First Build - Grocery List help.

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ForgottenIrocZ28

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Dec 29, 2009
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Questions from the sticky, A list of parts ive chosen so far will be below. and id appreciate if you see anything that isnt a good choice, or know of better for cheaper lol

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
all the basic tasks plus some gaming, i dont mind running at 12xx by 8xx or around there

I dont need it to run high resolution at 80fps+ on crysis with maxed settings, What i WOULD like is it to play team fortress 2 on decent settings with no hiccups (and diablo3 when it finally comes out but who knows about that, not sure if they released specs yet)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500-600 Including tax/shipping, My computer just died without warning so i didnt have a chance to save up any at all, Really the cheapest i can get by with and still have a stable computer to do what i want.

3) Where do you live?
Tennessee, so newegg charges tax ;\

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Motherboard,CPU,RAM,Case,PSU,GPU, DVD Burner, Main Harddrive (to hold games, OS, programs. i have an external for storage)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Wondering if i can reuse the case from my compaq i had, will it accept a standard atx/micro atx motherboard? (this is my first build)

6) Will you be overclocking?
Maybe after its up and running for a while, i read that the athlon II x2 245 can be overclocked to 3.2-3.4ghz on stock cooling and be stable, if this is wrong please say so.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19" CRT, 1280x1024 is the resolution ill be using for games and everything.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soon.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I dont need anything special on the motherboard, id like to learn about overclocking maybe and do that a little down the road, and i think thats motherboard dependant? not sure.

But i wont be needing firewire, SLI/Crossfire

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes

CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz

Motherboard: ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G

Memory: OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3

PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 500GB

Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout

GPU: XFX GeForce 9800 GT 512MB


Since this is my first build, will i need any odds & end things that maybe im forgetting? Does the heatsink come with thermal paste? Screws and such?.

Thanks
 
Any reason you chose that particular kit of DDR3? Aside from having some schmedium specs, IMO, they were also reviewed all over the place on Newegg (which should not be a deciding factor, but should be a factor, I think). Maybe you could consider this G.SKILL kit:

95.99 4GB G.SKILL DDR3-1600

Also, this PSU should provide plenty of power for the parts you've chosen, but will cost a little bit less than the Antec.

49.99 Enermax Liberty 400W Modular PSU
 
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TheQuestian said:
Also, this PSU should provide plenty of power for the parts you've chosen, but will cost a little bit less than the Antec.

49.99 Enermax Liberty 400W Modular PSU
Click to expand...

Not a good choice at all: It's based on an old 4 year old design that was known for somewhat above average failure rates.

PSU wise, do you really need a modular PSU? Also, are you heavily attached to that case?
 
Im not attached at all, like i said. i would use the case my compaq was in if i knew it would be no problems

I love how the $150 cases look, but they're $150 ;\, And all the reviews i see for the $40-50 dollar range cases on newegg, are bad. If you have a better option please let me know :)

A modular PSU isnt needed, Is there something wrong with them?

@Thequest, i seen that on the motherboard specs of what DDR speeds it supports, on 1600 it says (O.C.), What exactly does that mean? since i made this list before i posted any of this, i chose the lower just to be safe.
 
 
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ForgottenIrocZ28 said:
I've seen that on the motherboard specs of what DDR speeds it supports, on 1600 it says (O.C.). What exactly does that mean? Since I made this list before I posted any of this, I chose the lower just to be safe.
Click to expand...
It stands for Over Clock, which just means that if you buy DDR3-1600 memory, you will usually have to set its speed manually in the BIOS. I believe it will run at 1333 by default, which is no big deal, really, if you don't want to mess with it. In response to your modular question, I believe Danny Bui was asking because modular PSU's generally come at a price premium. A non-modular power supply might cost $50, while the identical modular unit might cost $75. Or sometimes (as is apparently the case with the Enermax Liberty), an inferior unit might cost the same amount. In short, if you don't need a modular PSU, you could get a better unit for less money or a superior unit for the same cost.
 
Danny Bui said:
Not a good choice at all: It's based on an old 4 year old design that was known for somewhat above average failure rates.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Danny. I just ordered one of these for a build I'm doing for my mom. I guess I'll have to return it and pick up the 520HX I saw at Micro Center. Would you mind expanding a bit on the trouble with them? Although I knew it was an older unit, everything I could find on this PSU in particular, (and Enermax in general) was very positive.
 
ForgottenIrocZ28 said:
Im not attached at all, like i said. i would use the case my compaq was in if i knew it would be no problems

I love how the $150 cases look, but they're $150 ;\, And all the reviews i see for the $40-50 dollar range cases on newegg, are bad. If you have a better option please let me know :)

A modular PSU isnt needed, Is there something wrong with them?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with modular PSUs per se. However its just that the ones listed in this thread so far are not of good quality. For your setup, this PSU would be more than enough:
$60 - Corsair 450VX 450W PSU

Case wise, here are some other case recommendations:
$55 - Antec 300 ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case

TheQuestian said:
Thanks, Danny. I just ordered one of these for a build I'm doing for my mom. I guess I'll have to return it and pick up the 520HX I saw at Micro Center. Would you mind expanding a bit on the trouble with them? Although I knew it was an older unit, everything I could find on this PSU in particular, (and Enermax in general) was very positive.
Click to expand...

Simply put, they just died. It's been awhile since anyone has brought up the old Liberty PSU line but IIRC, that line was prone to death after 1-2 years when placed under heavy load and high temperatures.
 
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