New Build Budget $800-$1000

BrianBuan · Dec 22, 2011

I have been getting a component list compiled for two different systems, one of which I would like to start purchasing here in the next couple of weeks. I would like to stay within the $800-$1000 price budget. The main uses of my new system will be Office Programs, Internet surfing, Online Communication such as Skype, Downloading DVD torrents, converting and burning. I am not a huge gamer but have kids that are of the age that I believe they may start before the life expectancy of the system expires.
I will not require a mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer. I have, as you will see by my lists that I have no preference for PSU’s either Intel or AMD.
I would like a quiet system.
The parts I have selected for the 2 systems are as follows and am looking for advice on the possibility of overshooting for my needs.

SYSTEM 1
Case and Power: Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case with Top Power 650W
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/250894068687?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
MOBO: ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131736
Video Card: HIS IceQ X Turbo H685QNT1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161363
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335

SYSTEM 2
Case and Power: Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case with Top Power 650W
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/250894068687?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
MOBO: ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264
Video Card: ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425
PSU: Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.1GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115076
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335
Heatsink and Fan: COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057

The first system I did not include a heatsink and fan as the Phenom II comes with a stock one. I have read in forums here that this stock one may be on the noisy side any comments?

Any thoughts as to what you think would be appreciated.

sadams04 · Dec 22, 2011

I would be looking at something more like the build below. You could lower the costs by going with an H61 / H67 motherboard...

MB - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 - $130
CPU - i5-2400 - $190
GPU - HIS HD 6850 - $120 after MIR
MEM - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600 CL9 - $42
HD - Samsung F3 1TB 1TB - $150
OPTICAL - Lite-On Black 24X DVD-RW - $18
PSU - XFX 450W - $39 after MIR
CASE - Antec 300 - $70

$759

PSU - Stay away from Top Power and stick with Antec, Corsair, XFX or Seasonic
HD - Samsung F3 is a good choice. No Western Digital except for the Black drives..
CPU Cooler - Most AMD and Intel systems will come with a cooler which is perfectly fine if not overclocking. No need to replace it until / unless you have a problem with noise (bearings).

BrianBuan · Dec 22, 2011

Ok sadams04 I certainly like that you have sent me a build that saves me money but the PSU you have suggested does not meet the minimum power requirements for the GPU. It does have a minimum requirement of 500W.
ALso the MOBO in one of the reviews, someone talks about the LAN Chip being very poor for SKype one of my top priorities.
Any other suggestions.

sadams04 · Dec 22, 2011

Those recommendations are inflated. If you use a power supply calculator you will see that system will come in just over 300w. You have plenty of overhead to expand. (Google is your friend - don't use the Newegg PSU calculator).

There shouldn't be any reason why the LAN chipset (Realtek) is causing problems with Skype. They may have driver or other issues...

BrianBuan · Dec 22, 2011

I had originally the i5 2300 why would you recommend the 2400?

andrewcarr · Dec 22, 2011

faster

JackNaylorPE · Dec 23, 2011

madchemist83 · Dec 23, 2011

^ unfortunately HDD is no longer 110 it's 150
breaks the bank a bit

need4speeds · Dec 23, 2011

It's my living room pc. A black mid tower case flipped sideways and modded to be a desktop style or larger htpc case.
I am running a A6-3650@3.1ghz, 550mhz 320 core app/open cl, hd-4870's 800/1050mhz (2.6ghz, 423mhz, and the 4870 770/1000mhz is stock)
OCZ Fata1ty 550watt, x-fi pci, three 12 cm case fans+intake filters.
Win xp pro, dx9.0c, 1080p 46" lcd tv, xfi pci. Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H.
Arctic cooling 13pro cpu cooler. 31C max apu temp running prime95+furmark+using the internet and video test.

I went with this choice because the cpu power is enough for the existing cards i reused. I wanted a cpu-gpu matched system.

Here is a build i came up with..

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/BDL_2500K_Z68XUD3
GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard w/ Intel Core™ i5-2500K Processor $359.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX29792
HyperX Genesis 8GB DDR3-1600MHz CL9 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 4GB) w/ Intel XMP $34.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX27133
SH-S243D 24x DVD-Writer, SATA, $18.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX32594#Continue
Seagate 500GB Barracuda $89.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX20934
Antec Three Hundred Versatile Mid Tower Gamer Case $59.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX22557
OCZ 600W ModXstream Pro SLI Ready Power Supply $74.99 $49.99 After Rebate
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX32151
GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC 1GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI $239.99
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX36284#Continue
Force Series 3 Solid State Drive SATA III, 60GB $114.99

Sub Total: $993.92 (not including rebates)

You will need a cpu cooler, more case fans and a second 560ti later on.

This would be nice too..
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX35250
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-E Sound Card $59.99

madchemist83 · Dec 23, 2011

Damn the shipping to Canada is atrocious. I'll try to include items with free shipping. If it's not free I'll add it to the price.
Case - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 -$65
Mobo - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498 $165
CPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 $237

Ok so that leaves $350-500
At this point I'll need to know resolution of your monitor.
I assume it's 1080p.
GPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161396 $180
it's a good idea to get a bigger PSU in case you want to cf/sli in the future
PSU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049 $110 (20 mir)
Throw another $57 for RAM http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191
HDD - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145532 $120
dvd drive ~ $20
CPU cooler - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 $40

Total $994

madchemist83 · Dec 23, 2011

@ nfs that 600W OCZ will not pull 2 560ti and 2500k mate

BrianBuan · Dec 23, 2011

madchemist83 :

I like your build.

A couple of questions, my budget being set at $800-1000 is not super firm, would there be any advantages to throwing in a SSD say http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441
I have been reading that housing Windows 7 on the SSD will help in the speed of the boot and operation of the entire system. I have read that in order to get this there are quite a few tweaks to be done but that is not scaring me.

The MOBO you have selected what are the advantages-disadvantages verses http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

The CPU cooler??? ARG is it necessary or not??? One person tells me the stock one that comes with the intel CPU will sufice and another tells me no they won't. I don't care one way or the other but the flipping back and forth gets on a guys last nerve. A difinitive answer is what I am looking for.

madchemist83 · Dec 23, 2011

That's an excellent ssd. If u plan on ssd I would drop hdd and go for 120 gb ssd from highest tier possible. Then just get extra hdd when prices go down.

madchemist83 · Dec 23, 2011

I personally dislike Asrock mobos. Their PCB is pretty thin and flimsy, BIOS is the mess and layout is poor. There are no advantages over Gigabyte board. Also they only have 2 year warranty compared to 3. Stock cooler is fine if you don't overclock. Imo better cooler is still advantage as cooler ur cpu better it performs.

BrianBuan · Dec 23, 2011

Ok I think that I am just going to keep it the way that I have it now. Here is the list that I have settled on. Please if there is anything that I have missed or that is incompatible let me know as I am going to go ahead and pull the trigger.

Case - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6811129066
CPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6819115072
Mobo - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813128498
HDD - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6822152185
SSD - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441
GPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6814161396
PSU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6817341049
DVD Burner - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335
RAM - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

Forgot anything?
Little bit more than I had originally predicted but should be a solid system with room for growth in the sytem.

madchemist83 · Dec 23, 2011

Some links don't work

BrianBuan · Dec 23, 2011

madchemist83 · Dec 23, 2011

Ok couple things. Get cooler for ur cpu. you'll eventually overclock.
Get bigger SSD like http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236
And drop Hdd for now. With money saved get better psu like http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182073

BrianBuan · Dec 23, 2011

Ok well for another $65 and formatting the 120GB SSD now properly to house WIndows 7 and keep the HDD as well this thing could house like 300 DVD torrents on it. I would rather keep the HDD initially and not have to add and format it at a later point. $65 now or later is not going to break the bank. Is Muskin what you would recommend for a 120GB or is there something better. Or is the ADATA 120GB at $194 better.

madchemist83 · Dec 24, 2011

no mushkin is very good
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-price-ssd,3070-6.html

BrianBuan · Dec 24, 2011

I take it that everything else would be a solid build then.

BrianBuan · Jan 3, 2012

Best answer selected by BrianBuan.

andrewcarr · Jan 3, 2012

The OCZ psu he had was good, and I'd rather have that than a Rosewill (crap) PSU. This is a list of PSU that are better. The SeaSonic is by far the best but also the most expensive.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341041
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207015
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341052
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139030
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087

madchemist83 · Jan 3, 2012

Rosewill Capstone is actually very good psu and recently was on sale

New Build Budget $800-$1000

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