Help my friend

R

Rydawg5143

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
6,781
So going to help a friend build a computer online so he can have it shipped to him and put it together. He lives in Honolulu, so had to keep that in mind. I tried to get him to register here but he doesn't have a good e-mail addy, so here is his info:

"srry rydawg i dont want to make a new email to register for Hard Forums
but i will use the same format

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, web, homework

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$2000, yes shipping is included

3) Where do you live?
Honolulu Hawaii

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
anything is ok except i want intel pross.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
none

6) Will you be overclocking?
depends if it will be beneficial

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
i want at least a 20 inch

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
in a couple months

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.


10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
yes
"
Here is what i offered up and why:

Intel I7 920- cpu
its quad i7, awesomeness nothing much more to say
Gigabyte x58- mobo
I love Gigabyte boards, they OC well and they have great customer service
g.skill 6gb ddr3- ram
G.skill is one of the most recommended brands for computer builds. Its not flashy but I get better overclocks with this ram then any other.
MSI-ATI 4870 1gb- gpu
Personally I like ATI, just depends who you talk to. Same as religion or politics. I dislike NVIDIA cause of the BSOD issues that their drivers have had for years
Samsung dvd player- dvd player
Good burner, i own 4 of these atm
Corsair 650 - psu
Corsair is on the better PSU makers, Antec is good as well
WD6400AAKS- HDD
This is the best bang for the buck drive. It's speeds compare to the Raptors for a fraction of the price. I have about 5 of these
BenQ G2400WD- 24' LCD
This is the monitor I have. It is the best of the 12 of so LCD's I have owned, no backlight bleed, crisp and clear. If you order a monitor, don't order it from newegg as they have a horrible return policy though there is ways around it. Plus the BenQ store on their own site gives discounts sometimes. Usually have an e-mail with a code in my box.
CM 690 - Case
Case is all about what YOU like. I would stay away from lots of brands and only trust Cooler Master, Antec, Lian Li. Those are all quality cases. I have an ANtec 300 and 900 atm and i love them both. I'll be getting the case I linked soon so I can build another PC. I've always thought it looked nice.
 
It would help if you told us which Gigabyte mobo you're planning on going with. Same goes for the RAM. Are you going with the DDR3 1600 set?

Anyway other than the above, setup looks good to me. If your friend is willing to overclock or live in a hot place (which Hawaii is right?), then I recommend getting this HSF:
Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm HSF - $40

Oh and make sure that that you get the Gigabyte mobo and Core i7 from a combo link to save $15 to $20:
Intel Core i7 920 CPU and Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R Intel X58 ATX Motherboard combo - $475
Intel Core i7 920 CPU and Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P Intel X58 ATX Motherboard combo - $539
 
The build you have in mind is excellent. I wouldn't change a thing. Just add a after market cpu cooler like the xigmatek dark night, it has the 1366 backplate in the box and is a great value.
 
the ram danny mentioned is a pretty cheap "upgrade" other than that i'd maybe consider a 4870x2 with the 24" monitor but that all depends on budget and how high you want to have the settings on newer games. you've pieced together a pretty solid build.
 
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