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First Time Building... Need Advice!

post #1 of 44
7/3/12 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
Hi everyone, I'm just a college student that payed off some of my tuition and wanted to use the remaining to build a new PC for myself!

I've been reading through these forums for hours (when I came upon it last night biggrin.gif) and have done a fair amount of research on what I should be looking for in building a new PC.This will be my first time and I'm up for the challenge and it sounds fun.
But after doing research I'm still not confident on what I should be purchasing to make the most out of what I need to pay!
SO! I would really appreciate it if you guys can help me out here by completely finishing/sorting out the things I need for my PC.

  • My budget is Around $1000 (USD).
  • I am willing to spend at most $200 over if needed be for speed or whatever you guys think is worth the money.
  • The main purpose of this PC would be gaming, a lot of multitasking, and a lot of movie viewing. I would like to be able to play any games now and later in the future as well as upgrading it as well!
  • ALSO! This budget is including a monitor and maybe speakers as well!

If you guys can help me out that would be great!
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post #2 of 44
7/3/12 at 10:18am
Question 1) do you live near a microcenter?
The "I am done with custom loops" build
(18 items)
 
Spare Parts List
(14 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
AMD FX 8350 ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 6gb Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 6gb 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
16Gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer Seagate Barracuda Samsung 830 256gb Intel X25-m 
CoolingOSMonitorMonitor
NZXT Kraken x60 Windows 8 64bit Crossover 30q5 2560x1600 Dell U2312HM 1080X1920 (portrait) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
CoolerMaster Storm Trigger (Some custom keycaps) OCZ Fatal1ty 1000w InWin grOne Grey/Red SteelSeries Sensei 
Mouse PadAudio
SteelSeries Glass something Astro A40 + Mixamp, V-moda M-80 Crossfade, Klip... 
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
i7-975 Extreme Edition Asus Rampage III Gene, Evga x58 SLI Broken 6990, maybe RMAable ATI 5670 (I think) 
RAMCoolingCoolingCooling
12gb OCZ gold Corsair H80 Magicool 180mm, EK Coolstream 120 rads Swiftech apogee drive II (slightly broken maybe?) 
CoolingKeyboardPowerCase
Corsair H100 Ducky Shine DK9000s Corsair HX750 (non-modular) Corsair Vengeance C70 white, Antec 902 v3, Smas... 
MouseAudio
R.A.T. 7 don't ask. 
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The "I am done with custom loops" build
(18 items)
 
Spare Parts List
(14 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
AMD FX 8350 ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 6gb Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 6gb 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
16Gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer Seagate Barracuda Samsung 830 256gb Intel X25-m 
CoolingOSMonitorMonitor
NZXT Kraken x60 Windows 8 64bit Crossover 30q5 2560x1600 Dell U2312HM 1080X1920 (portrait) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
CoolerMaster Storm Trigger (Some custom keycaps) OCZ Fatal1ty 1000w InWin grOne Grey/Red SteelSeries Sensei 
Mouse PadAudio
SteelSeries Glass something Astro A40 + Mixamp, V-moda M-80 Crossfade, Klip... 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
i7-975 Extreme Edition Asus Rampage III Gene, Evga x58 SLI Broken 6990, maybe RMAable ATI 5670 (I think) 
RAMCoolingCoolingCooling
12gb OCZ gold Corsair H80 Magicool 180mm, EK Coolstream 120 rads Swiftech apogee drive II (slightly broken maybe?) 
CoolingKeyboardPowerCase
Corsair H100 Ducky Shine DK9000s Corsair HX750 (non-modular) Corsair Vengeance C70 white, Antec 902 v3, Smas... 
MouseAudio
R.A.T. 7 don't ask. 
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post #3 of 44
7/3/12 at 10:28am
Montior: Dell Ultrasharp u2312hm, a 23" IPS monitor - $235 @ amazon.

CPU: i5-3450 ($190)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=70543&vpn=BX80637I53450&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1223

Motherboard: Asrock B75 ($73)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130616

CPU Cooler: Stock Intel cooler.

RAM: 2x4gb 1333mhz ($40)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424

GPU: XFX 6870 ($160 - $30 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561

Case: Bit Fenix Outlaw ($45)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=63255&vpn=BFC%2DOLW%2D100%2DKKN1%2DRP&manufacture=BitFenix&promoid=1223
Case is largely a matter of personal preference. This is a decent budget case that's not wacky looking. If you want shiny, wacky, with blue LEDs, look at the Zalman z9 or z77 cases.

PSU: Antec Neo Eco 450c ($35)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=60491&vpn=NEO%2DECO450C&manufacture=Antec&promoid=1223

SSD (Optional): Intel 330 120gb ($130)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167121

HDD: WD Caviar Blue 500gb ($65 after promo code)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

DVD-burner ($10)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=60731&vpn=GH22NS70&manufacture=LG%20Electronics%20USA&promoid=1223

Total = $935 (after $30 mail in rebates, including the optional SSD)
Does not include windows, mouse, keyboard, speakers/headphones.
Anti-Procrastinator
(8 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
G850 ASRock H61M-GS None Patriot 2x2GB 
Hard DriveCoolingPowerMouse
Barracuda 500GB HR-02 Macho Rosewill Green 430 Mionix Naos 3200 
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Anti-Procrastinator
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G850 ASRock H61M-GS None Patriot 2x2GB 
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Barracuda 500GB HR-02 Macho Rosewill Green 430 Mionix Naos 3200 
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post #4 of 44
7/3/12 at 11:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by alcal View Post

Question 1) do you live near a microcenter?
I don't live near a microcenter unfortunately...

I also figured out a way to purchase a monitor, so that can be crossed off the list.
I still have a budget of $1000~$1200, so will taking the monitor off change any of the specified parts of the build?

After researching, I decided that I do want to add an SSD which will help with the speed and performance.
If I were to lean towards heavier gaming, would the PSU and GPU suffice?

Thanks for the replies!

*Oh and I forgot to mention that I will be planning to overclock
Edited by jihoonjhk - 7/3/12 at 11:26am
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post #5 of 44
7/3/12 at 11:27am
The 6870 will run any game at 1920x1080 smoothly, but some of the harder-to-run games will have to be run on medium rather than maximum settings. Other games, like Blizzard's easy-to-run Diablo 3 or SC2, will achieve maximum graphics using the 6870 with no problems at all.

For GPU your decision basically depends on what you value more: a little bit higher graphics settings or walking-around money. Given you're in college, I'd probably go for a couple of hot dates and a wild experience or 2 over an improved video card. But generally the next step up would be the 7850 @ ~$230, the 7950 at a bit above $300, and then the 670 at $400. But like I said, there's diminishing returns, particularly at 1920x1080 resolutions.

The PSU will handle any single-GPU system with ease.
Anti-Procrastinator
(8 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
G850 ASRock H61M-GS None Patriot 2x2GB 
Hard DriveCoolingPowerMouse
Barracuda 500GB HR-02 Macho Rosewill Green 430 Mionix Naos 3200 
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Anti-Procrastinator
(8 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
G850 ASRock H61M-GS None Patriot 2x2GB 
Hard DriveCoolingPowerMouse
Barracuda 500GB HR-02 Macho Rosewill Green 430 Mionix Naos 3200 
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post #6 of 44
7/3/12 at 11:37am
Case: Rosewill ranger: 40$ (promo code: EMCNDHB24)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147061
HDD: seagate 7200rpm 1tb: 85$
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=65701&vpn=ST1000DM003&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1223
GPU:omited atm
Power supply: Corsair Builder 500w: 30$ (promo code: EMCNDHD77)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027
Memory: samsung 8gb: 50$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096
CPU: Intel i5 3570k: 215$ (promo code: EMCNDHB34)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Mobo: MSI g44 matx z77: 105$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130647

Additional Items:
CPU cooler: CM Hyper 212: 20$(30-10$ mail in rebate)(this should come in handy with the AMD 4100 and the i5 3570k to help overclock)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
DVD Burner: Liteon DVD burner: 18$ (who uses these anymore?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
Boot/ Intel smart response SSD: OCZ vertex 3 60gb: 55$ (70-15$ mail in rebate)(Intel smart response is amazing in my opinion)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227737

Money saving options:
GPU: XFX 6870 ($160 - $30 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561
Memory: Crucial ballistix 4gb: 25$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148488
Memory: team elite 8gb: 33.60$ (promo code: EMCNDHD69)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313086
Case: CM Elite 430: 30$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227
HDD: WD blue 500gb: 65$ (promo EMCNDHB222)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

This is a good list to start from,
do you need keyboard, mouse, os?
Edited by thehidecheck - 7/3/12 at 11:40am
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post #7 of 44
7/3/12 at 11:41am
On the topic of gpu's you missed some good deals, saw a 560ti drop to 175$ and a 7850 drop to 200$, those are gone now, ima look around for something in that range.
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post #8 of 44
7/3/12 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the replies.
I will be needing a OS, but not a keyboard or mouse atm.

Also, I made some changes and this is what I came up with: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bjNk
I decided to up my GPU a bit considering that I am willing to spend a bit more for future references. It is summer and I am working my butt off, but I want it to be worth a while smile.gif

I know its still missing some parts and if you guys can help fill in the missing piece, that would be great! Any advice on what I should change out would be awesome too.
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post #9 of 44
7/3/12 at 12:32pm
Case: Rosewill ranger: 40$ (promo code: EMCNDHB24)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147061
you can get the hyper 212 cheaper at newegg(20$) if you tolerate mail in rebates.
Looks good, gotta decide what monitor you want and thats really a personal preference thing. I wouldn't jump to ips on your budget but others might say its worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009316 is a good deal
OS is gonna run you another 100$. So, looks like you will run 1100(100$ over budget), in which case, if you still want to meet budget, get a 6870 or drop the ssd.
Edited by thehidecheck - 7/3/12 at 12:34pm
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post #10 of 44
7/3/12 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah I just noticed that it is a bit over my budget and decided to lower the GPU to a 6870 just like MisterFred said.

Also I know this isn't a big deal, but I dont mind spending a bit more for a case, so are there any other options to that?
And finally, I'm guessing that everything here is compatible?
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