$3500 Main Computer Build Help Needed

E

ElvisG

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Messages
326
I'm about to come into some money very soon and have decided to build another computer. I will be needing computer, monitors, mouse, and keyboard. My budget is between $3000 - $3500. This will be for gaming, photoshop, and VM. I will be overclocking. I am not worried about taxes and shipping so count that out. I plan on building this in 2 to 3 weeks. I do not plan on SLI or Crossfire. The OS is taking care of.

Here is what I picked out so far.

Gigabyte GA-EX58-Extreme LGA 1366 (The reason I picked this is because of the 10 SATA ports) $328
1x Intel 25X-M G2 2.5" 160GB Retail (This will be for OS, Apps, Games. I was thinging about doing 2x 80 in RAID 0 but I don't think I would need that much of an extra performance. If Newegg doesn't get these in prior to 8/28 then I will pick the OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD because I plan on ordering all this stuff in 2 weeks. I don't want to wait that long.) $449
Antec P183 case $179
CORSAIR 750TX Power Supply $179
Intel i7 920 Retail (I don't think I would need a 3rd party CPU fan because of how I have seen the DO chips perform.) $288
1x XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon 4890 1GB $249
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB DDR3 1600 (3 x 2GB) Retail $119
3x Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB SATA (This would be for extra storage) $109 x 3 = $327
1x Western Digital Element 1TB External Hard Drive ( I need to replace my old external HD. I don't know what a good external HD to pick.) $119
2x Samsung 2233RZ Black 22" 120Hz $429 x 2 = $860
2x Plextor 22x DVD Super Multi-Burner Black SATA Model PX-850SA SW Retail (I really don't know what to pick on SATA DVD burners) No price because out of stock
1x Logitech G5 7 Button Mouse $49
1x Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Keyboard $49

Newegg prices

$328
$449
$179
$179
$288
$249
$119
$327
$119
$860
$49
$49
Total = $3195


I haven't picked a video card yet but I was thinking about ATI 4890. Any suggestions would be nice and thank you for looking.

*Note:
Change the 2x LG W2453V-PF Black 24" 2ms to Samsung 2233RZ 22" 120Hz
Change the 4x Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB SATA to 3x WD Caviar WD1001FALS 1TB
Added the 1x XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon 4890 1GB
 
Last edited:
A couple of odd things about your planned setup:
- The Corsair 750TX is $120 at newegg, not $179. By that token, the Antec P183 is $141 at newegg, not $179.
- Why four of those WD 640GB drives? For the same price as those four drives, you can get three of the below WD 1TB Black drives. Three of those 1TB drives would be 3TB of extra storage versus four of those 640GB drive with 2TB of storage:
$95 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- The HD4890 is a good choice for your setup. I recommend this particular video card due its double lifetime warranty:
$195 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card
- Which Corsair XMS set are you referring to? The DDR3 1333 or DDR3 1600 set? They're both the same price so I recommend going with the DDR3 1600 RAM set of the off chance that you may OC.
- With the "extra" cash from the price correction of the PSU and case, use that towards a secound set of DDR3 100 RAM.
- If you live in a particularly hot place or plan on overclocking, definite get a 3rd party HSF.
 
Sine he is buying in 2-3 weeks, I think he is giving regular prices. I think a EA650 would be a good choice if those aren't at thier discounted prices. I also agree on the 1tb drives.
 
You're going to spend $350 a monitor on a $3500 system? That just makes me wince. All the other pieces make the computer work faster, but the monitor is the one piece that makes the computer look better. Spend more on the monitor!

The NEC 2490 is certainly the best for Photoshop, but at $1100 or so each, is a bit pricey to get two for a $3500 budget. Otherwise, the 24" monitor market is tough to shop for, because the 2490 is the only one that's standard gamut - all the others are wide gamut. You might do something like a NEC 2490 for one monitor and a HP LP2475 or Dell 2408WFP for the other monitor, or just two HP LP2475. Another possibility is getting the NEC 2490 for Photoshop work and a Samsung 2233rz for the gaming. Anyway, rethink your monitors and exactly how you'll be using them.
 
evilsofa said:
Another possibility is getting the NEC 2490 for Photoshop work and a Samsung 2233rz for the gaming. Anyway, rethink your monitors and exactly how you'll be using them.
Click to expand...

Why would you game on a Samsung 2233rz if you had a NEC 2490?
 
Even though I do want a 30" LCD I just do not want to spend that much on 2 of them. I have to have 2 LCD monitors. I put Photoshop down but it's only a hobby of mine not something I do every day. I listed the prices like that because I don't know what will be on-sale when I go to purchase all this stuff.

So Danny, these 1TB WD Black drives are as good as the AALS 640GB drives? I have an AALS and I love it. I don't mind getting 3x 1TB WD drives as long as I know that they preform as good as the AALS.

Sorry about not specifing what type of speed the RAM the CORSAIR is. It's the DDR3 1600. I live on-base so I don't pay the cooling bill so my house is always at 72 degrees.

gwarren007, is the Antec EA650 650W better then the 750TX?

evilsofa, you are so right. I just do want to spend a grand for a monitor though. I really want 2x 24" LCD monitors but the Samsung 2233rz is amazing. I have decided that I want 120hz for my monitor but I can't seem to find any 24" LCD's around. Is there a reason for this?
 
I recommend getting the Corsair HX750 for your power supply. There isn't any power supply better than the HX750/HX850 now at the price range ($150 - $200). And I also would like to suggest you getting a 3rd party CPU fan regardless, it will cool your CPU much much better during load when you overclock. They're only in the $60 range, I can't see how you can/should skip that with a $3500 budget.
 
ElvisG said:
So Danny, these 1TB WD Black drives are as good as the AALS 640GB drives? I have an AALS and I love it. I don't mind getting 3x 1TB WD drives as long as I know that they preform as good as the AALS.

.....

gwarren007, is the Antec EA650 650W better then the 750TX?
Click to expand...

The 1TB Black are just as good as the 640GB Blacks. So definitely get them.

The Antec EA650 is not better than the 750TX. With a relatively high power setup like, I'd recommend the 750TX as a minimum. You could pull it off with the EA650 with a good margin but better safe than sorry right?
 
With that high of a budget, a Corsair 750TX for $120 is minor. As far as the monitor goes, if you want 2 x 24" at least get one that is an 8 bit panel. I would say the HP LP2475 for $515 at Provantage.com. It does have a wide gamut but, just calibrate it as best you can. The NEC 2490 is a great 24" but, if you want 2 that's pushing your budget since your budget on the monitor(s) is $1,000
 
The dell outlet has the 3007-hc for $799 right now. I would get that before they sell out again.
 
Added the changes to the original post. I think I'm going to go ahead and buy a 3rd party CPU heatsink. I'll have to do some research.
 
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