Need advice for new build

[JJBanksIII]

Approximate Purchase Date: within the next month

Budget Range: 400-700 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: school work, gaming, web surfing, email, some music/video editing

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, GPU, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (e.g.: newegg.com, ncix.com -- to show us selection & pricing)

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: big brand names are preferable but will accept not-so-well known brands if they are reliable

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No


I have already purchased a NVIDIA GT 520 GPU. I am also looking to either the intel i5-2500 or i5-2500K. I am clueless as far as motherboards go. Any help woth choosing parts would be helpful.

Monitor Resolution: (e.g.: 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

Additional Comments: (e.g.: Need to have a window and lots of bling, I would like a quiet PC)

 

[tlmck]

I am afraid you are not going to be doing much gaming with a GT 520 card. It is very low end and really designed more for an HTPC and as a replacement for integrated video that has pooped out. If it is not too late, I would return or exchange it. You can look at this Tom's chart. For gaming these days, the Nvidia GT 545 or a AMD 6670 would be the absolute low end. just get the most the budget will allow. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Since budget is a concern, I would also skip the i5-2500k processor. You can get the Core i3-2100 for now which is still quite fast, and upgrade to the 2500k later. This will free up money for a much better video card and a good power supply to run it.

Since video editing is also in the mix, I am going to suggest an inexpensive ASUS or Gigabyte z-68 based motherboard. This type of board has features that will aid in such things.

Also for the video editing, I would suggest 8gb ram(2x4gb kit) DDR3 1333 or 1600 speed and 64 bit Windows 7.

For the video card an AMD 6850 would be very nice. Not the top end, but will do well in most games without breaking the bank.

And finally a power supply. A good quality 550 watt unit from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, and XFX with at least an 80 plus certified rating(Bronze is even better) would be best. If it is not certified avoid it.