Looking to build a new computer

D

dave2521

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
97
Ok guys ( lot of these being posted recently) I am looking to buya new computer that I will mainly use for gaming, watching movies (HD), and some school work.

Here are the list of questions that I will answer

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming, watching movies (HD), and some school work.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
1500, after tax/shipping
3) Where do you live?
Phoenix Arizona
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Looking for a full build, minus monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None
6) Will you be overclocking?
It is possible, I would have to answer yes on this one.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Its a 28" Hanns-g 1920 x 1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
With in a month
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
n/a
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No

Thanks for the help in advance guys. Let me know if you need to know anything else :)

UPDATE**

Build saved on page two. Please post opinions. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
I'm thinking either an i5 750 or i7 920 build, with 4 or 6 GB of DDR3 RAM, two 5850s in crossfire. What kind of optical drive do you want? Blu-ray, dvd burner, blu ray burner? What kind of hard disk storage do you prefer, less than or more than 1 TB?
 
Have you got a good case in mind if you are over clocking? Antec 900/1200 comes to mind.
 
Windows 7 would be a good idea. What type of speakers do you have? 5.1 or better?
 
ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 145$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131620
Processor Intel Core i5-750 2.66 GHz
4 Cores, 8.0MB L3 Cache $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215&cm_re=i5_750-_-19-115-215-_-Product
Memory G Skill 4gb 1600 105$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=g_skill_ddr3_1600_4gb-_-20-231-193-_-Product
Graphics 2 x Radeon HD 5850 (CrossFireX)
1.0GB GDDR5-4000 Per Card $616
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103085&cm_re=5850-_-14-103-085-_-Product
Hard Drives 1TB Hitachi 3Gb/sec 80$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145287
Optical LG blu ray drive and dvd burner 90$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136162
Case NZXT M59 80$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058&Tpk=NZXT M59
Power Corsair CMPSU-750HX 750W
ATX12V, EPS12V , 80-Plus Certified
$150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&Tpk=CMPSU-750HX

= $1466 before rebates, after shipping. $1436 after 30$ worth of MIRs

Edit: fixed pricing mistakes. kind on envious of this rig, wish i had that much to spend on a new one lol
 
Last edited:
that is an awesome system for the looks of it. I really do like it. I personally am a Nvidia guy though, are the new ATI cards that much better than Nvidia?

And considering the games that i will be playing (battlefield, Dragon age, WOW) etc would i need a X-fire configiuration?

Thanks again!
 
These ATI cards support DirectX 11 and offer more bang for the buck than nVidia, at the moment at least. nVidia is releasing a couple new cards soon, and maybe the prices will alter somewhat.
IMO there's no better way to to make use of your budget than the above setup. Others may say go for a single 5870 card and ditch the crossfire, and that's a reasonable alternative if you want to save 200$ and don't plan on gaming at the highest resolutions and highest detail levels, with AA and AF maxed out. I'd just consider the setup listed as being pretty much future-proof, no way you're going to upgrade from it for a while! Look here for comparison benchmarks between the 2x5850, the 5870, and a few other GPU options for details (fps, resolutions, etc.):
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5850,2433.html
But in short, yeah right now isn't a great time to buy nVidia, unless you're intested in 3d vission but then you have to buy a 120Hz display and wear expensive stereroscopic glasses.
 
stephen0983 said:
ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 145$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131620
Processor Intel Core i5-750 2.66 GHz
4 Cores, 8.0MB L3 Cache $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215&cm_re=i5_750-_-19-115-215-_-Product
Memory G Skill 4gb 1600 105$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=g_skill_ddr3_1600_4gb-_-20-231-193-_-Product
Graphics 2 x Radeon HD 5850 (CrossFireX)
1.0GB GDDR5-4000 Per Card $616
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103085&cm_re=5850-_-14-103-085-_-Product
Hard Drives 1TB Hitachi 3Gb/sec 80$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145287
Optical LG blu ray drive and dvd burner 90$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136162
Case NZXT M59 80$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058&Tpk=NZXT M59
Power Corsair CMPSU-750HX 750W
ATX12V, EPS12V , 80-Plus Certified
$150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&Tpk=CMPSU-750HX

= $1466 before rebates, after shipping. $1436 after 30$ worth of MIRs

Edit: fixed pricing mistakes. kind on envious of this rig, wish i had that much to spend on a new one lol
Click to expand...

Why go crossfire with a new build? How will he crossfire in the future? Grab a single 5870 and be done with it. Plus if you are spending this $$ buy a better brand than diamond. The F3 1TB is faster than that hitachi. Also that NZXT case isn't all that great...You also did not include the OS, which is another $100.

I7 920+XFX 5870+G.Skill 6gb DDR3-1600+500gb F3+Win7+Corsair 750w psu would be more appropriate. Approximately $1400, thats $100 left for case/dvd drive.
 
@Shadowssong:
Why go crossfire, because he plays games, why else? It's like saying why get a graphics card when there's one on-board.
He will crossfire in the future by having two ATI cards. Is there any other way lol?
True a single 5870 is good in the GPU department, but two 5850s is better (see benchmarks)
I've bought Diamond in the past and never had any problems. Newegg reviews for card seemed decent. Do you have any 3rd party reviews showing Diamond's flaws, or is this just hearsay?
Link for F3 1TB?
Case is fine.
O/S was neglected, true, good eye.
i7 920 isn't a bad idea, probably not worth the extra $$ for CPU and RAM though, OP games, doesn't multi-task with CPU intensive applications
OP watches HD movies, 100$ does not cover a Blu Ray drive and a case.
If you want to help out please post your system build with links and prices. A few critiques about my system doesn't really help a whole lot unless we have something to compare it to. TIA
 
As far as HD movies go, i have a PS3 in the same room as the computer, so the B-ray drive is not needed. as far as case goes, i just want something that cools very well and looks nice.
 
Good to know. Switched Optical drive and added O/S. $7 over budget isn't bad. If there is a faster HDD it may be worth it, but I'm not seeing any F3 1TB in newegg, besides deactivated items, but what good is that

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 145$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131620
Processor Intel Core i5-750 2.66 GHz
4 Cores, 8.0MB L3 Cache $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-215-_-Product
Memory G Skill 4gb 1600 105$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-193-_-Product
Graphics 2 x Radeon HD 5850 (CrossFireX)
1.0GB GDDR5-4000 Per Card $616
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-085-_-Product
Hard Drives 1TB Hitachi 3Gb/sec 80$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145287
Samsung DVD-RW with Lightscribe (26$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188
Case NZXT M59 80$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=NZXT M59
Power Corsair CMPSU-750HX 750W
ATX12V, EPS12V , 80-Plus Certified
$150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=CMPSU-750HX
Windows 7 Pro x64 OEM ($105)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...54&cm_re=windows_7_oem-_-32-116-754-_-Product
= $1507 before rebates, after shipping. $1477 after 30$ worth of MIRs
 
is the on board sound for that MB good? or do i need to look at buying a sound card as well?

Also is 4gb ram enough?

Thanks again
 
The 5850 will bitstream digital audio (TrueHD/DTS-HD) though the HDMI port for you. That's even better than the onboard audio. Is your monitor HDMI compatible?

Yeah 4GB is plenty. You'd only notice a difference with more if you're doing some serious multitasking with memory-intensive applications. And in the future if you want to upgrade to 8GB (say the price of DDR3 drops in a year) you can easily add another 4GB with that motherboard.
 
Yes it is HDMI compatible, and i have a logitech 5.1 speaker set... Not sure the model #
 
Here's my take on the build - I went with a Asus P6T vanilla board with the i7 920 and 6GB of cas 7 Gskill 1600 ram which will give good overclocking capabilities. The ATI 5850 is good bang for the buck from Diamond a quality builder here in the US. Will easly play HD movies on your 28' monitor and support High quality output in games, additionally it supports HDMI which allows for great sound and video.(Also has Displayport) The 1TB F1 Samsung drive will give you good performance with plenty of space. the Coolermaster case is a great bang for the buck, looks sexy, has great airflow and very quiet from the reviews I read

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black $69.99

SAMSUNG F1 $149.99

ATI DIAMOND 5850 $299.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX $79.99 with MIR

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) Cas 7 DDR3 1600 $179.99

ASUS P6T $229.99

Intel i7 920 $288.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $104.99

LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo $89.99


Build Total $1,483.91 +/- shipping
 
Last edited:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/48391.aspx , here's a quick reference for you

not sure about the i5 but with the i7 you can reach 4.0GHz and higher on each core easily, i think this is due to higher bus speeds on the i7

8 threads on i7 versus 4 on the i5, no hyperthreading on the i5, but the i5 has a wicked feature called turbo mode that allows to bump single threads as high 3.2

3 memory channels on the i7 versus only 2 on the i5

quick link
 
Last edited:
I still thing if gaming is important to go with the i5 / 2x5850 build. Crazyfinx's isn't bad, but for your budget it's too much emphasis on CPU and RAM and too little emphasis on GPU(s). I think for your budget you should be able to game at the highest settings and resolution possible, at 60 frames a second... if you switch to his build you're looking at an average 40 fps. And a year or two you'll have to buy a 2nd 5850 to keep it that way.
The hard drive may be an improvement, but that's all IMO.

And for your 5.1 Logitech speakers, those have multiple stereo inputs (color coordinated) correct? If so you'll likely be using the onboard 8-channel audio.
 
Ok that makes sense regarding the processor and cards. I think i will have to spend a good deal of time when i get home to see if i wanna bite the bullet and go for building the new rig
 
also, the case i was looking at the antech 900 (i believe that is what it is called). Any real differences in the two cases or is it more personal preference.

Thanks!
 
the Antec 900 is an awesome case with a huge 200mm top fan that sucks out the heat, not sure which two cases you were trying to compare but the coolermaster I choose was to meet your pricing requirements, the coolermaster case is best bang for you buck kinda deal, great airflow, quiet design and quality build, the NZT case also looks like a great bang for your buck type case with great reviews that meet your budget requirements. But your right its all about preference, at that price I would go with this or this instead if your budget was a little higher, you can go wrong with lian li cases :D

I would have to agree with stephen's comments about your gaming option, but i wouldn't waste money on two cards, just get one 5870 for $389.99 and overclock it, some have been able to overclock to 1100 mhz on the gpu and 1300mhz on the memory with a little voltage increase see here. This would put you in the 50fps+ average range at 1920x1200. The reason I say to not buy two cards is because in a few months when the prices drop on the upcoming 5970 your crossfire setup will become obsolete. This is just coming from experience and only an opinion, I dunno maybe I'm jaded on this topic but back when I initially got into the pc builds/modding arena I would go with SLI or crossfire setups because two was always better the one only to get pissed off when 1 card a few months later would perform better at a cheaper price. Your going to easily drop $50 bucks more on a crossfire setup, not to mention scaling issues, case placements issues depending on which case you get, and increased power consumption.

I put my build on a cpu overclocking capability emphasis. In my opinion i would rather have a somewhat two year future proof cpu-mobo-ram build, with the option of swapping out the video cards and hard drives because its always cheaper and easier to switch a video card for improved video performance or a hard drive (SSD for example) versus having to buy and swap out a cpu,motherboard, and ram every six months because your trying to play catch up with the latest processing capabilities. I've also read that going with SLI or crossfire(if you go with that option) on an i5 will hurt your video performance just because of the bus speeds. Just my two cents on that.
 
Last edited:
dave2521 said:
also, the case i was looking at the antech 900 (i believe that is what it is called). Any real differences in the two cases or is it more personal preference.
Click to expand...

Cases are mostly personal preference. Personally, I prefer the RC-690 instead. It has more room, similar airflow, and a sturdier feel to it, IMO, than the Antec 900. I also think the 900 is overpriced. Don't get me wrong, I have a bunch of Antec cases... I just dislike their gamer series compared to the other choices out there. Danny has a nice list of cases you can check out, if you're interested.

I'll read the rest of the thread when I have more time.
 
dave2521 said:
also, the case i was looking at the antech 900 (i believe that is what it is called). Any real differences in the two cases or is it more personal preference.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

As enginurd said, cases are usually bought based on personal aesthetics rather than logic. With that said, the CM RC-690 is a significantly better case than the Antec 900 as it has more room, better cable management, and almost the same cooling capability while being about $20 cheaper. Those are the facts. Now for the opinion: I think the RC-690 looks waay better than the Antec 900 :)

Oh and here's my cases list:
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 331 RC-331-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 332 RC-332-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$50 - Thermaltake WingRS 201 VJ60001N2Z ATX Case
$60 - Antec 300 ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$120 - Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z ATX Case
$130 - Cooler Master Storm Sniper ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$140 - Antec P183 ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$180 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$180 - Lian Li PC-9 ATX Case
$200 - Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-V1200A Plus II ATX Case

Hmmm gotta update that list.

Anyway, if you still want to get the Antec 900 for the look despite all of its flaws compared to the Coolermaster RC-690, go for it. It's still a decent, if a bit overpriced, case as enginurd noted.
 
I would go with the Core i5 750 build. Stepping-up to the i7 and LGA 1366 is not worthwhile for a "run of the mill" gaming build

LGA 1366 is better for folks who are thinking about exotic builds like Tri-CrossFire or Tri-SLI, people who need serious amounts of memory and bandwidth (read: workstations and servers) and people who need serious disk throughput via PCIe RAID controllers. There is absolutely no other reason to pay the $150 premium associated with it, since the Core i5 750 will perform exactly the same in-games as the Core i7 920.

Oh, and if you find it's back in-stock when you do your build, I would definitely pick-up this XFX 5850 card over Diamond. The price is the same, but XFX gives you a transferable lifetime warranty (be sure to register the card on their website within 30 days of purchase to get the lifetime warranty). It's also well-recognized that XFX has some of the best support in the industry, whereas the resurrected Diamond Multimedia brand has not been around long enough to garner such a favorable reputation.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4150442&cm_re=xfx_5850-_-14-150-442-_-Product
 
The Antec Nine Hundred Two is a little smaller than the 900, but has a few more advanced features. Separate controls on the exterior of the case make managing air flow a snap. The 200mm fan is also a big plus as well. I would recommend adding a SSD for the OS. The Nine Hundred Two is on sale for $104.99, and the OCZ Vertex is $139 with a $40 MIR at microcenter in store only. Might I add they are a good deal.
 
Ok i think i have the build i want to go with. Please let me know what you think.

New Build

Only thing not in there would be the F3 1TB hard drive.

Would be around 1200 before shipping. What do you all think, and also what is the difference in these 3 mother boards.

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

ASUS P7H57D-V EVO LGA 1156 Intel H57 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
 
The Gigabyte board also has SATA600 and USB3.0 for less money, and is also a good board.
 
Fair enough, thank you for the assistance... now for my usage ( gaming, watching tv/hdmovies, school etc) should i invest in the i7 920 or stick with the i5?
 
dave2521 said:
Fair enough, thank you for the assistance... now for my usage ( gaming, watching tv/hdmovies, school etc) should i invest in the i7 920 or stick with the i5?
Click to expand...

Unless your school work involves a ton of HD video editing, photoshop, and/or virtualization work, stick with the i5.
 
One last question. Regarding the case. I am looking at the Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced... Awesome case but doesnt seem like it would fit the 5970 if i ever do plan to upgrade to that.

are there any cases out there that would fit it?

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top