New build, maybe

B

Bbq

King of Charts
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
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Looking to build a new rig soonish, maybe.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mild gaming (mostly counter-strike source, l4d, maybe cod4 sometimes; detail settings don't bother me that much), web browsing, a little photoshop, school related stuff

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600ish; I do live around Vancouver, so NCIX is local, and shipping isn't a problem for that.

3) Where do you live?
around Vancouver, BC, Canada. This basically means, ncix, anitec, newegg.ca, and a few others

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, MB, Ram, GPU, PSU

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Optical drive, case

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
thinking about 1680x1050, though i may buy another, or a monitor with a higher resolution eventually

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Around the end of November

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
4+ sata, spdif audio, ide (for the previously mentioned optical drive), I like intel chipsets.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes, windows 7

I would really like lots of ram.
 
heres a theoretical build within the 600 dollar limit.. i used newegg.ca since its easier to use then NCIX but im sure you can use it to compare prices to both sites..

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $94.99
AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor Model HDZ720WFGIBOX - Retail - $138.99
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P10664GK - Retail - $99.99 w/ $20 USD rebate not included in the price
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail - $98.49 not counting $10 USD rebate
EVGA 01G-P3-1155-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail - $145.99 after $20 CAD rebate

total price 598.45 NOT including any of the rebates

GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $189.99
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail - $219.99
EVGA 01G-P3-1155-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $145.99 after $20 CAD rebate
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail $98.49 not including $10 USD rebate
A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model HY63I1B16K - Retail $85.99


total cost $760.54 not including any rebates


all prices are in CAD unless otherwise noted..

you could go with an LGA-775 setup.. but at this point it would be a waste of money since its a dead end socket and has no upgrade path.. so your only choices right now are either AMD am2+/am3 or intel LGA-1156 or 1366..

both systems would be able to do what ever you want.. if you needed a little more performance you chould switch the phenom II x3 720 for the athlon II x4 630 and have an extra core.. but you would want to overclock that processor to get a little more out of it.. or you could go with the phenom II x4 955..
 
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What could I do better if I had another ~200 in the budget?
 
probably that i5 rig i added to the post after you replied.. much better performance over the phenom II but for what you plan to do with it.. its probably not needed but its your money and your choice.. if anything out of those.. id personally get the ATI HD5770 with the resolution you plan to use.. they out perform the GTS 250 by a decent amount.. and only cost a little more then the GTS 250.. id suggest you look at some of the game performance reviews [H] has been doing lately and see what would fit perfectly for you performance to cost wise..
 
Hey, look who's back in GenHard... which case will you be reusing?

Better? Than i5? No real need for better if you're just gaming. :p But yah, the only thing better than i5 would be i7. Oh, you mean on the GPU side? Get an HD5770 if you want power efficiency, or an HD4890 if you can't afford the HD5850.
 
I've got a ton of cases around, so i'm sure i'll find something that'll work.

He added the i5 in there after i added ~200

How much faster is the i5 over that phenom x3, or something last gen like an E8400?
Not really an ATI kinda guy, after all those bad experiences; would a gtx 260 be a better choice?

just trying to see if it's worth it at the moment
 
After vacilating between the i5 and the 955-BE (with a build budget similar to yours, except I added extra $$ for a new HAF922 case and 25.5" monitor), I went i5.

Here's what I ended up with (with the help of some folks here):

mobo- GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011093&prodlist=froogle

cpu- i5 750 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011084

ram - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

hdd - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

graphics card - MSI Radeon HD 4870 Video Card - 1024MB GDDR5 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4938743&CatId=3669 (like many others, I have a 5850 on backorder, the 4870 is the temporary solution)

cooler - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

All parts are now in as of today (I'll pick up a DVD burner locally), so hopefully I can start on it tomorrow evening.;)
 
@ @ PinkFloyd
Do note that the OP is in Canada. SO those prices and links won't help him that much.

@ BBQ
For straight up gaming with a single GPU, you would probably not notice a difference between the i5 750, E8400, and X3 720. Same case for web browsing, word processing, and other general usage. Which are the only real major usage you've described so far.

The HD 5770 does outperform the GTX 260 depending on the game. The HD 4870 1GB also outperforms the GTX 260 slightly. If you can find a GTX 260 for the same or lower price as a HD 4870 1GB, go for it.
 
A Core i5 build would be a bit of an overkill for OP needs. It doesn't look like he does demanding stuff on the pc. The AMD X3 720 build that sirmonkey1985 put together fit his needs perfectly. Since you have NCIX locally, let's put together a build from NCIX. Also, I did not see you list a HDD. Not sure if you already have one to use or you forgot to add that in.

MOBO - Gigabyte GA-MA785M-US2H for $86.43

CPU - AMD Phenom II X3 720 for $148.98 *Note: buy the WD 640GB SE Drive with this cpu combo and the HDD will be $67.31 Scroll Down for Combo Deals and select the WD Caviar 640GB SE16 HDD

PSU - Antec Earthwatts 650W for $92.33

RAM - G. Skill 4GB DDR2 1000 for $109.99

VIDEO CARD - XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB for $174.99 ($20 MIR)

Total: $680.03
 
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