Yeah, I think I can scavenge one from computer from back at parent's house.

I'm pretty happy with the build, with 2 exceptions:

1. With the info given about the GPU max memory speed, should I buy the 4870 instead of the 5770? Will the lack of DirectX 11 support matter a lot in the next couple of years?

2. I didn't get a name brand Power Supply... A bit of a risk I know =\

CKairos

United States5 Posts

July 18 2010 21:21 GMT

#742

On July 19 2010 06:04 R04R wrote:

Show nested quote +

You could have saved ~$25 comboing your PSU with a 500gb Samsung Spinpoint F3. You also could have saved another $15-20 choosing a cheaper RAM. Overall it's good.

Damn I guess I should've checked all the items some more. I'll have to keep combo deals in mind for next time...

EDIT: Only lost 9 bucks in savings though, since the promos on my HD and PSU was like 26 dollars off total, so they totaled 108.98, while the combo costs 99.98 - not too bad.

1312020

United States28 Posts

July 18 2010 21:43 GMT

#743

I've got another quick question. I was searching through Newegg deals and I found this motherboard. With the 200 dollar i7 930 from MicroCenter the total price for the mobo/CPU would be the same as the combo I found. So I'd like to know, which mobo is better?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16813128423&Tpk=ud3r

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359R

Thanks in advance.

nineninja9

United States194 Posts

July 18 2010 21:45 GMT

#744

Be careful about open box components, especially if it's your first time building a computer. If something is wrong with it (which is obviously more likely with an open box), you might have trouble figuring out what the problem is. Also there's likely some cables missing, which again shouldn't matter if you've built one before and have spares laying around, but you might need to buy extra cables.

TanGeng

Sanya12364 Posts

July 18 2010 22:00 GMT

#745

Wow, that Gigabyte one is 30 less than the one I got for pretty much the same feature set. The only downside is that by the reviews it received, it's slightly less reliable than the ASUS comparable. The links is here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

Your open box one doesn't have any of the SATA 6.0 (no available devices yet) or USB 3.0 (available devices?)

On July 19 2010 06:12 Gokey wrote:
Yeah, I think I can scavenge one from computer from back at parent's house.

I'm pretty happy with the build, with 2 exceptions:

1. With the info given about the GPU max memory speed, should I buy the 4870 instead of the 5770? Will the lack of DirectX 11 support matter a lot in the next couple of years?

About this. Software support is more important than possible performance. Without the software, the hardware does nothing. Better software support by ATI is part of what you are purchasing.

I haven't followed the gaming world enough to know about DX 11 adoption. It's probably going to be slow. That stuff is harder than it looks.

HD4870 (because of the packaging) is a power-hog. That might reduce the lifetime on your GPU, but you'll buy another before that happens.

1312020

United States28 Posts

July 18 2010 22:05 GMT

#746

Ah, thanks. This is my first time building so I don't think I'll risk it, I'll see if I can pick up the combo at Fry's some time this week. I was thinking the ASUS wasn't as good as the Gigabyte (especially open box), but I wasn't sure.

semantics

10040 Posts

July 18 2010 22:36 GMT

#747

On July 19 2010 05:51 Gokey wrote:
Alright, about to pull the trigger and buy the following system:

$472 Budget Build

Any last second tips/comments/warnings are welcome. :3

Eh super cheap has some things i would never settle with like old style chokes on that mobo

also this is the psu inside of that case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339001

But for that price eh can't complain too much although i wouldn't oc on that psu and mobo

Craton

United States17303 Posts

July 18 2010 23:19 GMT

#748

Is there any expectation of a price drop on i5's or i7's in the next few months? Few things I've come across says its unlikely.

mahnini

United States6862 Posts

July 18 2010 23:22 GMT

#749

On July 19 2010 08:19 Craton wrote:
Is there any expectation of a price drop on i5's or i7's in the next few months? Few things I've come across says its unlikely.

there was rumor about an i5-760 coming out but that's just a 750 with an increased multiplier and will end up replacing it. same price but more performance!

nineninja9

United States194 Posts

July 18 2010 23:34 GMT

#750

i5-760

Factory overclocked for $15 more, not a particularly good deal. Maybe they're binned better. Even then, i7-930 is $200 some places.

Rumors say the i7-950 will replace the 930 at the $290 price point, but all I've come across is hearsay.

EDIT: Oh right i5-760 is using 32nm architecture, so they probably will be more efficient and overclock slightly better. Actually on second glance it might not really be using 32nm, I can't find another source confirming it other than newegg.

EDIT2: Actually the 760 is still 45nm, never mind. Newegg is either lying or misinformed. Basically the 750/760 is like the 920/930, same chip, higher multiplier.

Gokey

United States2722 Posts

July 18 2010 23:57 GMT

#751

Update: I just bought

1. Power: OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

2. GPU: HIS H577FK1GD Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

3. MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

4. SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

5. Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Comes out to $360, with $30 in rebates to file (so ends up being $330 hopefully)

Am waiting out a bit for the RAM and CPU. If anyone has good deals on the RAM and CPU coming up, please let me know. Thanks!! :D

R04R

United States1631 Posts

July 19 2010 00:38 GMT

#752

Err... what do you want for CPU? Prices are probably not going to fluctuate anytime soon at the $100 price point. And RAM you could possibly combo them to make them $70, but 80-90 is the cheapest around.

Gokey

United States2722 Posts

July 19 2010 00:47 GMT

#753

Looking for a combo on the CPU + RAM

Or a deal on the RAM... The $81 G.Skill one doesn't have the heatspreader, only reason I didn't get it =\

Also, kind of a dumb question, but Windows CDs auto-boots on a bare hard drive, right?

FragKrag

United States11567 Posts

July 19 2010 00:48 GMT

#754

heatspreaders really aren't all that useful if you don't plan on pushing the ram.

nineninja9

United States194 Posts

July 19 2010 00:49 GMT

#755

I doubt you're going to overclock to the point where heatspreaders are necessary for RAM. Not to mention that some heatspreaders are so poorly designed that they end up making the RAM run warmer.

zoltanqc

Canada171 Posts

July 19 2010 01:29 GMT

#756

quick question here.

I got a laptop with VGA and HDMI output (NO DVI). Basically im looking for a good monitor (120hz if possible on those outputs, but i doubt it).

Around 22-24".

Not really have a budget limit.

TY!

Edit : this is the laptop if it matters. http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1248/4/

R04R

United States1631 Posts

July 19 2010 01:41 GMT

#757

Get a VGA to DVI Adapter

zoltanqc

Canada171 Posts

July 19 2010 01:53 GMT

#758

On July 19 2010 10:41 R04R wrote:
Get a VGA to DVI Adapter

Are you positive that I will still be able to get that 120hz goodness output?

Myrmidon

United States9452 Posts

July 19 2010 01:59 GMT

#759

What do you want the 120 Hz for? If you want less ghosting and more smoothness, most 120 Hz monitors deliver this by increasing the frame buffer and interpolating between frames, etc. to insert extra frames between the original 60 frames a second. This increases the display latency, which isn't desirable, particularly for gaming.

The Asus VH236H is a pretty good budget 23" 1920x1080 TFT panel display. It's usually around $180. For the price and size it has really good response time and display latency (average is less than 1/60th of a second). Of course, more expensive monitors may have better swiveling/color accuracy/display quality/other features, but that's often at the expense of display latency and/or response time anyhow.

nineninja9

United States194 Posts

July 19 2010 02:11 GMT

#760

I'm having a hard time finding any 120HZ monitors that aren't incredibly expensive and have a resolution of 1920x1080. If I had to recommend a monitor I'd probably go with the asus ms228h, mostly because it's an affordable monitor with LED backlighting.

I personally have a vh236h, and while I think it's a pretty decent monitor, there's some noticeable backlight bleed along the edges which is rather disappointing.

The Acer GD235HZ seems like a fairly affordable 1080p 120hz monitor, but apparently the picture quality isn't great.