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New build this week

M

Mehphisto

Weaksauce
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
97
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
World of Warcraft on Ultra settings, Sims 3, photo shop
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700
3) Where do you live?
Nevada
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, MOBO, Video Card, PSU, Ram and hard drives
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Will be using a haf 912 case and a cooler master hyper 212 plus
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
28" LCD and 2 X 17" LCD's I am not doing eyefinity I just use three monitors
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Crossfire possibly or SLI
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
64 Bit Windows 7

I realize that only $700 for a cpu, mobo, ram, psu, hard drive and video card, limits me but that is all I have to spend.

I prefer AMD but just want a solid build that can handle world of warcraft on ultra settings.

I came up with this but not sure if it is any good
Ram
Video
PSU
MOBO/CPU Combo
 
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That ram is only 1066, you can get 1333 ram for the same price http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424 (the cas latency is a little higher but the extra speed should more than make up for that)

Hardocp reviewed a coolermaster GX 650W (power and series match but i'm not sure if it's exactly the same model or not) and gave it a fail. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/11/22/cooler_master_gx_650w_power_supply_review/9 . For the same price you can get an antec earthwatts EA-650 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

Afaict for games of that era you are better off with a fast dual core like the i3-2100 than a slower quad core. Not sure about photoshop.
 
You'd be better off going Sandy Bridge, you can get an i3-2100 for the same price as you're paying for that Phenom II X4, and it'll be faster for most things.
 
$330 - Intel Core i5 2500K CPU + MSI P67A-G43 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard Combo
$50 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$180 - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB PCI-E Video Card + SHOGUN game Combo
$60 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$70 - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W PSU
----
Total: $690 shipped.
 
You're not going to beat the setup Danny Bui put together for that price point. I'm going to second that setup.
 
This ram is currently the same price as the value series. (I hope I'm not breaking any etiquette rules here!)
 
okuda said:
This ram is currently the same price as the value series. (I hope I'm not breaking any etiquette rules here!)
Click to expand...

You're not. People around here generally encourage putting in more good suggestions, especially when they're good deals like this.

OP, do you need a DVD burner? If so, budget about $20 for one.

I'd also say go with Danny's build if you'd like to keep the overclocking option open. Feel free to slot in the Shell Shocker ram that okuda linked to above so long as it's the same price. Also take a look at the GPU + game combo I linked to below. It's the same card, but won't cost you anything more to get a free game.

If you're okay going without overclocking here's my suggestion:
$195 (use $15 coupon code EMCKCHB29) - Intel Core i5-2500
$100 - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3-B3 (comes with free 4GB flash drive)
$50 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
$180 (before $30 MIR) - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB AND Free Shogun 2: Total War AND Free Dirt 3 (via XFX website post purchase)
$60 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
$70 (before $20 MIR) - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-620 620W
Total (all shipping is free): $654.94
Total after MIRs: $604.54

Some explanations of my choices:
  • The Radeon 6870 I linked to is the same as what Danny suggested, except it's the combo that comes with Shogun 2: Total War for free.
  • The Antec High Current Gamer HCG-620 620W has a $20 MIR on it plus free shipping. It also has an 80+ Bronze efficiency rating. Otherwise it's very similar to the Antec Neo 620C.
  • The Gigabyte motherboard has support for Crossfire and 32GB of RAM (should 8GB sticks ever become cheap enough this might come in handy -- many Biostar boards are only rated up to 16GB of RAM.) I do like MSI and Asus boards quite a bit, but this board is currently priced better than what they offer.

Feel free to mix and match as you please.

Edit:

If you'd like to save another $5 on RAM go with this:

$45 (use promo code EMCKCHB22) - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

It'll bring your total (using my build) to $650 before MIRs and $600 even after.
 
Last edited:
well I am really happy with all the suggestions... I am sad to say that my budget dropped from $700 to $600 including shipping, I will get my funds on Thursday or Friday.

What is my best cpu/motherboard combo option now that I lost $100 off my budget?
 
Mehphisto said:
well I am really happy with all the suggestions... I am sad to say that my budget dropped from $700 to $600 including shipping, I will get my funds on Thursday or Friday.

What is my best cpu/motherboard combo option now that I lost $100 off my budget?
Click to expand...

That's painful. Well, lets see.

$195 (use $15 coupon code EMCKCHB29) - Intel Core i5-2500
$138 (before $10 MIR) - BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard AND CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W
$27 - G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS
$180 (before $30 MIR) - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB AND Free Shogun 2: Total War AND Free Dirt 3 (via XFX website post purchase)
$60 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM

Total (including shipping): $603.81
Total after MIRs: $563.81

I know it's $3.81 over budget. If you want it lower than that, I can get it another $8 lower by going to this combo:
$130 - BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard AND CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W
If you want the CX600 PSU but are willing to go with single channel memory, get this to save $3:
$24 - Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (single stick)

What do you lose compared to my original suggested build:
  • This build only has 4GB of RAM instead of 8GB.
  • This build uses an mATX motherboard instead of full ATX, meaning you have less room for more expansion cards.
  • The Biostar motherboard only supports up to 16GB of RAM instead of 32GB (probably a non-issue.)
  • The power supply is not as powerful on the 12V rail. Still fine for single card systems. Probably okay for two 6870s in Crossfire but no guarantees.
 
Also, you could look in the Open Box motherboard on Newegg, see if you can find the models you're looking at and you could save a lot of cash. Normally they're 50%+ off their usual price, although you will likely have to get SATA cables and the box may not include an I/O port cover.
 
Computer is now built and I am very happy. Thanks to everyone for the advice!

I did two things I have never done.

1) Used an Intel CPU
2) Used an ATI card

but I am very very happy with my new system.

Thanks!!
 
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