Building A PC

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Chodam

n00b
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
24
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?
~~~Around $900 not including shipping

3) Where do you live?
~~Tucson, Arizona

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
~~~Besides the basics, I need a wifi card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
~~No reusable parts

6) Will you be overclocking?
~~ Not really(Don't know how)

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
~~Looking for a 21inch or wider

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
~~Buying parts this weekend

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
~~ Either SLI or Crossfire

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
~~ No

Basically I am just looking for a good gaming computer. To play the lastest of games. I prefer Nvidia but I know ATI is in the lead right now or so I hear. Any help would be nice. If you need more information let me know =D
 
Yes the montior is included in the $900 can be over $900 though just not too much
 
How much over? cuz at $900 w/o monitor, you could get an i5 750 system. Also, are you a student?
 
Yes I am a student. I am not much of an Intel guy but if it is better than AMD Phenom II sure why not. I cant go much higher than 1,000. I would like to stick around the 900's though.
 
$325 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU + Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R Intel P55 ATX Motherboard Combo
$86 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$145 - XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$65 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$67 - Seasonic SS-500ES 500W PSU
-------------
Total: $688 plus tax and shipping

$200 leftover for the OS and LCD monitor. College students can get Windows 7 for $30 or so.
 
Don't forget an optical drive, the wifi card and case. :p

Yes, Intel Core i5/7 is better than any current AMD. However, for gaming on a 22" 1680x1050 monitor, you don't really need Core i5. ;) What games do you plan on playing?
 
I dont know what games I would be playing. Because it has been several years since I have own'd a gaming desktop. But I know I am going to play some games along the lines of crysis(sp?), Fallout3, etc.
 
enginurd said:
Don't forget an optical drive, the wifi card and case. :p
Click to expand...

LOL! Shit, forgot those.:eek:

Ditch the Core i5 + mobo combo and go with this combo instead:
$179 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 CPU + Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UDP3 AMD 770 ATX Motherboard Combo

That'll shave off $146 off my previous build.

Get this case and DVD drive:
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 331 RC-331-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$34 - Lite-On iHAS424-08 DVD Burner

That'll leave you a total of $228 for a LCD monitor, OS and DVD drive.
 
That Mobo doesnt support crossfire. :(
I Know I am not going to buy two cards at once.

But I know I will eventually do crossfire or SLI
 
Chodam said:
That Mobo doesnt support crossfire. :(
I Know I am not going to buy two cards at once.

But I know I will eventually do crossfire or SLI
Click to expand...

SLI and CF are cost effective for those who play on a 24" monitor/1920x1200 or larger. You're only playing on a 22" monitor.
 
I do own a 32 inch LCD TV that I would be playing on as well.

Sorry I did not mention that eariler.
 
Hmm, you might be hitting that $1000 limit after all for the following reasons:
- You're gonna need a bigger and more expensive PSU for HD4870 CF
- You're gonna need a more expensive motherboard to support HD4870 CF
- You're gonna need a slightly bigger and more expensive case to support HD4870 CF
 
Chodam said:
Yeah I figured as much.

But it is an investment worth making.
Click to expand...

Not that good of an investment IMO. Here's what a CF build would look like sans LCD monitor, OS, and Wifi card:
$120 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition CPU
$115 - Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD4H AMD 790GX Motherboard
$86 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$145 - XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$65 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$34 - Lite-On iHAS424-08 DVD Burner
$100 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
$70 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
-------------
Total: $735 plus tax and shipping.

Here's what a non-CF build would look like sans LCD monitor, OS, and Wifi card:
$179 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 CPU + Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UDP3 AMD 770 ATX Motherboard Combo
$86 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$145 - XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$65 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$34 - Lite-On iHAS424-08 DVD Burner
$67 - Seasonic SS-500ES 500W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 331 RC-331-KKN1-GP ATX Case
----------
Total: $626 plus tax and shipping.

You could have used that extra $100 towards a faster video card (HD5850 whenever it gets into stock) or faster CPU (Phenom II 945) which means it'll be a longer time before you'll need to upgrade. Now assuming that the HD4870 drops down to $100 by Late October (Maybe) or December (most Likely). you would have invested an additional $200 in a HD4870 CF setup when you can get the $375 HD5870 right now. The HD5870 performs on par if not better than HD4870 CF IIRC while producing less heat and noise and lowered power usage. Or you could save that $200 for when the HD5870 drops down to $200 and get it then.

Either way, investing $100 now just for a potential CF setup is simply not worth it.
 
Last edited:
That makes a lot of sense. My friend tried to confense me that CF was the only way to go. But now it seems it to be false. Thanks so much, you really helped me out.
 
Chodam said:
That makes a lot of sense. My friend tried to confense me that CF was the only way to go. But now it seems it to be false. Thanks so much, you really helped me out.
Click to expand...

No prob. :)
 
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