Time for a new desktop

A

Ario

n00b
Joined
Nov 6, 2004
Messages
39
Well, my old desktop overheated and died after 5 years of dedicated and quality service this past week and I am looking at trying to build a relatively inexpensive PC. My budget is weird in that I am not entirely sure what I can do yet, but cheaper is better.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Potentially heavy gaming, web browsing, light Photoshop editing, application development (web and standalone.)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$350 - $750 with tax and shipping included. I realize that is a large range, but I haven't been able to pinpoint what I would be able to do yet.
3) Where do you live?
Wisconsin
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, Motherboard, GPU (I have a slight preference for Nvidia), Power Supply, Memory, Case, Hard Drive, DVD Drive
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Two SATA hard drives, one a 7200 RPM 160 GB Seagate Barracuda and the other a 7200 RPM 250 GB Western Digital. I would like to keep these two drives as additional storage while using a new drive with the main operating system. I also have an internal sound card (Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Pro maybe?) that I may use and an internal wireless networking card.
6) Will you be overclocking?
It is likely that I will do a small amount of overclocking, but I will be focusing largely on stability.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Two 17" LCD monitors, which I plan on upgrading to twin wide screen monitors at 22" each as soon as I can.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As soon as I can afford it, which could be soon.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
It would be nice to not need to use my internal sound card, but it isn't detrimental if I need to put it in. I would like this system to be upgradeable in the future, mainly in regards to SLI.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes.

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For my maximum budget the links below are what I am looking at:

Case: Antec Three Hundred
CPU and Motherboard: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz and ASUS M4A79T Deluxe
GPU: BFG GeForce GTX 260
PSU: Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power
Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner

Total: $716.89
Shipping: $21.64
Mail-In Rebates: -$55

How does this look? I highly doubt I will be able to spend this much so builds that are cheaper and comparable would be very useful in my decision process. Thank you for your help!

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UPDATE

Case and PSU: Antec Nine Hundred + EA650 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 650W Power Supply
CPU and Motherboard: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz and ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
GPU: BFG GeForce GTX 260
Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support

Total: $741.94
Shipping: $7.00
Mail-In Rebates: -$55

Please let me know your opinions and any other recommendations for the above build. Especially if you see anything wrong with it! Thanks!
 
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How much do you need to shave off?
You can go with the 945 + motherboard combo to save 100$.
 
Sadly I do not have an entirely set budget yet and I am mainly looking around for builds that will be comparable and cheaper. Honestly, somewhere around $500 is my most likely budget, but I'm hoping to be able to do more. I do have a 4 year old BenQ 16x DVD Drive I could also use in the new system for now and upgrade it later, but is it worth doing that to save $27? If I went that route I wouldn't need to worry about connection issues with the new motherboard would I?
 
Well I started looking over you hardware selection knowing what I would choose right now if I were in your shoes. But then I got to where you mentioned upgradeable to SLI and scraped everything.

You not going to get SLI on an AMD chipset based board.

That said if you can forget about SLI then your can get a nice AMD system at a nice price.

Look in to the Phenom II X3 720 BE to save some money. You should have little trouble upping the multiplier for more speed and might even get one with a functional 4th core you can unlock.

No point in a 790FX board for you it wont do SLI, look at the 770 and 790x, I prefer Gigabyte but whatever.

Also not sure what it's like to your location but I come up with $167.62 shipped for the case and power supply you selected. Newegg has a deal right now on the Antec 900 with the EA650 for 170 with free shipping.
 
As Joseph noted, you can go with this CPU/mobo combo for $125 less yet has no major performance decrease. The only real con about this combo is that you won't be able to OC that high:
$240 - AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU + Asus M4A78 AMD 770 Motherboard Combo

Also for SLI or Crossfire to be cost effective, you need to have at least a 24" monitor.

Case wise, there are better cases out there for cheaper like this:
$60 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case

Any time frame on when you're upgrading to the larger 22" monitors? If it's more than three months or so, no point in getting the GTX 260 as it is overkill for a 17" monitor.
 
You are probably right in that I can just drop the SLI idea. I wasn't being intelligent when I said that haha. Great suggestion on the Antec 900 with the EA650... that is a much better deal.

My biggest cuts will probably come from choosing a different CPU and GPU, which I hate having to do, but oh well. I am hoping to purchase at least one 22" monitor within 3 months, so it wouldn't be horribly long. I also have a 26" HDTV I may plug it into from time to time. I will probably end up going with the AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU + Asus M4A78 AMD 770 Motherboard Combo to save the $40.

For the case I have been doing research on them a bit as my last case was bought because it was cheap... horrible decision on my part that is likely what killed my last desktop. What are people's opinions on the best case for the money? I am going to be having at least three SATA hard drives in the case with a potential two more PCI peripherals.
 
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Combos man utilize the combos. Also, if it's 3 months before you get the monitors, I would still go cheap on a video card and wait till the DX 11 video cards comes out.

CASE/PSU - Antec 300 Illusion + Antec EA650 both for $131.94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.215888

CPU/MOBO - AMD Phenom II 955 3.2ghz + ASAU M4A78 770 both for $229.99 ($10 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.212715

RAM - G. Skill 4GB DDR2 1066 for $54.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

VIDEO CARD - XFX Radeon HD 4850 for $89.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150337

HDD - WD7501AALS for $79.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283

OPTICAL - Samsung 22X Sata DVD Burner for $28.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

Total: $615.89
Shipping: $25.29
Grand Total: $641.18
 
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Well the X3 720BE seems to be the best bang for buck right now. I was about to buy another X2 550 BE since my first one isn't stable with all 4 cores unlocked. But I think the new one will be the X3 720 BE. I had no trouble getting 3.8 out of my X2 550 BE.

I am using a Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P but it has no MOSFET cooling. $80 free shipping right now.

The Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P is $130 right now with a $15 mail in rebate.


Also you can get a 1TB Wester Digital green drive right now for $80

And unless I am mistaken something like the ATI 4770 is rather powerful and has modest power needs. You can get one for about $110. Not sure what Nvidia might have to compare to it, but I bring this up because in my opinion if you go with something like the 4770 you should be able to get away with using one of these far cheaper Antec cases with PSU.


Antec Three Hundred + BP430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply


Antec NSK 4480B II Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel for chassis durability ATX Mid Tower Computer Case EarthWatts 380W Power

I am sure someone will have something to say about those lower watt power supplies but a Antec Earth Watts 380 powers my overclocked 550 BE just fine.
 
Yah the Antec Basiq line of PSU are pretty crappy. They run hot and the fan noise inside is pretty loud. The Basis line is just that. Basic
 
Well it looks like my budget is actually going to be just around $700 and this is what I am thinking:

Case and PSU: Antec Nine Hundred + EA650 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 650W Power Supply
CPU and Motherboard: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz and ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
GPU: BFG GeForce GTX 260
Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support

Total: $741.94
Shipping: $7.00
Mail-In Rebates: -$55

How does this look? I prefer Seagate over Western Digital, which is why I am not getting the Western Digital 1TB for $79.99. The PSU should be able to handle the CPU, GPU, 3 SATA hard drives, and 2 PCI peripherals right? Everything should fit? I'd rather ask these than have unpleasant surprises. I definitely don't claim to be nearly as well informed as I used to be!
 
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Ario said:
Well it looks like my budget is actually going to be just around $700 and this is what I am thinking:

Case and PSU: Antec Nine Hundred + EA650 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 650W Power Supply
CPU and Motherboard: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz and ASUS M4A79T Deluxe
GPU: BFG GeForce GTX 260
Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support

Total: $741.94
Shipping: $7.00
Mail-In Rebates: -$55

How does this look? I prefer Seagate over Western Digital, which is why I am not getting the Western Digital 1TB for $79.99. The PSU should be able to handle the CPU, GPU, 3 SATA hard drives, and 2 PCI peripherals right? Everything should fit? I'd rather ask these than have unpleasant surprises. I definitely don't claim to be nearly as well informed as I used to be!
Click to expand...

The only real problem I see is that you chose an AM3 board (which only accepts DDR3 memory). If you want to use DDR2, you'll have to use an AM2+ board.
 
As the person above mentioned you got DDR2 ram and a DDR3 board.

Also not sure why your still looking at the crossfire board when the other combo with 770 board should be fine and will save you money.
 
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DDR2 1066 is very useful when overclocking but otherwise not needed if you are not.
 
lt_shiro said:
DDR2 1066 is very useful when overclocking but otherwise not needed if you are not.
Click to expand...

I am just worried that it won't work with the CPU I have chosen? In the event it works fine that would be what I would want, but I want to make sure first :)

With further research done it seems that 4 GB of 1066 should not have issues. In any event, I am hoping to place the order for this tomorrow morning so if anyone has any last bits of advice I'd really appreciate it!
 
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Don't get the OCZ Reapers -- they're unnecessary. Go with a cheaper DDR2 1066 kit (like G.Skill or Corsair XMS2).
 
I'll be placing this order today:

Case and PSU: Antec Nine Hundred + EA650 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 650W Power Supply
CPU and Motherboard: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz and ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
GPU: BFG GeForce GTX 260
Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support

When I last built one it was recommended to grab some Arctic Silver 5... is that still a good recommendation to follow for $8.95? Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

And of course they removed the combo deal for the motherboard this morning. That...really...hurts. Anyway, back to the drawing board I guess. I'd still like to go for the Phenom II X4 955 and they are doing combo deals like: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb with OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Now what to do for motherboard? Maybe GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard with that CPU and Memory?

That would bring my total including thermal post and shipping to: $795.89, which is annoying due to the loss of the combo deal, but would this be considered a better motherboard and memory regardless?
 
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Thanks :). I placed my order a little bit ago with the only difference being I went with the OCZ Reaper Combo instead of the OCZ Gold due to the numerous complaints of OCZ not honoring mail-in rebates.

I should mention that the graphics card I went with is mislabeled on Newegg and should have 216 shader processors.
 
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