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Thoughts on new system build.

D

DreamTheater36

Gawd
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
Messages
615
I'm finally taking the plunge and upgrading from my 5 year old system. My goal was to build a gaming system for around $600, any thoughts would be appreciated.


ASUS Radeon HD 6870 EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Video Card with Eyefinity

HITACHI 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner, Bulk Package Black SATA Model AD-7280S-0B

ASRock 970 EXTREME3 ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz Socket AM3 Quad-Core Desktop Processor

Kingston Value 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory

COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS-550-PCAR-E3 550W Power Supply

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Computer Case

Total Price: $587 at Newegg
 
Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

Though I can see several issues with that setup.
 
Danny Bui said:
Though I can see several issues with that setup.
Click to expand...

Some of the exact issues are:

1) The PSU is crappy, especially for its $58 shipped price. It is barely worth even half of that price.

2) The CPU is priced too close to faster-performing CPUs for its own good.

3) ASRock's warranty is a paltry two years, and is relatively expensive for a product with such a short warranty. There are motherboards from other brands with full three-year warranties that sell for around the same price as that ASRock motherboard.

4) Going 2 x 2GB makes no sense these days, since this will limit your system's future memory expansion capacity.

5) That particular Hitachi hard drive is an older design: Although it is a single platter, it spreads out its 500GB over both sides of the platter, making it relatively slow by current standards. Unfortunately, the 7K1000.D, which uses a single 1TB platter, is available only in 1TB and 750GB versions.

I'll leave it to Danny to figure out the remaining issues.
 
I personally would have went with a Phenom II instead of an Athlon II. I think its worth the extra few bucks.
 
My apologies Danny..

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? 700-750 total
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible. Dallas, TX
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, video card, RAM, PSU, Mobo, Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Case, 20" LCD Monitor
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model. None
6) Will you be overclocking? No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?Not sure, Looking at getting a new LCD Monitor in the $100-125 range
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? It is a Christmas gift, ASAP
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. Not sure, just needs to support Windows 7
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? No, I will not need an OS, getting it from a friend
 
All right, get this PSU ASAP as it is on sale right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=

So that leaves us with $700 for the rest of the setup:

$230 - Core i5 2500K + Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 Motherboard combo at Microcenter.
$39 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$170 - XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$80 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$19 - LG DVD Burner
$40 - NZXT Source 210 Black ATX Case
$13 - Coolermaster 120mm fan 4 in 1 pack
$90 - Acer S201HL bd 20" Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor
----
Total: $681 plus tax

Key imprvements:
- Significantly better quality PSU
- Significantly faster CPU
- Longer warrantied motherboard
- Better RAM expansion capability
- Better case with more fans.
- GPU with a lifetime warranty.
 
Placed my order with Newegg yesterday, everything except for the monitor is scheduled to be here tomorrow!
 
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