Hey guys, mind helping me spec out a new system?

Hey guys,

So i'm thinking its time for a new system. I figure, there isn't a better place on earth to ask for suggestions from than here. Mind helping me out?

I'm looking for the best value where everything is concerned. Down economy, full time college student. Blah blah you get the idea =p.

I'm interested in a 3x1 24" display type setup. So include 3 displays in your suggestions if you could ok?

Other than the monitors deal, I don't really have much preference. amd/intel or amd/nvidia anything goes!

Anyway, thanks in advance guys!

- me

Actually, since you're asking for a full system, you're better off asking in the General Hardware subforum. They deal with that kind of questions all the time. Just skim the first page and you'll see that.

So I recommend either locking this thread or contact a mod to move this thread over to the General Hardware subforum. If/when you do make/move a thread in the General Hardware subforum, please answer these questions so that they can help you better:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1349433

A) mods might move you to Gen Hardware
B) We're gonna need you to answer these questions first!
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1349433

With the understanding that Hardware Guru, Dannyboi, and a host of other frequent posters have better advice than me (if for no other reason than they track the American e-tailers, which I dont), I would suggest:

1) Waiting. ATI launches new midrange-to-performance oriented parts (based on the chip code name "Barts") very soon, with the enthusiast grade stuff (based on chip code-name "Cayman") in est. November, x-mas at the absolute latest.

2) an SSD, which, if you really want to squeeze dimes, will probably have you waiting until the next SandForce chip (Sata 3, 500mb/s throughput, 60k iops, all jaw-dropping figures, blows intel out of the water), which is unfortunately Q1 2011: http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=9335

I mean, I donno I'll let you read up on SSD's if you care, but the performance bump is subtle and unlike any PC upgrade you've ever made. It just... it ensures the workload is always on the CPU (or GPU, or RAM, as the case may-be). When you're waiting for your PC, you're waiting for numbers to be crunched, rather than waiting, while your PC also physically waits for an armature to fly across a disk.

3) If your looking for best performance/dollar, look for the Athlon II X4 600 series and a nice USB 3.0 + SATA-III board, but really without a specific budget, I'm just fishing here.

gotcha, ill pm a mod and ask them to move this. thanks guys

now on to answering those questions....

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Gaming (mostly mmorpg's) and Software Development

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

1500-1600

3) Where do you live?

Orange County, CA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Blu-Ray would be cool (but not essential). Decent sized hard drive I guess. I don't have a preference when it comes to cpu or ram. Minimum 4gb ram. More would be cool if possible.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

N/A

6) Will you be overclocking?

I dont ever plan on overclocking.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

I'd like 3 24" panels, LED backlit if possible (im under the impression that's the best way to go. correct me if thats wrong though).

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

In the next few weeks.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.

Crossfire or SLI, lots of usb ports.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

I have a legit Windows 7 Pro key from school ready to go.

Bump?

$187 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU (tax already factored in)
$150 - Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$154 - 2 x G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM (tax already factored in)
$67 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$120 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 Bluew 750W PSU
---
Total: $678 shipped

I left out the GPU because I recommend waiting until a week from now to decide what GPU to buy. By then we'll know exactly what AMD's new HD 6xxx GPUs bring to the table and to see if the rumors about the GTX 460 and 470 price drops pan out. I also left out the monitors for now as well

I went with Amazon.com as much as possible since they don't charge tax to CA residents. Also note that you actually have to drive to Microcenter in order to get the Core i5 760. That motherboard supports SLI and Crossfire so you're pretty set there. That mobo also has quite a lot of USB ports as well. That Antec 750W PSU should be enough for most video card setups, included GTX 460 SLI.

Case wise, choose your own case:
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master CM690 II Basic ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$135 - Antec P183 ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$170 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$180 - Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$200 - Lian Li PC-B25F ATX Case
$240 - Silverstone FT02B-W ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case

Find out which case you like, see if it's available on Amazon.com and then tell us what case you like so that we can factor that into our builds.

that was really nice of you to do all that work. i cant tell you how much i appreciate it.

Thanks Danny Bui

christianw said:

that was really nice of you to do all that work. i cant tell you how much i appreciate it.

Thanks Danny Bui

Click to expand...

You're welcome. It's what I do

Danny Bui said:

It's what I do

Click to expand...

LOL!

Shoulda say the same, Thanks Danny for your suggestions on my post

so im assuming a couple 6850's should be the sweet spot in this config?

whatcha think danny?

christianw said:

whatcha think danny?

Click to expand...

Actually if you're gonna do a multi-GPU config, I'd lean towards Nvidia since their multi-GPU implementation is a little better than AMD's. The GTX 460 1GB cards are dropping in price making them worthwhile getting. With that said, if you want the full story, wait another week or so until other review sites have HD 6850 Crossfire numbers against GTX 460 1GB numbers