Never had a Desktop, need help!

newbie_01

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May 11, 2011
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I've never really had a desktop since I didn't get a computer until undergrad. I recently purchased a thinkpad for grad school/work, so I don't wand to go all out here. I will not have a tv next year, so this machine will be my "entertainment center." It'll be nice to be able to play SC2 on high settings once in a while, but I do not need the newest and best video card...just something that can make games look decent. I tried researching about parts, and got overwhelmed. For whatever reason, I can put a computer together--I just don't know the parts. I plan on purchasing from ibuypower, but thought i'd see more savings by doing it myself.

Thanks for all your help!

Approximate Purchase Date: By Mid-June

Budget Range: 600-700

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Movies, Gaming, Light photoediting

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, OS

Preferred Website for Parts: anywhere that's the cheapest is fine. I also live near a Fry's (less than 5 miles)

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: I have an i5-2520 sandy bridge processor in my thinkpad, I hope my desktop is more powerful than this (shouldn't be too hard?). No preference between AMD/Intel for the machine, but hopefully something that can last me 2/3 years at the min.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: unsure

Monitor Resolution:1920x1080

Additional Comments: Quiet is nice. Aesthetics of the case does not matter to me, I actually want something low key (as long as it provides good cooling, etc.). I really don't have any idea where to start with the parts, so thank you! I will continue to do research in the interim.
 

ram1009

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Personally, I would avoid packages like the one suggested above. Typically they bundle items that are not selling along with a "bait" item, in this case the CPU. You could get a more powerful CPU than your laptop but I think it would bust your budget with disproportionately small performance increases. Intel processors and platforms are more powerful (a little anyway) and expensive but AMD platforms are likely to be usable longer. I no longer use ATI/AMD video boards because of driver issues over many years of bad experiences. Get the biggest QUALITY PSU you can afford. Try to find an ENLIGHT box. They're quite inexpensive and very functional without being "showy". Of course, these are all my opinions.
 

gametstr

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May 7, 2011
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Check this out.

33v2c5f.jpg


add a 20$ dvd writer.
Do u also need OS in the 700$? If u r a student in the US u should be able to grab one for 30bucks.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
 


If your theory is right about bait items most of this list would be! P67 motherboard, Antec PSU, G-skill RipjawsX, SATA 6GB HDD and I5 2500K.
The only flaw with this combo is that the motherboard does not support crossfire or SLI but is a P67 board that will allow for an overclock with the I5 2500K.

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan (Model:CHALLENGER)

BYTECC 6 ft. 18AWG Power Cord w/ 3 Conductor PC Power Connector – Black Model POWERCORD-6K (Model:pOWERCORD-6K)

MSI P67A-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (Model:p67A-C43 (B3))

Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply (Model:EA-650 Green)

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K (Model:BX80623I52500K)

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM (Model:F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM)

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (Model:ST31000524AS)


 

newbie_01

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May 11, 2011
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Thank you all for the reply! I am currently pricing the items given, and hope to find out what will work for me. Is the i5-2500k significantly better than the AMD 1090T? It seems the AMD is priced very competitively with six cores and pretty good power. If i opt to purchase that, I will have more money to splurge on a better graphics card?

 

gametstr

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May 7, 2011
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Well if this build is for Gaming

Assuming u will go with the same GPU for either CPU
the i5 2500K is better.

But if u can get a better GPU with a 1090T then it complicates things a bit.

U will probably be better off even with a Phenom II x4 955BE and a Radeon HD 6950 2GB.
 

ram1009

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Obviously these items suit your style. They don't mine. As I said this is my opinion. What's your opinion as to how they pick bundled items, because they're selling so well?
 

It is both up and down but in many cases it is like this one with more than one item that is a top seller, therefor I look at the bundles before I recommend them. I do almost all my part shopping on Newegg and they have great bundle deals even on their newest and most popular products!
 

ram1009

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I too shop , pretty much exclusively at Newegg but I've never found their bundles sufficiently attractive to make the required sacrifices just to save a few dollars. After all, a bargain isn't what you pay but what you get and if what you get isn't what you want it's definitely not a bargain, IMHO. You'll have to live with what you buy long after you've forgotten what it cost.
 

newbie_01

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May 11, 2011
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Hey all,

thanks for the advice! I purchased the 2500K and motherboard already.

CPU: 2500k-$180
MOBO: MSI P67A-GD55-$157 (I might return for a cheaper board? I will overclock..but I got this board for 157 at fry's).

What do you all think of these graphics card deals?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130570&cm_re=gtx_460_1gb-_-14-130-570-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127576&cm_re=6850-_-14-127-576-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=404255&SID=195767

I will be taking advantage of the rebates! If these arent good, please give me some recommendations (I have a before tax budget of 650, thanks!)
 

ram1009

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I have a GTX 460 GPU that I'm very happy with. It plays Crysis 2 full up.
 

Both the HD6850 and the GTX460 1GB are good buys. The GTX460SE is something to avoid since it is a crippled card.