Building a PC

[Arelian]

Since it's tax return season, I'm finding myself with some spare money. I figured I'd make myself a new desktop as the laptop I'm using for gaming/school work is starting to show it's age.

My price range is up to $900 and I've already pieced together a few things.

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133266

My co-worker recommended this and from what I've seen the reviews are nice and the price isn't too bad.

CD/DVD Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106335

I figured I could just get any old one, and this looked like the best plan.

I found a nice DIY kit on Newegg that I was planning on using, but I'd like to hear some thoughts on it.

DIY Kit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.354213

I was also wondering if you guys thought it would just be cheaper to buy all the parts separately or go for a DIY kit. The kits seem cheaper on the whole since you get some money off for buying a bundle.

I have a 32" TV I was thinking of using as my monitor/speakers, but if there's some good cheapish alternatives I'd love to hear them.

Thanks!

[Jurgen]

The combo looks ok. You could probably get a decent increase in performance (i5 750 on P55 platform) for a little bit extra $$$ if you went and purchased things separately though.

As far as graphics cards go, the GTS 250 is not bad, for an additional $20-ish dollars you could get an ATI 5770.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127490
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150462

From what I've seen the 5770 is about 15% faster than the GTS 250, and supports Eyefinity and DX11.

[Jurgen]

Was looking around on The Egg. This is just a quick something I put together:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106335 - DVD/CD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066 - Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136544 - HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150462 - GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005 - PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211409 - RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130248 - Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115215 - CPU

For those who don't want to click the links:

Antec 300
Intel i5 750
MSI P55-GD55
4GB A-Data DDR3 1600
WD Black 640GB
Corsair 650W PSU
Lite-On 24x DVD/CD
XFX ATi 5770

Cost: $860 before shipping.

Benefits over your original DIY System:

1) Motherboard supports CrossFire X. So down the line if you want a quick graphics upgrade you can dump in another 5770 no problem.

2) Faster Processor, faster GPU with more features.

The only downside is you have a smaller HDD than your DIY combo provides (you can always swap that part out for a different one though depending on storage needs) and the Corsair is 50W less than the OCZ in the DIY Kit. Corsair is known for quality PSUs and their longer warranties, and your system shouldn't need the 700W anyway, even CFing a 5770 down the road as they have low power requirements.

[Agito]

(edit) Upgraded a couple things and decided upon the final build that i'll be using.
(edit) I replaced the Athlon II x4 630 with the Phenom II x4 955 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-674-_-Product

XFX 5770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-464-_-Product

Silverstone ST75F-P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...59&Tpk=st75f-p

OCZ DDR3 2 x 2GB 1600 7-7-7-24 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-447-_-Product

(edit) Added motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-223-_-Product

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-320-_-Product

Windows 7 home premium 64 bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product

Case - Still undecided, really hard to choose one that i like.

This is what i'm going with for my build, i'm waiting until around the time of FFXIV release though to order all the hardware to take advantage of any possible price drops.

[Celeras]

Jurgen nailed it, nothing currently released can compare with the 5770 in terms of budget GPUs.

[Jurgen]

1) If you're set on getting a modular PSU, the one you linked looks pretty good. From the looks of your system, 750W should be more than enough for your current and future needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006

You could save some money (only $30 I know) by going non-modular. Corsair PSUs also carry a 5 Year Warranty as opposed to the 3 Year on your Silverstone. All in all comes down to how much you value having a modular PSU.

2) From what I understand, RAM is going to have a VERY minimal effect on your frames in gaming. If you like to rip and encode HD movies it may show some gains, but in terms of FPS the difference is going to be negligible most of the time. You more than likely won't notice any difference between 7-7-7-24 and 9-9-9-24.

3) That looks like a pretty good CPU for the price point, unfortunately I don't know AMD boards as well.

4) Case is mostly about looks. You really can't go wrong with Antec though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

[Arelian]

Awesome Jurgen, I looked over your build and I think I'll be going with that.

That said, can anyone recommend a wireless card? I don't plan on being on wireless for very long, but I'd still like to get my PC online for FFXIV Alpha/Beta testing while I don't have access to a wired connection.

[SaviorSelf]

Just out of curiosity for those listing the 5770, which is not that far in price from the 4890, why? Based on the chart linked below, even with most of the cards 1v1, the 4890 is still better than most of the 5000 series. Right or wrong?

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...1200,1702.html

[Celeras]

5770 is basically a 4870 with DX11 support in terms of performance. Its price is what makes it so appealing as an upgrade, you won't find anything close to it in the DX11 generation.

[Agito]

4890

Core Clock 850MHz
Stream Processors 800 Stream Processing Units
Memory
Effective Memory Clock 900MHz (3.6Gbps)
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR5
3D API
DirectX DirectX 10.1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-438-_-Product

5770

Core Clock 850MHz
Stream Processors 800 Stream Processing Units
Memory
Effective Memory Clock 1200MHz (4.8Gbps)
Memory Size 1GB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR5
3D API
DirectX DirectX 11
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-447-_-Product

I think the 5770 is better because the memory is clocked higher (1200MHz) vs the 4890s (900MHz) with a ton of headroom for overclocking it and the 5770 supports DX11 along with eyefinity. However, the 256-bit memory interface on the 4890 is better than the 128-bit memory interface on the 5770. It's true that the 4890 is a little faster than the 5770, because of the memory interface, atleast that's how i think it's faster. With overclocking though the 5770 becomes faster than the 4890, i'm sure (maybe not).

About the price, i'm not to sure why they're about the same but sometimes prices just don't drop on graphics cards because they're not being manufactured anymore and makes it a harder to find or something along those lines.

[vrumpt]

was actually just looking on newegg myself, i need to build a PC as the laptop i have is nearing the 1.5 year old mark, so i want to build something this summer at the latest.

i really like Jurgen's build. My only worry is i don't really understand how much power any given piece of a computer needs, so if i decide to swap parts for personal preference i don't really know how to tell if i need to switch to a more powerful PSU.

by comparison the stuff i was looking at and putting together myself came out at around $1,500 after adding moniter + etc. So this is much more appealing for only sacrificing a little but of power.

[Agito]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP2AF...ext=1&index=43 (Selecting the right power supply.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvlut...286&feature=iv (Certified crossfire and SLI power supplies.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ahnq...770&feature=iv (Computer component wattages.)

Be sure to watch these 3 videos by 3dgameman, he explains everything there is to know about power supplies in short Q&A videos.

http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx
Does the trick, simple and effective or you can google Extreme power supply calculator.

From what i've heard a single +12v rail power supply is the best but not critical. There's the 80 plus silver rating to, i think it's good to have that.

Here's the AMD/ATI graphics card power supply compatability page: http://ati.amd.com/products/certified/index.html I'm not sure where the Nvidia one is on their website.