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Like every other one out of two people who come here, I'm building a budget gaming machine.
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Webbrowsing, Gaming (Starcraft 2, FFXIV are probably the two most intensive possible games)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
It's not an exact number, but trying to keep to 800 as much as possible. I guess that's before shipping/taxes. I order from newegg a lot and when I do, I don't get hit with tax because they don't have anything here in-state. Mostly looking at pre-rebate pricing (unless its instant rebate) because that's what I'll have to pay up front. So as a final answer, trying to target 800 as much as possible, with an absolute high of 1K with EVERYTHING included (shipping, etc)
3) Where do you live?
Jacksonville, Florida
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.
CPU, RAM, Mobo, Power Supply, Video Card. A larger hard drive might be nice too, although I'm not looking at it immediately since I have other solutions for the moment.
I probably need a case too. The only one I have lying around is a massive Supermicro 750A that is about 10 years old. I guess I could use it if need be, but I was hoping to get rid of it because the fans are noisy as a subway when the train is coming in.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have two 22 inch LCDs with max res of 1920 x 1080
I have a couple dvd writers (IDE) lying around that I'd use it possible.
I have a couple smaller SATA hard drives (less than a year old) I could use in a pinch.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No major overclocking. Maybe some minor aircooled increases.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
As mentioned above, two 22 inch LCDs with D-Sub, DVI, HDMI connectors. So obviously, a video card with 2 connectors will be needed... granted, i
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
On or past 9/15
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing much really. I'm a bit lost on some of the newest features I might want to have. For instance, USB3 sounds super-de-duper, but I don't have any USB3 devices... yet....
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I would have to take a Windows 7 from my laptop, so I'm planning to buy an OEM copy and move those around as needed.
My current build is via newegg with something like the following (I include 2 mobo, 2 case, and 2 ram choices per build):
Build A
CPU Phenom II x4 965 164.99
Mobo 1 ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 99.99
Mobo 2 ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 149.99
Ram 1 Crucial 4GB (2x2) DDR3 1333 89.99
Ram 2 G.SKILL 8 GB (4x2) DDR3 1333 169.99
Case 1 Antec Three Hundred Bundle 99.94
(w/ Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W)
Case 2 Antec Sonata III 500W 119.99
Video Card 1 Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1GB 159.99
Build B
Phenom II x4 955 149.99
ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 99.99
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 149.99
Crucial 4GB (2x2) DDR3 1333 89.99
G.SKILL 8 GB (4x2) DDR3 1333 169.99
Antec Three Hundred Bundle 99.94
(w/ Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W)
Antec Sonata III 500W 119.99
Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1GB 159.99
(the video card is 139.99 after rebate - technically they send you a mail-in card)
O/S Windows 7 Home Prem OEM 99.99 99.99
As to the whys:
While the 6 core Thuban core Phenoms appeal to me from a geek perspective, for my purposes, I believe a quad core at a higher speed is a better option. I'm not entirely sure what the intel equivalent for what I'm looking at is, and it seems they're higher cost anyways. I don't see much point in the 965 BE over the 955 BE since they are both Black Editions.
The motherboard I'm not picky on, just took some guides that were out there.
I don't really need 8 GB of memory, but I decided to price out both 4 and 8.
The Antec bundle is about the best I could find. The Sonata Case comes with a power supply. If I decided to reuse the ancient case for some odd reason, I guess I'd use an Antec or Corsair power supply of some sort.
The video card I'm all over the place on. I don't need the highest possible performance, and it seems to be the area (other than mobo) where I can make the biggest cost savings. But the 5770 comes very very highly recommended. I looked at the 5750 as well. I usually prefer nvidia, but I'm not married to it in a system. In general, I think I'll be mostly gaming at 1600, but if I can hit a 1920, that's great.
Any thoughts?
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Webbrowsing, Gaming (Starcraft 2, FFXIV are probably the two most intensive possible games)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
It's not an exact number, but trying to keep to 800 as much as possible. I guess that's before shipping/taxes. I order from newegg a lot and when I do, I don't get hit with tax because they don't have anything here in-state. Mostly looking at pre-rebate pricing (unless its instant rebate) because that's what I'll have to pay up front. So as a final answer, trying to target 800 as much as possible, with an absolute high of 1K with EVERYTHING included (shipping, etc)
3) Where do you live?
Jacksonville, Florida
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.
CPU, RAM, Mobo, Power Supply, Video Card. A larger hard drive might be nice too, although I'm not looking at it immediately since I have other solutions for the moment.
I probably need a case too. The only one I have lying around is a massive Supermicro 750A that is about 10 years old. I guess I could use it if need be, but I was hoping to get rid of it because the fans are noisy as a subway when the train is coming in.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have two 22 inch LCDs with max res of 1920 x 1080
I have a couple dvd writers (IDE) lying around that I'd use it possible.
I have a couple smaller SATA hard drives (less than a year old) I could use in a pinch.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No major overclocking. Maybe some minor aircooled increases.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
As mentioned above, two 22 inch LCDs with D-Sub, DVI, HDMI connectors. So obviously, a video card with 2 connectors will be needed... granted, i
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
On or past 9/15
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing much really. I'm a bit lost on some of the newest features I might want to have. For instance, USB3 sounds super-de-duper, but I don't have any USB3 devices... yet....
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I would have to take a Windows 7 from my laptop, so I'm planning to buy an OEM copy and move those around as needed.
My current build is via newegg with something like the following (I include 2 mobo, 2 case, and 2 ram choices per build):
Build A
CPU Phenom II x4 965 164.99
Mobo 1 ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 99.99
Mobo 2 ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 149.99
Ram 1 Crucial 4GB (2x2) DDR3 1333 89.99
Ram 2 G.SKILL 8 GB (4x2) DDR3 1333 169.99
Case 1 Antec Three Hundred Bundle 99.94
(w/ Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W)
Case 2 Antec Sonata III 500W 119.99
Video Card 1 Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1GB 159.99
Build B
Phenom II x4 955 149.99
ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 99.99
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 149.99
Crucial 4GB (2x2) DDR3 1333 89.99
G.SKILL 8 GB (4x2) DDR3 1333 169.99
Antec Three Hundred Bundle 99.94
(w/ Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W)
Antec Sonata III 500W 119.99
Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1GB 159.99
(the video card is 139.99 after rebate - technically they send you a mail-in card)
O/S Windows 7 Home Prem OEM 99.99 99.99
As to the whys:
While the 6 core Thuban core Phenoms appeal to me from a geek perspective, for my purposes, I believe a quad core at a higher speed is a better option. I'm not entirely sure what the intel equivalent for what I'm looking at is, and it seems they're higher cost anyways. I don't see much point in the 965 BE over the 955 BE since they are both Black Editions.
The motherboard I'm not picky on, just took some guides that were out there.
I don't really need 8 GB of memory, but I decided to price out both 4 and 8.
The Antec bundle is about the best I could find. The Sonata Case comes with a power supply. If I decided to reuse the ancient case for some odd reason, I guess I'd use an Antec or Corsair power supply of some sort.
The video card I'm all over the place on. I don't need the highest possible performance, and it seems to be the area (other than mobo) where I can make the biggest cost savings. But the 5770 comes very very highly recommended. I looked at the 5750 as well. I usually prefer nvidia, but I'm not married to it in a system. In general, I think I'll be mostly gaming at 1600, but if I can hit a 1920, that's great.
Any thoughts?
