here's my build (newbie): please comment!

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drcrappants

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
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hi, new pc builder. after some researching and some help from all of you, especially danny bui, i have come up with a plan on what to buy so i can build this weekend! please take a look and provide feedback, and point out any potential/major errors i made.

will be playing some new games, but not a lot. browsing mainly, a little photo editing, no video/audio editing. watch some hd movies too. will not dual gfx card, and will overclock when it will help me.

cpu: i5 2500k (180$+tax @ MICROCENTER)
mobo(help): ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard (85$+CA tax @ MICROCENTER) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371775 OR Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard ($120-$10rebate + CA tax) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364085
gfx: waiting for deals (have onboard video)
hdd: $60 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (danny bui's suggestion for a top HD currently) http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinp...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1313918684&sr=1-1
psu: Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU (85$ - 15$ MIR) http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthu...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314474564&sr=1-1
ram (BOUGHT): Newegg Shellshocker 8GB Gskill Sniper 1333 + 4GB Micro SDHC ($38)
case: NZXT Source 210 Elite ATX Case (50$) http://www.amazon.com/Source-210--I...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1316510059&sr=1-1
dvd drive: $20 - Sony AD-7260S-0B SATA DVD Burner (suggested by danny bui) http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SATA-Int...3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314474815&sr=1-3

To be decided
monitor: Asus VH242H 24" LCD Monitor 5ms HD 1080P HDMI DVI VGA (135+12 tax=147$) refurbed (EBAY)
mouse/keyboard: something cost effective! amazon! suggestions?
 
Last edited:
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drcrappants said:
hi, new pc builder. after some researching and some help from all of you, especially danny bui, i have come up with a plan on what to buy so i can build this weekend! please take a look and provide feedback, and point out any potential/major errors i made.

will be playing some new games, but not a lot. browsing mainly, a little photo editing, no video/audio editing. watch some hd movies too. will not dual gfx card, and will overclock when it will help me.

cpu: i5 2500k (180$+tax @ MICROCENTER)
mobo(help): ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard (85$+CA tax @ MICROCENTER) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371775 OR Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard ($120-$10rebate + CA tax) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364085
gfx: waiting for deals (have onboard video)
hdd: $60 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (danny bui's suggestion for a top HD currently) http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinp...&ie=UTF8&qid=1313918684&tag=htmlurl-20&sr=1-1
psu: Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU (85$ - 15$ MIR) http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthu...&ie=UTF8&tag=htmlurl-20&qid=1314474564&sr=1-1
ram (BOUGHT): Newegg Shellshocker 8GB Gskill Sniper 1333 + 4GB Micro SDHC ($38)
case: NZXT Source 210 Elite ATX Case (50$) http://www.amazon.com/Source-210--I...&ie=UTF8&qid=1316510059&tag=htmlurl-20&sr=1-1
dvd drive: $20 - Sony AD-7260S-0B SATA DVD Burner (suggested by danny bui) http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SATA-Int...&ie=UTF8&qid=1314474815&tag=htmlurl-20&sr=1-3

To be decided
monitor: Asus VH242H 24" LCD Monitor 5ms HD 1080P HDMI DVI VGA (135+12 tax=147$) refurbed (EBAY)
mouse/keyboard: something cost effective! amazon! suggestions?
Click to expand...

Looks like you did your research for "budget building" -- good job for the most part. The one thing I would not go ebay/refurb on a monitor, especially at the HIGH price you have there (can be found new for that price on sale, online, taxfree w/ a legit warranty)

I'd suggest you get the same monitor (highly rated Asus VH242H = win, good pick) from amazon ( http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VH242H-2...&ie=UTF8&tag=htmlurl-20&qid=1316521133&sr=1-2 ) for only $22 more, because it will probably last you a lotttt longer, and if it doesn't you have the "safety net" of the Asus (new) 3 year monitor warranty. I have returned a few Asus products, and they did a decent job at getting my motherboard back (this was years ago, before they became mainstream)

All around, good picks for a quality budget Intel build, I'd say. That PC will last you a good while :)
 
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I've actually had very good luck with refurbed displays. Two vizios, one 40" 1080p (my current monitor), and one 26" 720p set (used as a monitor for a year or two, now doing duty as my girlfriends television. Other than her proclivity for losing remotes, it's kept chugging right along).

Take that with the grain of salt included in the packet though. All electronics purchases carry an element of luck. At the prices I was looking at the luck was balanced out by the possible $avings.
 
I'd go with the Gigabyte mobo. I would not go refurb on the monitor. Spend the extra cash for warranty.
 
Also, to avoid Amazon's hard drive shipping, get the Samsung F3 at Microcenter:
$55 + tax

As long as your tax rate is at or below 9% it'll be the same price or lower.
 
Danny Bui said:
I'd go with the Gigabyte mobo. I would not go refurb on the monitor. Spend the extra cash for warranty.
Click to expand...

QFT there. There is a reason why the Asus P8Z68-V LX is cheap: It is lacking in both features and versatility compared to the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H. The differences:

1) The Gigabyte supports Crossfire or SLI. The Asus supports Crossfire only.

2) The secondary PCI-e x16 slot on the GA-Z68X-UD3H runs at x8 when the primary x16 slot is occupied. The P8Z68-V LX has no such secondary slot per se; however, it has an x16-length slot that runs at up to x4 that's run off of the Z68 PCH rather than the CPU.

3) Even though the GA-Z68X-UD3H uses a hybrid EFI/Legacy BIOS, it offers a lot more configurable options, especially if the OP plans on overclocking the CPU. The P8Z68-V LX is similar to the P8P67 LE in that the CPU core voltage cannot be set manually (only voltage offsets are available). This limits overclocked stability of any system with such a limited mobo.

4) The GA-Z68X-UD3H has better-quality onboard audio than the P8Z68-V LX: The former uses the Realtek ALC889 while the latter uses the lesser-specced ALC887.

5) The GA-Z68X-UD3H has one eSATA port and one IEEE 1394a (Firewire 400) port (plus the ability to add a second IEEE 1394a port via the onboard header). The P8P67-V LX has neither.

And that's not to mention that the quality of the components used on the GA-Z68X-UD3H is generally higher than those used on the P8Z68-V LX.

In other words, between those two mobos you get what you pay for.
 
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thanks everyone!

basically a refurb monitor is not the best choice because there's a good danger of problems (stuck pixels, etc) and the warranty is skimpy? (do i need to do anything to qualify for warranty, or keep anything?)

thanks for the tip on the motherboard. i think i ended reading a very promising HARDOCP review on a very similar mobo (the pro version of the ASUS) and figured that the LX version could not be much worse, though could not find any good reviews on the LX. good explanation on the 2 mobo comparisons!

@ eagle's post:
for #2, what kind of components would i put in that secondary slot to benefit from that--is it just xfire/sli?
likewise, for #5, what kind of stuff would go in those ports? all i know is that it is faster and newer, though unsure if many components are made for those ports.

BTW, if it matters, i am in california where tax is ~8.5%, but i have amazon prime.

thanks again to everyone. will check back later today for anything new before placing orders :)
 
drcrappants said:
thanks everyone!

basically a refurb monitor is not the best choice because there's a good danger of problems (stuck pixels, etc) and the warranty is skimpy? (do i need to do anything to qualify for warranty, or keep anything?)
Click to expand...
Correct. Just keep your reciepts for warranty service.
drcrappants said:
@ eagle's post:
for #2, what kind of components would i put in that secondary slot to benefit from that--is it just xfire/sli?
likewise, for #5, what kind of stuff would go in those ports? all i know is that it is faster and newer, though unsure if many components are made for those ports.
Click to expand...

#2) Wireless cards, additional/better NICs, additional video cards, hardware RAID controllers, storage controllers, PCI-E based SSDs, etc.

#5) External hard drives
 
cool. looks like the gigabyte will be the way to go.

for warranties on online purchases, will the confirmation email suffice (such as on amazon.com)
 
how much are dvd drives usually? i could have sworn 1-2 days ago i saw the sony drive listed above at 18$ or so but now i'm seeing 26$?
 
drcrappants said:
cool. looks like the gigabyte will be the way to go.

for warranties on online purchases, will the confirmation email suffice (such as on amazon.com)
Click to expand...
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Keep copies of reciepts and write down the serial numbers of the parts.
drcrappants said:
how much are dvd drives usually? i could have sworn 1-2 days ago i saw the sony drive listed above at 18$ or so but now i'm seeing 26$?
Click to expand...
Around $18 to $25. DVD burner prices are generally the most volatile from my experience.

Just look for another SATA DVD burner if you want to save some money. They're all basically the same quality wise.
 
Keyboard: Logitech Keyboard K120 (12$) http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-...VLKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315661370&sr=8-1
mouse: Logitech B100 Optical USB Mouse (8.25$) http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-B100...f=sr_1_22?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1316596662&sr=1-22

i don't know too much about mouses in general so i went for the cheapest one with decent reviews on amazon. anything to look out for in terms of mice, such as optical vs laser? suggestions would be nice. unless i get significant benefit from the mouse, i'd like to stick to <10-15$
top keyboard seem to just have macros functions. i guess it's nice but nobody really needs it.

update: going with the gigabyte, and amazon ASUS monitor instead of refurbished.
for the dvd drive, considering this cheaper option with lesser name recognition:
Liteon iHAS324 24X DVD-RW SATA Optical Disk Drive (21$) http://www.amazon.com/Liteon-iHAS32...ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1316596803&sr=1-4

let me know if there are any issues. thanks!
 
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Most all companies include a "package list" when you receive your package in the mail, so keep that for your record as that's basically a receipt.
 
as i was reviewing my order, i just realized that i did not buy these: do these come with the case/psu/etc?
Case Fan(s)
CPU Cooler/Heatsink with Fan (HSF)
Uninterruptible Power Supply

thnx
 
thanks skillz.

am i going to need the UPS? do not see them mentioned in rigs around here, but it appears as a component in the FAQS.
 
Not really unless you have frequent power outages or unstable power, otherwise just get a good surge protector.
 
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