build help

[soggyfatman]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
ideal is under 800. maximum is 900 if the package shows promise
3) Where do you live?
texas
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.
cpu, mobo, ram, ssd, hdd, os
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
i am reusing my corsair 1000w psu, cd drive, antec 1200 case, evga gtx 280
6) Will you be overclocking?
i will if properly convinced, i have never before
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
i have 22inch
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
asap
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
i will be going to ati soon, and dual later, so crossfire is needed. would prefer the best chipset in my budget range
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
no, i need win 7


off of newegg, the build i have now that i think i will go for is:


OKGEAR 10" SATA 6 Gbps Cable x 2

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$54.99

Rosewill RX-C200 2.5” SSD / HDD Aluminum Mounting Kit for 3.5" Drive Bay


$9.99


Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound


$9.99


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM

$104.99

Memorex - Air Duster (Unscented) 1 Pack


$4.99

GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Combo

$334.98

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
combo for 250

total for this current cart list with discounts is 763.70

 

[tiraides]

You don't need the OKGear SATA cables, as the motherboard package should provide you with at least four cables on its own.

Unless you're going with a monitor that uses a 1920x1080 or greater resolution, you don't really need CrossFire or SLI. If you want immediate, noticeable gaming improvement, sell the GTX 280 and go with the HD 5850.

Everything else looks fine, though, as a nitpick, I recommend the Arctic Cooling MX-2/MX-3 over Arctic Silver 5 as it requires no curing time to achieve similar results.

 

[soggyfatman]

You don't need the OKGear SATA cables, as the motherboard package should provide you with at least four cables on its own.

Unless you're going with a monitor that uses a 1920x1080 or greater resolution, you don't really need CrossFire or SLI. If you want immediate, noticeable gaming improvement, sell the GTX 280 and go with the HD 5850.

Everything else looks fine, though, as a nitpick, I recommend the Arctic Cooling MX-2/MX-3 over Arctic Silver 5 as it requires no curing time to achieve similar results.

i agree about the selling of the gpu, but right now i cannot afford to buy something else. in time i will sell it and go to dual cards.
and i will look into this arctic cooling business.

 

[Shadowssong]

i agree about the selling of the gpu, but right now i cannot afford to buy something else. in time i will sell it and go to dual cards.
and i will look into this arctic cooling business.

If you are on a tighter budget then I would drop the CPU/Mobo to a big cheaper. IIRC 890GX can run xfire at 8x/8x which is still plenty of bandwidth.

$260 - Phenom II X4 945 + Gigabyte 890GX

Save you about $70 you could invest into a different GPU or into a different SSD like the intel x25m-g2 80gb. Also at your resolution (I'm assuming 1680x1050 since you said 22 inch) crossfire is a complete waste. I would just hang on to that 280 for a bit and then when you feel you need to upgrade, sell it and upgrade to a more powerful single card. Also remember you can't SLI on an AMD motherboard unless it explicitly states it.

You can also save $10 and go with some slightly slower ram:

$94 - G.Skill DDR3-1333 4GB Ripjaws

 

[soggyfatman]

If you are on a tighter budget then I would drop the CPU/Mobo to a big cheaper. IIRC 890GX can run xfire at 8x/8x which is still plenty of bandwidth.

$260 - Phenom II X4 945 + Gigabyte 890GX

Save you about $70 you could invest into a different GPU or into a different SSD like the intel x25m-g2 80gb. Also at your resolution (I'm assuming 1680x1050 since you said 22 inch) crossfire is a complete waste. I would just hang on to that 280 for a bit and then when you feel you need to upgrade, sell it and upgrade to a more powerful single card. Also remember you can't SLI on an AMD motherboard unless it explicitly states it.

You can also save $10 and go with some slightly slower ram:

$94 - G.Skill DDR3-1333 4GB Ripjaws

i plan to go ati, so keeping the xfire is good idea to me seeing how in a month or 2 ill have like 2 5970s or something.

 

[soggyfatman]

i am open to going with intel i7, but i am not sure on a motherboard to go with it. i do not know much about intel

 

[Shadowssong]

If you are going to be dropping that much money on GPU's there is absolutely no other build than an i7. My suggestions for such high end gpus:

I7 930 + Asus P6X58D-E
then
6gb of G.Skill DDR3-1600

 

[HardwareGuru]

This 22" monitor you have, is it 1680x1050 res? If so, I'm surprised you want to upgrade considering you have a GTX 280 video card. What does your current computer consist of?

Oops sorry, hehe you're reusing your GTX 280.

 

[tiraides]

soggyfatman, what is driving your desire to go with a dual-card solution?

You've given us no impression that you're going to buy a new (larger) monitor, and the GTX 280 is more than enough for gaming at your current resolution. Which games do you play? Which level of visual quality do you play your games at?

 

[soggyfatman]

soggyfatman, what is driving your desire to go with a dual-card solution?

You've given us no impression that you're going to buy a new (larger) monitor, and the GTX 280 is more than enough for gaming at your current resolution. Which games do you play? Which level of visual quality do you play your games at?

thank you for saying this. i was having that time where i wanted more than i need because its cool. you are right, 2 cards is beyond my need and i will not be going to 2 cards. i will only change to an ati 5970 later this year.

 

[tiraides]

You missed the other part of my earlier comment. You don't need the HD 5970; it's almost the same as going with two HD 5870 cards (though, granted, the HD 5970 uses the same GPU as the 5870). Hell, even your GTX 280 can be considered overkill in most DX9 or DX10 games.

 

[soggyfatman]

this is why i come to forums. all this input really helps, and makes me feel stupid in a good way
i have done some more research and i got my build down to 750. so i am happy.
the thing about my graphics, not too sure what i will do there yet. seeing how i am still using my gtx280, i will ride that till i cant play games on it.

 

[tiraides]

So, what does your build list look like now? (Don't order anything until you receive the [H] OK from me and a few of the other regulars in this forum.)

And, how about answering my earlier set of questions?

soggyfatman, what is driving your desire to go with a dual-card solution?

You've given us no impression that you're going to buy a new (larger) monitor, and the GTX 280 is more than enough for gaming at your current resolution. Which games do you play? Which level of visual quality do you play your games at?

Your answers will help us regulars give you an accurate assessment of how long you can expect the GTX 280 to last you.