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<$1500 build help.

M

MuppetMower

n00b
Joined
Feb 13, 2009
Messages
40
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Primarily gaming, but it will see a little bit of solid-modeling and stress analysis.


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

Less than $1500 including tax and shipping.


3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Long Beach, CA


4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?

Case, motherboard, cpu, gpu, ram, psu, dvd drive, cpu cooler and thermal paste, hard drive, and a monitor.


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

I've got the mouse and keyboard covered.


6) Will you be overclocking?

Definitely


7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

I was thinking of getting a 24-27in monitor. I've been looking at the Catleaps et al, but not sure if I should go with something cheaper or better.


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

As soon as I have the parts picked out.


9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

USB 3.0. SATA 6 Gb/s. Good overclocking capabilities.


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

Windows 7 64 Student(its enterprise or ultimate i dont recall)

I know cases are personal preference. I like simple cases along the lines of the Corsair 650D. I recently started seeing fractal Design cases online, and I am interested in the Define R4 and Arc series. Does anyone have any thoughts about these cases? The FDs are a bit cheaper.

Thanks guys.
 
The Fractal Design R4 is a good case but I really wouldn't go with it if you're planning on overclocking. The Arc has better cooling than the R4. But here's some other cases to check out:
$80 - Corsair Carbide Series 300R ATX Case
$95 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Titanium Grey ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$119 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Green Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR White Finish w/Red Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White ATX Case
$140 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$160 - Thermaltake VN300M1W2N Chase MK-1 ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$162 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW-USB3.0 ATX case
$180 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02S ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$240 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case
$245 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW ATX Case

I would go for the Catleap monitors if I was you.

Here's a prelim build for you:
$355 - Intel Core i5-3570K CPU + Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard Combo
$66 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10666CL9D-16GBNT 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$380 - eVGA 02G-P4-2670-KR GeForce GTX 670 2GB PCI-E Video Card Combo
$90 - Samsung 830 128GB SSD
$89 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - LG iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$57 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---
Total: $1085 shipped

Yes I've left out the case and monitor for now as that's up to you.
 
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Can you get any good deals for the 7950 in USA?

Canada, you can get MSI 7950 for around ~$260ish after MIR

BitFenix Shinobi XL is another case option?
 
There are some 7970s for the same price as the 670. I have heard that they perform similarly, and but the 7970 over clocks much better. Are they worth looking at?

Can I really get away with a psu that small? I definitely want a modular one, but I had been looking in the 750w range?

Any reason in particular you chose that ram? I've found faster corsair ram with lower timing and heat spreaders for cheaper than that.

I might hold off on getting an ssd for now if I need the cash elsewhere.
 
MuppetMower said:
There are some 7970s for the same price as the 670. I have heard that they perform similarly, and but the 7970 over clocks much better. Are they worth looking at?
Click to expand...
Yes the 7970 is worth a look. I went with Nvidia simply because of the higher chance of better drivers.
MuppetMower said:
Can I really get away with a psu that small? I definitely want a modular one, but I had been looking in the 750w range?
Click to expand...
Yes you can. You're not doing SLI or Crossfire hence why you don't need a 750W PSU. If you really want modular, I recommend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093

However if you're still worried about potential power issues, let's split the difference: Go with this 620W PSU then:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

MuppetMower said:
Any reason in particular you chose that ram? I've found faster corsair ram with lower timing and heat spreaders for cheaper than that.
Click to expand...
Cheapest 16GB RAM set I could find on Newegg. Current Intel platforms do not benefit that much from lower timings or higher speed. I don't factor in MIR until I receive it so if that Corsair had a MIR, I ignore it. In addition, was the Corsair RAM you were looking at a 16GB RAM set rated at 1.5V like the above G.Skill?
MuppetMower said:
I might hold off on getting an ssd for now if I need the cash elsewhere.
Click to expand...
At $90, thats a fantastic deal for a good quality SSD. Most SSDs at that $90 price point are crap. This one isn't.
 
Oh. I thought it was an 8gb kit you had linked. My mistake lol.

As for the 27in ebay monitors. Which should I go with? There are several different versions of the catleaps and shimian.

How does that cm heatsink. Compare to the linked true spirit 120?
 
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