Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, JustAnEngineer
Skullzer wrote:Welcome to the Tech Report!Be easy on me, I'm a newbie and it's my first time posting on TR or any other tech forum for that matter.
Skullzer wrote:Since Directron is based in Houston, you might save enough on California state sales taxes to make them a good source for some of your components.I live in CA USA, will be purchasing hardware online- Newegg, tigerdirect, amazon, etc. whatever has the lowest prices
Skullzer wrote:You definitely want 64-bit Windows.OS: Windows 7 home premium $0 (I have a copy already) -For what I'm going to be using my computer for which is better, 64bit or 32bit?
Skullzer wrote:I suggest starting out with the Phenom II X4 955BE if your budget can stand it.CPU: Phenom II x2 555 BE -I have been going back and forth on whether to get a x2 555 BE or x4 955 BE.
Skullzer wrote:This one or the Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 are good choices.MOBO: ASUS M4A87TD EVO
Skullzer wrote:A good quality 430-watt power supply would be sufficient for your build. This OCZ StealthXstream II 500 for $50 -15MIR would save some of your budget.PSU: Corsair 650HX -I think 650W might be a little overkill for my complete setup
Skullzer wrote:I would switch this up to something like the 80GB OCZ Vertex 2 and 1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, but the idea of an SSD for your OS and a hard-drive for your large applications (games) is sound. The less expensive Samsung hard-drive runs quieter and cooler than the Western Digital drive while providing essentially equal performance.Storage: Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB $125 and WD Black 1TB $90
Skullzer wrote:As the others have said, you'll probably want something a bit more powerful for gaming at higher resolutions. Radeon HD6850 or GeForce GTX460 1GB in the $165-$185 range would provide better gaming experiences. In the $250 range, Radeon HD6950 is a strong performer.Video Card: MSI R5770 Hawk Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Skullzer wrote:Case: Antec 300
In another thread, I wrote:Oddly enough, the Three Hundred Illusion is currently $7 less expensive at Newegg. This is exactly the same case populated with LED fans. The "Illusion" version also has LED fans installed in the two front mounting locations that are empty in the regular Three Hundred. If you don't mind the blue glow, the Three Hundred Illusion is currently the better value.
JustAnEngineer wrote:the idea of an SSD for your OS and a hard-drive for your large applications (games) is sound
flip-mode wrote:USB 3.0 docking stationThis also leaves the build without a dedicated backup drive.
flip-mode wrote:I believe that you could find significantly less expensive components here that would do the job. The ones that I suggested were $88 less. The rest of your list looks fine to me.
JustAnEngineer wrote:Absolutely true, those are just my recommendations. That mobo has been very highly reviewed and I recommend Corsair PSUs as a matter of principle but other PSUs are surely fine too.flip-mode wrote:I believe that you could find significantly less expensive components here that would do the job.$150 Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 $96 -15MIR Corsair CMPSU-550VX
JustAnEngineer wrote:If you're committed to Corsair, how about the 650TX for $90 -10 code "EMCKHJB23" -20 MIR ?
Skullzer wrote:Here are eight:PSU: -decided to stay with the $126 -15MIR Corsair 650HX, there were lots of options and I could have saved some money going with a 500W -550W PSU but I didn't see any that were modular and had great ratings like this one.
Skullzer wrote:Just get a single drive and format it as one large partition for now, then. 1 TB is plenty of space to begin with.Storage: -ditched the SSD and will go with 2 x 1TB Samsung F3's. The money I saved from ditching the SSD went directly to upgrading the video card and keeping the PSU. The only thing I need to figure out now is how I'm going to configure the HDD's for maximum performance and also being able to back up my data. I really like the idea of getting an HDD dock and maybe getting another HDD for dedicated back up along with the portable drive I already have. I read quite a few posts in the storage forums in regards to partitioning and what not and I guess I'll just cross that bridge once I receive my box of hardware.
Have we saved enough to get that Radeon HD6950 yet?
Have you checked prices at Directron for your components? You'll probably pay a bit more shipping, but that could be less than the California state sales taxes on purchases from Newegg.
Crayon Shin Chan wrote:I really don't see the point of installing games on an SSD. When you think about it, if you're playing a fun game, the loading times are what, 5% of your total time spent playing the game? And games tend to have big files, and when properly defragged, 100MB/s sequential read from a hard drive isn't bad. And if it's a good game, hey, you can live with it.
Also, it seems a lot of new members are joining TR Forums lately? Welcome!
Skullzer wrote:The total in my shopping cart is now $788 before tax and rebates. That's only $3 more than my original build but I get 2 more cores of processing and upgrade to the next generation of video card.
Skullzer wrote:That is such a good decision, too. Very good.Alrighty, got a less expensive power supply and was able to save enough for a Radeon 6950
JustAnEngineer wrote:Even if he doesn't, I'll argue that it'll be more "future proof", for lack of a better term, than a lesser video card. Even though I'm on a 1600x1200 monitor and a 5770 seems to play pretty much everything just fine (plays Crysis Warhead at "gamer" settings and 2x AA), if I needed a video card right now I'd be very strained to choose between the 6870, 6950, or 560, but I'd get one of those with the strong hope that it'd keep up with games for the next 3 years, maybe 4. Heck, my almost-3-year-old-4850 is still almost fast enough for 1600x1200 action in just about every title. It will do Crysis at pretty decent settings as long as I turn off the AA.Do tell us that your monitor's native resolution is at least 1920x1080, or that HD6950 wouldn't be challenged.
JustAnEngineer wrote:Do tell us that your monitor's native resolution is at least 1920x1080, or that HD6950 wouldn't be challenged.
Skullzer wrote:Hello again,
Does anyone have a list of system tests I should complete on the new system? I just want to make sure everything is stable and performance is where it should be. I'll be putting everything together this weekend.
gbcrush wrote:$29.If you can add another $40 to your budget, you can get yourself a good mid-range heatsink (The Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus seem to be popular around here), and a good 120mm fan to cool it.