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New build advice

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I was going to build this computer and wanted some thoughts from the professionals out there.

Approximate Purchase Date: 2 weeks when I get paid

Budget Range: $900-$1,100. Like everyone I would like this to be as cheap as possible.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video Editing, Games, Homework, Browsing.

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: None. This is all new

Do you need to buy OS: No. But for the record would use Windows 7. I am curious about using Linux. Never used it, but would like to try.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Micro Center. If I can get the parts cheaper, I would use Newegg, Tiger Direct, or Amazon.

Location: New York, NY

Parts Preferences: Would like to go with the most modern tech I can for the money I am willing to spend

Overclocking: Later in life when I am trying to squeeze as much performance out of the rig

SLI or Crossfire: Not straight away, but down the line yes.

Your Monitor Resolution: I have not picked out a monitor yet. In the future I would like the ability to have dual monitors.

Things I would like: A window on my case so I can see inside and at least 1 USB 3.0 port on the front or top of the case.

Well here is the list of parts I have at the moment.


CPU: Intel Core i3570k $189.99


MOBO: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Z77 ATX $84.99 (If I buy the CPU above they take $50 off the price. Its usually $134.99


SSD Drive: OCZ Technology Agility 3 120GB $84.99 after rebate $74.99


RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 $38.99


PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKIII Series 600W $109.99 after rebate $89.99


CASE: Zalman Z11 Plus HF1 Mid Tower $64.99 after rebate $44.99


OPTICAL DRIVE: Lite On 24X DVD Burner $17.99


CPU COOLER: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $29.99


GRAPHICS CARD: Asus HD7870 DC2-2GD5 AMD Radeon HD 7870 2048 MB $259.99 after rebate $239.99



$881.91 Subtotal
$30.87 Tax

$912.78 Total

-$70.00 After all mail in rebates

$842.78 When all is said and done + Whatever the monitor I chose would cost. Figured something in the $150-$200 range that would put me about $1,042.78.

How am I doing so far? Does this rig work well and leave me with options to upgrade in the future? Do you have anything you would like to add?

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Looking good - those are some nice discounts MicroCenter is giving.

As tempting as it looks, the OCZ Agility 3 is not a good SSD. Great price, but not a reliable drive at all. Go with the Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD or the OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD instead.

Also, try to squeeze in a 500GB or a 1TB HDD in there. A WD Caviar Green shouldn't cost you more than $75 for 1TB

Good points on the Hard Drive. I forgot to mention I was going to purchase one of those. Probably in November after I have recovered from paying for this and my rent. I was going to get 1TB WD Caviar Black, or Seagate 2TB.
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Camaro67 said:
Good points on the Hard Drive. I forgot to mention I was going to purchase one of those. Probably in November after I have recovered from paying for this and my rent. I was going to get 1TB WD Caviar Black, or Seagate 2TB.


Remember, a Caviar Black as a secondary drive is unnecessary. The extra RPM won't really matter as much, as your OS will boot of the SSD. Go for a Caviar Green/Blue or the Seagate equivalent of a quiet 5400 RPM, high capacity drive instead.

evilqueens said:
Remember, a Caviar Black as a secondary drive is unnecessary. The extra RPM won't really matter as much, as your OS will boot of the SSD. Go for a Caviar Green/Blue or the Seagate equivalent of a quiet 5400 RPM, high capacity drive instead.



Ok. I did not know actually. I will look into the Caviar Green. I also took a look at a different SSD. I saw the Samsung one listed below at Micro Center. Is this a better SSD then the one I originally chose?



Its $129.99. Originally $139.99.

Do you know how much space an OS would take up on an SSD, say windows 7 or even linux? Just wondering how much room I have is it worth it to load a game or two directly to my SSD? Will I have space or is that just a waste of time?

thehumanidiot said:
I can fit my os on a 60gb ssd and still have 10gb to spare which is good for a few games



Ok that is good to know. Is it easy if I want to move anything to my regular hard drive once I get one that I do not want on the SSD?

Camaro67 said:
Ok. I did not know actually. I will look into the Caviar Green. I also took a look at a different SSD. I saw the Samsung one listed below at Micro Center. Is this a better SSD then the one I originally chose?



Its $129.99. Originally $139.99.

Do you know how much space an OS would take up on an SSD, say windows 7 or even linux? Just wondering how much room I have is it worth it to load a game or two directly to my SSD? Will I have space or is that just a waste of time?


That is rather expensive for a 128GB drive. Amazon has been having some insane sales on the Samsung drives in the last few days. I remember seeing it sell for around $75 a day ago. Look into it for sure, but don't get the Agility 3.

A 64GB SSD will be okay - but it will fill up very fast. 10GB to spare is maybe 2 games at most (1 if it is a newer game). Note that SSD performance significantly degrades as you reach the capacity of the drive. This is why I recommend the 128GB drive as you will have more room to store content, and leave a bit of a cushion (~20% free) so that the SSD performs up to spec.

Look for better prices, though. $129.99 is excessive for that drive. You could get a 256GB Samsung SSD for about $170 when it's on sale!

EDIT: Links to the 128GB and 256GB Samsung SSD's:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-driv...
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-driv...
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