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New Computer Build Help!

T

Th3Hypn0Toad

n00b
Joined
May 24, 2012
Messages
4
So, here’s the story: last month my GeFroce 8600GT blew all of its capacitors which has given me the opportunity to update my decrepit system. Because it’s been so long since I’ve actually looked at this stuff, I could really use any advice on what to get.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This will be mainly a gaming PC. I’d like to be able to play all the recent titles, (ME3, D3, Skyrim etc.) smoothly on decent settings.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I’d like to keep the budget to $700. I have an Amazon Prime account, so shipping shouldn’t be a problem.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
I live near Madison Wisconsin in the good old U. S. of A.

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, Motherboard, Power supply, Video Card, and Case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Disc drives, a 200GB IDE hard drive and a 250GB SATA hard drive

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
I currently have a 19” 1440x900 LCD monitor but I’m looking to upgrade to dual 22” monitors eventually.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next few weeks.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
I’m pretty sure I’ll just need the necessary hard drive ports.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 pro upgrade 64 bit
 
Th3Hypn0Toad said:
So, here’s the story: last month my GeFroce 8600GT blew all of its capacitors which has given me the opportunity to update my decrepit system. Because it’s been so long since I’ve actually looked at this stuff, I could really use any advice on what to get.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This will be mainly a gaming PC. I’d like to be able to play all the recent titles, (ME3, D3, Skyrim etc.) smoothly on decent settings.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I’d like to keep the budget to $700. I have an Amazon Prime account, so shipping shouldn’t be a problem.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
I live near Madison Wisconsin in the good old U. S. of A.

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, Motherboard, Power supply, Video Card, and Case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Disc drives, a 200GB IDE hard drive and a 250GB SATA hard drive

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
I currently have a 19” 1440x900 LCD monitor but I’m looking to upgrade to dual 22” monitors eventually.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next few weeks.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
I’m pretty sure I’ll just need the necessary hard drive ports.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 pro upgrade 64 bit
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, hardly any new motherboards these days have any IDE ports at all. In fact, most new motherboards have absolutely no IDE ports at all whatsoever. So, you will have to retire that 200GB IDE HDD. And you might as well retire that older 250GB SATA HDD as well since both drives are likely ancient designs that can't sustain more than about 50 MB/s on the outer tracks - less than one-third as fast as (or more than two-thirds slower than) the fastest of the current-generation HDDs.

As for the other parts, you will have to settle for a relatively low-end CPU in order to keep the total system cost under $700 (with a new SATA hard drive factored in the total).
 
Alright, well $800 wouldn't be too far out of my price range. Would the remaining $700 be enough to build a decent system?
 
Even with your $700 budget, a solid build is still possible:
$180 - Intel Core i5-2300
$85 - Intel BOXDH67BLB3 Intel H67 mATX Motherboard
$40 - 2 x Patriot Signature PSD34G13332 4 GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$172 - XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$95 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA Hard Drive
$20 - Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE SATA DVD Burner
$72 - Antec High Current Gamer HCG-520 520W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
---
Total: $714 shipped.

If you still want to spend the extra cash, go with the above build but swap out the HD 6870 for the faster HD 6950 2GB:
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-D...7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1337930480&sr=1-7
 
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Danny Bui said:
Even with your $700 budget, a solid build is still possible:
$180 - Intel Core i5-2300
$85 - Intel BOXDH67BLB3 Intel H67 mATX Motherboard
$40 - 2 x Patriot Signature PSD34G13332 4 GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$172 - XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$95 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA Hard Drive
$20 - Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE SATA DVD Burner
$72 - Antec High Current Gamer HCG-520 520W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
---
Total: $714 shipped.

If you still want to spend the extra cash, go with the above build but swap out the HD 6870 for the faster HD 6950 2GB:
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-D...7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1337930480&sr=1-7
Click to expand...

Thanks! This looks great.
 
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E4g1e said:
Unfortunately, hardly any new motherboards these days have any IDE ports at all. In fact, most new motherboards have absolutely no IDE ports at all whatsoever. So, you will have to retire that 200GB IDE HDD. And you might as well retire that older 250GB SATA HDD as well since both drives are likely ancient designs that can't sustain more than about 50 MB/s on the outer tracks - less than one-third as fast as (or more than two-thirds slower than) the fastest of the current-generation HDDs.

As for the other parts, you will have to settle for a relatively low-end CPU in order to keep the total system cost under $700 (with a new SATA hard drive factored in the total).
Click to expand...
The OP could always find an external USB enclosure and use the drives as extra external HDDs. I went this route when my laptop monitor and motherboard burned out and now I have an extra 500GB of storage for emergencies You can get one from Amazon for around $10 bucks. For example, http://www.amazon.com/EXTERNAL-HARD...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1337963787&sr=1-1. Or, like E4g1e said, you can just destroy and trash them if they will have no use.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
That same sapphire 6950 is $200 +tax at the egg, should save a couple bucks if you dont like doing Mir
 
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