Building 1st PC, have Newegg wishlist!-- Budget: $700-$800

[Always23]

Hey y'all,

I've decided to sell my M11XR2, and get a computer that can actually do stuff! . This is my first time, so I'm not 100% sure on all of the details with part compatibility, cooling, and case-spacing for parts--please bear with me. I also haven't decided on a monitor resolution/type as I have *no* idea where to start with this. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I've filled out the forum template below, and I've included a link to my Newegg list directly below and at the end of this post. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=24580407

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Approximate Purchase Date: within the next two weeks

Budget Range: $750 after rebates, before including the price of a monitor.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: movies/light gaming (league of legends, dead island, battlefield 3 on medium settings).

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers, OS. I do a need a monitor!

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Everything on newegg would be great, but I have an Amazon prime account as well.

Country: US

Parts Preferences: Absolutely no preference at all--hoping to get the best value.

Overclocking: Yes--I figure I won't keep the same CPU/GPU for more than a couple years at most, so why not?

SLI or Crossfire: Not something that's on my mind, since this is my first PC build, but if it it comes recommended, I would definitely consider it.

Monitor Resolution: I don't currently have a monitor, but any recent deals would be great, especially since I might buy as early as tomorrow depending on what y'all suggest.

Additional Comments: I'm not really picky about too much. The price:value ratio is probably what I'm looking at most.

I appreciate any help you can give!

Here's what I have so far in mind:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=24580407

Subtracting all the instant rebates/mail-in rebates, it comes out to around $725 before tax, which is totally within my price range. I'm definitely willing to hit the $800 range if value is good though! I haven't included a monitor in this build because I'm not sure how exactly to look for a high value one. Any suggestions would be great.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

 

[Nw333]

Hi.
Ok first of all, that video card is a no no. Id go with atleast a 560.
That you dont need a 700W PSU. Im thinking that 600-650W will be fine. I havent read any reviews about OCZ PSUs so im not sure with it.
Just get a 128GB SSD. It would be enough to fit the OS, programs and some games in.
Oh and your gonna spend atleast $1000 with this current build and without the OS/monitor

 

[Always23]

Hi.
Ok first of all, that video card is a no no. Id go with atleast a 560.
That you dont need a 700W PSU. Im thinking that 600-650W will be fine. I havent read any reviews about OCZ PSUs so im not sure with it.
Just get a 128GB SSD. It would be enough to fit the OS, programs and some games in.
Oh and your gonna spend atleast $1000 with this current build and without the OS/monitor

Thanks for the reply!

What would you say is wrong with the video card? Here's a link to it on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

It seems to come highly recommended.

I can definitely look at a weaker PSU-- I just figured that it was a decent price for good value. The price differential didn't seem that large to me.

I was definitely thinking about the 128, and I'll keep that suggestion in mind. I'm personally leaning towards the 256 for flexibibility though.

How will I spend at least 1k with this build without the monitor? My wishlist hits $867 on Newegg before instant rebates/mail-in rebates. I guess I haven't counted tax yet, but still. How?

 

[mousseng]

I'd call what you've got set up there now 'unbalanced.' The 550ti is an entry-level video card, and it's poor value. If you're looking to spend $750 (after rebates, though I wouldn't count on them), then this is what I'd do.

That wishlist includes a monitor (it's 1080p, well-reviewed, and incredibly affordable). Without it, the other parts come out to $750 before rebate, so you'd easily be able to move the GPU from a Radeon 6870 to a Radeon 7850 (which is about 20% faster and draws less power) for about $770ish total.

There's not really room in a $750 budget for an SSD, so I dropped that (it's not really going to boost any sort of game/movie performance). I also dropped the 2500k which was way overkill - the i3-2120 is more than sufficient for your needs (it can't overclock though). I added a more affordable, newer motherboard in for a future drop-in CPU upgrade should you choose to; if you'd rather just wait til Haswell to upgrade, then you could easily get away with a lower end motherboard.

Um, it's 4:30am here, I'm having some clarity issues with what I need to be explaining here, so I think it'd be better if you asked questions about it (it's always a good idea to be as skeptical as possible when it comes to internet forum advice, though don't discount it entirely).

 

[Nw333]

Thanks for the reply!

What would you say is wrong with the video card? Here's a link to it on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

It seems to come highly recommended.

I can definitely look at a weaker PSU-- I just figured that it was a decent price for good value. The price differential didn't seem that large to me.

I was definitely thinking about the 128, and I'll keep that suggestion in mind. I'm personally leaning towards the 256 for flexibibility though.

How will I spend at least 1k with this build without the monitor? My wishlist hits $867 on Newegg before instant rebates/mail-in rebates. I guess I haven't counted tax yet, but still. How?

Oh. My bad, didnt see you already have an OS

 

[Always23]

I'd call what you've got set up there now 'unbalanced.' The 550ti is an entry-level video card, and it's poor value. If you're looking to spend $750 (after rebates, though I wouldn't count on them), then this is what I'd do.

That wishlist includes a monitor (it's 1080p, well-reviewed, and incredibly affordable). Without it, the other parts come out to $750 before rebate, so you'd easily be able to move the GPU from a Radeon 6870 to a Radeon 7850 (which is about 20% faster and draws less power) for about $770ish total.

There's not really room in a $750 budget for an SSD, so I dropped that (it's not really going to boost any sort of game/movie performance). I also dropped the 2500k which was way overkill - the i3-2120 is more than sufficient for your needs (it can't overclock though). I added a more affordable, newer motherboard in for a future drop-in CPU upgrade should you choose to; if you'd rather just wait til Haswell to upgrade, then you could easily get away with a lower end motherboard.

Um, it's 4:30am here, I'm having some clarity issues with what I need to be explaining here, so I think it'd be better if you asked questions about it (it's always a good idea to be as skeptical as possible when it comes to internet forum advice, though don't discount it entirely).

Thank you so much for the response! Really glad to hear in-depth advice.

Some questions:

The PSU you suggested in the wishlist is the same price as the one I had in mine--why would you say the one you suggested is an improvement? (On top of that, how does this one compare? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017)

I definitely like the i3-2120 you suggested. Will definitely go with that.

Although I can see why you took out the SSD, I do really, really want one. Do you have any suggestions for the 120-128gb range that I could pick up? There's a Tom's Hardware article that suggests the Mushin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe (120gb) for ~115. Would the Mushin Enhanced Chronos (120gb) for ~94 work? The reviews for it look great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236

And about the RAM--the one I had on my list comes with high reviews, but yours doesn't. Any reason for the switch?

The case you suggested is $10 more than the one I had. Based on aesthetics alone, I'm totally gonna go with yours, but what are the advantages aside from the larger size?

I'm kind of torn between the 6870 and the 7850. I might just go big on the GPU and get the 7850, especially since it just came out.

I really appreciate all of your help, mousseng!

 

[mousseng]

The PSU you suggested in the wishlist is the same price as the one I had in mine--why would you say the one you suggested is an improvement? (On top of that, how does this one compare? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017)

Something to note: that was actually a wishlist I built for myself. So, to answer your question, the reason the PCP&C is an improvement over the higher wattage CM you originally had is primarily build quality and efficiency. Cooler Master tends to put out poor quality PSUs that are significantly less reliable than those of renowned brands (like Antec, Seasonic, XFX, Corsair, and PCP&C). Not to mention 600W is easily more than enough for what you're looking to get (which would put the PSU at peak efficiency). Back to the thing I said first, I'm a shameless PCP&C whore and I think that they've got the best looking PSU as well. I guess most people would find that negligible, but I like it.

The OCZ power supply is pretty good, but it's less efficient (so its actual watt output is less than the Silencer's) and has a shorter warranty. Can't say much on its build quality (OCZ seems to have an even split between good and bad models), but HWSecrets and Overclocker's Club both feel it's pretty good.

I definitely like the i3-2120 you suggested. Will definitely go with that.

Cool, just reiterating for the record: you can't overclock it.

Although I can see why you took out the SSD, I do really, really want one. Do you have any suggestions for the 120-128gb range that I could pick up? There's a Tom's Hardware article that suggests the Mushin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe (120gb) for ~115. Would the Mushin Enhanced Chronos (120gb) for ~94 work? The reviews for it look great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236

I can't really recommend any SSD and keep you under budget. My personal recommendation is get all the essential bits as best you can now, because most of them have pretty steady prices (CPU, GPU, RAM, mobo) whereas SSD and HDD prices are slowly falling. On the Chronos, I can't really comment, I don't know anything about it. If you're looking for a highly reliable SSD @128GBish, you can't go wrong with the Crucial m4 (which is a bit more expensive).

And about the RAM--the one I had on my list comes with high reviews, but yours doesn't. Any reason for the switch?

Again, this was a wishlist made to my taste. G.SKILL makes great RAM, and really the only difference between their highly-reviewed Ripjaws series and their Ares series are the heatsinks. Feel free to stick with the Ripjaws (also note that the Ares I picked are lower-latency models - not a big deal though), they're both fantastic.

The case you suggested is $10 more than the one I had. Based on aesthetics alone, I'm totally gonna go with yours, but what are the advantages aside from the larger size?

More fans, better airflow, possibly better build quality and cable management. The HAF912 is a tried and true gaming case.

I'm kind of torn between the 6870 and the 7850. I might just go big on the GPU and get the 7850, especially since it just came out.

At this point it's really just a decision of whether the 20% increase (which is pretty significant) is worth the price bump.

 

[Always23]

Something to note: that was actually a wishlist I built for myself. So, to answer your question, the reason the PCP&C is an improvement over the higher wattage CM you originally had is primarily build quality and efficiency. Cooler Master tends to put out poor quality PSUs that are significantly less reliable than those of renowned brands (like Antec, Seasonic, XFX, Corsair, and PCP&C). Not to mention 600W is easily more than enough for what you're looking to get (which would put the PSU at peak efficiency). Back to the thing I said first, I'm a shameless PCP&C whore and I think that they've got the best looking PSU as well. I guess most people would find that negligible, but I like it.

The OCZ power supply is pretty good, but it's less efficient (so its actual watt output is less than the Silencer's) and has a shorter warranty. Can't say much on its build quality (OCZ seems to have an even split between good and bad models), but HWSecrets and Overclocker's Club both feel it's pretty good.

I definitely like the i3-2120 you suggested. Will definitely go with that.

Cool, just reiterating for the record: you can't overclock it.

Although I can see why you took out the SSD, I do really, really want one. Do you have any suggestions for the 120-128gb range that I could pick up? There's a Tom's Hardware article that suggests the Mushin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe (120gb) for ~115. Would the Mushin Enhanced Chronos (120gb) for ~94 work? The reviews for it look great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236

I can't really recommend any SSD and keep you under budget. My personal recommendation is get all the essential bits as best you can now, because most of them have pretty steady prices (CPU, GPU, RAM, mobo) whereas SSD and HDD prices are slowly falling. On the Chronos, I can't really comment, I don't know anything about it. If you're looking for a highly reliable SSD @128GBish, you can't go wrong with the Crucial m4 (which is a bit more expensive).

And about the RAM--the one I had on my list comes with high reviews, but yours doesn't. Any reason for the switch?

Again, this was a wishlist made to my taste. G.SKILL makes great RAM, and really the only difference between their highly-reviewed Ripjaws series and their Ares series are the heatsinks. Feel free to stick with the Ripjaws (also note that the Ares I picked are lower-latency models - not a big deal though), they're both fantastic.

The case you suggested is $10 more than the one I had. Based on aesthetics alone, I'm totally gonna go with yours, but what are the advantages aside from the larger size?

More fans, better airflow, possibly better build quality and cable management. The HAF912 is a tried and true gaming case.

I'm kind of torn between the 6870 and the 7850. I might just go big on the GPU and get the 7850, especially since it just came out.

At this point it's really just a decision of whether the 20% increase (which is pretty significant) is worth the price bump.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Always23]

Best answer selected by Always23.