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Confident build?

M

Minuscule

n00b
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
13
This is my first time to be building a PC on my own. This build will be a gaming PC, web browsing, web developing, programming, and for education purpose.

I done a lot of research by searching each product that has "Free Shipping" just to get my budget below 1,200. It's my first build and I want to feel confident in my build so I'm hoping if it's ok to ask for feedbacks on my build.

The parts I'll be getting
NZXT Phantom White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
ASUS HD7850 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 1000W
MD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz
Patriot Intel Extreme Master 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1866 (PC3 15000)

On this build, I don't think I'll overclock cause I'm not familiar with overclocking which I'll have to learn about that more later. I already have two 1TB hard drives from Seagate Barracuda which I'll have to learn about RAID cause I'll plan on buying one SSD between 240GB - 256GB to put as the main one. I planned to reuse my old CD-ROM drive from Compaq Presario SR1426NX which is LG. When I have enough money, I'll buy a monitor that can give me a resolution of about 1280x1024.
 
Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

However, off the bat, you don't know need a 1000W PSU for that setup. You would be totally fine with a solid 650W PSU for that setup. Also, you may not be able to reuse that CD drive if it's an IDE drive and not a SATA drive. But yeah, that setup can be improved immensely. Don't buy anything from that list of parts yet
 
Minuscule said:
This is my first time to be building a PC on my own. This build will be a gaming PC, web browsing, web developing, programming, and for education purpose.

I done a lot of research by searching each product that has "Free Shipping" just to get my budget below 1,200. It's my first build and I want to feel confident in my build so I'm hoping if it's ok to ask for feedbacks on my build.

The parts I'll be getting
NZXT Phantom White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
ASUS HD7850 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 1000W
MD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz
Patriot Intel Extreme Master 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1866 (PC3 15000)

On this build, I don't think I'll overclock cause I'm not familiar with overclocking which I'll have to learn about that more later. I already have two 1TB hard drives from Seagate Barracuda which I'll have to learn about RAID cause I'll plan on buying one SSD between 240GB - 256GB to put as the main one. I planned to reuse my old CD-ROM drive from Compaq Presario SR1426NX which is LG. When I have enough money, I'll buy a monitor that can give me a resolution of about 1280x1024.
Click to expand...

I've just checked the specs of that SR1426NX: You will not be able to use that CD-ROM drive from that PC at all in your new build. It has a PATA interface - and virtually no new motherboards these days have any PATA ports at all. Therefore, you will have to factor in another $20-ish for a new SATA DVD drive.
 
Danny Bui, I was calculating everything and thought I would get to about 900w - 1000w. Guess I must have calculated wrong or something. When you say "Don't buy anything from that list of parts yet", do I seem to be missing something? Unless you meant for me to wait what others have to say about this too?

E4gle, I was not aware of that but thanks. I'll throw in another $20-ish for a new SATA DVD drive.
 
Minuscule said:
Danny Bui, I was calculating everything and thought I would get to about 900w - 1000w. Guess I must have calculated wrong or something.
Click to expand...
That you did. FYI, PSU calcs generally try to inflate their numbers to increase the chance of the user buying a PSU capable of power their PC.
Minuscule said:
When you say "Don't buy anything from that list of parts yet", do I seem to be missing something?.
Click to expand...
No I mean that parts list is not good for the money. Like I said, "that setup can be improved immensely. " The case is the only real solid choice in that list. Even then that can be changed. Everything else is still up in the air depending on your answers to the sticky. So don't buy anything since those parts may not be good choices. Speaking of which, for the second time, please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.
 
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This build is for gaming, web browsing, programming, and education purpose.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget is 1200 with free shipping.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
New York City
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.
There are no parts I need as of now.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I mention that I was going to reuse the CD-ROM drive but thanks to E4gle for pointing out that new motherboards don't use IDE anymore.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not planning to overclock since I'm not familiar with it.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
The monitor I'm using right now is 15" with a resolution of 1440x900. For the new build, I plan on getting a resolution of about 1280x1024.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP when i'm confident with the feedbacks I have on this forum.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
I'll learn about that RAID since I have two 1TB hard drives from Seagate Barracuda. I'm sure the motherboard GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ will provide Crossfire since I'm looking at ASUS Radeon HD7850. The motherboard I'm getting will have USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s and eSATA for future use.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
None. I'll plan on getting Windows 7 Professional 64-bit or Windows 8 Professional 64-bit which I can purchase it for free from my college.

I hope these answers help.
 
How far are you away from these Microcenter locations?:
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/westbury.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/yonkers.aspx
Click to expand...
I'm about 20-25 minutes away from Microcenter in Westbury and about 25-30 minutes away from Yonkers.

What exactly do you mean by "education purpose"?
Click to expand...
By "education purpose", I meant as doing homework. And during my free time, I would like to use the computer in learning new stuff as in getting ahead of college.

Let me get this straight: You already have a 1440x900 monitor but you want to sidegrade to 1280x1024?
Click to expand...
Well, this monitor doesn't have HDMI but I guess to save my money I would stick to the monitor I have now.

Also, in regards to question 4: So the SSD isn't part of your $1200 budget? Power usage and heat generation isn't a concern as well?
Click to expand...
I completely forgot to mention about the SSD. When I have enough money, I'll get an SSD so I'm sorry for not explaining this clearly that I plan to reuse my hard drive that I have with me now which is 120GB. And I'm sure I want my PC to cool instead of being overheat or anything like that. I would mostly leave my PC on almost 24/7 except when traveling for vacations I'll turn it off.
 
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Well here's the deal: Both monitors have a low resolution. Unless you're planning on upgrading to a larger monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080 within the next two months or so, that video card you chose is pure overkill. You'd be fine with the cheaper HD 7770.

Since you want the PC to be cool and probably use less power, I'm gonna recommend Intel instead of AMD here as AMD CPUs run hotter and uses significantly more power than Intel CPUs. Here's what I recommend for $1200:
$270 - Core i5 3570K + Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 Motherboard (drive to Microcenter to get this)
$122 - 2 x Corsair CMV16GX3M2A1333C9 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$228 - eVGA 02G-P4-2660-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$200 - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SSD
$17 - LG iHAS124-04 DVD Burner
$90 - Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White ATX Case
$150 - Acer S231HLbid 23" DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
----
Total: $1197 shipped.

As you can see, I included a new and larger monitor so that the video card is actually a good fit for it, a larger SSD, a DVD burner, and faster gaming CPU. Not to mention that I managed to maintain the same level of RAM and case choice.

I would not recommend reusing that 120GB HDD as your OS drive since it's more than likely some old hard drive whose performance is so slow, it would actually hamper the performance of the PC itself if used as an OS drive.
 
This is the kind of monitor I have with my right now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLAT-SCREEN-MONITOR-OG493H-BY-DELL-/280869308644

From using this monitor, I could go with a lower graphic card. Any suggestion?

Does the Core i5 3570k and Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 Motherboard come together as a combo? I guess I could go for this list. Hoping it may as well be good for VMWare and maybe photoshop whenever I need it.
 
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Minuscule said:
This is the kind of monitor I have with my right now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLAT-SCREEN-MONITOR-OG493H-BY-DELL-/280869308644

From using this monitor, I could go with a lower graphic card. Any suggestion?
Click to expand...
Umm, huh? In the above build I included a new monitor. So no need to select a GPU around that ebay monitor when you can certainly afford a new monitor and suitable GPU for that new monitor with your $1200 budget

Minuscule said:
Does the Core i5 3570k and Asus P8Z77-V LK Intel Z77 Motherboard come together as a combo? I guess I could go for this list. Hoping it may as well be good for VMWare and maybe photoshop whenever I need it.
Click to expand...
Kind of. It's Microcenter's CPU + mobo combo deal where they'll knock off $40 off any compatible mobo when purchased with the Core i5 3570K.
 
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my only 2 cents. As mentioned, do NOT use an old ass 120GB drive... You will instantly think your computer is a slow POS, when in turn your HDD is whats killing your performance... Please for the love of computers, dont use it...
 
Umm, huh? In the above build I included a new monitor. So no need to select a GPU around that ebay monitor when you can certainly afford a new monitor and suitable GPU for that new monitor with your $1200 budget
Click to expand...

Sorry, I'll plan on getting the monitor you suggested on that list with a good graphic card to fit for this computer. Thanks.

my only 2 cents. As mentioned, do NOT use an old ass 120GB drive... You will instantly think your computer is a slow POS, when in turn your HDD is whats killing your performance... Please for the love of computers, dont use it...
Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks for the heads up.

I'm confident and ready to buy those parts Danny Bui mention and build it. Thanks for all the help, Danny Bui.
 
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