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Gaming build, $500 budget

C

chockomonkey

[H]F Junkie
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Joined
Oct 11, 2003
Messages
8,458

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Gaming: Crysis, STALKER, SC2, Diablo 3, Elder Scrolls VI :)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500, tax & shipping excluded
3) Where do you live?
WA State
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
CPU, Mobo, HDD, PSU, Case(see below), Ram, Video Card, CD Burner
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I could use this old case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129120
6) Will you be overclocking?
Nope
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24" 16:10
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
Nothing really needed. SLI / Crossfire would be handy for upgrading in the future, but I reckon my budget limits me here
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes -- Win 7 Ult 64bit

Not sure if it is worth noting, but my roommates requested that when i order my PC, that i get one for them too. The only difference might be the case (though maybe not, if i cant re-use that case... i'll need your input for this)
 
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chockomonkey said:

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Gaming: Crysis, STALKER, SC2, Diablo 3, Elder Scrolls VI :)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500, tax & shipping excluded
3) Where do you live?
WA State
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
CPU, Mobo, HDD, PSU, Case(see below), Ram, Video Card, CD Burner
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I could use this old case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129120
6) Will you be overclocking?
Nope
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24" 16:10
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
Nothing really needed. SLI / Crossfire would be handy for upgrading in the future, but I reckon my budget limits me here
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes -- Win 7 Ult 64bit

Not sure if it is worth noting, but my roommates requested that when i order my PC, that i get one for them too. The only difference might be the case (though maybe not, if i cant re-use that case... i'll need your input for this)
Click to expand...

You may have to raise your budget by about $200. This is because a GeForce GTX 460 1GB card (the minimum that we recommend for 1920x1200 gaming at highest or maximum detail) would cost you about $200 by itself. That leaves you with only $300 for the CPU, motherboard, RAM, case, PSU, HDD and DVD burner combined. (I stated DVD burner because nobody makes CD-only drives any more, and that a read-only DVD-ROM drive now costs as much money as a DVD burner.) Also, I would not recommend reusing that SX 1040 II case for anything modern because it can accommodate only four 80mm fans (and cannot accommodate any fans larger than those): The four 80mm fans put together would become extremely noisy even at idle, and still provide much less airflow and air circulation than two 120mm fans would have provided. With that $500 budget for the complete build you would have ended up with either a GPU that's totally unsuitable for 1920x1200 gaming or a really shitty PSU or a woefully insufficient amount of RAM.

As it stands now, after accounting for the 1GB GTX 460, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a good-quality 500W to 620W PSU, a 500GB SATA HDD and a SATA DVD burner, you'd be left with only $75 for the CPU, motherboard and case - combined. And since nearly all CPU and motherboard combos cost more than $75, a $500 budget for a "gaming" system is unworkable unless you have to drop the monitor size down to an 18.5" screen and the resolution down to 1600x900.
 
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Thanks for the explanation... that sucks, but i guess there's nothing i can do about it. I'll want to be able to play new games at least low settings with good fps, and if i have to raise my budget then that's what i'll do. Would you mind helping me fix what i put together below? Also, i can't figure out which mobo to get.

Sony DVD Burner: $19.95

AMD Athlon II X3 445: $77.99

GTX 460 1gb: $229.99

G Skill Ram: $88.99

Rosewill Case and 450W Power Supply: 49.99

WD 500gb HDD: $69.99

= $536.90 so far, i need suggestions on a mobo

Thanks!
 
chockomonkey said:
Thanks for the explanation... that sucks, but i guess there's nothing i can do about it. I'll want to be able to play new games at least low settings with good fps, and if i have to raise my budget then that's what i'll do. Would you mind helping me fix what i put together below? Also, i can't figure out which mobo to get.

Sony DVD Burner: $19.95

AMD Athlon II X3 445: $77.99

GTX 460 1gb: $229.99

G Skill Ram: $88.99

Rosewill Case and 450W Power Supply: 49.99

WD 500gb HDD: $69.99

= $536.90 so far, i need suggestions on a mobo

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Looks okay except for the really shitty PSU inside the case that you picked. It is in actuality only a 230W to 250W PSU with a 450W label on it.

Motherboard-wise, I'd recommend $75 - MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
 
Athlon II X4 630 - $95.99. My friend, today is more than half way through the 2010. Building a gaming computer without a hardcore is somewhat laughable. Shell out 15 bucks and a quad. You will like it.

Mushkin Silverline DDR1333 4GB $79.99 - Don't understand why memory prices are bitchin expensive. But here it is, Mushkin. I always use Mushkin when it comes to memory, shouldn't matter much, but it is one hell of a solid brand. BTW, there is not much difference between a 1333 and 1600, you won't see it.

ASROCK 880G. $59.99 down from a $89.99. - One mother of a deal, $59.99 from $89.99. ASROCK as gotten a better reputation these days.

Sapphire HD5770 - $124.99 After rebate. Best bang for the buck IMO, especially for your budget area, I think this is THE card to get.

Rosewill Challenger Case $44.99 Judging from the stats, this is the best case I can find in terms of bangs/dollar. With 2 120mm fans and 1 140cm fan, this case can keep it nice and cool.

Antec Earthwatts 380W $44.99 down from $59.99. - Don't judge it from the 380W label. This puppy is 80PLUS BRONZE rated, very nice efficiency right there. The fact is, your PC will sit idle most of the time, drawing no more than 100W power with the specs listed above. Gaming? Perhaps no more than 250W. This is the most reliable PSU for that price range.

WD Caviar Blue 640GB - $49.99 after PROMO CODE - DO NOT forget to enter the promo code, this is the only reason why I've listed this for you.

$530.93 for full system - for a Quad machine and the HD5770.
 
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You might consider this:

GTS 450 1GB $129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125342

Killer is correct about the 5770. I have one and I can play every game, including SC2, and several others without problems. I run 1920x1200 resolution with a second and soon to be tertiary monitor.

DVD Burner: $17 and IDE Dont waste your Sata ports if you have an IDE port on your board. There is a SATA version of that drive for the exact same price if you pick one without.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175

WD HDD 500GB Blue Series $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
 
KarsusTG said:
You might consider this:

GTS 450 1GB $129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125342

Killer is correct about the 5770. I have one and I can play every game, including SC2, and several others without problems. I run 1920x1200 resolution with a second and soon to be tertiary monitor.

DVD Burner: $17 and IDE Dont waste your Sata ports if you have an IDE port on your board. There is a SATA version of that drive for the exact same price if you pick one without.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175

WD HDD 500GB Blue Series $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
Click to expand...

No, No, & No

1st the GTS450.. Performance equal to a 5750 at a price that you can find 5770's for.. not a good buy at all..

The IDE Optical drive is garbage based on the extra cable clutter alone. Most motherboards are going to have 4 to 5 SATA ports & most people will use 2 to 3 including the optical drive.

& a WD Blue at 55 is not a great deal because the Samsung F3 is faster & the same cost..

@chockomonkey Where is your actual budget at. If you can flex to the 650-700 range you can get a hell of alot more system then you can for 500.. & Don't believe that BS about the 5770 being the card to get. I have a 5770 & I can play SC2 at medium with relatively few slow downs @ 1920x1200.. If you can squeeze in a 460 then do it, They are well worth the cost difference. Especially when a 768mn 460 can be had for 170 at Newegg.

If you can swing 612 shipped try this build out.

170 ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard + Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
240 GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-768I GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB + CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W
90 NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case + Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM
104 LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R + AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz

612.71 Shipped price & has a $30 MIR from the Corsair PSU

Compared to lkiller1231's build this has a better case, PSU, Video & motherboard. You loose 200 Mhz clock speed (not noticeable unless benchmarking). & although the HDD is smaller, Its also Faster.
 
Considering all the advice i've received in this thread, i'd say that i'm going to have to extend my budget a bit. You see, i dno't have a budget exactly, i'll be buying this with a credit card. I want the cheapest possible computer which meets my desires.

After your post and looking at some benchmarks between the 460 and 5770, i now desire the 460 :)

The 50 bucks you saved by dropping the ram on this unit... what kind of difference does this make? what does ram on a video card handle?

As far as Athlon II X4's go, It's $7 extra to go from 2.6 to 2.8, then another $9 to go from 2.8 to 3.0... you said this only matters on benchmarking, but perhaps i could shell out 7 bucks and move up one.

(i remember being in this situation with my laptop. I didn't shell out the extra money, and i'm still using a 1.6ghz mobile chip that's incredibly slow... i don't want this to happen again lol)

As for the Ram, Case, Mobo, PSU and burner,what bastage posted is what i'm digging. Those combos are in my cart :) I just need help deciding on if i should bump up the video and CPU from what he posted above.
 
Also, if i got the cheaper 460 with less ram, is that mobo you posted capable of handling crossfire or SLI (can never remember which one is which) for upgrading in the future?

I'm also planning a future SSD upgrade.. i'll need to make sure that this system can handle one of those.
 
chockomonkey said:
The 50 bucks you saved by dropping the ram on this unit... what kind of difference does this make? what does ram on a video card handle?
Click to expand...
the GTX 460 768MB is still faster than the HD 5770 1GB. However at high resolutions, i.e 1920x1080, that 768MB VRAM is a bit of a limitation since it won't allow for that much AA, AF, and other visual quality upgrades/tricks/additions compared to a 1GB version the GTX 460. Considering your resolution, I highly recommend getting the GTX 460 1GB if you want high settings at your native resolution.

chockomonkey said:
As far as Athlon II X4's go, It's $7 extra to go from 2.6 to 2.8, then another $9 to go from 2.8 to 3.0... you said this only matters on benchmarking, but perhaps i could shell out 7 bucks and move up one.

(i remember being in this situation with my laptop. I didn't shell out the extra money, and i'm still using a 1.6ghz mobile chip that's incredibly slow... i don't want this to happen again lol)
Click to expand...

Yeah this is nothing like a laptop. Laptop CPUs were slow to begin with back then. As such, every bit of clock speed counted. In a modern desktop CPU, you really don't have to worry about getting every once of clock speed you can get. As bastage said, it really does not matter that much in a real world situation whether or not you have that extra 200Mhz.

chockomonkey said:
Also, if i got the cheaper 460 with less ram, is that mobo you posted capable of handling crossfire or SLI (can never remember which one is which) for upgrading in the future?

I'm also planning a future SSD upgrade.. i'll need to make sure that this system can handle one of those.
Click to expand...

Crossfire is ATI. SLI is Nvidia. That mobo can't do either.
 
Thanks Danny! I'll save money on the CPU and put it on the 1GB 460.

Is this a better mobo for the price? It seems more feature rich. I really don't know anything about them though ><

edit: i notice the northbridge difference... is NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI better than AMD 870? I mean, other than obviously the ability to SLI. Also, the ASUS board has 2 USB 3.0 ports... those may be handy one day
 
actually because of the combo it was like a 12 or 13 dollar difference in CPU's..

& if in budget then I would take the 1gb 460 over the 768mb one for sure, but I dont think its worth the approx 60 dollar difference for the performance gain. Either way it will do you justice, just a matter of what you want to spend.

Edit.. Or you can get a GTX 465 for somewhere in the middle. Stock to stock its a faster card then the 460, but it uses more power & is hotter, not to mention longer. Some of them can however be flashed to 470's which if done gives you a way better card then the 460 for less.. Just a matter of what you want to spend though.
 
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Okay so this is what we've got:

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz & LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner = 103.99

Western Digital Caviar Black & NZXT GAMMA Classic Series = 79.98

GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB & CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W = 294.98

ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 & Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 = 169.98


= 648.93 with a 30 MIR ... = $618.93

Not bad, really. When i said 500 I was expecting $550, so this is only marginally more expensive than that.

I tried shaving more off in the mobo/ram combo but not knowing much about mobos, I didn't really have any success.

Does anyone see any areas for improvement? or perhaps another place to cut a cost?

I think we're close!
 
bastage said:
Edit.. Or you can get a GTX 465 for somewhere in the middle. Stock to stock its a faster card then the 460, but it uses more power & is hotter, not to mention longer. Some of them can however be flashed to 470's which if done gives you a way better card then the 460 for less.. Just a matter of what you want to spend though.
Click to expand...

What gives with this?? A higher model card for less money? You also mention it can be flashed to something even better? (is this easy?) Why hasn't anyone brought it up before? sounds like it should be the recommendation, no?
 
Looking for ways to cut costs, i found a drive i forgot about... Is the below much slower than the one i was planning on buying above?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136131

A little begging also got me a free dvd drive. So, with these two items potentially out of the shopping cart, i could be right back on budget... that is if the HDD above is fast enough.

If i scratch those two items, it leaves the case and the CPU without combo deals, and i can't seem to find any for those two... I think i'll have to get the cpu with the mobo and the ram with the case? or something... it's hard for me to figure out because i don't know enough about mobos to tell them apart.

Assistance with this would be awesome,

Cheers.
 
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Not sure about the difference in HDD speed.. But if you already have the 1 then use it since your planning a SSD upgrade anyway. There is no reason to use the smaller capacity drive at an additional 50 bucks if you know its going to get replaced anyhow.

This said dropping those 2 will save you about 50 buck. You can either pocket the savings or we can see what extra performance can be squeezed in for that 50.. Also of note if your not tapped on budget at 650ish we might be able to find a good combo for the SSD now..

This would get you to 693 shipped & add another 15 mir.. That would add alot of pep running the OSS off the SSD
 
that's not a bad suggestion, but the SSD upgrade in the future is planned for when i have more money to throw around. It's definitely appealing, but as i've already sprung on the 460, i'm definitely going to still try to keep costs down.

So, with that said I think i'm quite ready to buy the below..

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz = 89.99

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series = 39.99

GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB & CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W = 294.98

ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 & Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 = 169.98


= $598.87 shipped with a 30 MIR ... = $568.87

Does anyone have any more suggestions on how to get another combo deal out of this?
 
chockomonkey said:
Is this a better mobo for the price? It seems more feature rich. I really don't know anything about them though ><

edit: i notice the northbridge difference... is NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI better than AMD 870? I mean, other than obviously the ability to SLI. Also, the ASUS board has 2 USB 3.0 ports... those may be handy one day
Click to expand...
The Nvidia 750a is not better than the 870 IMO mainly due to the slower southbridge, hotter running chipset, and not so good overclocking capability.
chockomonkey said:
From a future upgrading possibilities standpoint: the MSI mobo would allow me to SLI another 460, and then i remember reading that the AMD has some plans for the AM3 socket in the future... so it would be pretty solid in that regard yes?
Click to expand...
Well it depends on whether or not MSI will continue work on that chipset for it to support AMD's future CPUs. The chances of that happening is somewhat low IMO considering that Nvidia itself has stopped development in the chipset market for close to a year now. In addition, MSI doesn't even have a CPU support list for that motherboard. So that lack of information really tells me that MSI does not care enough about that particular motherboard.

chockomonkey said:
Also: who the hell is Sparkle? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187115
Click to expand...
They really remind me of Sapphire for some reason.
chockomonkey said:
What gives with this?? A higher model card for less money? You also mention it can be flashed to something even better? (is this easy?) Why hasn't anyone brought it up before? sounds like it should be the recommendation, no?
Click to expand...

The GTX 465 runs significantly hotter, uses significantly more power, and the chances of it being flashed to a GTX 470 depends on whether or not you have the right PCB version. The increased performance isn't worth the significantly heat and power costs. Hence why it wasn't mentioned before.
chockomonkey said:
Does anyone have any more suggestions on how to get another combo deal out of this?
Click to expand...

There are better combo deals than the one you listed:
$179 - AMD Athlon II X4 630 CPU + MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard Combo
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
----
Total: $254

$6 cheaper than your planned CPU + mobo + RAM setup but you get a slightly faster CPU and a mobo that matches that Asus mostly.

If you don't need SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0, any sort of overclock options or tweaking options as well as a high chance of little to no future CPU upgrade path, you can get significantly faster CPU + mobo for even less:
$176 - AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU + Biostar TA785G3HD AM3 AMD 785G HDMI mATX AMD Motherboard
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
---
Total: $251

$3 less than the setup I mentioned but the CPU is significantly faster but at the aformentione costs.

If you don't need SATA 6Gb/s or USB 3.0, you can save $20 over my first recommended setup in this post:
$159 - AMD Athlon II X4 630 CPU + MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
 
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Danny Bui said:
words
Click to expand...

Thanks for answering all those unanswered questions :) I'll be sticking with the good stuff

Danny Bui said:
There are better combo deals than the one you listed:
$179 - AMD Athlon II X4 630 CPU + MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard Combo
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
----
Total: $254

$6 cheaper than your planned CPU + mobo + RAM setup but you get a slightly faster CPU and a mobo that matches that Asus mostly.

If you don't need SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0, any sort of overclock options or tweaking options as well as a high chance of little to no future CPU upgrade path, you can get significantly faster CPU + mobo for even less:
$176 - AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU + Biostar TA785G3HD AM3 AMD 785G HDMI mATX AMD Motherboard
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
---
Total: $251

$3 less than the setup I mentioned but the CPU is significantly faster but at the aformentione costs.

If you don't need SATA 6Gb/s or USB 3.0, you can save $20 over my first recommended setup in this post:
$159[URL] - AMD Athlon II X4 630 CPU + MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Click to expand...


Thanks for the links! That'd be sweet to get more processor power out of my budget. right now, and with this build, i have no need for USB 3.0 and SATA 6g/s... but i haven't heard anything about those. Should i plan on them becoming new standards and phasing out the old?
 
chockomonkey said:
Thanks for the links! That'd be sweet to get more processor power out of my budget. right now, and with this build, i have no need for USB 3.0 and SATA 6g/s... but i haven't heard anything about those. Should i plan on them becoming new standards and phasing out the old?
Click to expand...

SATA 6Gb/s will only really come in handy with future SSDs. Mechanical hard drives are just going over SATA 1.5Gb/s limits and not even close to saturating SATA 3.0Gb/s.

As for USB 3.0, yeah that's gonna be a new standard for sure.
 
Dannys recomendations on the Phenom II x4 945 is definitly a good one. But I am not a fan of biostar. & at this point due to recent MSI boards I am sticking to Asus, or Gigabyte for the most part.
 
the idea of getting a phenom series chip instead of the athalon is quite nice, though i've found it's quite easy to play that game when putting together a computer. It's way to easy to be like, 'oh it's just 20 more bucks for x'

usb 3.0 sounds important so i figure i should spend the extra money on that rather than a phenom chip... that is, IF this athalon chip is able to handle my gaming requirements without problems.

If that's the case, then i'll go with the below:

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series = 39.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 = 74.99

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard & AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz = 178.98

GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 & CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W = 294.98

= 593.86 shipped -50 mir ... = $533.86

Extremely close to my original budget!, though the feedback on that mobo plus bastage's review of MSI makes me wonder... is the extra 200 mhz and extra savings worth the risk?
 
your looking at a 5 dollar savings to drop from an Asus to a MSI & loose the heat spreaders on the ram & gain 200mhz.. As long as everything goes well that should be 5 bucks well saved, but...

Given the difference in support between the 2 & that the Asus should be a better built board I would gladly spend the extra 5 bucks.
 
chockomonkey said:
Extremely close to my original budget!, though the feedback on that mobo plus bastage's review of MSI makes me wonder... is the extra 200 mhz and extra savings worth the risk?
Click to expand...

I don't know what recent issues about MSI that bastage is referring to so I can't comment on that. But from my own usage, MSI and Biostar are just fine.

With that said, I do agree that Asus is definitely without a doubt a higher-tier mobo manufacturer than MSI. And as Bastage noted earlier, that 200Mhz won't really make a difference.

As for the heat spreader comment, I got nothing on that. If you want heatsinks, go for it. Not my money. Though I've had better luck G.Skill RAM than Mushkin RAM.
 
Danny Bui said:
I don't know what recent issues about MSI that bastage is referring to so I can't comment on that. But from my own usage, MSI and Biostar are just fine.

With that said, I do agree that Asus is definitely without a doubt a higher-tier mobo manufacturer than MSI. And as Bastage noted earlier, that 200Mhz won't really make a difference.

As for the heat spreader comment, I got nothing on that. If you want heatsinks, go for it. Not my money. Though I've had better luck G.Skill RAM than Mushkin RAM.
Click to expand...

I haven't had any faith in biostar for many years, so they may have cleaned up there act. I Just wont risk it. As for MSI I have had several have problems in the last 2 years & customer service was horrible every time.
This being said if it was a 50 dollar difference then yes go MSI, but its a 5 dollar difference so for that I would get the better brand.

As for G.Skill vs Mushkin.. I have never had a single problem with either. Mushkin is normally much higher priced though so I would recommend the g.skill but with these combo's its in the running. & that 5 dollar difference I wouldn't necessarily pay it for the ram directly, but I was just trying to point out all of what the differences would be between the 2 kits for that 5 bucks.
 
I really appreciate your guys' dialogue. Time to go back to newegg and browse a bit more.

I know this is going off topic a bit, but the feedback on the 2.6 ghz x4 is really good, lots of people talking about how easy it is to OC on stock air. I remember looking at overclocking 6 years ago and decided it was too much risk (considering that i'd never done it and it was also my first build), but nowadays there seems to be so much support for it on mobos and such---has the risk lessened? Obviously one can still burn their stuff, but if it's as easy as the people on newegg make it sound, i could keep my original bundle and then oc to like 3.0 on stock air.
 
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OC isnt hard anymore as long as you have a decent mobo. Infact that asus may even have there auto OC.. I have an asus with a Phenom II x2 555 that is unlocked to a quad core in an asus board & it was literally a matter of 1 setting int he bios. (dont ahve it overclocked though due to this mobo being mITX & only supporting up to 95w CPU's)
 
sorry to jump in and side track a bit, but I have a question about the g skill ram u guys mention. It does not have heat spreaders, is that a big deal at all when it comes to over clocking? do they make a difference?
 
Dosobye said:
sorry to jump in and side track a bit, but I have a question about the g skill ram u guys mention. It does not have heat spreaders, is that a big deal at all when it comes to over clocking? do they make a difference?
Click to expand...

They used to, though I am not sure if they do anymore.. I still wont buy ram without them, but that has to do more with the fact that I dont like touching the chips & PCB if I can avoid it.
 
Dosobye, it's funny that you chimed in how you did, as i was just contemplating the same thing. Google doesn't seem to turn up any useful information about how useful ram heatsinks actually are, unfortunately, but i reckoned since it looks like i actually may be OC'ing a little bit, that i should get some ram with heatsinks... i'll even pay a couple extra dollars so they look like they do more lol

I changed one of the combos, to what i think is a better deal than the ram + mobo you posted, though ive chosen to spend that on spiffier ram i guess, maybe that's not actually necessary.

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series = 39.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 = 81.99

ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard & AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz = 173.99

GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB & CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W = 294.98

= 585.87 shipped with 30 mir .. = $555.87

So now i guess i'm planning on trying an OC a little bit, since it sounds so easy.. and that could potentially be 400mhz easy and free. The thought behind the ram and mobo now is that, if i'm planning to OC a bit (on hopefully stock air cooling alone), i'll need a good and stable mobo (the asus... i'm really sad about the MSI combo, as it was a VERY good deal, but the feedback + me choosing to try OC scared me away), and heatsinks on my ram to handle the extra load on that (iirc, when you OC the cpu, other stuff has to be oc'd to match, yea?)

Sounding solid? Am i forgetting anything?
 
The Corsair is higher voltage so it does make it a tad harder to OC. In the end, the difference is only $5 for two very similar sets of RAM in all but one spec. So go with the company you trust most.
 
Well, i think you've helped me make up my mind. I want something easier to OC since it's my first time... going with the G-Skill deal, which also makes it so i have to deal with one less MIR.

Final Setup, ordering it this evening!

ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard & AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz = 173.99

GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB & CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W = 294.98

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 & NZXT BETA EVO Classic Series = 118.98

= 579.98 shipped with 30 mir .. = $549.98

Bastage and Danny--really appreciate you guys answering all my little questions, while they probably appear quite ignorant. You've helped me tons! I feel good about the above :)
 
oh, one last question. I think i may need to buy a few fans for my case (i think it only comes with one)? What's your recommendation on those?
 
chockomonkey said:
oh, one last question. I think i may need to buy a few fans for my case (i think it only comes with one)? What's your recommendation on those?
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Cheapest 120mm fans you can find on newegg will suffice.

Though for my own systems, I use Yate Loon fans since they're relatively quiet yet provides decent amount of cooling:
$3.60 - 120mm Yate Loon D12SL-12 Case Fan

Though for systems that has to be super quiet and needs fans that will last long (Those Yate Loons won't last long in a horizontal configuration since they're sleeve bearing), I uses these fans:
$15 - Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120MM Case Fan
 
croinky okay. I guess i know my options now... spend $60 extra on fans that will last, or spend $20-$30 on ones which will die in half a year.

thanks again.
 
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