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Building a $700 Rig

M

Mangudai

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
343
I wanted to build a computer to play games, watch HD movies, and listen to music. Nothing crazy but something nice enough to last me atleast 1.5-2 years. Between the CPU/RAM/GPU/Mobo I want to spend $700.

I was thinking..

CPU: Q9300 ~$195
Motherboard: Unsure but no more than $175 (will this price hold me back?)
Radeon 4890 (not sure exactly which one just yet but no more than $260)
Ram: Correct me if im wrong but there doesn't seem to be much difference between DDR2 & DDR3 when it comes to gaming. I'll probably go with a DDR2 2gb x 2 kit for no more than $60
Sound Card: For the time being I'll use onboard but in a month or two will go X-Fi


I already have a PSU(Corsair 750w) and a case, case fans(5) etc. Next month I'll purchase the X-Fi and probably aftermarket HSF. I haven't overclocked since the t bred 1700+ xp days but I'll be glad to try my hand at it again.


What do you think about this set up?
 
Mangudai said:
CPU: Q9300 ~$195
Motherboard: Unsure but no more than $175 (will this price hold me back?)
Radeon 4890 (not sure exactly which one just yet but no more than $260)
Ram: Correct me if im wrong but there doesn't seem to be much difference between DDR2 & DDR3 when it comes to gaming. I'll probably go with a DDR2 2gb x 2 kit for no more than $60
Click to expand...

CPU: The Q9300 is no longer being sold at retail. Are you talking about the Q8400? Or are you still able to get the Q9300 where you live?
Mobo: $175 is more than enough depending on what exact features you need in a motherboard. RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
GPU: Definitely go with XFX for their Double Lifetime Warranty:
$250 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card
RAM: Correct: DDR2 is more than enough for a vast majority of apps and games out there.
 
I think a Phenom II 940 serves better in games than anything intel has for the price point. I could be wrong though...
 
i would spend more on a motherboard. can buy a nice video card for under 200 now. ie gtx260. motherboard is heart of you computer buy something stable and a good brand.
 
knothead34 said:
i would spend more on a motherboard. can buy a nice video card for under 200 now. ie gtx260. motherboard is heart of you computer buy something stable and a good brand.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't. If you really want socket 775, I would get a Gigabyte UD3P which can be had for 115 after mail in rebate. Also, get a 4890 as planned. Not a 260. Do you really NEED the quad core? I think an E8500 with a nice cooler would be better for your purposes. It will maximize your gaming needs more than anything. Quad core only if you really need it. As far as the X-Fi, I wouldn't even bother at all. Most on board sound these days are great unless you are an uber audiophile who pays super atttention to all audio details when gaming. I know this is [H] forum but you probably don't really need it. Spend that $80 on something else. Man, you should be able to pull that off for less than 700. Just my 2 cents!
 
I appreciate the replies. Via pricewatch I was able to find the Q9300 at a few sites for around $195. More and more games are supporting multiple cores as some already do so in a sense I want to future proof my setup a bit by purchasing a quad core. Yes, sound is something that is very important to me so I will see to a X-Fi or similar sound card. I'm actually not sure what I want out of a motherboard as strange as that might sound. I haven't built a new rig in 5-6 years so a lot of things otherwise old, are new to me. I can say I see no reason for requiring a motherboard with firewire but having one that supports Crossfire is something I'd want. I think if I could figure out what chipset was best for me I could narrow it down.

The Gigabyte UD3P looks pretty impressive spec wise, I see it has PCI slots as well..I have an X-Fi in that interface so I could hold off on getting a PCI Express one. Not sure if there is a significant difference between the two. I'll have to read some reviews on it.

Oh yea..I bet I could get all this for less but I don't want to buy used.
 
I have a UD3P and really like it. Stable and overclocks well. A lot of features for the price. The great thing about it is the fact that it has PS/2 ports :) and a floppy connector, lol. I guess Gigabyte is also catering to the legacy crows too.
 
Mangudai said:
I appreciate the replies. Via pricewatch I was able to find the Q9300 at a few sites for around $195. More and more games are supporting multiple cores as some already do so in a sense I want to future proof my setup a bit by purchasing a quad core.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. But make sure you overclock that chip then, because the lower clocks will hurt the performance in more games than the quad core will benefit. Get DDR2 1066 rather than 800 as well. Its a few bucks more but will help you overclock.
 
Personally, I just spent $800 on a Core i7 and I think for the extra $100 its 5x the computer. I would save for a just a little longer to stretch your dollars. Buying anything but i7 seems silly to me. But I also enjoy trying to keep my computers as long as possible to get my ROI on them.
 
I stumbled upon some reviews and test that included the Core i7 and I think you guys are right, saving up a little more for the Core i7 seems like the wiser choice. I almost forgot about how exciting it was piecing together and building a new rig. That list looks good ordovician, besides the video card, personal reviews on the board seem a bit iffy though
 
The only thing I'd suggest is going with a GTX 260 over the 4870, but other then that...DANG! I want to go i7...
 
wow. i7 does seem like the way to go. Maybe I'll build me one once I get a job :)
 
The list is just a general guide to show how you could go i7 within your budget. By all means feel free to look around at other options. My advice is to hold off on a 4890 until you can get one for closer to $200. Any more expensive, and the performace gain over the uber cheap 4870 1gb is not worth it. GTX 260's are also a good option, but they're neck and neck with the 4870, and usually a bit more expensive. Plus that particular X58 board only supports crossfire, so that's why I went with it.

What resolution will you be gaming at? If it's 1680x1050, then save your money and stick with the 4870; you won't notice a difference.
 
ordovician said:
i7 and Mobo $440
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193607
Click to expand...

That combo saves you $25 off Newegg's regular prices. If you have a MicroCenter nearby, they sell (sold?) the i7 920 B&M for $50 cheaper than Newegg. Even if you just buy that same board from Newegg and get the i7 from MC, you're still $25 cheaper than the combo price. You may be able to get a different combo deal though, on the board and video card, or some other component you need. This is the board with a 2x2GB DDR3-1333 dual-channel kit for $233 - $15MIR, for example. $448 for a 920, UD3R, and 4GB is a pretty good build at a decent price. Throw in a $140 GTX260 and you've got a pretty good machine for under $600.
 
dont get that adata ram above. sounds like you already know that. and that 4870 up there was a 512mb, not a 1gb like the poster said. just pointing that out in case youre considering buying it and didnt notice. i7 ftw!
 
ekuest said:
dont get that adata ram above. sounds like you already know that. and that 4870 up there was a 512mb, not a 1gb like the poster said. just pointing that out in case youre considering buying it and didnt notice. i7 ftw!
Click to expand...

Oops, serves me right for doing that in a rush before work..
 
I went on over to tomshardware and the comparison with the two 4770 looked pretty good..actually really good. How do you calculate how much wattage a setup will use?

I gotta look into that Gigabyte board some more but that memory and mobo combo would be great, cheap too.
 
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Mangudai said:
I went on over to tomshardware and the comparison with the two 4770 looked pretty good..actually really good. How do you calculate how much wattage a setup will use?

I gotta look into that Gigabyte board some more but that memory and mobo combo would be great, cheap too.
Click to expand...

i just use google and find a review if i want a specific component. there are also psu calculators you can use to calculate what you need for a whole setup. check in the sticky in the power supplies thread.
 
Your PSU will be able to handle any setup you can dream of, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. And yes, consider 2x 4770's. I wish [H] would do a review of them in crossfire.
 
Do you care about used parts?

I've seen almost new X58 boards for $150-160 shipped on FS/T forums.That's a great chunk of savings towards other things.

Spending over $200 for a mobo is ridiculous IMO.
 
I'll second what others said and urge you to look into the 4870 and GTX 260 as well as the 4890 (or GTX 275)... If you're gaming at 1920x1200 or below the cheaper GTX 260 or 4870 might be all you need (for $70-ish less), you might lose a bit of AA in a handful of the most demanding games but that's about it, worth considering. Most come bundled with one or two games too, the XFX GTX 260 that's going for $165 on Newegg is a great deal imo... You get a great lifetime warranty, Facry 2, and CoD5 World at War, not gonna find a much better deal than that imo (and it's definitely not worth opting for a 512MB 4870, just for the record).

If you're going with all-new parts and whatnot the price difference between i7 and a C2Q rig is still around $200, FWIW... It might be chump change to some, but it's still a good chunk of the total price on a $700-ish rig (or $800-ish or $900-ish).
 
ZzBloopzZ said:
Do you care about used parts?

I've seen almost new X58 boards for $150-160 shipped on FS/T forums.That's a great chunk of savings towards other things.

Spending over $200 for a mobo is ridiculous IMO.
Click to expand...

Impulse said:
I'll second what others said and urge you to look into the 4870 and GTX 260 as well as the 4890 (or GTX 275)... If you're gaming at 1920x1200 or below the cheaper GTX 260 or 4870 might be all you need (for $70-ish less), you might lose a bit of AA in a handful of the most demanding games but that's about it, worth considering. Most come bundled with one or two games too, the XFX GTX 260 that's going for $165 on Newegg is a great deal imo... You get a great lifetime warranty, Facry 2, and CoD5 World at War, not gonna find a much better deal than that imo (and it's definitely not worth opting for a 512MB 4870, just for the record).

If you're going with all-new parts and whatnot the price difference between i7 and a C2Q rig is still around $200, FWIW... It might be chump change to some, but it's still a good chunk of the total price on a $700-ish rig (or $800-ish or $900-ish).
Click to expand...




I agree Bloop that $200 feel like too much to spend on a motherboard, being that its been awhile I figured that maybe this is just the norm now. I cared about purchasing only new parts initially only because I don't want to run into the probability that someone was having problems with theirs and wanted to sell it off just to get it off their hands. But then I thought about all the things I've purchased in the past and I've never had a problem with anything. $150-$160? Wow that's a nice chunk, I'll see what I can find. You're right about the bundle deals with the video cards too great deals, I'd like to play at 1920x1200 and higher so i went with the 4890. Ive been doing a lot of reading and debating and so far this is what ive decided to purchase. Price are if I were to buy new:



Core i7 920 --$280
Asus P6T (just need to confirm whether or not running 4890s in crossfire blocks any other ports) --$210
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB TR3X6G1600C7 G --$135
XFX AMD Radeon 4890 --$260-$270 may purchase another one later
LG Blu Ray/DVD/CDRW drive --$110
WD Velociraptor 300gb --$250
Creative X-Fi --Already have
Corsair 750w.. cant remember the exact model # -- Already have
5 case fans -- Already have
HSF --Not sure yet but the Noctua NH-U12P( $80) looks good just gotta make sure it'll fit




In total for the CPU/Mobo/GPU/RAM that's around $885-895 vs my initial $700, guess you were right impulse. Not bad imo.
 
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Mangudai said:
WD Velociraptor 300gb --$250
Click to expand...

Note that the Velociraptor is only 10% faster than the WD WD6400AALS and WD6401AALS 640GB drives yet those drives are 30% of the price of the 300GB Velociraptor.
 
On the subject of mobo prices, if you were going with a C2Q processor then $200 would be way way too much to pay for a mobo... As you can find top notch P45 mobos for $115 or so, but if you're going i7 it's a whole other story. All i7 mobos (based around the X58 chipset) are considered premium mobos, and the very cheapest you'll find will be $180; so $200 is pretty normal for the ASUS P6T or any such mobo.

You do get a premium feature-set for the extra money though, not only are you getting a chipset that supports the newer i7 but it supports SLI and CF, something no other Intel chipset could do in the past. X48 mobos for C2Q procs only supported CF, you had to opt for an NVidia mobo to do SLI and many enthusiasts loathed the lackluster reliability of NV mobos. The X58 mobo pricing is probably the biggest price barrier to i7 right now, as DDR3 prices have come down a lot (you can find cheaper stuff than that Corsair set btw, G.Skill's pretty good too), and the i7 920 is only like $90 more than a Q8200 or Q6600.

Btw, when you said you're planning to game at "1920x1200 and higher" what'd you mean? Typically most gamers only play their games at the native res of their LCD (1680x1050 for 22" displays, 1920x1200 for 24" displays, etc.). Hence my question, unless you're planning to upgrade from a 24" to a 30" for instance, makes sense then.

Velociraptors are an endangered species imo, as Danny Bui said, regular HDs are constantly playing catch-up with those 10K RPM drives... If you're gonna pay a premium for a HD I'd almost tell ya to pay an even larger premium ($300-$350 ish) instead for an SSD, which will be several orders of magnitude faster than a regular HD, not a measly 10%. Intel X25-M or OCZ's Vertex are good choices. Otherwise WD's 640GB drive provides great bang for the buck at $60-70.
 
Danny Bui said:
Note that the Velociraptor is only 10% faster than the WD WD6400AALS and WD6401AALS 640GB drives yet those drives are 30% of the price of the 300GB Velociraptor.
Click to expand...

10k drives are well worth the price over 7,200 drives. The only thing I couldn't stand with the raptors was the noise and the veloci's fixed that.

On a sub $700 pc build i wouldn't put a raptor or veloci but saying it's only 10% faster at 30% more in price clearly doesn't explain the sheer benefits of the drive. I've had tons of drives in many different builds and that increase in performance is noticeable in real time testing and not just synthetic benches. well worth every penny.
 
Impulse said:
Btw, when you said you're planning to game at "1920x1200 and higher" what'd you mean? Typically most gamers only play their games at the native res of their LCD (1680x1050 for 22" displays, 1920x1200 for 24" displays, etc.). Hence my question, unless you're planning to upgrade from a 24" to a 30" for instance, makes sense then.

Velociraptors are an endangered species imo, as Danny Bui said, regular HDs are constantly playing catch-up with those 10K RPM drives... If you're gonna pay a premium for a HD I'd almost tell ya to pay an even larger premium ($300-$350 ish) instead for an SSD, which will be several orders of magnitude faster than a regular HD, not a measly 10%. Intel X25-M or OCZ's Vertex are good choices. Otherwise WD's 640GB drive provides great bang for the buck at $60-70.
Click to expand...


You're right about the monitor, wasn't thinking. With the HD though, it seems to trade blows somewhat with the Velociraptor but its more expensive and you get a lot less disk space. To me it still seems well worth purchasing the Velocirapotor.
 
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