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New Build - Next Week!

S

sranderle

n00b
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Messages
19
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Browsing, Office, Netflix, Photoshop, Development/SQL Server

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Somewhere around $1000

3) Where do you live?
Minnesota

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, PSU, motherboard, CPU, ram, SSD/HDD (2), video card, any additional fans/cooling

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
2- WD Caviar Black 1 TB drives for data/internal backup

6) Will you be overclocking?
Stability if preferred

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
21" Eizo ColorEdge CE210W

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next week. Current 11 yr old build has seen its last days.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Stability and expansion for long build life

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I have a current MS Tech Net subscription, so all licensed OS available. 64-bit Windows 7 expected, with dual boot to 2008 server


Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Prelim build:
$325 - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU + Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AMD 890GX ATX Motherboard
$280 - 4 x G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$130 - eVGA 01G-P3-1450-TR GeForce GTS 450 PCI-E Video Card
$140 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU + Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive Combo
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---------
Total: $905 plus tax and shipping.

A six-core CPU and 16GB of RAM should help out a lot with your needs. That Samsung drive is faster than either of those two WD Black 1TB drives you have now. In addition, the 650W PSU should last you for quite a while. That video card should come up useful for Photoshop later on with this simple hack:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1532552

Hold off on the SSD for now. Intel is releasing their newer, faster, and cheaper SSDs later this year. So unless you're really lazy and don't want to do another fresh install on a SSD, you're better off waiting.

Choose your own case:
$60 - NZXT M59 ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master CM690 II Basic ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium ATX Case
$105 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$130 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$140 - Antec P183 ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$170 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$180 - Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$200 - Lian Li PC-B25F ATX Case
$240 - Silverstone FT02B-W ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case
Cases (ATX w/PSU):
 
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Thanks for the info. I will definitely hold off on the SSD. I've gone through several drives and video cards in my current build.

I should have said that I prefer full tower cases. Easy to work on and roomy. I know it adds to the cost, but what about the Antec 1200 case?
 
Is there any advantage in getting a mobo without onboard video, if I'm going buy a card anyway?
 
The motherboard seems to be a bit lacking on future expansion. 1 - PCI-e 4x, 1 - PCIe-1x and 2 PCI. That probably would be limiting for a long term build.
 
sranderle said:
I should have said that I prefer full tower cases. Easy to work on and roomy. I know it adds to the cost, but what about the Antec 1200 case?
Click to expand...
The Antec 1200 is really bad buy for the money. ANY of the cases that I listed will be roomier, have better cablemanagement, and equal if not better cooling than the Antec 1200.
sranderle said:
Is there any advantage in getting a mobo without onboard video, if I'm going buy a card anyway?
Click to expand...
No advantage at all.
sranderle said:
The motherboard seems to be a bit lacking on future expansion. 1 - PCI-e 4x, 1 - PCIe-1x and 2 PCI. That probably would be limiting for a long term build.
Click to expand...
Not really. You missed the two PCI-E x16 slots. Honestly will you actually be using all of those expansion slots?
 
sranderle said:
I should have said that I prefer full tower cases. Easy to work on and roomy. I know it adds to the cost, but what about the Antec 1200 case?
Click to expand...

The 1200, although a little roomier overall, is still relatively cramped from front to rear. Graphics cards longer than about 11 inches might not fit inside the case - little better than the 10.5-inch limit for Antec's lower 902 model. As a result, although the Antec gaming cases aren't bad cases per se, they are just simply poor values compared to the cases Danny recommends. I see very little value in an expensive higher-end case that cannot fit some high-end video cards.
 
Right now, I am looking at this case to start with.

$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
 
A couple other items to ponder.

Wireless router and wireless PCI card for another computer.

I will also pick up a LITEON Sata DVD Burner.
 
sranderle said:
Probably not, but needed.
Click to expand...

I recommend this:
$150 - Netgear WNDR3700-100NAS Dual Band Wireless N Gigabit Router

sranderle said:
Also, feedback on this card or similar. Found it on a quiet pc build site. No future fan failure.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102902
Click to expand...
You want to go for an Nvidia card with at least 1GB of VRAM. With every revision of Adobe Photoshop and other apps, CUDA and therefore GPU acceleration is being used more and more. Only Nvidia has CUDA support.
sranderle said:
Is the extra month worth spending on two newer Phenom x6 processors?
Click to expand...

Not really.
 
Since you want fanless and need Nvidia, check out these cards:
$80 - Gigabyte GV-NX96T1GHP GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Fanless PCI-E Video Card
$100 - Gigabyte GV-N98TSL-1GI GeForce 9800 GT 1GB Fanless PCI-E Video Card
 
Current build spec:

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (8 or 16 Gb)
HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb (2)
Optical Drive: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98
Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1
Video Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1450-TR GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

What am I missing/overlooking? Any known conflicts with this list?
 
Thanks for your help. I'll work on best pricing tomorrow.

Then to figure out anti virus software. Have Kaspersky, but it has grown to become a performance drag. Same reason I got rid of ZoneAlarm years ago.
 
sranderle said:
Then to figure out anti virus software. Have Kaspersky, but it has grown to become a performance drag. Same reason I got rid of ZoneAlarm years ago.
Click to expand...

Microsoft Security Essential and Nod32 are the two more recommended Anti-viruses out there. Relatively lightweight.

Oh don't forget the combo links I provided, Those do shave off a bit of cash.
 
I'll go back through the combo links. And compare with Amazon. The free 2 day shipping way even out with the combo. Just have to see.

I'll take a look at Nod32 and MSE as well.

Thanks again!!
 
Looking at my proposed build, is there an area where some additional money would be well spent? I'm not looking to spend more, but can if needed.
 
sranderle said:
Anything gained by upgrading to this drive?

CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002

3 rails?
Click to expand...
Nothing gained at all:
  • That PSU is four years old. There are better PSUs for the money. In fact, the Corsair 650HX that I recommended is basically the same as the 620HX but updated for better efficiency and performance.
  • As for the multiple rail VS single rail, it really does not matter at all. Read this PSU FAQ for more info: http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1036
  • Also, that Corsair 620HX is a single rail PSU anyway. That triple rail labeling was a misprint that was caught way too late and too expensive to fix.
sranderle said:
Looking at my proposed build, is there an area where some additional money would be well spent? I'm not looking to spend more, but can if needed.
Click to expand...
None really. Just downgrade the card to any of the fanless models that I listed earlier and you should be set.
sranderle said:
Wireless N adapter for a second computer. PCI or USB? Whose?
Click to expand...

In order of the more recommended connections: PCI-E x1, PCI, and USB. Linksys and Netgear have decent wireless adapters as well as Asus.
 
What about OCZ or Corsair memory? I have everything sources locally except for the memory. I'd wait, but I need this PC built and running. My options are MicroCenter and BestBuy.
 
sranderle said:
What about OCZ or Corsair memory? I have everything sources locally except for the memory. I'd wait, but I need this PC built and running. My options are MicroCenter and BestBuy.
Click to expand...

I don't trust OCZ RAM that much these days. As for Corsair RAM, if you want to leave room for a 16GB RAM upgrade, get any of the four Corsair RAM listed here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ir+4GB&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

Otherwise, the cheapest set of Corsair DDR3 RAM that you can find locally will be just fine. No, lower latency or higher speed do not really matter.
 
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