New build after years without a desktop. Help!

S

Sgarissta

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 16, 2003
Messages
168
So the last computer I built was a P4 machine with RDRam about 10 years ago. It finally died about 3 years ago, and I'm just now getting around to replacing it. But I haven't done this in so long, I'm completely behind on what's the cool new stuff. So help me out!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Some gaming (SC2 maybe?), but primarily as a development workstation. This means virtual machines, several of them.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Somewhere around $600-700 would be preferred, but if there's a huge performance/lifetime gap, I'm willing to put a bit more out.

3) Where do you live?
OK

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, RAM, Mobo, PSU, GPU, HD, Optical Drive

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I've got an old Lian-Li PC60? that's still in serviceable shape.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Don't intend on it.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I'll be running dual monitors for desktop tasks, twin 23" Acer's at 1920x1080.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
March

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Something relatively future proof, so USB3 would be good, but no real needs.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
It will primarily be running Linux.
 
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If March is your planned purchase date no matter what, then I recommend waiting till the end of the first of week of March and asking for advice then. The reason why is that we use a lot of Newegg combo deals to save you money. However those expire at the end of the month they were introduced in.

So if you want up-to-date advice and deals, wait till the end of the first week of March. By then we'll know what combo deals are out.
 
This is a rough build for you:



$646 before shipping and tax.

EDIT: You can probably go less on the video card if you need more RAM for additional virtual machines, or if you need more power from the CPU. This is a good start. Some of the other veteran system builders can probably do a lot better. That 6850 will allow you to pretty much play any game you'd like.
 
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