Help out on this build.

P

Parker

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 18, 2006
Messages
418
My brother-in-law is now in the game to build his first comp. He's been using laptops in the past. First off, here are the questions answered.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming, web browsing, music, Blue-Ray movies
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? Looking for no more than $1,000 total
3) Where do you live? Texas
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Everything for a basic setup
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? No parts reusing
6) Will you be overclocking? Nope
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 62" DLP with Picture In Picture option
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc. PCI Express slot for video card
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? No

Now, here was my recommendation build, please offer your opinion as well. We're both on the fence about the video card.

CPU Case: Silverstone SG01-BF $105
P/S: Corsair CMPSU-620HX $150
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L $65
CPU: Intel C2D E8500 3.16GHz $190
HD1: WD Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10K rpm $80
HD2: WD Caviar WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 rpm $110
RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $49
Video: eVGA GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-Bit 896-P3-1170-AR $240

With MIR & shipping, the total comes to $731.
 
Your current build is good, but a few suggestions:

1. If you don't necessarily need a modular PSU, you can save money by going with something like the Corsair 750TX, PC Power & Cooling 750W, or Antec 650W.

2. Any specific reason for choosing a motherboard with on-board video? Since you're getting a separate video card, take a look at the Gigabyte EP43-UD3L for $80.

3. If you're using the 1TB drive as storage, I'd suggesting looking into the Western Digital 1TB Green (WD10EADS). Sure it's slower than the Caviar Black, but it runs cooler, quieter, and uses less power. An ideal storage drive, IMO. Also, for the price of that Raptor, you can get a WD 640GB Caviar Black and you probably won't lose more than 10% in terms of performance but you will gain about 550GB worth of space.

4. The ATI Radeon 4890 outperforms the GTX 275 in many benchmarks and can be had for $200 after rebate. Better price/performance ratio and also worth considering.

Besides that, the build looks good. For about $1,000, you can also approach and i7 build.
 
ASUS M3A76-CM & OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 combo http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193446 $100

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471 $190

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $75

Raptors are not worth the money. WD 640 GB blacks are 5% slower, 4 times the storage and faction of the cost.

Get a AMD build would better value than a dual core core 2 cpu.
 
Last edited:
The computer case is a micro ATX, so the modular power supply will help tidy up the already limited room.
The motherboard, I was looking at reviews/best ratings. You're correct that the onboard video will not be used.
I'm not familiar with ATI video cards.
I didn't recommend any quad core cpu's because I don't believe he'd utilize them. A quality dual core should be sufficient.
 
I would agree with it_shiro 1,000%. A solid AMD Phenom II Quad 940 cpu build for $900 would be your best option.
 
Parker said:
The computer case is a micro ATX, so the modular power supply will help tidy up the already limited room.
The motherboard, I was looking at reviews/best ratings. You're correct that the onboard video will not be used.
I'm not familiar with ATI video cards.
I didn't recommend any quad core cpu's because I don't believe he'd utilize them. A quality dual core should be sufficient.
Click to expand...

even so, at the same $190 price point... wouldn't a 3.0 Ghz quad core do a better job than a 3.16 Ghz dual core?
 
Parker said:
  1. The computer case is a micro ATX, so the modular power supply will help tidy up the already limited room
  2. I'm not familiar with ATI video cards.
  3. I didn't recommend any quad core cpu's because I don't believe he'd utilize them. A quality dual core should be sufficient.
Click to expand...

1) You can get the Corsair 602HX for $20 less from this site:
$130 - Corsair 620HX 620W Modular PSU

2) Well now you know that the ATI HD4890 is a better choice for the money than the GTX 275 :)

3) While more than likely true, why buy a dual-core CPU when you can get an equally fast quad-core CPU for the same price? The Phenom II 940 is an excellent choice for the money.

Oh and I concur with PC_User, lt_shiro and HardwareGuru. In fact want to add something: The WD 640Gb drive that PC User recommended is faster than the Raptor you selected and only 10% or so slower than the newer Velociraptor drives. Check out this link for a comparison between different drives:
http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/new.html
 
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