EPTThis depends on your budget. Upgrading any of your parts (ram, gpu, cpu) would improve performance.
Computer Build Resource Thread - Page 175
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
This depends on your budget. Upgrading any of your parts (ram, gpu, cpu) would improve performance. | ||
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theburst
United States6 Posts
CPU: i5 2500k ($180.00 before tax - MicroCenter) CPU Fan: Coolermaster Hyper 212+ (26.99 Amazon no tax/no shipping cost) HDD: No SSD right now. I'm really not sure about cases, motherboards, or graphic cards. Also I don't think I'm going to have an easy way to get a wired ethernet connection to the desktop. So I think I'm going to either need another wireless router as an access point or a wireless card for the computer. Not sure if there is a clear benefit to either option other than looking at price. What is your budget? Sub $800 US....this probably is going to be tight. Have some flexibility here. What is your resolution? Do not need a monitor. The highest resolution on my monitor is 2048 x 1152. I'm guessing though that trying to run games with that resolution would require a pretty hefty GPU. So I'll have to downscale to something else. That is probably not the best solution for a crisp picture, but I don't want to spend money on a monitor right now. What are you using it for? Gaming, streaming, data analysis (MATLAB) What is your upgrade cycle? 2-3 years When do you plan on building it? Now to 2 months out. Do you plan on overclocking? Yes. Not really out of necessity, more out of curiosity and for the engineering side of me. Do you need an Operating System? No. Was able to purchase Windows 7 through educational discount. Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire? I'm thinking no. Mostly to keep price down and also because I don't know a lot about this. Where are you buying your parts from? Amazon, Newegg, any reputable US website with good prices. Also I have a microcenter fairly close to me. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks! | ||
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Toobz
United States88 Posts
On March 13 2011 13:06 theburst wrote: So this is my first computer build. I'm treating this in partly as a hobby/experiment. I'm interested in overclocking even though I most likely could do do without. At this point I've found a good price on the i5 2500k from microcenter so I think I want to build around that. This is what I'm thinking so far: CPU: i5 2500k ($180.00 before tax - MicroCenter) CPU Fan: Coolermaster Hyper 212+ (26.99 Amazon no tax/no shipping cost) HDD: No SSD right now. I'm really not sure about cases, motherboards, or graphic cards. Also I don't think I'm going to have an easy way to get a wired ethernet connection to the desktop. So I think I'm going to either need another wireless router as an access point or a wireless card for the computer. Not sure if there is a clear benefit to either option other than looking at price. What is your budget? Sub $800 US....this probably is going to be tight. Have some flexibility here. What is your resolution? Do not need a monitor. The highest resolution on my monitor is 2048 x 1152. I'm guessing though that trying to run games with that resolution would require a pretty hefty GPU. So I'll have to downscale to something else. That is probably not the best solution for a crisp picture, but I don't want to spend money on a monitor right now. What are you using it for? Gaming, streaming, data analysis (MATLAB) What is your upgrade cycle? 2-3 years When do you plan on building it? Now to 2 months out. Do you plan on overclocking? Yes. Not really out of necessity, more out of curiosity and for the engineering side of me. Do you need an Operating System? No. Was able to purchase Windows 7 through educational discount. Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire? I'm thinking no. Mostly to keep price down and also because I don't know a lot about this. Where are you buying your parts from? Amazon, Newegg, any reputable US website with good prices. Also I have a microcenter fairly close to me. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks! Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153 Really decent case, I bought it for my first computer build. Comes with 3 fans and can fit your CPU cooler (I also have the 212+). $55 HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 No complaints. I have this one and can vouch for it. $55 Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 Good ram for Sandy Bridge. $45 Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128476 I have had this motherboard since January 14th and it has worked fine. Unless you intend to do SLI this one will do what you need and not cost you too much. $135 Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094 Good quality and 80 Plus Bronze. $75 GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130566 Very powerful and I believe this brand has a lifetime warranty on it. $180 AMIR Did you already buy the CPU and heatsink? | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
If this is your first time building, you probably want to save yourself the headache and get a modular power supply (less cable clutter). The Antec Truepower New 650W is currently $80 on Newegg which is a good price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021 I have the same monitor as you or at least a similar one with the same resolution. The GTX 460 will run SC2 on ultra settings and most games comfortably on high settings. | ||
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theburst
United States6 Posts
No I haven't purchased anything yet, other than the OS. @skyR Good to hear. Thanks for all the quick responses! I've read most of this thread and it has been really helpful. | ||
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nEXT1
2 Posts
All of the stuff I am getting is from newegg CPU - Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (210.00) Motherboard - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (220.00) Ram - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (100.00) Graphics - EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 SuperClocked (245.00) HD - Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 7200RPM (70.00) Case - COOLER MASTER Black Steel ATX Full Tower (120.00) Power - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W (80.00) Any advice would be very welcome looking to get this after i get some feedback. Thank you | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128476 or something cheaper than that if you don't need all the RAM slots and don't need a full ATX motherboard. RAM is a little bit expensive. RAM speeds don't really effect much in practice, but if you really want 1600 MHz RAM, this should work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220567 Hard drive is a little expensive. This Samsung Spinpoint F3 is a little faster and has more capacity for a smaller cost ($55, usually more than that though): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 A full tower case that expensive is a little excessive both in terms of space and cooling. Spending more isn't a problem if you like it--it's just not necessary. Something with some modern features, decent cooling, and decent build quality for less would be an Antec One Hundred ($60): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098 The old Corsair TX650 is outdated and not worth that much money. Also, your build won't use over 400W. You could go with something a little less, or just get the better (and partially modular) Antec TruePower New 650W for the same price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021 With the money saved, I would (1) upgrade to a i5-2500k and get an aftermarket CPU heatsink to overclock the CPU, (2) get an SSD to store and speed access to the OS and applications, or (3) get a better GPU. Actually, the old GTX 470 is a little overpriced at $245. The older GTX 4xx higher than 460 are all very hot and noisy. A HD 6950 1GB would be about the same price for slightly better performance: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681410292 It's also possible to grab a HD 6950 2GB version and flash that to a HD 6970, but maybe you're not interested in that. | ||
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CompAssisstancePlz
Canada8 Posts
Use - Mainly gaming (sc 2 , diablo 3) As i enjoy Rts games :D Overclock - no. OS - owned Not planning to crossfire x or run sli. as i can always purchase a better graphics card and replace. Playing on ultra high settings for custom maps, for doing a 4v4 fastest map possible max supply blocked, possibly commentary videos *as i have been watching alot of crota`s and huskys vids and find them to be fun and informative*. max resolution @ 1080p but not uber crazy stuff  like 2560 or eyefinity. Dont care much for 3d as i have had eye surgery done and it screws with my eyes playing killzone 3 in 3d already. will be purchasing a very nice monitor very soon.Price Budget for system (not including peripherals) 600-800. Parts from Canadacomputers and or tigerdirect and price match. Planning to build it when i receive my tax return so within the next month or two. room for upgrade - looking for something futureproofISH but hopefully last me a good 5 years. Sorry for the long read. I am open to all suggestions, brands, but i would like to stick with intel due to their good track record, and benchmarks. Thanks all for your time, keep the gaming happening. | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
The following build comes to a total of $795 before taxes and shipping. Core i5 2400 @ $190 (pricematch with http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=57964 MSI H67MS-E43 (B3) @ $105 ($95 AMIR) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59098 MSI Geforce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr @ $250 http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58303&promoid=1293 GSkill 2x2GB 1600Hz cas9 @ $40 http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57952&promoid=1293 Antec Truepower New 650W @ $70 ($40 AMIR) http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=36263&promoid=1293 Coolermaster CM 690i II Basic @ $70 (pricematch with http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=027795) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=49224 Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB @ $70 (pricematch with http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/227170/Western_Digital/WD1002FAEX/) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=50895 | ||
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dandan23
Malaysia101 Posts
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CompAssisstancePlz
Canada8 Posts
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
On March 13 2011 17:24 dandan23 wrote: is sound card even useful ? This is subjective. Some people will tell you that it is worth it to invest in one and others will tell you otherwise. If you don't have a $300+ sound setup, I'd probably work on that first before getting a sound card. | ||
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Kinetik_Inferno
United States1431 Posts
On March 13 2011 17:24 dandan23 wrote: is sound card even useful ? It certainly helps if you have a processor dedicated to sound. I have a Sound card lying around, and while it's probably outdated, it's still btter than nothing considering that some people just go without. | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
On March 13 2011 17:25 CompAssisstancePlz wrote: skyR, what will this not be able to do in comparison to the i52500k? im a little skeptical about the motherboard. Any other recommendations you might be able to find? Both the 2400 and 2500k are identical chips. The 2500k is just clocked slightly higher, has an unlocked multiplier (for overclocking), and better integrated graphics (which you'll never use). Why are you skeptical about the motherboard? Any H67 board from MSI, ASUS, or Gigabyte will do if you have no intention of overclocking. | ||
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CompAssisstancePlz
Canada8 Posts
I have windows xp, should that be okay? will it recognize the ram at bootup? im not sure if i should use that or purchase the OS , my girlfriend is in college so she should get a discount or whatnot is that still in affect? im in Toronto, ON. She goes to george brown college, is there a way to confirm if this can be done? I know some guy who bought windows 7 ultimate for like 35 bucks after taxes. Also, those parts and components that u gave to me for a build will do everything I need it for and more? seeing how they (the 2400 and the 2500k) chips are identical? And i know myrmidon stated that B3 bit. Should this mobo be okay with the sata ports? And does the MSI mobo feature everything i need to build at home so i will not need to purchase extra sata cables and such? that modular power supply looks great! i watched the review on ncix as well as pcwizkid. Very good components picks btw very much appreciated! | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
The RAM being recognized by the motherboard has nothing to do with the operating system. You'll probably want Windows 7 as its a huge improvement over XP and Vista. Windows 7 is free for students studying in a computer-related field (sometimes other areas of study qualify as well) at a university that is part of the MSDNAA program. George Brown College is part of this program ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/academic/dd861349 ) The motherboard will come with all the necessary connectors and yes the motherboard has the corrected sata ports. Any H67 / P67 motherboard with the B3 stepping (Manufacturers such as MSI and Gigabyte have included it in the product number) has the sata issue corrected. Yes, the processor will be able to do everything you need and more. You won't have to upgrade it until you feel that urge to upgrade. The graphics card will last for ~3 years before you'll need to upgrade it to a newer one to play the latest games on high settings. Everything else will last until you decide to replace it. | ||
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CompAssisstancePlz
Canada8 Posts
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/VFzDp.jpg) I know this is slightly over my budget but it could be abit better, any suggestions to it>? hope the link works | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
The only reason you'd go with EVGA is for lifetime warranty. That specific card is a -TR which only carries a 3 year warranty (the same as any other brand). If you want lifetime warranty, you're looking at -AR or -KR (you have to pay for extended warranty after 3 years). You'd generally want to stick with Seasonic, Antec, Enermax, Corsair, and XFX for power supplies and stay far away from OCZ. Here's a review on that particular OCZ unit: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article/2008/11/12/ocz_700w_modxstream_pro_power_supply If you're getting a 2500k, you might want to invest in a heatsink such as the Coolermaster Hyper 212+. The P8P67 Pro is an expensive boards and probably has a lot of features that you don't care for or need such as SLI / CrossfireX support, Intel NIC, Advance RMA option, eight sata ports, etc. | ||
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dandan23
Malaysia101 Posts
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
On March 13 2011 18:55 dandan23 wrote: how to differenciate between micro motherboards and standard ? mATX is micro. ATX is standard. Why do you keep asking questions that you can simply google? You've never followed up on any of your questions. | ||
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