First Build, $900.00 budget.

B

Bulla73

n00b
Joined
Mar 18, 2010
Messages
1
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?
900, yes
3) Where do you live?
North Carolina
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
 cpu, ram, gpu, case, motherboard, psu.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
hard drive, dvd r.
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
allready have a 24in. asus 1080p
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.
crossfire or sli in the future
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
yes windows 7 64bit

Ok, thanks for looking and any advice is well appreciated. This pc is mainly for playing fp shooters like bbc2, crysis, arma2, and any new flight games comming out like IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey! Would like to play at very high settings but i am realistic. I've always bought my rigs used from places like craigslist. But i am now ready to build my own. thanks...
 
 
Here's an attempt:

$150 FS GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4 LGA 1156 Intel P55

$200 FS Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

$106 FS G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

$328 shipped GIGABYTE GV-R585D5-1GD-B Radeon HD 5850

$110 COMBO + 16 shipping Antec TWO HUNDRED S Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case + Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power

Total = $910 shipped. Newegg should not charge you tax in NC.
 
Probably what I'd do.
I picked out nice well ventilated chassis and quality power supply first.
Went a little lite on the cpu/memory combination with the 1156 socket stuff so could spend more on video.

Motherboard highlights:
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P
"Intel XMP validation as the world’s fastest memory: 2400MHz"
"2 x USB 3.0"
"2 x SATA 6Gb/s"

I'd also recommend in-depth research on memory module options. Can be real tricky finding which ones clock higher. I haven't followed the current DDR3 modules well.

 
Since everyone is doing it, I'll do it too :):
$200 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$214 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard + Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C8 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$328 - Gigabyte GV-R585D5-1GD-B Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$100 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---------
Total: $912 shipped

$33 cheaper than lt_shiro's build but slightly more future proof mobo due to SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 and better case IMO.
$2 more than defaultluser's build but better case and better quality PSU
$10 cheaper than Menelmarar's build but faster video card and better case.
 
Last edited:
Danny Bui said:
Since everyone is doing it, I'll do it too :):
$200 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$214 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard + Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C8 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$328 - Gigabyte GV-R585D5-1GD-B Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$100 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---------
Total: $912 shipped

$33 cheaper than lt_shiro's build but slightly more future proof mobo due to SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 and better case IMO.
$2 more than defaultluser's build but better case and better quality PSU
$10 cheaper than Menelmarar's build but faster video card and better case.
Click to expand...
Mine had $40 in MIR listed, I didn't go through your array of links to verify your price comparison, maybe some were hidden in there...?

XFX video cards have USA based support, and lifetime warranty. And the better the videocard, the better the gaming experience, if the OP can swing it, certainly the 5850 GPU is gonna be faster.

Corsair 750 is by far the better power supply.

The mobo/ram combo is a sweet deal, until you take into account the OP wants to do Crossfire. Your motherboard only supports x4 speed on second port. The one I linked will do x8, I was under the impression this was better for Crossfire so you aren't completely crippling the bandwidth to second card.

I'm not sure the case is "better". I've had bad experiences with CoolerMaster cases being rattling and hard to work with, a 690 I built for someone. I do like the raised chassis with ventilation under the power supply. Dunno what that weird drive mounting thing is in the bottom of it, prefer the simpler style of the drive bays in the Antec, looks like much less airflow restrictive.
 
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Menelmarar said:
Mine had $40 in MIR listed, I didn't go through your array of links to verify your price comparison, maybe some were hidden in there...?
Click to expand...
I never factor in MIR as they're not guaranteed.

Menelmarar said:
XFX video cards have USA based support, and lifetime warranty. And the better the videocard, the better the gaming experience, if the OP can swing it, certainly the 5850 GPU is gonna be faster.
Click to expand...
I totally concur with XFX being the better company. However not a fan of the HD 5830 due to its

Menelmarar said:
Corsair 750 is by far the better power supply.
Click to expand...
The Antec TP-650 is actually of better quality than the Corsair 750TX. Despite being of lower wattage/amperage, the TP-650 is the far better PSU due to the higher quality, better efficiency, and better quality components. If you really wanted a 750W PSU, the Antec TP-750 Blue costs as the same as the 750TX but is also of better quality.
Menelmarar said:
The mobo/ram combo is a sweet deal, until you take into account the OP wants to do Crossfire. Your motherboard only supports x4 speed on second port. The one I linked will do x8, better balance for Crossfire.
Click to expand...
Point taken.
Menelmarar said:
I'm not sure the case is "better". I've had bad experiences with CoolerMaster cases being rattling and hard to work with, a 690 I built for someone. I do like the raised chassis with ventilation under the power supply. Dunno what that weird drive mounting thing is in the bottom of it, prefer the simpler style of the Antec, looks much less airflow restrictive.
Click to expand...
That's a 4 HDD bay. I perfer that since it localizes the cooling over the HDDs. It's not as restrictive as you think. Anyway cases are mostly personal aesthetics choices so let the OP decide..
 
Danny Bui said:
Since everyone is doing it, I'll do it too :):
$200 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$214 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard + Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C8 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$328 - Gigabyte GV-R585D5-1GD-B Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$100 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---------
Total: $912 shipped

$33 cheaper than lt_shiro's build but slightly more future proof mobo due to SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 and better case IMO.
$2 more than defaultluser's build but better case and better quality PSU
$10 cheaper than Menelmarar's build but faster video card and better case.
Click to expand...

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
crossfire or sli in the future
Click to expand...

You can't use that UD3-series motherboard for SLI/CrossFire. The second slot runs at x4 (PCIe 1 speeds), and this has to travel over the 2GB/s DMI external bus. The UD4 in my build features the proper 8x8 configuration, which will only cause a %5 performance loss versus 16x16.

That means you lose your combo (believe me, I tried to find one with an 8x8 board), and it means your price goes-up $45 ($30 for the combo, $15 for the UD4 motherboard).

I'm not against your improved case and PSU, but you must understand, everything has a price. It is up to the OP to decide if he wants to pay $950 for your build with the change in motherboard to either the one in my build, or the one in it_shiro's.
 
Last edited:
defaultluser said:
You can't use that UD3-series motherboard for SLI/CrossFire. The second slot runs at x4 (PCIe 1 speeds), and this has to travel over the 2GB/s DMI external bus. The UD4 my build uses features the proper 8x8 configuration, which will only cause a %5 performance loss versus 16x16.

That means you lose your combo (believe me, I tried to find one with an 8x8 board), anbd it means your price goes-up $45 ($30 for the combo, $15 for the UD4 motherboard).
Click to expand...

Point taken and I now stand corrected.
 
Heh, I'd save the $45, put it towards a new vidcard later and simply avoid Crossfire in the future. ;) A next gen single vidcard will likely perform better than last gen cards in Crossfire, and selling the old card would help offset the cost of the new gen card.
 
enginurd said:
Heh, I'd save the $45, put it towards a new vidcard later and simply avoid Crossfire in the future. ;) A next gen single vidcard will likely perform better than last gen cards in Crossfire, and selling the old card would help offset the cost of the new gen card.
Click to expand...

Not if the current single high end cards are overpriced.
 
Looks like a good build..just don't go with nzxt for the case..they don't give people their MIRs.

I would look for a cheaper psu..$100 for an antec seems overpriced.
 
Shadowssong said:
hey danny did you know that the ud3 series cant support xfire? Figured I'd be the third one to tell you :D /endsarcasm :D:D:D:D:D:D
Click to expand...

it supports xfire, just in 16x/4x :p ... so you COULD use it for Crossfire, you just won't get the best performance compared to a board offering dual 8x. ;) a keyword search for "UD3 Crossfire support" could result in people reading things on this thread that aren't completely true, so I have to offset that somehow. hehe.

QuadMe said:
Not if the current single high end cards are overpriced.
Click to expand...

I don't feel like sitting here and arguing about IFs all day (or other obvious scenarios). :rolleyes: My statement was a general guide, and even if the cards are overpriced, selling the old will still offset the cost, just not as much, lol. ;)
 
enginurd said:
it supports xfire, just in 16x/4x :p ... so you COULD use it for Crossfire, you just won't get the best performance compared to a board offering dual 8x. ;) a keyword search for "UD3 Crossfire support" could result in people reading things on this thread that aren't completely true, so I have to offset that somehow. hehe.



I don't feel like sitting here and arguing about IFs all day (or other obvious scenarios). :rolleyes: My statement was a general guide, and even if the cards are overpriced, selling the old will still offset the cost, just not as much, lol. ;)
Click to expand...

There are no "ifs". The current 58XX series have been selling for a higher price then what they were suppose to be.
 
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