Help, building new rig

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fmsrttm

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 19, 2010
Messages
156
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming for the Most part
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
1500-2000 and no tax/ S&H aren't included
3) Where do you live?
Charleston,WV
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Case,mobo,CPU,GPU,hdd,RAM,optical drive,PSU, cooling system for cpu and maybe gpu? if i need it,
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
N/A
6) Will you be overclocking?
I am interested in it
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I would need to buy one 22-24 inch
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Very soon,perhaps 1-2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
none that i know of, i'm not 100% sure though
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No, I will buy Win 7 Premium

I have some parts in mind but I don't know exactly what is best, so my friend sent me some recommendations, kinda out of order though

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231325
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131392
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811129021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161301&cm_re=5870-_-14-161-301-_-Product

Also, I have been told that intel and amd are close with performance with quad-cores and all recently and that intel is more expensive for little gain

Thanks.
 
fmsrttm said:
Asus DVD 25.99 - 1.99 S/H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827135204

Gskill 8gb $244.99 - 5.99S/H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231325

ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 $199.99 - 8.50 S/H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131392

Antec 900 $99.99 - 9.99S/H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811129021

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition $179.99 - Free S/H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 $39.99 - 2.99 S/H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

HIS H587F1GDG Radeon HD 5870 $424.99 - Free S/H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161301&cm_re=5870-_-14-161-301-_-Product


Thanks.
Click to expand...

updated list with part descriptions
 
A few problems:

1. Overpriced motherboard. I would not pay more than about $150 for an AMD motherboard. But that Crosshair 790FX costs $208.50 shipped - too high IMHO.

2. A case that's a bit overpriced for the usable internal space and airflow it offers. In addition, the Nine Hundred's design requires a PSU with an 80mm rear-mounted fan for the best results because there is no gap at all whatsoever between the bottom of the PSU and the bottom panel of the case itself.

3. You did not list a PSU at all in your original list. The better cases do not come with PSUs at all; one must be purchased separately.

4. The X4 965 is a little too high, especially when you can get the slightly slower 955 for $20 less.

5. The RAM that you picked is a bit too expensive. Only pay extra for a quad-module 8GB kit if you want extra piece of mind. Two dual-channel 4GB kits would have cost you less than one quad-module 8GB kit.

6. That Coolermaster CPU cooler is out of stock at Newegg, and it is currently listed at $43 shipped. Order it from Amazon instead for $30 shipped.

7. Your selected graphics card is too expensive, given its mere 2-year warranty. You can buy the XFX-branded versions of the HD 5870 for no more than what the HIS card costs - and XFX gives you a "double lifetime" warranty.
 
I think you could save $31 by going with

2x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL $220
 
Didn't see a HDD listed. Unless your going SSD, a 1tb WD black drive should do ya just fine.

8gb is overkill unless your going to edit video or run some heavy VMs.. stick with 4

Glad to see ya found the forum and the rite section.

Come vist the DC section sometime if ya want.
 
Kendrak said:
Didn't see a HDD listed. Unless your going SSD, a 1tb WD black drive should do ya jaut fine.
Click to expand...

Actually, there have been two different versions of the 1TB WD Black in the reseller channels. The one that you want has the SATA III (6 Gbps) interface (moden number WD1002FAEX). The older WD1001FALS still uses three 333GB platters and a slower sequential physical transfer speed. There are no current plans to update the WD1001FALS to the dual-500GB-platter design.
 
@ gwarren007
Thanks for putting the names there! :)

Anyway onto the build:
fmsrttm said:
Also, I have been told that intel and amd are close with performance with quad-cores and all recently and that intel is more expensive for little gain
Click to expand...

Yeah as E4g1e noted, despite that the difference between AMD and Intel in games is a tad small, you're paying unnecessarily high prices for what essentially is a budget platform: AMD. Spending $210 for an AMD mobo is basically defeating the one key advantage that AMD has over Intel: Great price to performance ratio.

Also, considering your relatively high budget, an AMD setup is just not a good idea. If your budget was lower perhaps, then AMD would make sense.

Here's what I'd build with a $1500 to $2000 budget:
$240 - Intel Xeon X3440 CPU
$130 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$410 - XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$215 - Intel SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SSD
$110 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$150 - Corsair 950TX 950W PSU
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$100 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
$210 - Asus VH236H Black 23" LCD Monitor
---
Total: $1820 plus tax and shipping.

Splurged a bit on the SSD and the PSU. But in any case, the above setup is more than enough for gaming. That Coolermaster case is a better choice than the Antec 900 case. Install the OS and the most critical apps on the SSD for great speed. Keep large sized games on the 1TB Black drive. Should you ever want to go with a HD 5870 Crossfire setup, that Corsair 950W PSU will handle it. With that said, a 650W PSU would be fine for the above setup if you don't plan on going with Crossfire.

8GB of RAM, as Kendrak noted, is unnecessary for gaming UNLESS you're running multiple MMORPG clients (Like WOW or Eve Online) at the same time.
 
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Danny Bui said:
Yeah as E4g1e noted, despite that the difference between AMD and Intel in games is a tad small, you're paying unnecessarily high prices for what essentially is a budget platform: AMD. Spending $210 for an AMD mobo is basically defeating the one key advantage that AMD has over Intel: Great price to performance ratio.

Also, considering your relatively high budget, an AMD setup is just not a good idea. If your budget was lower perhaps, then AMD would make sense.
Click to expand...

In fact, I would like to add that spending $210 for an AMD mobo plus $170 for a Phenom II X4 965 CPU would have put that particular AMD platform at an equal level with an outdated Socket 775 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 platform in terms of the performance-to-price ratio: Both of those platforms would then cost about the same and perform about the same with one another. And neither platform would then have been as good of a bang for the buck as the the Intel Lynnfield platform you recommended.
 
AMD build option 2

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor Model HDT55TFBGRBOX and GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard Combo $289

COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAE3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply and COOLER MASTER CM690 II Black Steel body / Plastic + Mesh bezel Computer Case Combo $150

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM $110

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX50G 2.5" 50GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $200

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $90 - $20 w/ EMCYSZW23, ends 5/24

LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24NS50 - OEM $20

XFX HD-587X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $400

NEC Display Solutions EA231WMI-BK Black 23" 14ms(WTB) IPS Panel Height/Pivot/Swivel adjustable stand Widescreen LCD Monitor 270 cd/m2 DC 3000:1 (1000:1) Built-in Speakers $360

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $100

Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus 775/1156/1366/AMD/AM2/AM3 Universal Direct Contact Heat-Pipe 120mm Fan CPU Cooler $30

$1730 before S&H

Faster SSD and better monitor :)
 
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If you're going to spend that much money, there really isn't much point, IMO, in going with AMD. The 6 core chip is pointless for gaming which is your primary concern.

Personally, I'd go with a cheap-ish 1156 board (you can pick one up in the low $100-150 range) and an i5-750.

Really, here's the choice you need to make. Do you want to:

A) Maximize your computing power
B) Go for a good median
C) Save as much money as possible

Right now you are mixing A and B. IMO, this is a bad combination. There are generally 3 main levels in PC building - top of the line, high/mid range and low. For most people, top of the line isn't really worth it - the price premium is a big turn off.

You're looking at a 1920x1080 monitor. That monitor is e-IPS which is OK, but it's the worst IPS type to go with. Have you looked at a TN monitor before? Are you offended by the quality of it? If not, you can easily save $150 by going with a TN panel. For all the IPS hype on [H], most people are fine with TN. You can probably also get a 1920x1200 TN for less than that monitor, you can definitely get a 1920x1080 for less.

If you're gaming at 1920x1080 right now, a 5850 is really sufficient. The additional cost for a 5870 doesn't (IMO) justify the performance, especially if you just plan to run a single monitor at 1920x1080. If you're going to Eyefinity soon then I'd look at the 5870.

These are my general opinions when building systems for people - if you follow some of this advice, you'll probably save $300-400. To me, saving $400 for 5-10% less performance at most is a worthwhile tradeoff. For others, that 5-10% is worth it.
 
Is the intel Xeon cpu better than like the i5 processor?
Is 4 GB of RAM enough ?
 
The Xeons are the same chip as their i5 or i7 borthers, they just run cooler.

4gb of RAM is plenty. Many programs can't use more than 2gb.

Unless you doing heavy stuff with your system: vid editing, DB work, folding -bigadv, running multi VMs, you don't need more than 4.

Heck, some of my basic systems around the house run 1 or 2gb. And that's fine for interwebs. Gaming box should run 4 or 6. Crazy people like me that fold and run their systems to the N-th run 8 to 12gb. Nexus (see sig) is using 7+gb of its 8 currently. Games however just don't use that much memory, but they do need enough to breath.

Buy more in a few years when you might need it and it is cheaper.
 
Reason why I would suggest a 1055t over x4 955, 1055t overclock too about the same or better and in some games get boost in the min framerate (this is main reason I am getting one for myself).
 
lt_shiro said:
Reason why I would suggest a 1055t over x4 955, 1055t overclock too about the same or better and in some games get boost in the min framerate (this is main reason I am getting one for myself).
Click to expand...

But why get it over an i5-750? Especially at almost $300.
 
lt_shiro said:
1055t is $200 CPU and can hold its own when paired against i5 750.
Click to expand...

And for the sake of argument.... is in a more future proof socket from my understanding.

1156 is dead sometime at the end of the year, no?

I run intel because it runs folding programs better. But often in the mid range AMD comes out ahead over the long term (upgrade cycles).
 
Kendrak said:
And for the sake of argument.... is in a more future proof socket from my understanding.

1156 is dead sometime at the end of the year, no?

I run intel because it runs folding programs better. But often in the mid range AMD comes out ahead over the long term (upgrade cycles).
Click to expand...

$200 where outside of Microcenter?
 
digitalgunfire said:
$200 where outside of Microcenter?
Click to expand...

I think you're confusing two CPUs, lt_shiro is talking about the 1055T which can be had for $205 straight from Newegg.com:
$205 - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU

You're thinking of the 1090T, which costs $300.
 
Ok a few things I'm not really sure of
I don't know much about the TN panels and what are the advantages over others lcds.

Exactly what to get motherboard and cpu wise, and also is it worth it to get ssd(i know if I put the OS on it, then it will boot up extremely fast)

I have heard that the 1156 board is being discontinued at the end of the year too.

Are the ATI cards that have been recommended better than nvidia?

There have been a couple full builds, but then some parts have been argued at what not to get..
 
fmsrttm said:
Ok a few things I'm not really sure of
I don't know much about the TN panels and what are the advantages over others lcds.

Exactly what to get motherboard and cpu wise, and also is it worth it to get ssd(i know if I put the OS on it, then it will boot up extremely fast)

I have heard that the 1156 board is being discontinued at the end of the year too.

Are the ATI cards that have been recommended better than nvidia?

There have been a couple full builds, but then some parts have been argued at what not to get..
Click to expand...

I say go AMD just because you should have a better upgrade path

Yes the ATI cards are better for the money currently

Get a good basic gigabyte board with the 6 core AMD chip and have at it.
 
lt_shiro said:
Faster SSD and better monitor :)
Click to expand...
But unknown quality PSU though. The GX line looks to be another Coolermaster low quality line. Do you have any information saying otherwise?
fmsrttm said:
Ok a few things I'm not really sure of
I don't know much about the TN panels and what are the advantages over others lcds.

Exactly what to get motherboard and cpu wise, and also is it worth it to get ssd(i know if I put the OS on it, then it will boot up extremely fast)

I have heard that the 1156 board is being discontinued at the end of the year too.

Are the ATI cards that have been recommended better than nvidia?

There have been a couple full builds, but then some parts have been argued at what not to get..
Click to expand...

TN panels are cheaper
IPS are great for photoshop or any kind of work requiring accurate color representation. Costs more though.

Flip a coin honestly in regards to the CPU and motherboard. Yes LGA 1156 does have a shorter lifespan than socket AM3 BUT once you start overclocking the Core i5/i7 based CPUs, they overtake AMD by quite a large margin. So in other words, the Core i7 route would allow you to go longer without a CPU upgrade to the point where it woud be around the same time when that AMD setup would go through it's 2nd CPU upgrade.

Yes ATI cards are better for the money than Nvidia. There's only a few reasons to get Nvidia these days unless you:
- Need the fastest video card at all costs (GTX 480)
- Need CUDA
- Do a ton of Folding@Home
- Hate ATI
 
Danny Bui said:
But unknown quality PSU though. The GX line looks to be another Coolermaster low quality line. Do you have any information saying otherwise?


TN panels are cheaper
IPS are great for photoshop or any kind of work requiring accurate color representation. Costs more though.

Flip a coin honestly in regards to the CPU and motherboard. Yes LGA 1156 does have a shorter lifespan than socket AM3 BUT once you start overclocking the Core i5/i7 based CPUs, they overtake AMD by quite a large margin. So in other words, the Core i7 route would allow you to go longer without a CPU upgrade to the point where it woud be around the same time when that AMD setup would go through it's 2nd CPU upgrade.

Yes ATI cards are better for the money than Nvidia. There's only a few reasons to get Nvidia these days unless you:
- Need the fastest video card at all costs (GTX 480)
- Need CUDA
- Do a ton of Folding@Home
- Hate ATI
Click to expand...

I agree on both counts, personally, I would go i5-750 just because it is easy to OC and it really doesn't matter if the board is EOL at the end of the year (to me, at least - I'm still running a Q6600 and it has kept up with everything I've thrown at it thus far)
 
So for what I'm doing an AMD 1055T would be better or the i5-750?
And then just go with the other parts that either lt_shiro & Danny Bui recommended?
 
Well for gaming the Core i5 750/Xeon CPU are faster but has the socket longevity issue mentioned earlier.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
It is not going to make that much of an difference.

If you want to upgrade your CPU in a year or so AMD
If your not into messing with your system go i5.
 
Yeah, at the end of the day, it won't be a huge diff. It's as much personal preference as anything.

If it was me, I'd grab a ~$110 1156 board, an i5-750, 4GB of RAM, a 5850, 1TB hard drive, cheap-ish case and a good power supply, along with a TN panel and put the rest of the money towards something nice, like a paintball gun ;)
 
could anyone make a sample combined list?

And are there a lot of links and such on the forums for setting up the parts and all?
 
fmsrttm said:
could anyone make a sample combined list?

And are there a lot of links and such on the forums for setting up the parts and all?
Click to expand...

Yeah dude, just check the stickied FAQ. There's a ton of links there showing how to build a PC.

As for a combined list, dude you still haven't told us which platform you want to go with: AMD or Intel? Also you haven't told us whether or not you want the higher quality but significantly more expensive monitor that lt_shiro linked to or the cheaper but still good quality monitor I linked to. In addition, we also need to know which of the two cases you liked more.

Both of our build lists uses the same RAM, video card, OS and HSF so that should already tell you at least some of the parts that we both agree is a good choice.

The main issue with lt_shiro's build is the unknown quality PSU so that should already tell not to get it.

So yeah, can't make a combined build list unless you actually TELL US which parts you wanted out of our two lists.
 
Sorry about not replying for so long, I'd like to go with an AMD

I looked at this case Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 $60
If its not as good as the cooler master then I guess go with the cheaper, but since I will moving this every so often which I forgot to say in the beginning is that i need a mid-size tower not full

I want a pretty quality monitor and I've browsed some of the site looking at them, I'm clueless on what to get...so maybe the asus?LED?

I guess all there is just going with the mobo and cpu since AMD i thought maybe this?

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131398 $100

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851 $200

the XFX 5870 is out of stock though so I guess wait for now?
The HDD that lt_shiro-SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
I honestly don't know if I need the ssd
The optical drive go with the LG it's only$5 more
Everything else should be fine

Edit: the xfx 5870 that is out of stock is this
XFX HD-587A-ZND9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB XXX Edition 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Double Lifetime Manufacture Warranty
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150456
 
Last edited:
asus 785g evo, it is very good board but it may not ship with a bios, which supports the newer x6
 
fmsrttm said:
Isn't that what I have listed above?
Click to expand...
Yes. He's saying that the mobo you chose may not come with the right BIOs for the 1055T support. As such, it's not a good buy in this case.

Also at $70 shipped, the Antec 300 Illusion is not a good choice considering that the better and roomier Coolermaster RC-590 and RC-690 cases are roughly the same price with free shipping.

EDIT: Also there are other XFX branded HD 5870 that you can get:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150490

Just go with the CPU and motherboard that lt_shiro recommended awhile back and you'll be set in that department.

Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Last edited:
590 is the same price..
Are you positive the 1055T will work with that mobo? in the combo deal

Edit: What Monitor too?
 
fmsrttm said:
590 is the same price..
Are you positive the 1055T will work with that mobo? in the combo deal

Edit: What Monitor too?
Click to expand...

Yes

Go with the Asus monitor that I linked.
fmsrttm said:
I don't know which of these to get

GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128444

GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128435
Click to expand...

Look at the features of the 890GX mobo and see if that's worth the extra $20 over that 880G mobo to you.
 
Nothing that I can see really different unless i'm missing something

Thanks for all the help
 
fmsrttm said:
Nothing that I can see really different unless i'm missing something

Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...

the 890GX supports x8/x8 Crossfire whereas the 890G does not. It's clearly evident from the Newegg specs.
 
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