Help me finish my build

C

Chowder Head

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Messages
244
Hey guys, I made a thread a while ago but just started purchasing parts recently. Here's what I go so far.

PSU: Seasonic X750
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Video card: Radeon 6850 1GB

And I definitely need a mobo, cpu. case, and maybe a new optic drive, if it's better than my NEC in the sig.

Here's my answers to the current question.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web browsing, listening and encoding music and videos, basic microsoft office usage, light gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $900. If I get spend less though that's fine to, whatever is the biggest bang for the buck. Already spent around $370 on the parts listed above. Yes, price includes tax and shipping.
3) Where do you live?
Tampa, FL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, mobo, ssd drive, case.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Some storage hard drives from my last build
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes but nothing extreme
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Already have one
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Might sound dumb, but I don't know what I really NEED. Guess a reasonably priced board with good features?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Think I'm good in that department


Now I've been tinkering around the idea going with the 2500K + ASUS PRO mobo combo that newegg has going on but in real world performance, how much of a difference would that combo be compared to those AMD Phenon X4 combos that are floating around? Obviously I know the 2500K/ASUS PRO will be faster but is it worth the extra money for my needs? Guess I'm just trying to see if the added cost will give rise to noticeable improvement.

Case wise I've been liking the HAF 922 that's still on sale but is there anything similarly priced I should also check out?

Last question. My old heatsink, the Scythe Ninja (anyone remember those?) is it still good compared to the stuff on the market now or should I get a new one?

Think that's it for now. Thanks guys!
 
Unless you're trying to spend as little money as possible, go Intel. Sandy Bridge simply outperforms any non-Core i5/i7 setup around.

$390 - Intel Core i5 2500k & Asus P8P67 Pro combo (with free Civ V game)
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 (included discount code, which expires tomorrow)
$140 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 128GB SSD
=====
$620 - Subtotal (including free ground shipping, not including taxes or rebates)

Depending on how serious your video encoding is, you may want to go with the Core i7 2600k instead of the i5-2500k. But the i7-2600k, which has Hyper Threading, costs around $100 more.

It's probably time for a new CPU cooler: Consider the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus.
 
tiraides said:
Unless you're trying to spend as little money as possible, go Intel. Sandy Bridge simply outperforms any non-Core i5/i7 setup around.

$390 - Intel Core i5 2500k & Asus P8P67 Pro combo (with free Civ V game)
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 (included discount code, which expires tomorrow)
$140 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 128GB SSD
=====
$620 - Subtotal (including free ground shipping, not including taxes or rebates)

Depending on how serious your video encoding is, you may want to go with the Core i7 2600k instead of the i5-2500k. But the i7-2600k, which has Hyper Threading, costs around $100 more.

It's probably time for a new CPU cooler: Consider the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus.
Click to expand...

I agree that the i5-2500K is the choice unless you're often running a prosumer video editing program such as Adobe Premiere Pro. However, Premiere Pro CS5 works better with Nvidia GPUs than with AMD GPUs because its GPU acceleration feature is CUDA-specific.

If on the other hand all you do for video editing is use a $100 consumer editing program such as Pinnacle Studio HD 14.x, then it doesn't matter which GPU you have: Everything is done almost entirely using the CPU. In this case, the HyperThreading-enabled i7-2600K can be helpful.

Speaking of the old Scythe Ninja, there have been several versions of that HSF over the years. The version that you have is probably a very early version, with (probably) Socket 939 and Socket 478 mounting kits. Current platforms, however, use completely different CPU HSF mounts with mounting holes in completely different locations. As a result, you will have to order a new mounting kit to adapt the Ninja onto a newer motherboard since the mounting hardware that you currently have likely will not even physically fit any of the newer motherboards. And even if you do special-order a kit, you would have spent nearly as much money as simply purchasing a brand-new Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF to begin with. Plus, the old Ninja likely has only a single 80mm fan (whereas some newer revisions of the Ninja come with a 120mm fan). That single 80mm fan is woefully inadequate to properly cool any but extremely low-end CPUs in the currently available Intel and AMD lineups.
 
I hate you guys. :)

So yeah, ordered the 2500K/ASUS combo and the HAF 922 case. Should be fun!

Just had a few questions.

1. Every review I've read about the 922 says it's got pretty great airflow. Would upgrading the 120mm fans that come with it be worth it at all? Or should I not even bother?

2. That OCZ 60GB SSD drive that's on sale for $90, think that's a good buy? I've heard there are new ssd's coming out soon though, think I should wait for them? If they're coming out fairly soon that is.

3. What Windows 7 do I need? 64bit home? I may have access to one, just wanna make sure it's the right one.

4. tiraides, that Cruical SSD you linked me to, how'd you get the $140 price? Says it's $240 for me.

Oh and E4g1e, doh I forgot about socket restrictions. Yeah I got the 939 Ninja one, guess it's time to upgrade. Feels like yesterday I build that rig haha.

Thanks again for the help guys!
 
Chowder Head said:
I hate you guys. :)

So yeah, ordered the 2500K/ASUS combo and the HAF 922 case. Should be fun!

Just had a few questions.

1. Every review I've read about the 922 says it's got pretty great airflow. Would upgrading the 120mm fans that come with it be worth it at all? Or should I not even bother?

2. That OCZ 60GB SSD drive that's on sale for $90, think that's a good buy? I've heard there are new ssd's coming out soon though, think I should wait for them? If they're coming out fairly soon that is.

3. What Windows 7 do I need? 64bit home? I may have access to one, just wanna make sure it's the right one.

4. tiraides, that Cruical SSD you linked me to, how'd you get the $140 price? Says it's $240 for me.

Oh and E4g1e, doh I forgot about socket restrictions. Yeah I got the 939 Ninja one, guess it's time to upgrade. Feels like yesterday I build that rig haha.

Thanks again for the help guys!
Click to expand...

1.) Dont bother. 120mms are usually all quiet and get good air flow.
2.) Id wait. The intel G3's are coming out in a month or two. At which point current prices are likely to drop. If you want one now, get one.
3.) Winders 7. Definately x64. Id go professional, but home might work for you.
4.) I think the deal is dead.
 
The Ninja will cool SB just fine if it will fit the board (I think it will). SB needs less cooling than Nehalem.

For SSD, Corsair P3 is supposed to be out this month, Crucial C400 sometime in Q1, and Intel+Sandforce a bit later but still soon-ish. Just something to think about.
 
I made a mistake on the price of the Crucial SSD. It's actually $240, not $140.

That said, I agree that you should wait for the new SSDs to arrive.
 
dandragonrage said:
The Ninja will cool SB just fine if it will fit the board (I think it will). SB needs less cooling than Nehalem.
Click to expand...

Actually, the Ninja that the OP has requires a new mounting kit for current Intel boards. Unfortunately, the price of a new mounting kit for LGA 775/1155/1156/1366 for the Ninja by itself is almost as high as an entire new Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF kit.
 
Yeah I'll probably wait for SSD prices to drop. This might be a stupid question but I'll ask it anyway.

I'm building this rig because my old rig had some annoying blue screens happening and I figured it was time. On my old primary drive I have Windows XP and some other stuff still on there. Is it possible to build the new computer, connect my old primary hard drive and have it run until the new batch of SSD drives come out or the current SSD's drop in price even more? Then once I get the SSD, load up Windows 7 and be good to go?

Also, what optic drives do you guys recommend? I don't use blu-ray at the moment but if a drive supports blu-ray for around the same price as a non blu-ray drive then I'll probably go that route so I'm covered in the future.

Lastly, these new SSD drives, will they be similar in price or since they're the newer versions they'd be a tad more expensive? Worst comes to worst I'm sure the price would drop on the "lesser" ssd's.
 
Chowder Head said:
Yeah I'll probably wait for SSD prices to drop. This might be a stupid question but I'll ask it anyway.

I'm building this rig because my old rig had some annoying blue screens happening and I figured it was time. On my old primary drive I have Windows XP and some other stuff still on there. Is it possible to build the new computer, connect my old primary hard drive and have it run until the new batch of SSD drives come out or the current SSD's drop in price even more? Then once I get the SSD, load up Windows 7 and be good to go?

Also, what optic drives do you guys recommend? I don't use blu-ray at the moment but if a drive supports blu-ray for around the same price as a non blu-ray drive then I'll probably go that route so I'm covered in the future.

Lastly, these new SSD drives, will they be similar in price or since they're the newer versions they'd be a tad more expensive? Worst comes to worst I'm sure the price would drop on the "lesser" ssd's.
Click to expand...

It depends on whether the drives from your old build are SATA or IDE (PATA). If your current drives are PATA, be advised that many of the new mobos have no IDE ports at all.
 
Oh I don't mind the reinstall. Besides, there's a few files I have on the drive that I want off from there so I figure I can transfer them on my flash drive and just run the old hard drive with XP on it as my primary again until I could get a deal on an SSD then once I do, make that my primary and install Windows 7 on it. Someone tell me that's possible lol.

The Cooler Master you guys are posting from newegg, is this the same thing from amazon. The part numbers match up but I want to make sure. Didn't really see any mention of sandy bridge in the amazon reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Universal-Heat-Pipe/dp/B002G1YPH0
 
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Just thought I'd bump this with a question rather than made a whole new thread.

So I have everything I need and installed everything (currently hiding the wires as best I can) but the only piece I'd like to upgrade is my optic drive. My 3550A has been good to me in it's years of service but I think it's time to get a new one as it won't read discs from time to time. I'd like to have the option of Blu-Ray and I hear LG and Liteon are good brands but besides that, I really don't know which model I should go with. Any recommendations? The cheaper the better, as long as it's not a piece of crap.

Thanks again!
 
Are you going to be watching or ripping from a lot of Blu-ray discs? If not -- and you don't have any HD media playback software available -- then buying a BR-ROM or BR burner drive isn't really worth the money, especially since you can get a good SATA DVD burner for under $30 nowadays.
 
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