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Under $1K Dual Monitor Build

915 views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  MisterFred 
#1 ·
My co-worker needs a new computer. It has to be under $1000 (the further under the better), has to be intel, and has to have dual monitors included - plus windows 7 pro.

This is what I have come up with. Hopefully, I can combo some of this stuff to save a little more cash. It's not for gaming. It's for work at home plus the usual home computer stuff like browsing, maybe some netflix, ect.

Is there anything you would change with this build?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15817454
 
#2 ·
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236205&Tpk=Asus%20VS229H-P
=better monitor at $172 each.

Has to be Intel? Hmm. And here's a case where the AMD APUs would actually be decent. Oh well. Totally revamped list:

Same CPU ($125)
Asrock H77m mobo ($70) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303
same GPU ($70)
Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB (yeah, overkill) ($80 after promo code) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337
Antec One case (more professional looking) ($58) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129181
RAM ($34 after promo code) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313123
DVD-burner ($18) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247
Rosewill Green 430w ($40 after promo code) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182202
Windows Professional ($140)

Total = $979 (including shipping, not including tax)
More importantly, a non-crap PSU. Even if you keep your original build, change out the PSU for this one.

Doesnt' account for: mouse/keyboard/speakers/wi-fi (if necessary)
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the feedback.

I don't know anything about Asrock motherboards in regards to quality or customer service. I'll be sticking to ASUS since I trust them. Plus the H61 board has solid capacitors. I don't see mention of that on the Asrock board. Expandability shouldn't be that big of an issue, so micro ATX isn't a huge concern.

I've got plenty of reasons to not want a lot of those components, but I'm not opposed to switching the PSU. Why do you think the 430W is so much better? Since it is 80 plus? Are the "green" PSU's supposed to have better components in them? I'm using the stallion series in a current workstation, and it has been nothing but great.
 
#4 ·
Some power supplies just supply superior quality power. This is measured in terms of voltage regulation & ripple (basically how steady & constant is the power provided, vs inconstant power with slightly higher spikes & dips).The 'dirtier' the power supplied by the power supply, the higher likelihood it will slowly degrade components over time. Also, some power supplies can't really deliver their rated wattage - the companies fudge their numbers or simply lie. For instance, the Rosewill Green 430w can probably match the maximum power output of the Rosewill Stallion 500w, but the Stallion paints a larger number on the box. Unfortunately, there's not really a way to tell the difference between good & bad PSUs right off except reading power reviews. Or just looking inside if you're really knowledgeable. Thankfully you can come here.

Long story short, the Rosewill Green series provides higher quality power than the Rosewill Stallion series. Stallions are cheap, relatively unreliable brands. Greens are middle of the road, good budget performers that you don't have to worry about. Stallions will generally work, particularly if you get a wattage level high above the amount you really need (taking into account cheap, poor-quality power supplies is why most online power calculators recommend far higher wattage than you really need, like nvidia recommending 550-600w PSUs to power one GTX 560 or something ridiculous like that). But there's a higher risk, and no real penalty for getting a higher quality power supply, since some quality line like a Rosewill Green or an Antec Neo Eco or something is usually available at the same price.

For motherboard, if you're not overclocking, it's meh, whatever. You're not going to stress the board and you won't see any performance difference. Heavily overclocking, and motherboard choice actually matters a bit. For instance, that's when solid capacitors might actually matter.
 
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