-_-22-152-185-_-Product
Power Supply
XIGMATEK ACXTNRP-PC602 600W ATX12V Ver.2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($40 AR) ty aebome
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815009&cm_re=xigmatek_power_supply-_-17-815-009-_-Product
Case
AZZA Helios 910 Black Japanese SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($55 AR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517007
This case should fit the motherboard and the graphics card, right?
Optical Disk Drive
LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20 LightScribe Support - OEM ($70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136183&Tpk=LG%2010X%20BD-ROM
Monitor
Hanns·G HW-191APB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built-in Speakers ($100)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254023&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=
Any monitor suggestions would be appreciated, I'm willing to spend about $120 apart from the PC budget, but I think I might just get a cheaper monitor. Also, how do I determine if a monitor is 720p or 1080p compatible?
[strike]After taking into account taxes and rebates, with these current parts I'm sitting around $800 . Are there any ways to cut costs? Do I have a part listed that is too powerful for what I'm looking for in my PC? Please share your knowledge with me, and thanks for reading![/strike]
Update: A big thank you to aznshinobi, batuchka, and aebome for helping me with this build! I'm sitting at $695 AR, which is awesome!
Approximate Purchase Date: whenever, I'm actively looking at deals and want to try to get the best price at the best time
Budget Range: preferably $700 USD after rebates, but I'm willing to spend less or more, $600-$800
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, schoolwork, media
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers, OS, monitor*** (I'm looking to buy a new monitor but it doesn't have to be part of the budget)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I only know Newegg, but will buy from anywhere that is reputable and will ship to California
Country of Origin: USA
Overclocking: no
SLI or Crossfire: no
Monitor Resolution: at least 1440x900
Additional Comments: I'm looking to build a new PC because I'm afraid my 3 year old leisure laptop will have problems running new games such as: Starcraft 2, Dragon Age 2, The Witcher 2, Mass Effect 3, Diablo 3, and any other games from the Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises. So I'm looking to build a longterm gaming PC.
I've perused both tecmo34's and Proximon's excellent threads on builds and parts, and have picked out the parts that I think are good for me. But I'm just a newbie, so this is just me asking for advice from the pros . I want to make sure that each part is compatible, and if there are better alternatives to a part, please let me know!
Parts Preferences: edited on 2/11/11 to fit suggestions
Processor
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX ($160)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii_x4_965-_-19-103-727-_-Product
Motherboard
ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard ($90) ty aznshinobi, batuchka, aebome
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198&cm_re=asrock_870_extreme3-_-13-157-198-_-Product
RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL ($50) ty aznshinobi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277&cm_re=skill_ripjaws-_-20-231-277-_-Product
Graphics Card
DIAMOND 5850PE51G Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ($165 AR) ty aznshinobi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103085&cm_re=5850-_-14-103-085-_-Product
Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($65) ty aznshinobi, aebome
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint-_-22-152-185-_-Product
Power Supply
XIGMATEK ACXTNRP-PC602 600W ATX12V Ver.2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($40 AR) ty aebome
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815009&cm_re=xigmatek_power_supply-_-17-815-009-_-Product
Case
AZZA Helios 910 Black Japanese SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($55 AR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517007
This case should fit the motherboard and the graphics card, right?
Optical Disk Drive
LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20 LightScribe Support - OEM ($70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136183&Tpk=LG%2010X%20BD-ROM
Monitor
Hanns·G HW-191APB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built-in Speakers ($100)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254023&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=
Any monitor suggestions would be appreciated, I'm willing to spend about $120 apart from the PC budget, but I think I might just get a cheaper monitor. Also, how do I determine if a monitor is 720p or 1080p compatible?
[strike]After taking into account taxes and rebates, with these current parts I'm sitting around $800 . Are there any ways to cut costs? Do I have a part listed that is too powerful for what I'm looking for in my PC? Please share your knowledge with me, and thanks for reading![/strike]
Update: A big thank you to aznshinobi, batuchka, and aebome for helping me with this build! I'm sitting at $695 AR, which is awesome!