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On August 09 2011 07:47 Dragom wrote:
What is your budget?
$500-$750
What is your resolution?
1 monitor 1280- 1024 pixels
What are you using it for?
Gaming(Run SC2 on at least High), Watching HD video's, movies, photoediting
What is your upgrade cycle?
As long as possible( or around 4-6 years)
When do you plan on building it?
Soon prob this month
Do you plan on overclocking?
Yes, if i need to b4 i get a new computor
Do you need an Operating System?
Yes, i dont think windows XP can support DirectX 11, the one i need.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
If my budget allows
Where are you buying your parts from?
newegg, frys or tomshardware
any help would be appreciated
On your budget you can't add a second GPU but honestly with your resolution, you can get a single super cheap budget GPU and still play things like SC2 on ultra. Although it won't last 4-6 years. Frys generally has cheaper processors than Newegg, Microcenter is even better if you live near one.
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On August 09 2011 14:28 Myrmidon wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2011 13:22 Molybdenum wrote:
I think I have read that 2 TB and larger drives are less reliable than smaller ones (why I'm considering the 1.5), is this true? Are any of these a clear winner for storage use as an external for a few months before going internal? I want something that will last, my current one didn't seem to.
Thanks a bunch! Generally when they're pushing a new capacity size, the first units may have some reliability issues. Back when 2TB drives were new, there were issues IIRC, as maybe you'd expect for 3TB drives now. IIRC (memory fuzzy, not sure) the drives with more platters fail more often. That should make sense. However, current 2TB drives are just 3-4 platters, depending on which you get. I have no idea about failure rates for those models though. You're using one of these as a secondary data drive for when you migrate? Spinpoint F3 1TB would be the only one suitable for an OS drive. All should be fast enough that they saturate a USB 2.0 link easily for sequential transfers. The Spinpoint F3 would be fastest for random access.
I'll keep it as secondary, should have made that clear. I was mainly considering the Spinpoint F3 because it's reliable but I'll go with the ecogreen f4, looks like it has 3 platters and is better on the price/gb. I'm not too concerned with speed, mostly reliability. Thanks for your help!
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United States1108 Posts
I'm putting together a new build, I think I'm probably set on using these parts but I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Core i5 2500k
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3-B3 LGA 1155 ATX Intel Motherboard
Antec Earthwatts 500W
Samsung Spinpoint 1TB 7200rpm HD
XFX Radeon 5850 video card (caught this on sale with a rebate)
G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 1600
Antec Three Hundred Illusion case
I'd appreciate any comments. Specifically I'm wondering about the case... it's got good reviews, but my last build had a nice beefy Antec mini P180 case that was built to be solid, durable, soundproof, and have a nice interior with great cable management. Do you think I'll miss these features in the Three Hundred, which is a less expensive case?
I missed a sale on a great looking Lian Li case for $70 last month, kicking myself over that but I'm hoping the Three Hundred Illusion won't leave me with regrets.
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On August 09 2011 15:00 Chocobo wrote:
I'm putting together a new build, I think I'm probably set on using these parts but I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Core i5 2500k
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3-B3 LGA 1155 ATX Intel Motherboard
Antec Earthwatts 500W
Samsung Spinpoint 1TB 7200rpm HD
XFX Radeon 5850 video card (caught this on sale with a rebate)
G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 1600
Antec Three Hundred Illusion case
I'd appreciate any comments. Specifically I'm wondering about the case... it's got good reviews, but my last build had a nice beefy Antec mini P180 case that was built to be solid, durable, soundproof, and have a nice interior with great cable management. Do you think I'll miss these features in the Three Hundred, which is a less expensive case?
I missed a sale on a great looking Lian Li case for $70 last month, kicking myself over that but I'm hoping the Three Hundred Illusion won't leave me with regrets.
I use an antec 300, I love it. The biggest thing for me with cases is that they are solid and sturdy, and it is.
As for your build, you'll need an aftermarket fan for your processor if you're planning on overclocking (why you're getting the "k" variant)
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Antec Earthwatts 500D is often overpriced. A XFX Core Edition 450 provides slightly less power (but still more than enough for your configuration) at a much lower price. There's also the Antec High Current Gamer 520 which is at the same pricepoint as the Earthwatts. Both are of higher quality units.
Basically all Antec cases besides the Sonata and Performance series suck, at least imo anyways.
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Having an Antec 300 myself, it's not nearly as modern as many of the other cases out there, but you're getting a nice deal with the Antec 300 Illusion if you like those Blue LEDs
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5930 Posts
If you already have a Antec P180 Mini, why don't you just get a mATX board (there is an Asrock Z68 mATX board for $15 more with better features while you're at it) and reuse the case? Unless you've already sold it then never mind.
The Antec 300 is not even close to being in the same class as the Performance series. That deal isn't bad but why bother when you can get the Antec 100 for less than that? Unless you must have blue LED lights, I'd get the Antec 100 if you want to spend as little as possible for a decent chassis.
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United States1108 Posts
On August 09 2011 16:04 Womwomwom wrote:
If you already have a Antec P180 Mini, why don't you just get a mATX board (there is an Asrock Z68 mATX board for $15 more with better features while you're at it) and reuse the case? Unless you've already sold it then never mind.
The Antec 300 is not even close to being in the same class as the Performance series. That deal isn't bad but why bother when you can get the Antec 100 for less than that? Unless you must have blue LED lights, I'd get the Antec 100 if you want to spend as little as possible for a decent chassis.
I sold the Mini P180 because I want a full sized ATX setup with room to later add a wireless card, a TV tuner card, possibly a dual video card setup eventually, etc. It was an awesome case but cramped, getting a video card in and out was a struggle and it blocked the other ports.
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when assembling a build, should i get an anti static wrist strap and some zip ties?
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Okay, the i7-2600 has three advantages over the i5-2500:
(1) 100 MHz higher speed (lol)
(2) 2MB more L3 cache (8MB vs. 6MB, which makes little difference)
(3) hyperthreading, which can provide maybe 30% performance boost in the best-case scenario, but ONLY for things that you aren't doing with the computer
So feel free to spend $100 extra on about 3% extra performance?
Why get a H67 motherboard unless you really want to maximize the performance of your SATA3 SSD...which you don't have?
Trust me, the XFX Core 450W isn't going to be bothered by power consumption in the 50-300W range, where you'll never reach 300W unless you overclock the GTX 560 Ti and purposefully try to max out power consumption. The 650W unit is a somewhat better design, but seems overkill?
If you want to spend the rest of the budget, I'd change the CPU and PSU and pick up a Crucial M4 64GB SSD:
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=60444
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Using the eXtreme Power Supply calculator,
with an i5 2500k OC to 4.5GHz 1.4v (estimate)
HD 6870
4GB x2
1SATA 7200RPM HDD
1 DVD Burner Drive
1 HSF
4 LED Case Fans
It says under 90% load, the minimum PSU wattage I need is 351W, but it recommends 401W.
Will I be safe with an XFX 450W PSU? It seems like it's kind of close, will this put too much strain on my PSU?
For the extra $$ should I just get the XFX 550W? after the MIR it is only 5 more.
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It's decent about estimating a minimum or at least a ballpark range. Above the recommended amount (which 450W is by a good margin) shouldn't be necessary.
I'm pretty sure the CPU power consumption values are off. It's just going by the rated TDP, as far as I can tell. If you put in an i7-880, it will give you the same number as the i5-2500k (before overclocking), which is total BS. If it's going by rated TDP, note that the i5-2500k includes a somewhat substantial integrated graphics core you're not using (so real power consumption when you use discrete graphics is lower than the TDP suggests, since the integrated graphics would be power gated off). Pretty much the 95W may apply to the i7-2600k, which has hyperthreading that takes extra power, and including its integrated graphics.
So really it should be giving you a lower figure than it is.
If you have heavy upgrading plans in the future and don't mind the rebate, for $5 more I guess it's okay. It's really not necessary if you're sticking with parts of around this level of power consumption.
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On August 09 2011 16:44 Myrmidon wrote:Okay, the i7-2600 has three advantages over the i5-2500: (1) 100 MHz higher speed (lol) (2) 2MB more L3 cache (8MB vs. 6MB, which makes little difference) (3) hyperthreading, which can provide maybe 30% performance boost in the best-case scenario, but ONLY for things that you aren't doing with the computer So feel free to spend $100 extra on about 3% extra performance? Why get a H67 motherboard unless you really want to maximize the performance of your SATA3 SSD...which you don't have? Trust me, the XFX Core 450W isn't going to be bothered by power consumption in the 50-300W range, where you'll never reach 300W unless you overclock the GTX 560 Ti and purposefully try to max out power consumption. The 650W unit is a somewhat better design, but seems overkill? If you want to spend the rest of the budget, I'd change the CPU and PSU and pick up a Crucial M4 64GB SSD: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=60444
The Motherboard was a bundle price with the CPU, not really sure what Motherboard i needed, the 650W is is 60 bucks after Mail in rebate which comes out almost the same price as the 450.
yeah i think i'll prob end up going with the i5-2500 and just end up paying less then i expected.
Am i missing anything in my selection? like a cooling fan or cooling system? the NCIX assembly says "NCIX will install aftermarket heatsinks or pre-filled cup liquid coolers.
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those prices are in canadian, NCIX doesn't ship to the US unless you buy from NCIXUS.
Also, any answer to this: when assembling a build, should i get an anti static wrist strap and some zip ties?
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On August 09 2011 17:09 Gattaca.usa wrote:
those prices are in canadian, NCIX doesn't ship to the US unless you buy from NCIXUS.
Also, any answer to this: when assembling a build, should i get an anti static wrist strap and some zip ties?
It let me choose "check out as us customer" then it converted all prices to US and sent me to a US checkout screen.
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On August 09 2011 17:09 Gattaca.usa wrote:
those prices are in canadian, NCIX doesn't ship to the US unless you buy from NCIXUS.
Also, any answer to this: when assembling a build, should i get an anti static wrist strap and some zip ties?
That would be good to have yes. You could ground yourself in other ways but a wrist strap is an easy and cheap way to protect your components so why not really?
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What PSU would you guys recommend for i5-2500k , 4x4 DRR3, GTX 580, 4 to 5 HDD/SSD, 1 DVD and couple extra fans + couple leds on a PC constrantly running BOINC (distributed computing) and tons of I/O operations on the disk drives 24/7.
System to be OCed, but nothing to the extreme.
I have 550w Cooler Master, but with alll the negative opinions in the thread about CM PSUs I start to fear about it.
Edit: For something so critical to the system, I would never be cheap. Rather spend some buck on a component like this, than on anything else.
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I'm thinking to buy a:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition AM3 3.2GHz 8MB Cache 45nm,
or
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AM3 3.4GHz 8MB Cache 45nm,
I am using ASUS M2N68-AM SE2 motherboard, my question is, will I able to install this to that motherboard, or will I need a new one? Also, will this increase the power consumption of my system? If so, how much?
I'm using Windows Vista 32bit.
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You'll probably have to buy a new motherboard as well in that case since neither is on Asus site for your motherboard:
http://support.asus.com/Cpusupport/List.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=M2N68-AM SE2&p=1&s=24&hashedid=rzWjxRHTivB96wPd
Although I'm sure you'll get a lot of people saying it's better to get an intel configuration or wait for amd's new processors that comes out soon. You'll probably have to say what your budget are, what you want to use the computer for and so on if you want better advice. Also it's better you post all your components if you are worried about the power supply.
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EPT
