Good Desktop Build?

Origin Saint

Origin Saint

Well-Known Member
I'm looking to build a custom desktop for multitasking and some gaming and a basically "do-all" machine. My budget is $900. These parts will likely go in a case I already have, but it's just as big as the one that comes with this DIY pack. The only concern I really have is I've seen some negative reviews on the AMD FX-4100 so any input on that would be helpful. I need as much input as possible on every one of these parts and all of them as a whole. These are the parts I plan to use. The first 8 are in a DIY combo pack, so the link to those will be below the last one. Also, the link to the Galaxy Graphics Card will go to the 1GB version of the card, as I cannot find the 2GB version I saw earlier. In the end, this whole set-up will run me about $860 including tax, shipping, handling, and maximum warranty offers.


 
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Right OK a few things.

Firstly if you've got $900 I'd drop the FX-4100 and maybe go for an i5 (3570K would be good) and a good Z77 board. The FX-4100 isn't a bad processor, but an i5 would be a better choice. Are you interested in overclocking?

Go for 8GB of RAM via 2x4GB DIMMs. RipJaws-X 1600MHz would be good.

Don't go for a Cooler Master power supply, go for a Corsair CX 600 or another 600-700W PSU from Corsair, Seasonic, XFX, Antec, PC P&C, OCZ or NZXT. CM PSUs aren't really very good.

A 19" LCD is pretty small, I'd say a 22" or a 24" would be a good size, but it's up to you.

The Radeon HD 6850 is faster than the GTX 550 Ti and it costs about the same, so I'd go for a 6850. If you can throw more into the GPU then a 6870 would be good, but I don't think with an i5 and a Z77 board and all of the other modifications a 6870 would be in budget.
 
That case is mATX whereas your power supply and I think your motherboard are ATX...

EDIT: Congrats vista on 3,000 posts :D.
 
You definitely want an ATX case. If you're looking to go cheap and cheerful then the Rosewill Challenger should be fine.

The power supply will fit just fine in an mATX case by the way. :)

And thanks S3! :)
 
The problem with getting a different processor and everything was that Newegg doesn't have very many options for processors in their DIY combo packs and the FX was the most decent one I thought I saw. And I'm not interested in overclocking if I can help it, I like to stick with what the factory did on that part. I'll adjust my build and post back within the next 24 hours.
 
You can buy parts separately you know. ;)

If you don't want to overclock, look into the likes of an i5 2400 or a 3450 or even a 3550. The difference is the 3xxx chips are newer. :)

Edit: yes, if you're not overclocking, the 2500 would be a good choice. :)
 
It's not about the memory, it's about the strength of the GPU. The 6850 is a stronger GPU than a 550 Ti.
 
Ran into a problem, all of the 6850 cards are 2.1 x 16 PCI, the Z77 motherboards that I've found are all 2.0 x 16 PCI. Any help?
 
Even if the PCI slots for the board are labeled as 2.0 x 16 and the card is a 2.1 x 16? Just checking, I'm relatively new to building.
 
Alright, here's my new build parts. I ended up going over my budget to around $987 so any suggestions on where I could skimp by a little or enough to bring it down to around $900 would be great. Thanks VistaKid for all your help, be sure and let me know what you think.


Motherboard - ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6.0GB/s

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297

CPU - Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506

RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

HDD - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200rpm 64MB Cache SATA 6.0GB/s 3.5"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

Power Supply - CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX 12v v2.3 80 PLUS Certified

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Optical Drive - MSI 24x DVD burner 24x DVD+R 8x DVD+RW 24x DVD-R

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827100058

Case - Rosewill Challenger Black Gaming ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

Monitor - Haanspree 19" LED-LCD Widescreen Monitor

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=17786827&findingMethod=rr#Item+Description

Graphics - ASUS EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121419

Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992
 
Save a couple of bucks and get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244

I can't really see anywhere else where you can cut costs, unless you want to go for an i3 but I'd stick with the i5 myself. Just under $1000 for a complete system with a monitor and a copy of Windows is actually very good going I think. :) Not sure why you need Windows Pro though, Windows Premium would be just fine http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 yu only really need Pro if you plan to use over 16GB of RAM and/or need to connect to domains or run XP Mode.
 
I was thinking of maybe getting the i5-2400, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not. Any advice on that? And I was wanting to get Win7Pro because I was wanting to do a remote connection between the laptop I'm getting and this desktop and as far as I know/knew you can only set-up remote desktop connections using Win7Pro. Any more suggestions or advice would be very appreciated. Thanks so far though, Vista you'e been a big help.
 
I think Remote Desktop is available in Home Premium, it's connecting to domains which you can only do in Pro and Ultimate.

The 2400 is a pretty good processor, I'd say it'd be a good choice.
 
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