Help me with my midrange build

D

Dra

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 4, 2004
Messages
196
Hey guys, I'm trying to build the best midrange PC possible for under $950 for the cost of hardware. Please keep in mind the total must include the cost of shipping as I live in Hawaii and don't qualify for Neweggs free shipping. Anyway, here's what I got so far:

Intel E8400 ($165)
Antec P182 w/ Quattro 850 ($200) I know I don't need all that wattage, but w/ $220 savings, it's an incredible deal
Samsung 22x SATA dvd writer $26
Western Digital 640GB $75
OCZ Reaper DDR2-6400 $73
Gigabyte UD3P $137
MSI 9600 GT $95

Please help me revise this build to maximize my limited budget. I'm not sure about the E8400, as I don't do very much CPU-intensive stuff, but this computer will probably stay un-upgraded (I know, i made that word up) for a few years, so I want it to remain speedy even as software requirements increase over the next few years.

Also, does anyone foresee any substantial price drops? I will probably order the case + PSU soon as the deals ends on 10/31, but I don't really need the machine right away.

Also as far as OS goes, does anyone know if Windows Server 2008 is suitable to run until I buy Vista? The reason I'm asking is I have access to a free license through Microsoft's Dreamspark Program.

Filled out the FAQ:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I will be using this for software development, Mathematics programs (Maple), light gaming (all the Steam games, maybe WoW if I feel like wasting my life again =P), and the rest of the basic computer stuff.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$950 including shipping
3) Where do you live?
Hawaii, so no free shipping from the Egg =(
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
I want a speedy processor, fast hard drive, and good sturdy case w/ good cable management features.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No parts being reused, I will be giving my current PC to a friend.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Mildly at the most, will probably just up the FSB a bit
7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
a 24" at 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Not in a hurry, but probably within a month or two
 
What is this build going to be used for? Gaming? A file server? What?

Do you want to overclock this system? Do you want it to run as silent as possible? (You can't have both options.)

Which monitor/resolution are you using? Which games/programs are you considering?

There are different ways we could go with this, but what is the main priority for this machine (besides keep it within your budget amount)?

You could save some money immediately by "upgrading" the processor to the E8500 (it has a bundle deal with the UD3P motherboard) and by choosing a different PSU like the Antec Earthwatts EA650 (though you lose the flexibility that comes from having modular cables).

With RAM, you could go one of two ways. If you're trying to spend as little as possible, get a cheaper DDR2 800 kit, like the G.Skill kit. If you want to overclock the processor, you should obtain some faster RAM.
 
It depends on how long you want to wait. I don't know exactly how the price drops work in relation to new releases, but core i7 is coming out which will directly lower your processor and mobo prices.

It should also lower your video card price as Nvidia has been advertising new video cards designed to better support SLI on i7 based boards.

Your ram might even drop prive as i7 will put ddr3 ram in high demand making ddr2 ram in lesser demand.

Core i7 could, quite possibly, be out in the next month, so if you wouldn't mind waiting until Christmas (or early December?) you will probably be able to save some substantial money on all these parts.

Oh also, you should be able to spend less than $200 for any PSU that will completely suit your needs with/without a special sale. If there are no deals now, there's at least a pretty good chance something will come up on a PSU more in your wattage range and then you will save money on a PSU that better fits your system and already costs less than the highly discounted price of the PSU that you are looking at.

What exactly do you aim to do with this computer?

What parts are you inheriting?

I guess you want to do some gaming?

What res is your monitor? What you need to do any gaming hinges on this question.

... read the stickies. You should probably answer some more questions (from the stickies) before the really experienced people can help you.
 
cinohpa said:
Oh also, you should be able to spend less than $200 for any PSU that will completely suit your needs with/without a special sale. If there are no deals now, there's at least a pretty good chance something will come up on a PSU more in your wattage range and then you will save money on a PSU that better fits your system and already costs less than the highly discounted price of the PSU that you are looking at.
Click to expand...

The $200 includes the price P182, so w/ the P182 costing $120, that puts the PSU at $80 :D
 
Dra said:
The $200 includes the price P182, so w/ the P182 costing $120, that puts the PSU at $80 :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, but my PSU gives you as much power as you (may) need for $55.

Could you please answer our questions?
 
tiraides said:
What is this build going to be used for? Gaming? A file server? What?

Do you want to overclock this system? Do you want it to run as silent as possible? (You can't have both options.)

Which monitor/resolution are you using? Which games/programs are you considering?

There are different ways we could go with this, but what is the main priority for this machine (besides keep it within your budget amount)?

You could save some money immediately by "upgrading" the processor to the E8500 (it has a bundle deal with the UD3P motherboard) and by choosing a different PSU like the Antec Earthwatts EA650 (though you lose the flexibility that comes from having modular cables).

With RAM, you could go one of two ways. If you're trying to spend as little as possible, get a cheaper DDR2 800 kit, like the G.Skill kit. If you want to overclock the processor, you should obtain some faster RAM.
Click to expand...

Silence will come first. If I do OC, it wont' be anything crazy anyway, probably just up the FSB a bit (within my RAM's rated frequency)

I like the Quattro because it's modular and I want this case to be as neat as possible, which is why I also chose the P182 (for it's cable management features). I don't mind spending the little extra for them, as I will be keeping this machine for at least 3.5 years.

As for the other questions, I've filled out the FAQ as you guys requested (it's in the original post)

Also, can someone shed any light on my question about Windows Server 2008? From what I've read, it's just a less bloated version of Vista, with some server-specific additives.
 
Lose the crossfire board first off, simple p43 will work just as well. I would pick Antec Three Hundred with Cosair 550 watt in place of that P182
 
check out my version, first off I can attest to the mobo, case and gpu. They are all outstanding products with excellent value.

cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core $164.99

mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 $104.99 - $15 mir

gpu: MSI R4850-512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 $189.99 - $30mir

ram: mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $67.99 - $20 mir

dvd burner: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA $23.99

hd: Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s $79.99

case and psu deal: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower + Antec NeoPower 550 $81.98

Total: $713.92 + $129.26 shipping $843.18 - $65.00 mir = $778.18

Notes:

- I chose the seagate 640 over the WD due to the 5 yr warranty vs 3 with WD

- that ram has much better timings(5-4-4-12 @ 1.8 vs 4-4-4-15 @ 2.1v) than the reaper and it runs on less voltage so if you decide to overclock(that cpu is a big overclocker too!) you will have much more headroom. I have this ram and the mobo detected it right away and set the timings and voltage to what was on the box!

- that gpu is solid as hell and comes already overclocked with a fantastic cooler, that aftermarket cooler if you were to do it yourself is $40+

- different case than yo picked but extremely well ventilated and laid out, the psu is on teh ati certified list for that gpu and is modular!

- moboI have this board and it has been rock solid for me! Just update the bios when you build it. The proprietary gigabyte @biosutility is simple to use, just make sure after you run the program and reboot that you go into the bios and tell it to load optimized defaults so that all the changes are put into effect.

All in all a good build I think.

GL!
 
He said he wants silence, so the P182 fits him best. And I don't know about the Antec NeoPower. Don't really trust Antec with power supplies beyond EarthWatts.

Honestly, OP, just grab a better graphics card (4850 CF, 4870 512 or 1GB, 4870X2, or 280) and you should have some nice eye candy at that resolution. Lesser cards like the 9600 won't do because your monitor and resolution is so big.

tiraides suggestion of the EA650 for the powersupply is very solid and cheap. Another great choice would be the Corsair 620HX (expensive but modular) and the Corsair 750TX (more power and less expensive than the 620HX). I would say this depends mostly on your graphics card. Personally, I would feel safer with the 750 if you get the higher end cards like the 4870X2 or the 280.
 
if he wants silence then the high end cards wont work unless he puts aftermarket cooling on them. The model I linked is very very quiet, the nly time it would increase in volume is when he stressing out the card under extreme gaming which is not all the time accord to the op.

As for the case selection, there is no such thing as a quiet case. All you can do is use low rpm fans, all of which he can adjust, so I do not see how spending more money on the case will help that?
 
Dra
You might consider looking into a E7200/7300 and some of the combo deals that come with it. Those cpus would be enough for your stated needs and you'd save around $100 on your cpu/mobo combo
 
I don't know anything about Windows Server 2008, so I can't help you there. You may be able to find some (if not all) of the answers you're looking for over at the Operating Systems forum.

I believe that we need to reconstruct your build, somewhat, to offer you the best performance possible within, say, an $800 budget (to provide you with some leeway towards shipping charges).

Core Setup
$240 - Intel E7200 & Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P bundle
$55 - G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 kit
$75 - Western Digital 640GB SATA HDD
$26 - Samsung SH-S223F
$185 - HIS HD4850
=====
$581 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

With the 1920x1200 resolution of your monitor, the HD4850 will allow you to play games on it. (The 9600GT will struggle at that resolution.) To aid in cooling -- and, to a limited degree, noise reduction -- I chose the HIS HD4850 with the custom dual-slot cooler (since the stock single slot cooler would run hot and loud).

However, the inclusion of the HD4850 required a few changes. I chose the E7200 instead of the E8500, and picked up the G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 kit. I also picked up the UD3P motherboard (using the bundle deal it had with the E7200), which allows you some upgrading options in the future.

One problem I ran into, though, is with the case and PSU. If I used your choice -- the P182 and the TPQ-850 bundle -- (using Honolulu as the ZIP code) the total, including shipping, would bust your budget. I found an alternate choice that would work just as well -- the Antec Solo and the EA650 (which has since jumped in price) bundle -- yet would still fit your budget. One compromise that would work is buying the P182 and the EA650 separately. (The compromise depends on what you want more: the noise reduction of the P182 case or the modular cables of the TPQ-850 power supply. Right now, you aren't going to find any better PSU deals from NewEgg, other than the EA650 and the bundle deal with the TPQ-850.)

Which parts are "must have" for you? Which components are you willing to cut corners on?
 
tiraides said:
I don't know anything about Windows Server 2008, so I can't help you there. You may be able to find some (if not all) of the answers you're looking for over at the Operating Systems forum.

I believe that we need to reconstruct your build, somewhat, to offer you the best performance possible within, say, an $800 budget (to provide you with some leeway towards shipping charges).

Core Setup
$240 - Intel E7200 & Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P bundle
$55 - G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 kit
$75 - Western Digital 640GB SATA HDD
$26 - Samsung SH-S223F
$185 - HIS HD4850
=====
$581 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

With the 1920x1200 resolution of your monitor, the HD4850 will allow you to play games on it. (The 9600GT will struggle at that resolution.) To aid in cooling -- and, to a limited degree, noise reduction -- I chose the HIS HD4850 with the custom dual-slot cooler (since the stock single slot cooler would run hot and loud).

However, the inclusion of the HD4850 required a few changes. I chose the E7200 instead of the E8500, and picked up the G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 800 kit. I also picked up the UD3P motherboard (using the bundle deal it had with the E7200), which allows you some upgrading options in the future.

One problem I ran into, though, is with the case and PSU. If I used your choice -- the P182 and the TPQ-850 bundle -- (using Honolulu as the ZIP code) the total, including shipping, would bust your budget. I found an alternate choice that would work just as well -- the Antec Solo and the EA650 (which has since jumped in price) bundle -- yet would still fit your budget. One compromise that would work is buying the P182 and the EA650 separately. (The compromise depends on what you want more: the noise reduction of the P182 case or the modular cables of the TPQ-850 power supply. Right now, you aren't going to find any better PSU deals from NewEgg, other than the EA650 and the bundle deal with the TPQ-850.)

Which parts are "must have" for you? Which components are you willing to cut corners on?
Click to expand...

Definitely want the CPU, Mobo and Memory to be the best for my money. Someone here suggested the 4830 as a GPU and judging from reviews is enough for my gaming needs which consists mostly of Source-based shooters and WoW.

Edit:
I've decided that Quattro 850 isn't best for me since jonnyguru.com says it isn't very efficient under 400w, which I don't think this system will pull even at max load. However, I'd like to keep the P182 if possible, or a similar quality case

Thanks for your help
 
The EA650 and the P182 on top of tiraides core setup is the best I can think of while fitting within your system requirements. However, it may stretch your budget a little. Test out a shopping cart with these parts on newegg.
 
Looks good to me... though you may want to consider either an Asus or a Samsung optical drive if noise reduction is the overall goal of this build.
 
I've been following this thread for a bit, and I still feel knock the motherboard down and up the video card to a 4850 with a 24" monitor, your choice though. In the end, if you disagree -- hindsight is always 20/20. ;)
 
Dra said:
Here's a revision that includes everyone's suggestions:

C2D E7200 + UD3P $240
WD 640GB $75
PowerColor 4830 $130
Antec P182 $120
G.Skill 4GB $55
Sony DVD drive $22
Antec EA650 $65

Total with shipping $867
Click to expand...

My problem with the 4830 is your are only a few bucks away from a genuine 4850. I know tirades recommended the dual slot cooled HIS model and his reasons were good. But you can get a 4850 for $129AR. Just might wanna investment in an extra 120mm case fan or something.
You won't regret stepping down to a E7200 though. Its got arguably the best frames per dollar potential. I got mine to 3.6Ghz on 1.35v on air.
Also as a former island boy ;) sucks about no newegg free shipping but oh well
 
m4dioses said:
I've been following this thread for a bit, and I still feel knock the motherboard down and up the video card to a 4850 with a 24" monitor, your choice though. In the end, if you disagree -- hindsight is always 20/20. ;)
Click to expand...

Check out my earlier post -- I was able to include an HD4850 and that motherboard within the budget amount.

GonzoP said:
My problem with the 4830 is your are only a few bucks away from a genuine 4850. I know tirades recommended the dual slot cooled HIS model and his reasons were good. But you can get a 4850 for $129AR. Just might wanna investment in an extra 120mm case fan or something.
Click to expand...

You'll get no argument from me over which video card I'd recommend. But the OP seems dead-set upon his decision, and I've recently learned not to pick fights that I can't win.
 
You guys, are right, so I've decided to just go ahead and get the HIS 4850. $10 over my budget, but that's okay. While I was at it, I just went ahead and spend a bit of extra money on 520HX.
 
Dra said:
You guys, are right, so I've decided to just go ahead and get the HIS 4850. $10 over my budget, but that's okay. While I was at it, I just went ahead and spend a bit of extra money on 520HX.
Click to expand...

A wise investment decision. Good choice
 
one thing I have learned in building systems in the last 3 years is that I have never been dissappointed when I went over my budget(performance wise)!
 
Just an update, I was about to purchase the P182 from NewEgg this morning, but it seems the sale has ended and the price is back up to $170. However, with some searching, I found it on sale for $103 at Directron.com. I've never heard of this company before; does anyone have any experience with them?
 
Directron is in Texas. I've ordered from them several times without disappointment. You can check their resellerrating, it should be good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top