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Another New Build

D

Dartz

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
72
Hey guys,

I posted some time ago and you all helped me put together a great pc. Thank you.

The reason I'm back is because my brother wants to buy my current pc and that means that I will need a new one, not that I'm complaining. I'll try to answer the questions as thoroughly as possible.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
All of the above, I plan to play games like Black Ops, Civ 5, etc, and would prefer to get the best experience possible out of these games. I plan on using Photoshop in the future because I plan on getting into photography this summer.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
My budget will be $1200~$1400 but I would really like to stick to <$1300; tax and shipping included
3) Where do you live?
Oklahoma
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
I'll need: Motherboard, CPU, RAM, Video Card, DVD burner, Power Supply, HDD (preferably SSD for OS), Case
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
ASUS VW266H Black 25.5"; G18 mouse (would like to upgrade if it stays on budget); keyboard (Ditto); 320GB Sata HDD
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Have a ASUS VW266H Black 25.5"; Would like to upgrade to a 20/30/20 setup in the future.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
The next 2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s are nice but not a deal breaker; SLI
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 Professional x64 bit


I will only have 2 hard drives in this pc (OS hard drive and a 320GB SATA storage/media drive).

Again, thanks everyone for your help.

Edit: Ok everyone, I'm about 2 weeks out for purchasing. I've updated the above questions to reflect my new circumstances. I've put together a prelim-build, but something tells me it can be much better:

Case) HAF X RC-942-KKN1 - $189.99

RAM) 2x G.SKILL Value Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 - $79.98

MB) MSI P67A-G45 (B3) - $139.99

CPU) Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) - $299.99

Video Card) 2x EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE (Fermi) - $319.98

SSD) G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series FM-25S2S-60GBSR - $125.99

PSU) COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US - $169.99

1325.91 w/o shipping
 
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Let's wait a couple of weeks before starting this build. By then, we'll have a good idea of what the NewEgg combo deals for April will look like.

Also, when are you planning on buying/using Photoshop? Will it be CS5?

And when do you plan on buying the 30" monitor?
 
Thanks for the reply and advice about waiting.

I plan on getting Photoshop mid-May-ish and the 30" will probably be this fall (after I get my BT in Aug.) Eventually I would like to do the 20/30/20 dell monitor setup.
 
SSD wise, I don't recommend that G.Skill SSD since it's slower than this SSD:
$135 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SSD

GPU wise, I don't recommend GTX 460 SE SLI since its price to performance ratio isn't that great. Go for the GTX 570.

PSU wise, I recommend this 1000W PSU instead:
$190 - Silverstone ST1000-P 1000W Modular PSU

Though for a single GTX 570, you'll be fine with this PSU:
$110 - Corsair 750TX 750W PSU

I wouldn't recommend that HAF X case since there are better cases for the money out there:
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$106 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower 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-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$165 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$220 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$220 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$290 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case
 
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Wow Danny, you sure are thorough!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I chose to stick to one video card for now, I figure I can always upgrade when I buy the monitors for my 20/30/20 setup. I also went with the smaller PSU and SSD you recommended.

So here is what I have for a final build and if all goes well in the next couple weeks I'll have this PC built.

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz $299.99

MSI P67A-G45 (B3) $139.99

Crucial RealSSD C300 $134.99

G.SKILL Value Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 x2 $79.98

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX $109.99

GIGABYTE GV-N570D5-13I-B GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) $349.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Blue RC-932-KKN3-GP $169.98

Total: $1312.53 shipped
 
Are you paying more for the HAF 932 Blue (instead of the standard HAF 932) because of the color?
 
tiraides said:
Are you paying more for the HAF 932 Blue (instead of the standard HAF 932) because of the color?
Click to expand...

Yea, I have the original HAF 932 now (selling this pc to my brother) and I wanted the HAF X case, but the blue HAF 932 is cheaper and looks better to me :p
 
i dont think the Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case is even close to its worth in price/performance vs the haf x if you want to get technical there are X<$40 cases that are far better price per performance it is more of the buyers personal pick i think the best price/perfom is the sunbeam vent max http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166054&Tpk=ventmax it was $32 with free shipping at one time, comes with 5 fans 1X92 4X120 with spots for 2 more 120's
 
mannyman said:
i dont think the Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case is even close to its worth in price/performance vs the haf x if you want to get technical there are X<$40 cases that are far better price per performance it is more of the buyers personal pick i think the best price/perfom is the sunbeam vent max http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166054&Tpk=ventmax it was $32 with free shipping at one time, comes with 5 fans 1X92 4X120 with spots for 2 more 120's
Click to expand...

The trouble with that Sunbeam case is that it's very cramped on the inside. Many of the frequently used components on a regular ATX motherboard get completely blocked by the hard drive(s) and optical drive(s) in that case. That would have required complete disassembly of the entire system just to add more RAM or connect additional internal hard drives to that system. What's worse, because that case is less than 17 inches deep, the longest graphics card that can fit inside that case is only 9 inches long without interfering with the hard drives. Worst of all, that case does not appear to have any cable management features whatsoever, and any front-edge-mountes internal SATA ports will get completely blocked by the permanently fixed hard drive bracket.
 
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Quick question about my choice of motherboards.

I just read that overclocking the i7-2600 is extremely easy and so was thinking that when I get this built I could try it out having never attempted to overclock a CPU before.

I was thinking of getting the MSI P67A-G45 motherboard, but I'm not sure if this is alright or if I need to get the MSI P67A-GD65 instead.

Can someone shed some light on this for me?
 
The multiplier is locked on the non K SB CPUs, so the 2600 isn't what you'd want for overclocking. Spend the extra on the 2600k. For gaming, the hyper threading in the 2600k won't do a whole lot, so you could always save some money by going with a 2500k and an aftermarket CPU cooler. The coolermaster hyper 212+ is cheap and works quite well (and there are other < $30 coolers you could look at as well). Actually, if you're planning on OC'n either the 2500k or 2600k, I'd definitely buy an aftermarket cooler.

And yeah, the K model SB cpus are very easy to OC! Couldn't imagine someone building a new rig in a full tower performance case and NOT overclocking :)
 
Dartz said:
Quick question about my choice of motherboards.

I just read that overclocking the i7-2600 is extremely easy and so was thinking that when I get this built I could try it out having never attempted to overclock a CPU before.

I was thinking of getting the MSI P67A-G45 motherboard, but I'm not sure if this is alright or if I need to get the MSI P67A-GD65 instead.

Can someone shed some light on this for me?
Click to expand...

I have this motherboard. It's great. Here's a thread about it. However, it doesn't come with the SLI bridge if you were planning on that for the future. Also, I haven't tried to OC it yet.
 
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