I am new/ $1077 build

[newtobuilding]

Intel Core i7-950 BX80601950 Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 1MB L2 Cache, 3.06 GHz (3.33 GHz Max Turbo), Socket B (LGA1366), 130W, Fan, Retail [] $299.97
Intel BOXDX58SO2 Socket LGA1366 Motherboard - ATX, Socket B (LGA1366), Intel X58 Express, 1600MHz DDR3, SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, Dual Gigabit LAN, SLI/CrossFireX Ready, USB 3.0 [] $249.99
Cooler Master RC-932-KKN5-GP HAF 932 Advance Full Tower Case - ATX, Black, SuperSpeed USB 3.0 [] $140.99
Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9AG 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 RAM - - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB (2x 2048MB), 240 Pin, Dual-Channel [] $59.97
Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1TB Caviar Black Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gbs [] $79.97
Samsung SH-222AB/BEBE Internal DVD Writer - DVD+R 22X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD-RAM 12X, CD-R 48X, OEM [] $22.97
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English [] $99.97
Before taxes: 953.83
After taxes: 1077.83


Hey guys, i'm new to building pc's as my username suggests, and i have compiled a list of hardware to the best of my knowledge, my budget was around $900 and as you can see i have already passed that, i have a graphics card that i am willing to reuse mainly because it is a decent card and i am already past my budget. i also have a psu at 550w, so i really need advice on this build.
I will be using this for gaming (newer strategy and fps games) and general use. I am buying my parts in canada, and am hopefully going to build it by the end of august. My preferences are to Nvidia and Intel, but i am open to suggestions. The only other threads i have read are two stickied guides at the top of the section. I plan on gaming in 1600x900 resolution.

EDIT: i forgot to mention that i do not want to overclock anything

 

[DesiPower]

Any particular reason you are not going with Sandy Bridge? and for that perticular mobo? cost can be cheaper with a i5 and a cheaper Z68 mobo...

i5 2500K - $219

ASUS P8Z68-V LE - $151.48

You can also go with a bit cheaper Lian Li PC-K63 - $127

And this Crucial Ballistix RAM - $35

With all the money you save you can keep the current GPU and buy another one and go SLI/X-Fire!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i5 2500
z68 mobo
samsung spinpoint 7200rpm 1 tb
gtx 560 ti
haf 912
generic ddr3 1333 4 or 8gb ram 1.5 volts
500 watts antec.

i think this is it!

 

[DaveSimmons]

Please read the sticky thread to see what questions you should answer.

For most gaming builds, we recommend socket 1155 / Sandy Bridge.
- i5-2500K
- basic Z68 motherboard like the $120 ASRock unless you really, really need SLI/Crossfire or other high-end features
- 2 x 4 GB DDR3 1333 1.5v basic RAM
- Samsung Spinpoint 1 TB

Moving to the 2500K / basic motherboard will shave about $200 off of your cost.

 

[newtobuilding]

in all honesty i just learned about sandy bridge today, and do not really know the difference, and i chose that motherboard because of positive review on tigerdirect, which is where i chose all my parts

 

[DaveSimmons]

FYI, Newegg is a better store for parts than TigerDirect.

Sandy Bridge is a newer design that is faster but uses less power. Read about it on the main anandtech.com website.

 

[newtobuilding]

i would prefer to buy my parts in store though, i clicked on a link to newegg in one of the stickies and it's an online store correct?

EDIT: i will take a new look at parts with your guys suggestions here and will post a new build asap

 

[T_Yamamoto]

tigerdirect can sometimes be more expensive than new egg. go to tigerdirect store, check it out, then go to new egg and buy.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> i would prefer to buy my parts in store though, i clicked on a link to newegg in one of the stickies and it's an online store correct?

Right. Tiger Direct is also normally thought of as an online store, I didn't realize they had a "brick and mortar" store too.

In-store is fine if they have the right parts at the right prices. Just don't settle for what's in-store instead of the parts that you really want.

 

[newtobuilding]

Intel Core i7-950 BX80601950 Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 1MB L2 Cache, 3.06 GHz (3.33 GHz Max Turbo), Socket B (LGA1366), 130W, Fan, Retail [] $299.97 N/A
Intel BOXDX58SO2 Socket LGA1366 Motherboard - ATX, Socket B (LGA1366), Intel X58 Express, 1600MHz DDR3, SATA 6.0 Gb/s, RAID, Dual Gigabit LAN, SLI/CrossFireX Ready, USB 3.0 [] $249.99 N/A
Cooler Master RC-932-KKN5-GP HAF 932 Advance Full Tower Case - ATX, Black, SuperSpeed USB 3.0 [] $140.99 N/A
Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9AG 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 RAM - - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB (2x 2048MB), 240 Pin, Dual-Channel [] $59.97 N/A
Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1TB Caviar Black Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gbs [] $79.97
Samsung SH-222AB/BEBE Internal DVD Writer - DVD+R 22X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD-RAM 12X, CD-R 48X, OEM [] $22.97
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English [] $99.97
Before taxes: 953.83
After taxes: 1077.83

Alternate parts: ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $151.48
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $219.99
Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT25664BA1339 $28.49
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K63 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $123.98
Before taxes:726.85
After taxes: 821.34


Ok, i made the alterations, the objects with the N/A next to them are the ones which i won't be getting now. i may just go ahead and buy the parts online from newegg because tigerdirect doesn't carry some of the alternate parts. Thanks for the help so far guys, $300 are big savings :biggrin:

 

[DesiPower]

DUDE..... I didn't notice before... ~$100 in TAXES!!! frack Canada :biggrin:

on a more serious note, if you have the budget, throw in a SSD, its all hip and cool these days... :biggrin: no, seriously, you will see a good overall performance increase

Crucial RealSSD C300 - $130

 

[newtobuilding]

i can understand that the speed of an ssd is the fastest out there, but for double the cost of the one i have picked out and less than a tenth of the storage, i have to say that an ssd isn't worth it.

 

[DesiPower]

no, you do not replace, you get both. SSD for OS and primary programs and other for everything else. Data music videos etc. you have even go with a cheaper Blue one instead of Black if you get SSD

 

[newtobuilding]

I still think I'll pass on the ssd, if only because this is my first build and i want to keep it simple, maybe in the future i could go for more drives etc.

 

[aphelion02]

The SSD isn't for storage. Its a speed upgrade. IMO a i3 with a SSD is much faster than a i7 with a normal harddrive for most purposes.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

^TRUE!

 

[ElFenix]

do you have a microcenter nearby?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

OH! totally forgot about the ElFenix!

 

[Blue Shift]

OP, Z68 motherboards have a new feature called SSD Caching. This allows your system to automatically use a small SSD to store frequently-accessed files (such as your Operating System) for extremely fast access...

The best part is that you never have to tell it which things to copy, or worry about the files are in different places. Once you set it up, it works entirely in the background, vastly improving user experience on your system.

Since you've cut the cost of your system so much by switching to Sandy Bridge, you can add a small SSD without going over your original budget.


Disclaimer: I am high on pain meds right now, following surgery. Someone should check my facts.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Disclaimer: I am high on pain meds right now, following surgery. Someone should check my facts.

hope youre feeling alright

 

[mfenn]

OP, Z68 motherboards have a new feature called SSD Caching. This allows your system to automatically use a small SSD to store frequently-accessed files (such as your Operating System) for extremely fast access...

The best part is that you never have to tell it which things to copy, or worry about the files are in different places. Once you set it up, it works entirely in the background, vastly improving user experience on your system.

Since you've cut the cost of your system so much by switching to Sandy Bridge, you can add a small SSD without going over your original budget.


Disclaimer: I am high on pain meds right now, following surgery. Someone should check my facts.

Yeah, that's pretty much how it works. Install Windows to the HDD, then install the Intel RST drivers and enable SSD caching.

 

[mfenn]

I still think I'll pass on the ssd, if only because this is my first build and i want to keep it simple, maybe in the future i could go for more drives etc.

I suggest that you do a little more reading about SSDs. The main AnandTech page is a good place to start. Buying an SSD is literally the only upgrade that you can make where the new part is over ten times faster than the old part. The fact that the HDD is the slowest part of your system in the first place is gravy.

Also, I didn't see you mention what your current GPU is. If you plan to use this as a gaming machine, it may make sense to spend less on the CPU and more on the GPU.

 

[newtobuilding]

my current gpu is the Nvidia geforce 9600gt HAL 512mb version. The SSD does sound good, but i can live with a minute boot up time xD I dont want to add more to the current price because i am only 17 and will be relying on my parents to pay the bulk of the cost, so i would feel guilty to add extra just for reduced load times.

EDIT: also what's a microcenter?

Another EDIT: the reason i am more concerned with processors is because with just about all games i play, my processor is the thing holding me back, when i let the program detect the best graphics settings it usually goes to high/ultra, but if i play in anything more than a 1v1 i will lag because of my processor.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Microcenter is a store for computer parts, alot like CompUSA. its heaven for techies.
http://www.microcenter.com/

 

[newtobuilding]

it seems there aren't any in my area, i live in canada.