PC Comments, Suggestions

[Crazyduckling]

THIS THREAD HAS BEEN UPDATED! Jan 24 2012

Hello! Here's what I'm currently looking at for my new rig. I will be pulling my hard drive and dvd drive from my old rig, and I will also be adding a Sound Blaster Audigy SE which I already have. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to lower the price. I will buy everything but the video card hopefully within a couple weeks.

I was hoping to see what everyone suggests I do for a video card. Ultimately, I do not want to spend more than 300 on a new one.

Case
CPU
Mobo
RAM
Power Supply
Monitor
OS

Total: $691.93

[Rbstr]

Yeah you probably want the stronger supply.

Your graphics card there is out of stock. Personally I tend to go with graphics cards that use the nVidia reference heatsink/layout.
You could get a better hard disk for not much more. You can get 2x the storage and better performance with a WD green or black drive for ~20 more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136533

[Goku]

Hi Crazy. Can you update your post answering these questions from this thread?

I can tell you know if you do not want to overclock just get the 2400 as there isn't any difference between the 2500 and that in terms of performance. Next for a hard drive for $10 more I would get this Samsung F3 1TB. If you want to save more money you maybe better off with a 6870. That performs about the level of the 560 Ti and is anywhere from $25-$50 cheaper depending on the one you want.

Regarding the PSU what specific Antec one do you have? They have both low quality and high quality stuff over the years, so depending on if you do not overclock and its quality it may work. That is what it depends on right now.

About the CPUs. The next line of CPUs coming from Intel is Ivy Bridge expected sometime around March. I doubt the current line of CPUs will see any price drop, so if you are looking for that you likely will not see it. I do not see there being a major performance boost with IB vs SB either. GPUs we have no idea as to their release. TSMC who makes the GPU core is having major issues at the moment with both Nvidia's and AMD's. We could see them in January of 2012 or even August. If you wish to get to do a build now I would go for it.

[Traak]

Yeah, What Goku said.

[Crazyduckling]

Thanks for the help.

The Antec psu that I already have is this: I guess it is 550w.

I do not plan on overclocking, and the time window for doing this would be no later than December-ish. My budget is not much more than the cost of the parts I have already posted. I don't need fancy features, just a newer gaming PC than what I have. Gaming will basically be its only use. I am willing to sacrifice a bit of performance for cost. I am not worried about the cost of shipping or an OS. I may also throw in my harddrive from my old pc as well for storage.

Also, 32 or 64 bit Windows 7?

[Goku]

Well if it is not that far out. Don't worry about it too much.

Just so you get a idea here is some parts I would go with today:

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $59.99
SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB - $179.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $41.99
MSI PH61A-P35 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H61 - $79.99
Intel Core i5-2400 - $189.99

Total = $551.95

Are you willing to spend more on a case? I would recommend a higher quality one simply due to cases lasting multiple builds. No reason to cheap out on them in my opinion as it won't be a factor in cost for the next build.

Let me look into that PSU a bit more. Looks like a quality unit, but it is old. What year did you get that? If it is more recent then 2006 and you are not doing overclocking this system should be efficient enough to not cause issues.

For a OS I would recommend Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

What resolution do you plan on running at?

[Crazyduckling]

I could go more on a case, but I am very particular with the way my case would have to look. I find a lot of cases to be pretty ugly. What should I look for in a 'long-term' case?

I bought that power supply in March of 2006.

1600x900 would be the resolution that I'll be running.

[Goku]

Take a look at these:

Cases:

$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$127 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$143 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case

[Crazyduckling]

bumping because the thread has been updated.

[Goku]

I would suggest swapping out that case for another maker like Lian Li, Corsair, or Coolermaster. Raidmax isn't known for quality cases especially for that price.

I don't like that PSU either. OCZ isn't known for good PSUs especially that line you have. Do you want a modular PSU?

Concerning the video card. I suggest getting a GTX 560 Ti or GTX 570 through EVGA. That way if a new video card from Nvidia comes out in the next 90 days you can use the step up program and get that.

[Crazyduckling]

New case

What would you recommend for a PSU? Modular isn't important to me. Cost is.

I think I'll go with this: Video Card

[Goku]

Check this out.

I would recommend this PSU.

Video card is good. I don't know if you care, but this one has a life time warranty vs the two year on the one you have. Your call if it is worth the extra cash.