Custom Built Desktop Advice

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kage

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Jul 13, 2005
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I'm going to be selling my HP laptop in about 3 weeks and replacing it with a desktop. Please help in choosing the parts and I want the desktop to be have quiet fans.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing?
Light gaming, web browsing, streaming video and music, and work

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $800 to $900 before shipping

3) Where do you live?
Dallas, TX

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 945, or Intel i5 600 series
CPU Fan: Aftermarket. Must be a quiet one
RAM: At least 4GB of good brand ram
Graphics: ATI Radeon 5700 Series
Hard Drive: 500GB
DVD Burner: Must be a good and reliable brand
Wireless -N Internet Card: Must have good range and must have a speed of 300Mbps
Power Supply: Antec TP 550 Watts
Motherboard: Gigabyte or Asus. Must contain a good audio chip
Case: Must be in black color. I've been looking at the Cooler Master Elite 335

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have the Samsung 2233RZ

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In 3 weeks

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
The standard features that come with the motherboard

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I have a store bought full version of Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
 
Last edited:
You didn't answer number 8 correctly: WHEN, not WHERE, are you planning on building/buying the PC?

Also what do you mean by light gaming? Like at a low resolution? Or just simple 3D games? Or are there long periods of time when you do game?
 
Danny Bui said:
You didn't answer number 8 correctly: WHEN, not WHERE, are you planning on building/buying the PC?

Also what do you mean by light gaming? Like at a low resolution? Or just simple 3D games? Or are there long periods of time when you do game?
Click to expand...
Thanks for correcting me on number 8. For light gaming, its going be not very often because I have an Xbox 360.
 
Gotcha.

Prelim build:
$160 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 CPU
$80 - Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 Motherboard
$105 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$140 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$55 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$100 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
-----
Total: $745 plus tax and shipping
 
@Danny Bui: Is there a 750GB or 1TB version of the Samsung? Just curious (for my build), only one I saw on newegg was deactivated

OP do you want a Blu Ray drive for your PC or is a regular DVD burner ok? Your budget can probably handle the Blu Ray drive.
LG Blu RayDrive / DVD Burner w/Lightsribe (90$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...36162&cm_re=lg_blu_ray-_-27-136-162-_-Product

Only suggestion I have is bump up the GPU to a 5770, it's worth the extra 27$ for when you do decide to game.
XFX 5770 1GB (167$ shipped)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462&cm_re=5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product

65+27+745 = 837$ if you substitute in the Blu Ray and 5770... athough I did not include shipping from Danny's recommendations
 
Danny Bui has the right idea. There is nothing wrong with his build. But, I will throw in another one at a cheaper cost with a HD 5770.

CASE/PSU - Antec Threehundred Illusion + Antec TruePower New TP-550 both for $131.98 ($12 MIR on mobo, $20 MIR on psu)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.334086

VIDEO CARD/CPU - XFX Radeon HD 5770 + AMD Phenom II X4 955 both for $307.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.325772

MOBO/RAM - ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G + A-DATA 4GB DDR3 1333 both for $184.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.334441

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB for $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

OPTICAL - SAMSUNG Black 22X for $25.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

HSF - Coolermaster Hyper 212+ for $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Total: $735.91
Shipping: $17.17
Total Cost: $753.08 w/shipping
 
HardwareGuru said:
Danny Bui has the right idea. There is nothing wrong with his build. But, I will throw in another one at a cheaper cost with a HD 5770.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear: Since the OP is planning on buying the parts from and getting the PC built by either mWave or Avadirect, those newegg combos won't work for him.'

But yeah, if the OP was building the PC himself and was buying from Newegg, I'd definitely recommend your build over mine
 
Danny Bui said:
Just to be clear: Since the OP is planning on buying the parts from and getting the PC built by either mWave or Avadirect, those newegg combos won't work for him.'

But yeah, if the OP was building the PC himself and was buying from Newegg, I'd definitely recommend your build over mine
Click to expand...

HardwareGuru said:
Hmm.. maybe I missed what he wrote earlier as I did not see him specify that.
Click to expand...
I edited my first post, because I misread question 8. I still want either mwave or avadirect to build the pc for me.
 
I'm wondering if this build looks good:
Case: Cooler Master Elite 335
CPU: Intel i5-660
Motherboard: MSI-P55 CD53
Hard Drive: SEAGATE ST3500418AS Barracuda 7200.12 500GB
RAM: Crucial CT2KIT25664BA1339 4GB kit
Video Card: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770
DVD Burner: LG GH22NS50
Power Supply: Antec TP550
 
Not that good of a setup. The i5 660 is a waste of money for a dual-core CPU. In addition the Seagate 7200.12 500GB is slower than the Samsung F3 500GB drive.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
kage said:
I'm wondering if this build looks good:
Case: Cooler Master Elite 335
CPU: Intel i5-660
Motherboard: MSI-P55 CD53
Hard Drive: SEAGATE ST3500418AS Barracuda 7200.12 500GB
RAM: Crucial CT2KIT25664BA1339 4GB kit
Video Card: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770
DVD Burner: LG GH22NS50
Power Supply: Antec TP550
Click to expand...

Go with an i5 750 at LEAST. Like danny said the F3 500gb is faster, also get a g.skill ddr3-1600 kit instead of that crucial kit. Go with the antec 520w eco instead of the tp550
 
I'm wondering if I could get a custom built desktop with an Intel i7-860 within my budget as stated in the first posting? Since I really don't pc game, I really don't need to get a mid-range to high-end video card but I would like to have one of ATI's current generation video cards. So can you please help me out and I really want to keep the mid tower case in my first posting in this thread.
 
kage said:
I'm wondering if I could get a custom built desktop with an Intel i7-860 within my budget as stated in the first posting? Since I really don't pc game, I really don't need to get a mid-range to high-end video card but I would like to have one of ATI's current generation video cards. So can you please help me out and I really want to keep the mid tower case in my first posting in this thread.
Click to expand...

You could drop the 5770 to a 5670 or even a 5450 then use that saved money for the 860. But honestly if you don't game and just want something that has a good processor you are better off going with a phenom II and a 785g chipset and not even getting a video card until you need one.
 
After a few days of researching parts for my new custom built pc, I decided to pay a little more than my intended budget and get my custom built pc built by www.avadirect.com. Before I make the purchase, what do you think of these specs:
1. COOLER MASTER Elite 335 Black Mid Tower Case
2. ANTEC EarthWatts EA650 Power Supply
3.GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P
4. INTEL i7-860
5. COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
6. KINGSTON 4GB (2 x 2GB) ValueRAM PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz
7. SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5670 (will upgrade when the new Nvidia graphics cards get released)
8. SAMSUNG 500GB SpinPoint F3 Hard Drive
9. LG GH24NS50 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner
 
This actually looks good.

kage said:
After a few days of researching parts for my new custom built pc, I decided to pay a little more than my intended budget and get my custom built pc built by www.avadirect.com. Before I make the purchase, what do you think of these specs:
1. COOLER MASTER Elite 335 Black Mid Tower Case
2. ANTEC EarthWatts EA650 Power Supply
3.GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P
4. INTEL i7-860
5. COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
6. KINGSTON 4GB (2 x 2GB) ValueRAM PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz
7. SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5670 (will upgrade when the new Nvidia graphics cards get released)
8. SAMSUNG 500GB SpinPoint F3 Hard Drive
9. LG GH24NS50 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner
Click to expand...
 
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