Final Check $690 Build

[tinhajj]

Ok so I was given advice a while ago about what would be a good build on a budget and now that I am ready to buy in the next 2-3 days I'm looking to revise the build to include promotions maybe that are going on.

I have a $690 budget now

This is what I had so far:

cpu + mobo combo : http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.953422

Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095

Hard Drive: Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=22-136-769&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&SelectedRating1=1&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661

PSU: Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-550 550W: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182131

Case: Source 210 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146078

Optics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

I have a question about the hard drive.
It says its a bare drive does that mean I have to get the wires myself? Will the wires from my old hard drive work?
Does anything else work like this? Do I have to expect to get wires in the other parts as well like the optical drive?

I have one of the three hard drives listed in this link:
http://support.gateway.com/s/emac/1014960R/1014960Rcl2.shtml
I don't know which one of the three hard drives I have

I see newegg has this 30 day free shipping thing I don't know if that applies to all parts, but you can use
that if you're trying to help me stay under my 690 budget

I'm planning on getting an i5-2500k and maybe a future gpu upgrade in the future so you can also lmk if the psu will hold up.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

If you want to make another suggestion on my graphics card then thats ok too. By taking out the graphics card I have now that would free up about $220 for a different gfx card.

 

[2fast4thetown_down]

With that 220 dollars I would get a 7870.

I would also get the i5-2500k now to use that 7870 instead of doing it in the future.

 

[loops]

Overall you seem to have a good build in the works.

You are so close to a better gpu tho that I'd have you see if you could find a

gtx560 ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500196

6950: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987

A 7850 would be very nice as well. Depending on how long you want to run with the i3 you could get a Intel Pentium G850 for 20 ish bucks less and push the GPU. Then save for the i5.

 

[tinhajj]

Overall you seem to have a good build in the works.

You are so close to a better gpu tho that I'd have you see if you could find a

gtx560 ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500196

6950: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987

A 7850 would be very nice as well. Depending on how long you want to run with the i3 you could get a Intel Pentium G850 for 20 ish bucks less and push the GPU. Then save for the i5.

Maybe I'll try and get the 7850. If I do will is there going to be a big difference between the gtx 560 ti and the 7850?

Also I just wanna make sure I get an answer about my hard drive question. Will the wires from my old hard drive work for the new one? And will I need to get the wires for any other parts of my computer?

 

[loops]

Here is an i3, 6950 @ newegg (note combos)

1

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136769
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant


$84.99
$74.99
1

ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157297
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant


$119.99
$99.99
1


Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-550 550W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V ...
Item #: N82E16817182068
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...
Item #: N82E16811147153
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant
-$20.00 Combo


$159.98
$109.98
1


SAPPHIRE 11188-22-20G Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (OC Edition)
Item #: N82E16814102987
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Item #: N82E16820233144
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
-$55.00 Instant
-$10.00 Combo
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card


$304.98
$239.98
1

AMD Gift - Dirt3 Game Coupon - OEM
Item #: N82E16800995114
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$49.99 Saving


$49.99
$0.00
1

AMD Gift - Battlefield 3 coupon
Item #: N82E16800995118
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$59.99 Saving


$59.99
$0.00
1


Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100
Item #: N82E16819115078
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$2.00 Instant
-$11.00 Combo


$138.98
$125.98
Subtotal: $650.92

Your Mobo comes with wires and should work unless your hard drives are old.

 

[bigcyco1]

Motherboard & HDD: $160 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.977573

PSU & RAM: $95 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.956902

CPU & Optical Drive: $223 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.972810
Case: $39.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075
GPU: $250 $239.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102986

 

[azeem40]

He'd want dual channel RAM.

 

[z_4]

Here's a build that includes i5-2500K & 6950. Have a look:

CPU & Optical Drive: $224- i5-2500K & Samsung(Great CPU for it's price)

Motherboard & HDD: $155- Biostar TZ77B & Seagate Barracuda 500GB

GPU & RAM: $220- Sapphire Radeon 6950 & AMD EE 4GB

PSU: $60- Corsair CX500 (PSU has promo offer)

Case: $40- NZXT Source 210(Same)

Total (Excluding Rebates, Prmos): 699 USD

Rebates, Promos: ~$25

 

[bigcyco1]

He'd want dual channel RAM.

oh o.k.

 

[azeem40]

Z_4, that RAM only works on AMD systems.

 

[tinhajj]

I kind of like what loops has especially since I'd plan on buying bf3 so thats 60 dollars of savings too.

His build comes out to 650 leaving me with 40 to spend on 8 gb

I'm just wondering if I could disable the leds from the case that gets bundled with the psu?

 

[z_4]

Z_4, that RAM only works on AMD systems.

I don't think so. Here a link from Anandtech stating they will work on both AMD and Intel system. Have a look:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5156/introducing-amds-memory-brand

If that's problem then GSKill NS 4GB worth $22 shuld do the job.

 

[loops]

I kind of like what loops has especially since I'd plan on buying bf3 so thats 60 dollars of savings too.

His build comes out to 650 leaving me with 40 to spend on 8 gb

I'm just wondering if I could disable the leds from the case that gets bundled with the psu?

it has 8 gig...part of the combo, yes you can disable leds.

 

[tinhajj]

it has 8 gig...part of the combo, yes you can disable leds.

O dang didn't see that.

Then this is perfect. I'll let the thread sit for a little bit and then I'll use this if nothing comes up

 

[loops]

O dang didn't see that.

Then this is perfect. I'll let the thread sit for a little bit and then I'll use this if nothing comes up

Do note, z_4 build comes with same card as mine (free Bf3) and an 2500k cpu. He is just a tad over budget but it is also something to consider but I am not a fan of the ram he picked tho.

 

[tinhajj]

let's say i went with z_4's build. would his psu 500w be good enough for overclocking the i5?

 

[z_4]

let's say i went with z_4's build. would his psu 500w be good enough for overclocking the i5?

Very much possible to overclock both the CPU & GPU
Here's a link that shows load power consumption of 6950:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-21.html
the system has the following config:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-7.html

Also this site will give you a rough idea of the min. wattage PSU needed:
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

 

[tinhajj]

Very much possible to overclock both the CPU & GPU
Here's a link that shows load power consumption of 6950:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-21.html
the system has the following config:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-7.html

Also this site will give you a rough idea of the min. wattage PSU needed:
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

Ok that sounds good just a few more questions and I think I'll have my mind made up

How high do you think I could overclock the cpu? Do you think I could get 4.0 ghz?

I might not be able to get that psu in time for the promo so could I message you later as to what you suggest to get instead?

You also suggested I combo the gpu with a 4 gb stick of ram, but I think I'll spend the extra money and combo a 8 gb stick so I'll post the bundle that I'll be doing for that to get your opinion

Also will the psu still be good enough even if im running at 4.0 ghz and full load for like 10 hours?

Last question is I read something about video ram being good if you have a high resolution 1980x1024 or higher. Also the article said it was good for AA. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-ram-4870,2428-10.html

My monitor is 1280x720 should I still get this card? My other monitor is 1280x1024 and I might play on that too.

 

[loops]

Ok that sounds good just a few more questions and I think I'll have my mind made up

How high do you think I could overclock the cpu? Do you think I could get 4.0 ghz?

I might not be able to get that psu in time for the promo so could I message you later as to what you suggest to get instead?

You also suggested I combo the gpu with a 4 gb stick of ram, but I think I'll spend the extra money and combo a 8 gb stick so I'll post the bundle that I'll be doing for that to get your opinion

Also will the psu still be good enough even if im running at 4.0 ghz and full load for like 10 hours?

Last question is I read something about video ram being good if you have a high resolution 1980x1024 or higher. Also the article said it was good for AA. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-ram-4870,2428-10.html

My monitor is 1280x720 should I still get this card? My other monitor is 1280x1024 and I might play on that too.

You will be ok w/ 4 gigs of ram. Find a 2 x 2 set at about 25 bucks. Add later, maybe after you get you MIRs.

To OC as you wish, you need a better cpu cooler than stock. It will cost about 20-30 bucks. Not needed right now, just know that you can when it is needed.

Your monitor is not very demanding. The builds here will do fine and maybe even a bit of a waste as you can take on a bit more monitor with your build.

 

[tinhajj]

Ok so here is what I came up with from what you all said.

I wanted the 8 gb ram because im going to be running multiple ram intensive programs in the background.

And I'll just ask again to be safe this psu should be able to hold up at full load for a long time right? I see some people saying their psu died in 2.5 years, but obviously there will be more people who post about their troubles than people who post about their success with a product. Still just wondering if it will last me.

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5503/57636866.jpg

Am I good to buy?

 

[loops]

Ok so here is what I came up with from what you all said.

I wanted the 8 gb ram because im going to be running multiple ram intensive programs in the background.

And I'll just ask again to be safe this psu should be able to hold up at full load for a long time right? I see some people saying their psu died in 2.5 years, but obviously there will be more people who post about their troubles than people who post about their success with a product. Still just wondering if it will last me.

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5503/57636866.jpg

Am I good to buy?

Pull trigger. Let us know how things go and post a pic if you can. Hope to see ya on Bf3 and maybe kill you a few times. Toon name: Beehiva

 

[tinhajj]

Pull trigger. Let us know how things go and post a pic if you can. Hope to see ya on Bf3 and maybe kill you a few times. Toon name: Beehiva

Lol I'd be more than happy to die a few times in exchange for getting the build up and running. ill try and remember to add u to

Alrighty ill order all this stuff tonight

thanks for all the help you guys

 

[tinhajj]

Best answer selected by tinhajj.