Building first computer.

Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
Good call on the PSU


This is what I have so far:

CPU- AMD Phenom II x4 945- $151
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Motherboard- Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H- $98 after rebates
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128398

RAM- GiSkill Ripjaws 2x2GB- $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

PSU- OCZ ModXTream Pro 700W- $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018

Hard Drive- Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB- $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

DVD Burner- Lite-On 24x with Lightscribe- $31
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335

Case- NZXT M59- $62 (much stronger than the acrylic one)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011764&prodlist=celebros

Blue CCFL- $11 (this makes the inside glow blue. This is a fluorescent bulb, not an LED, so it'll be awesome)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16800888026


It totals to $543, and still lacks a GPU and an OS. I think it would be better to drop the CPU back a bit to allow for a better GPU. Is that ok?
 
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xxartanisxx

New Member
Well if GPU's really make that much of a difference I suppose... Ive never seen much difference with them but ill trust you.
 
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Rogue01

New Member
Do you play games? If you don't play them at all you might as well use a cheap-ass NVIDIA 9400 GT and be done with it, however, if you're gaming, a good GPU is VASTLY more useful than a good CPU.

Even an Intel i7 won't play Crysis well with a 6600 GT or something like that.But use a midrange CPU with a good graphics card like the HD 4870 instead, and you'll get great performance.

Now, for your build, I have some advice to give, no prices, unfortunately :

For PSU, take Corsair.NEVER EVER cheap out on PSUs.This happens when you do cheap out on them:http://www.corsair.com/cinema/movie.aspx?id=622747

For your RAM take 4 GBs of DDR2.DDR3 shows little performance improvement so you're better off with DDR2.

For your CPU it really depends, but you just can't go wrong with Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 in my opinion.Superb clocks at a great price.Or a Phenom II X4.

For Video Card, if you're gaming, the Radeon HD 4670 is cheap, and will play games with decent FPS at low resolution monitors.Assuming you want something a bit more high end, get a HD 5770.

HDD - Western Digital FTW.SATA 1 TB, all the way.

As for Case...good ventilation is a must.

Get a wireless mouse too, they're pretty cool and I like them.

That's all.
 
Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
Rogue01 said:
Do you play games? If you don't play them at all you might as well use a cheap-ass NVIDIA 9400 GT and be done with it, however, if you're gaming, a good GPU is VASTLY more useful than a good CPU.

Even an Intel i7 won't play Crysis well with a 6600 GT or something like that.But use a midrange CPU with a good graphics card like the HD 4870 instead, and you'll get great performance.
Click to expand...
Looks like he wants a fairly powerful system to me...no point in bottlenecking the rest of the system with a weak GPU. A 4870 would be good. Was waiting on the PSU till we figured out which GPU to use.


For your RAM take 4 GBs of DDR2.DDR3 shows little performance improvement so you're better off with DDR2.

For your CPU it really depends, but you just can't go wrong with Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 in my opinion.Superb clocks at a great price.Or a Phenom II X4.
Click to expand...
Not point in going with old platforms. A PII and DDR3 is good.

For Video Card, if you're gaming, the Radeon HD 4670 is cheap, and will play games with decent FPS at low resolution monitors.Assuming you want something a bit more high end, get a HD 5770.
Click to expand...
No point in a 5770. It's not powerful enough to utilize DX11, apparently. 48xx is good here.

HDD - Western Digital FTW.SATA 1 TB, all the way.
Click to expand...
There's nothing wrong with samsung, and the spinpoint drives are faster...


Awesome video btw, I lold
 
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Rogue01

New Member
Looks like he wants a fairly powerful system to me...no point in bottlenecking the rest of the system with a weak GPU. A 4870 would be good. Was waiting on the PSU till we figured out which GPU to use.
Click to expand...

You've got a point but generally speaking...unless you're gaming you don't really need a discrete GPU.Oh sure, it helps, for HTPCs and such...but the gaming performance is the most important.

Not point in going with old platforms. A PII and DDR3 is good.
Click to expand...

I see no point in the Phenom II.For one, clock speed is still king when it comes to games, for two, few applications truly use all the cores, and for three, Intel crushes AMD in the high end market.If he can get a Phenom II he should instead get an i3/i5.Or an Intel quad.

As for DDR3 vs DDR2...frankly, he's paying extra bucks for what, 5% at the maximum of performance? I'd rather he doubled his RAM, really.Check this link.

No point in a 5770. It's not powerful enough to utilize DX11, apparently. 48xx is good here.
Click to expand...

He might as well get the 4850X2, in that case.It's a powerhouse.

Or he can do what I'm doing...putting two 5770's in XFire.

There's nothing wrong with samsung, and the spinpoint drives are faster...
Click to expand...

The WD drives beat Samsung's.

Awesome video btw, I lold
Click to expand...

It should be mandatory viewing in the "Idiot PC buyer's guide"...

Come to think of it, we should write one, preferably emphasizing:

1)Bandwidth, GPU clocks, etc. and not sheer memory size ( above 512 MB anyway ) make the performance of a video card.I'm always amazed by the 1 GB 9400 GT on sale at amazon...

2)When it comes to buying parts, buy branded or suffer the consequences.

3)Gaming with an i7 and a GMA 4500 will be a painful experience.

4)You get what you pay for.But not always.

5)Last but not least : Buying online can save you a few bucks.
 
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vandassen

New Member
I don't think those articles are the "Final Word" on this argument...

the one guy was swearing and seemed irritated about prices of DDR3 (double?), he lost credibility with me because he seemed bias to find the answer he was looking for. and I didn't see the comparison to 1600, only 1333

the HDD article seemed to be comparing apples and oranges... (5400 vs 7200, etc.) Samsung F3's are great for the price, no argument there

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 < http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181 (same cache, same speeds, better latency, $6 cheaper)


I dunno, I just wouldn't preach the gospel based on those articles

I do agree that Intel crushes AMD, but not for price... that PII is gonna scream and it's affordable (quad, nice cache, nice speed, X4 L2 cache)

keep in mind what the OP is looking for in terms of performance AND budget... why don't you post a build in the same budget to prove your point? (no hostility intended, this could be a good exercise to learn from)

~$700 with no apparent graphic intentions.... but yes, powerful and fast... (my choice of GPU in my build I posted ^ is a fail :p) Also, consider the value of future-proofing...
 
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Rogue01

New Member
I don't think those articles are the "Final Word" on this argument...

the one guy was swearing and seemed irritated about prices of DDR3 (double?), he lost credibility with me because he seemed bias to find the answer he was looking for. and I didn't see the comparison to 1600, only 1333
Click to expand...

There is no final word but the evidence I gather does support my position more, doesn't it?

the HDD article seemed to be comparing apples and oranges... (5400 vs 7200, etc.) Samsung F3's are great for the price, no argument there

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073 < http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152181 (same cache, same speeds, better latency, $6 cheaper)


I dunno, I just wouldn't preach the gospel based on those articles
Click to expand...

Samsung isn't bad, but WD is just...better.

I do agree that Intel crushes AMD, but not for price... that PII is gonna scream and it's affordable (quad, nice cache, nice speed, X4 L2 cache)
Click to expand...

Having never owned a Phenom, I can't comment but yes, PIIs are fast.My point was that Intel procs are even faster.

keep in mind what the OP is looking for in terms of performance AND budget... why don't you post a build in the same budget to prove your point? (no hostility intended, this could be a good exercise to learn from)

~$700 with no apparent graphic intentions.... but yes, powerful and fast... (my choice of GPU in my build I posted ^ is a fail
Click to expand...

Okay, then, here goes:-

PSU : Corsair VX 550W, ~$80 after MIR.

Case:Antec 200, ~$50

CPU:i3 540, ~$145

Mobo:Biostar TH55B, ~$90

Optical drive:Lite-on 24X, ~30$

RAM:4 GB DDR3 1066, ~$84

HDD:WD 1 TB ~$100

GPU:ATI HD 4850 1 GB XFX ~$125.

This puts us at 704 bucks.Tweak as you wish.The powercolor 4850 is upto 25 bucks cheaper but I'd take the XFX.
 
Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
That's not very good... The mobo is poop(caps should all be solid), the i3 530 is a better deal, there's no OS, and the case doesn't have the "glow" that he wants.

Also, the caviar black 1TB and 2TB are the only caviars that beat the samsung F3's. In 500GB versions, Samsung wins, which is why I picked that one.

We need TS's input on what he wants to do with this. That'll determine what GPU, if any, is needed. If he's not gaming, or only doing MMO/RTS type stuff. an AMD 785G mobo's IGP would be ok.
 
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vandassen

New Member
Can the OP tell us how we're doing? getting closer? feedback! :)

I think this will suit you pretty well:

CPU $150
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675

MB $108
MSI NF750-G55 nForce 750a SLI HDMI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130235

or

MB $80
MSI 770-C45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130228
with
GPU $70
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855

RAM $85
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

HDD $50
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

DVD $29
Samsung 22X SATA w/ LightScribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

PSU $40 ($15 MIR)
CORSAIR 400W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

Case $90
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout (fans - incl. 1x120mm, 2x140mm)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

or

Case $90 shipped ($10 rebate) (fans - incl. 1x120mm, 1x140mm, 2x200mm)
NZXT Hades Crafted Series HADE-001BK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146064

CCHL $11
LOGISYS 12" Cold Cathode Kit Light
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16800888027

Total $563 or $605


Case and cathode can easily be switched for whatever you prefer - Cooler Master Elite Series has nice side-panel cases for ~$55 shipped (first 2 on the page below)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=
 
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Jamin43

banned
Rogue01 said:
I see no point in the Phenom II.For one, clock speed is still king when it comes to games, for two, few applications truly use all the cores, and for three, Intel crushes AMD in the high end market.If he can get a Phenom II he should instead get an i3/i5.Or an Intel quad.
Click to expand...

When I play games - My Core i7 is using 4 cores. Dirt 2 Demo, COD World at War, and Vegas 2 are the only games I play. They get around 50 % processor usage.

The only app I've used that pushes my cpu to the max though in acutal use is HD video rendering and that's something I just started toying with over the past week.
 
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xxartanisxx

New Member
sorry bout not being here had to sleep and then school sadly :( but anyways as far as games go i would give crysis a try as long as theres not monthly fee but other than that all i would play atm might be wow and warcraft 3.
 
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vandassen

New Member
xxartanisxx said:
all i would play atm might be wow and warcraft 3.
Click to expand...

^ Awesome x infinity. I'm still playing wc3 to this day :D

I say get a mobo with gpu and you'll be loving those games and others for a long time. only thing with this build is you can't Crossfire. is that an important upgrading feature to you?

if it is you can buy the first mobo I listed, it has x8/x8 crossfire (the x16/x16 mobo is about $180 just so you know).

and a more powerful PSU would be needed (About $100)

is that what you were looking for?
 
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vandassen

New Member
lol

it's when you buy a second gpu (SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4670) and you plug 'em both in and link 'em

so you could buy the 'upgradable' version of my suggested build for about $730 and later on any time you could buy the second video card for $70. cheap upgrade but a pretty good one called crossfire :)
 
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vandassen

New Member
I don't think your geforce 5600 will work, I think it's AGP (http://reviews.cnet.com/graphics-ca...e/4507-8902_7-30422569.html?tag=mncolBtm;rnav)

this won't fit in any slot on the new boards. they have PCI express 2.0 and others but not AGP anymore


you can try this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130235 without a video card, it has onboard video (Onboard Video Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce 8200), probably your best bet for now

with this board you can upgrade to 1x gpu (x16) or 2x gpu (x8/x8 crossfire)
 
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vandassen

New Member
8200>5600

I found this in wikipedia "In April 2003, Nvidia introduced the mid-range GeForce FX 5600 and budget GeForce FX 5200 models to address the other market segments. Each had an "Ultra" variant and a slower, cheaper non-Ultra variant. With conventional single-slot cooling and a mid-range price-tag, the 5600 Ultra had respectable performance but failed to measure up to its direct competitor, Radeon 9600 Pro. The GeForce FX 5600 parts did not even advance performance over the GeForce 4 Ti chips they were designed to replace.[10]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_FX_Series

that card is 7 years old :p

unfortunately, I think geforce 8200 is better at 1080p but not so good for 3D gaming
"In the test of the IGP GeForce 8200 chip I didn’t receive any remarkable results in the 3D testing so it’s easy to conclude that you shouldn’t use it for gaming. It did work just fine for playback of HD videos though." http://www.testseek.com/labs/reviews/review-of-msi-nf750-g55-motherboard/?p=2740
 
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