Discussion Forums > Technology
Need some suggestions on building a new computer
xShadow:
The reason why, for those interested.
(click to show/hide)Right, so I kinda messed up my old computer by plugging a PSU cord in the wrong way, on accident (that made some smoke >_>). I don't think the PSU itself is fried, though I'm pretty sure that that one port on it is definitely not gonna be usable (and I'm throwing out the motherboard). Normally, I'd be rather pissed that something like this happened, but that piece of junk had been failing to turn on properly, and such for quite a long time; therefore, I think a replacement had been in order for quite a long time. I'm actually kind of happy that I have a reason to replace it (though I don't look forward to the money I'll spend doing it).
The important part:
After doing some research and stuff, I decided to probably go with the Core i5. I'm definitely not going to be running two cards, so I think this is probably the optimal choice. I'm working at college right now, so what I have available to spend is a little bit up in the air. I'm basically trying to build something at a budget system price... that performs a bit better than a budget system. I also want it to last me a while. I don't mind getting some extra ram, but I don't wanna be screwing around with the parts in it every 2 months or so. I want to not have to screw with this thing for at least a year. This is also meant to be a good gaming computer. Now, I don't need to be able to play the newest crap at BLAZING HIGH SPEEDS for an entire year, I just wanna be able to reasonably play any new stuff that comes out, for a while. I don't mind upgrading the graphics card after like a year.
So far, this is the preliminary list. I'll be giving it a lot of thought, and everything here's up for debate, so feel free (in fact, I encourage it) to contest any of the choices.
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131604
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128405
(cost is about the same, feature set is slightly different; probably going with the ASUS board)
About 100 dollars
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
200 dollars (there's not really much to contest here, it's the only CPU available for this board besides an i7, which I think is overkill for any kind of gaming)
RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
100 dollars. Corsair always looks good, to me. Price looks good, too.
PSU (supposing I find out that my old PSU fizzed out and actually doesn't work):
Cheaper (Will probably be enough to power this set):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&cm_re=psu-_-17-139-008-_-Product
Expensive (May be a bit overkill for this, since i5 is very efficient; not sure):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&cm_re=psu-_-17-139-005-_-Product
After some suggestion, this looks better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
About 50-100 dollars (40-79 with rebates). The second PSU is actually the one I used in my old PC. If it still works, I see no reason to replace it, since it's a really nice PSU.
GFX Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130435
About 115 dollars. I'm pretty sure that there's an ATI that's slightly better than this, for the same price. I'm really not sure if this is the thing I should be getting, considering I want the gaming performance to last. This'll probably be the thing I want the most suggestions on.
Leaving this for last, but right now I'm eying the ATI line. Specifically:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864&cm_re=ati-_-14-102-864-_-Product
The 5770 line looks good. However, prices may go down as something better is released, and I can afford to wait a bit on this.
Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133087
75 dollars (50 with rebate)
This case looks better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
There's one thing missing, and that's a DVD drive, so I can install an operating system (mine's been busted for a while). The cost of one is rather trivial, but I'll add it in anyway.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031
about 20 dollars
Oh, and for the sake of completion, some thermal compound for the CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
9 bucks
Comes down to a little over 600 dollars, I think (there's some rebates to take into account, maybe). Everything else depends on whether my old PSU still works or not. The amount of money I have to spend on this (my budget) depends only on how much I need to spend on this to get a decent system. After that, all of my job money's going to be saved for assorted things, because my computer is really the only thing I need to buy, for a long time. I think the i5 basis is a perfect choice because it overclocks like a monster, and I doubt I'd have to be replacing it for a few years. As for a monitor, I have an old one that works. I'm not much of a "spend money on the monitor" person, so I prioritize everything else.
So now I just need some input on this, and any input is appreciated.
Thanks
nstgc:
I would strongly advise against the 400W PSU.
Why not get a ATi 4770. Those cost the same and I think they have the same flops. The RAM bandwidth is problably lower, but unless you love your AA it should be a problem.
I also advise against a thermal Take case. I have an Armor and of the 5 cases I've worked in, it is the worst by far (this includes 2 mini towers, 2 mid towers, and this full tower). The edges are sharp, and the fans that come with it started dying within 2 weeks. I've had to replace all the fans. I'd suggest an Antec if you are looking to save money. Other wise, get a Lian-Li.
One last thing, unless you have a good reason to get a full ATX mother board, I'd buy a mini. With the exception of the last two I've purchased, all the ones I had were full ATC mother boards. With the exception of the DFI mother board (best one I ever owned) I didn't need ANY of the extras the board offered over its mini brothers.
[edit] Nope the RAM is not significantly slower (less then 10% difference), but the GPU is about 90% faster. They cost the same.
[edit2] Another problem with the TT Armor I have. It seems like their should be a bunch of room inside, but when you are working inside it, it seems smaller then you would expect. Its also bulky.
kureshii:
Either motherboard looks fine to me for the same price, although the Asus P7P55 LX being an ATX board would limit you in your choice of cases if you ever decide to go for a mini-tower case.
I also hear there're some differences betwen the VIA onboard audio on the P7P55 and Realtek onboard audio on the UD2, can't remember which fared better but you might want to look it up (although this is moot if you're using a sound card, of course, or don't care that much about minor differences in audio quality).
As an alternative to the P7P55 LX, there's also the P7P77-M, a microATX version of the P7P55 motherboard that isn't any less fully featured (apart from having 1 less x16 slot and 2 PCI slots, and also missing digital audio-out), although at the moment it's priced slightly higher and doesn't come with free shipping.
You might also want to look out for combo deals, there're usually some that combine motherboard/RAM/case with an i5. If it gives you better savings, consider going for it.
The CX400 is a fine PSU... if you're not doing any gaming, or are gaming with a low-power graphics card. If you intend to go mid-end or high-end on a single graphics card and you plan on pushing your build, I'd suggest a VX550 as a cheaper alternative. You'd hardly miss the fewer connectors, and the overall design is still the same (internally or externally).
And if you can reuse the TX650, by all means do that, it is a good PSU, and assuming your misadventures didn't do anything to it, it should still be serviceable.
In the <$70 range for ATX computer cases I'd readily go for an Antec Three Hundred (I'm not too fond of Lian-Li's budget designs, although I'd agree that they are really good). If you want cheaper than that, Cooler Master has a nice selection of budget cases (the Elite series; I'm personally not too fond of their Centurion series, but it might be to your liking).
I haven't included any microATX-only cases or slimmer cases in the above considerations, But if you do decide that you won't need an ATX board and don't mind spending a little more on the case, I'm always partial to a Silverstone TJ-08. It's a beautiful plain-jane mid-tower (microATX only) that should be sufficient for minimalistic needs
nstgc:
That GPU, CPU, and mother board together will surely use over 300W unless its always idle. Maybe not the 620W suply, but I think the 520W should be considered. A good power supply may have a price tag, but so does a one that may blow. I, personaly, don't want that extra load. I myself am considering getting another PSU (estimated peak usage is about 600W). Remember the actual power usage is greater then the TDP.
xShadow:
Alright, after looking over what you guys told me about, I'm revising my selections in a bit (I'm probably just going to update it in the original post, when I get around to it). It's been a pretty big help.
This post is actually ending up to be a bit long (well, not that long, but it's not small), so I think I'll separate some stuff out into spoiler tags; it'll probably make it easier to read.
First of all, responses:
Kureshii: (click to show/hide)
--- Quote ---I also hear there're some differences betwen the VIA onboard audio on the P7P55 and Realtek onboard audio on the UD2, can't remember which fared better but you might want to look it up (although this is moot if you're using a sound card, of course, or don't care that much about minor differences in audio quality).
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I'll probably be getting a sound card. That's for later, though. Most of my music is on this laptop anyway.
As for a micro ATX... there's not much point if it's not cheaper. ATX cases are about as expensive as Micro ATX cases anyway, from what I've seen. I don't mind a bit of desk clutter.
--- Quote ---In the <$70 range for ATX computer cases I'd readily go for an Antec Three Hundred (I'm not too fond of Lian-Li's budget designs, although I'd agree that they are really good). If you want cheaper than that, Cooler Master has a nice selection of budget cases (the Elite series; I'm personally not too fond of their Centurion series, but it might be to your liking).
I haven't included any microATX-only cases or slimmer cases in the above considerations, But if you do decide that you won't need an ATX board and don't mind spending a little more on the case, I'm always partial to a Silverstone TJ-08. It's a beautiful plain-jane mid-tower (microATX only) that should be sufficient for minimalistic needs
--- End quote ---
That MicroATX case is too expensive, but that other one looks pretty nice. <_<
I just hope I can turn those lights off, because I usually leave my computer on overnight, so I don't really care for lighting (I also just don't like case lighting in general, because it's annoying). Other than that, I think it probably beats the heck out of my case choice.
I've also been looking into Cooler Master and Lian-Li. Lian-Li's design isn't quite to my liking (seems like some of them would have bad air flow). Cooler Master, on the other hand, looks like it may have some decent candidates. I think I'll stick with that Antec, but I'll look through some more, just in case.
--- Quote ---You might also want to look out for combo deals, there're usually some that combine motherboard/RAM/case with an i5. If it gives you better savings, consider going for it.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I looked through those. Right now, there isn't anything quite suitable to my purposes. Like... "I don't NEED that hard drive/PSU/etc. in the combo".. that kind of stuff.
nstgc:
(click to show/hide)
--- Quote ---Why not get a ATi 4770. Those cost the same and I think they have the same flops. The RAM bandwidth is problably lower, but unless you love your AA it should be a problem.
--- End quote ---
You mean "shouldn't", I hope? >.<;
Yeah, I think that ATI has better cards, in terms of price for performance.
One thing I might want to clarify is that I think my old graphics card (a 7800GT) is still serviceable; it's a bit banged up, but it'll work (... probably...). Therefore, I'm going to be prioritizing the CPU, motherboard, case, RAM, and DVD drive, since that's all I really need to get up and running. The GPU will be something that my come a few weeks (maybe a month) later. That's why I just included that 9800GT up there as some random card that I could be using.
My actual graphics card range will be strictly between 100 and 200 dollars. I don't want anything less (crappy), and I don't want anything more (which is overly expensive). The ideal price is about 150 dollars.
That being said, I am investigating graphics cards right now. One particular card that I'm eying is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864&cm_re=ati-_-14-102-864-_-Product
The 5770 line seems to be at a good price, and the benchmarks look good.
The 4890 line also looks a bit intriguing, though it seems to be more expensive.
I'm not even looking at Nvidia, because they seem to be pretty overpriced lately.
Like, the closest thing they have in the 5770's range is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133266
And according to these charts, it performs a good bit worse, too.
--- Quote ---One last thing, unless you have a good reason to get a full ATX mother board, I'd buy a mini. With the exception of the last two I've purchased, all the ones I had were full ATC mother boards. With the exception of the DFI mother board (best one I ever owned) I didn't need ANY of the extras the board offered over its mini brothers.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, but right now the ATX boards are about the same price, and I don't really care about the larger sizes.
Now, a few things I want some clarification on:
(click to show/hide)1. I just noticed that the motherboards I selected are actually some the cheapest. In an attempt to see if the more expensive motherboards have anything worthwhile on them, I've been trying to figure out what exactly the differences between the boards I chose and some more expensive ones are. Besides some difference in number of ports and type of ports on the board, I haven't been able to find much..
Some examples:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128403
That one is probably priced so high because (unlike some/most 1156 boards) it seems to be able to fully support running 2 graphics cards in crossfire or sli. Is this incorrect, or is there something else, too?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121385
... Now this I'm completely kind of baffled by. Are a few extra ports worth twice the price, or is it just that there's something else that I'm not seeing here? <.<;
I'm just wondering if there's any real gain for me in purchasing a more expensive one. Otherwise, I think I'll stick with the ASUS board.. but I also want to make sure that I'm not missing out on something important.
2. Will the i5 CPU be able to handle any graphics card in the 100-200 dollar range without bottle-necking (or whatever it's called) it? Also, about how long can I keep using it until I need to upgrade it? I'm pretty sure that it's good, I just want to make sure I can keep using it for about two years or so after I get it, without any real problem.
3. Supposing I seriously make this thing (with something like an ati 5770 GPU), will it (that is, the whole system) be able to last me a good while? I'm not asking for the future, here... just want a rough estimate. I need to be able to game well on it. Not outstandingly, just well.
Also, I forgot to say this, but I don't need any hard drives, since my old computer's hard drives have been working fine for years now... and they're still quite serviceable.
Completely irrelevant, but...
(click to show/hide) (click to show/hide) (click to show/hide)
... Just now noticed you can't put spoiler tags inside of spoiler tags.
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