A MOM in need of help for gaming computer for son.

amyintx

New Member
Hi there,

so can someone look this over please and let me know if this is a good build?
My son just plays WOW most of the time-other than his xbox 360.

his 17th bday is next week and he asked for a "gaming" computer.
Here are the specs. I built it on ibuypower's website. Just need to know if I'm missing anything. Thanks


CASE-

NZXT Tempest EVO Gaming Case - Black

Case Lighting-
Blue

Processor-
[= Quad Core =] AMD Phenom™ II X4 840 Quad-Core CPU

Processor Cooling
Liquid CPU Cooling System [AMD] - [Free Upgrade] Standard 120mm Fan

Memory
4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR3-1333 Memory Module - ** FREE Upgrade to DDR3-1600 ** Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 - 1GB

Video Card Brand
Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 -- AMD 870 w/ 2x PCI-E 2.0 x16
Motherboard USB / SATA Interface
Motherboard default USB / SATA Interface

Power Supply
700 Watt -- Standard

Primary Hard Drive
1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive

Data Hard Drive
None

Optical Drive
24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black

2nd Optical Drive
None

Flash Media Reader / Writer
12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer - Blue

Meter Display
None

USB Expansion
None

Sound Card
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Network Card
Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Operating System
None- Pre-formatted Hard Drive Only

2.1 Channel Stereo Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System

Case Engraving Service
Custom Message - Max 35 characters (including spaces)

Warranty
Standard Warranty Service - Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
 
How much did it cost/what's your budget? That build does not need watercooling. Air cooling would do just fine and water cooling is expensive and harder to handle.
 
That is $680 so far. I was wondering about the video card. What should I get?

You geto more to choose everything and then they build it for you.
so I can change things.

Thanks for the help. My budget is no more than $800.
 
Like said the water cooling is alittle pointless, just a good regular fan cooler. The video card, depends on how much you want to go for. I mean something like a Nvidia GTX 460 or a AMD 6850 goes for like around 150 to 160 bucks. Or jump up to a Nvidia GTX 560Ti or AND 6950 goes for like around 260 bucks.
 
Ok, so if I take out the liquid cooling..and add NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560-2gb

will that all work together?

That brings me to $741 plus shipping:)


Thanks so much for all your help.
 
Ok, so if I take out the liquid cooling..and add NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560-2gb

will that all work together?

That brings me to $741 plus shipping:)


Thanks so much for all your help.

A 560 is a fine card. Do you know what brand and model power supply the 700W is?
 
This is what it says about the power supply:

Standard
Type ATX12V / EPS12V
Fans 1 x 140mm fan
PFC Passive
Crossfire Ready
SLI Ready
Modular No
Efficiency No
Dimension (L x W x H) 5.9" x 5.9" x 3.4"
Connectors 1 x Main connector
1 x 12V(4+4Pin)
8 x peripheral
6 x SATA
1 x Floppy
2 x PCI-E(8Pin)
 
Doesnt really tell me much. See if you can get a Antec/Corsair/XFX/Silverstone/pc P&C/ or Seasonic in the 650W range.
 
This is what it says about the power supply:

Standard
Type ATX12V / EPS12V
Fans 1 x 140mm fan
PFC Passive
Crossfire Ready
SLI Ready
Modular No
Efficiency No
Dimension (L x W x H) 5.9" x 5.9" x 3.4"
Connectors 1 x Main connector
1 x 12V(4+4Pin)
8 x peripheral
6 x SATA
1 x Floppy
2 x PCI-E(8Pin)

Pretty sure thats going to be an Xtremegear power supply.
 
no idea what extreme gear is..LOL Sorry..I switched it to corsair cmpsu-650txv2. It was $60 more, but still within my budget. So does that all look right?

Thanks:)

*****


Case 1 x NZXT Lexa-S Gaming Case-Black w/ Blue Light
Case Lighting blue

Processor 1 x [= Quad Core =] AMD Phenom™ II X4 840 Quad-Core CPU
Processor Cooling 1 x Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink
Memory 1 x 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR3-1333 Memory Module-** FREE Upgrade to DDR3-1600 ** Corsair or Major Brand
Video Card 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 - 2GB-Single Card
Video Card Brand 1 x Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA
Motherboard 1 x ASUS M4A87T -- AMD 870
Motherboard USB / SATA Interface 1 x Motherboard default USB / SATA Interface
Power Supply 1 x 650 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2
Primary Hard Drive 1 x 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s-Single Drive
Data Hard Drive 0 x None
Optical Drive 1 x 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Blue
2nd Optical Drive 0 x None
Flash Media Reader / Writer 1 x 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer-Blue
Meter Display 0 x None
USB Expansion 0 x None
Sound Card 1 x 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card 1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System 1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel)-64-Bit


Speaker System 2.1 Channel Stereo Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
Headset 0 x None
Video Camera 0 x None
Case Engraving Service 1 x Custom Message - Max 35 characters (including spaces)
Warranty 1 x Standard Warranty Service-Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
Rush Service 1 x Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee)-No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days
Subtotal $801.00
 
Do they give you the option for the Phenom II 955. Lately they have been going pretty cheap. If its not but a few buck more, it would be worth it over the 840.

The Corsair power supply is fine.
 
I noticed you changed the motherboard from the Gigabyte to the Asus.The Gigabyte is a better board. The Asus has 5 phase power setup. The Gigabyte has a 10 phase.
 
OOPs, I think i did that on accident.
Which one is better?

Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3 -- AMD 770
USB 3.0[-$3]

OR

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 -- AMD 870 w/ 2x PCI-E 2.0 x16
USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s RAID
 
If your son is willing, the best present you can give him is the parts for a good computer as others have suggested, and the knowledge to build the system himself
Altho it's understandable if mom wants to get it for warranty purposes,
I was thinking a birthday gaming computer build party also :good:.
 
@linkin +1 Building a computer would be fun and also would make one value the gift they got and also it is easier to troubleshoot something which you built rather than something that came prebuilt. And that is a nice build

@Benny_Boy I would love to have one of those.



@OP It would be better to get your son computer parts and let him build one for himself. :D
The computer would be of better quality in a lower price and also we have had many threads about cyberPower and ibuypower where the computer turns up with a dead motherboard or a bad PSU or some other problems
 
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