And another one! First time PC build (Sorry ><)

[Gustave]

So I see there is a ton of other build threads but I just wanted to post my build for a quick critique since I'm probably doing it wrong. Any advice will be appreciated!

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...CBuildSnip.png

I would like to play ffxiv on my 52" TV without looking like a ps2 game. I would really like to get this down to under $1000 but I don't know what to shortchange on.

[Robbb]

Depending on if you are going to overclock may want to invest in a better heatsink than the stock cooler. There is only 1 pci-e 2.0 slot on that motherboard so you won't be able to crossfire that card if you ever planned to in the future.

[Gustave]

I don't really plan on OC or crossfire but I may drop 4gbs of ram make that addition later.

[sruon]

CPU : Good price for that model, can "downgrade" to a i5 750 (760) if you really want to save a few bucks for realistically same performance in XIV, and you're going to need a cooler if you want to do some overclocking.
GPU: I don't know, I guess a 5850 is fine but maybe spend a few more (+60 according to newegg) and get a 5870.
RAM: I have the same, they're ok, may not need 8 gb though.
MB: That line of motherboard is pretty good, not a fan of micro atx but still a valid choice.
BD&DVD: Dunno, seems kind of pricy, if I were you it'd be the first thing I'd downgrade (to a simple $10 DVD burner) if I tried to save a few bucks, could always buy a BD reader later on.
PSU: Good
OS: Well, there is always the other way to save $109, or 70 at least if you have any kind of student benefit

[Adajer]

I think the palit Super OC GTX 460 would be better and cheaper than a 5850. But if you are dropping 4gb of RAM I would go for the 5870. I also say go i5 750. Newegg has 5870s at $354, $364,& $369($349 after MIR).

[Knyghtmayre]

As above, an i5 is just fine for gaming/most everything. You won't notice much of a performance drop at all from an i7. Drop the second 4GB ram kit, swap the BluRay player for a $20 DVD/CD-RW. Invest the money you've saved in an H50/70 and a swap/upgrade to a GTX470. There's also quite simple methods of obtaining W7 for $0.

MSI GTX470: +$10
i5 750: +$35
W7: +$109
[random OEM DVD burner]: +$60
Subtract 4GB of RAM: +$92
Upgrade to an F3 1TB from eWiz: -$15
Savings: $291.00

H50: -$87.00 / H70: -$117.00

8GB of ram is not necessary for most cases. Unless you are doing heavy rendering or needing to run many many applications at the same time, you won't even utilize 4GB let alone 8GB. H50/70 are very good for OCing your CPU. If you choose to get one of them, you're still miles under your budget. That $290 VisionTek (LOL) 5850 is probably the absolute worst deal you could possibly find.

[Gustave]

Thanks for all the feedback.
I think I am going to go with the idea of i5+5870 and the DVD drive instead of Blu ray.

What is the H50/H70 you a referring to?

How well does the 5870 perform over the 5770? Or should I just stick with a 5870 if it's within my budget?

[Knyghtmayre]

They're closed loop water CPU coolers: H50 - H70

And you should really look at the benchmarks before you decide which card you want. A GTX470 pretty much always beats a 5870, if not performing the same as it, in almost every benchmark there is, and it is much cheaper. Take a look at the sticky in this forum. Here: http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/957...DX11-July-2010

[Gustave]

They're closed loop water CPU coolers: H50 - H70

And you should really look at the benchmarks before you decide which card you want. A GTX470 pretty much always beats a 5870, if not performing the same as it, in almost every benchmark there is, and it is much cheaper. Take a look at the sticky in this forum. Here: http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/957...DX11-July-2010

Wow I was under the impression the ATI were head shoulders ahead of what Nvidia had out atm.

[Adajer]

Don't forget to try and get your stuff in combos either. OS can be combo'd with just about anything for $10 or $15 savings.

[Gustave]

Thanks for the help. After looking over this and thinking about my uses for the Pc... I do almost everything on my laptop or my work laptop. I would only use this for FFXIV since I do not play any other games and the games I do I play on xbox360 or ps3.

How would the i5+ 5770 hold up to only ffxiv? I assume well from the videos I have seen. I've droped the price down to mid 700's for this build by making the swaps discussed about and the 5770. The only thing I really can't decide on is if the $$$ for the other cards are going to be worth it on gameplay for that particular game.


Also if I have the patience to wait should I just do my shopping on Black Friday!!??

[sruon]

i5 is definitly up to the task, especially when overclocked, 5770 is nice from what I've seen but I'd guess a 5870 or a GTX470 as pointed above is a better choice if you can.

[Olo401]

Looks good to me.. I would get a larger hard drive if you plan to also download music/videos though. It's amazing how fast you can fill up 500 gigs these days!

[Jefe]

5770 HD is fine, I just bought one... mind you my entire system is AMD based. Just get a mobo that allows you to xfire it and get a decent PSU for it.