New Build- $1000

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Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Messages
95
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly Gaming, but other student related activities.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
One grand give or take.
3) Where do you live?
Southern California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
I need everything except for a keyboard,monitor, and mouse (Extra funds can be added for an OS.)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None except for monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not right now, but maybe in the future.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have a 2 year old 22" Dell LCD.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next week or so.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Anything that you deem is necessary.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No, I'm planning on buying Windows 7 Ultimate-64 bit OEM.


Here's what I've got so far, but feel free to completely overhaul:
Motherboard and RAM- EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail / OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK- $357.98 w/MIRs
CPU and Graphics Card- Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail/ EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - $463.98 w/MIR
HDD and OS- Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive/ Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM - $219.98
PSU- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - $109.99 w/MIR
DVD/CD Drive- Sony Optiarc Black 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM- $29.99
Case- Antec 900 - $99.99

Total
$1,387.67 w/Tax
 
Do you live near a Microcenter?
What student related activities are you talking about?
 
1.) Just surfing the web and typing paper, general high school stuff combined with gaming
2.) Relatively close, although I wouldn't call it convenient.
 
If you can make the drive, I'd get the Core i7 920 for $200 from Microcenter. Though for straight up gaming and the tasks you described, you can drop down to the Core i5 CPU.

Case wise, I'd recommend these better cases in terms of room and quality:
$60 - Antec 300 ATX Case
$60 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$120 - Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z ATX Case
$130 - Cooler Master Storm Sniper ATX Case

For $5 more, you can get a much better PSU:
$115 - Antec Truepower New TP750 750W PSU

Also, do you actually need all of the features of Windows 7 Ultimate?

GPU wise, the GTX 260 is not worth it even at its $165 AR price. Go for either the HD4870 1GB, HD 5770 1GB, or HD 5850 1GB video cards instead.
 
1.) K, I think I'll go with the CM HAF 922 then. I choose the Antec because it seemed to have gotten a lot of good reviews.
2.) How is that PSU better? I'm mentally handicapped when it comes to PSUs ;)
3.) I just went with the ultimate because it's only $20 more expensive than the Pro and it was in the combo deal.
4.) What would you personally recommend for a Graphics card?
 
1.) K, I think I'll go with the CM HAF 922 then. I choose the Antec because it seemed to have gotten a lot of good reviews.
2.) How is that PSU better? I'm mentally handicapped when it comes to PSUs ;)
3.) I just went with the ultimate because it's only $20 more expensive than the Pro and it was in the combo deal.
4.) What would you personally recommend for a Graphics card?

The Antec Truepower New 750W PSU is based on newer and better Seasonic PSU platform. The Corsair 750TX is based on an older CWT design.

GPU wise, either the HD4870 or the HD5770.
 
I'm still not sure about the HD 5770 over the GTX 260 Core 216. Check out this comparison from gpureview.

Umm, you can't really compare those specs since those cards are based different GPU platforms. Actually look for a review dude.

Anyway, the main reason why the GTX 260 is a horrible deal at $165 for the following reasons:
- The HD4870 1GB is slightly faster than the GTX 260 yet can be found for $145.
- The HD5770 1GB is slightly slower than the HD4870 1GB but offers Eyefinity and DX11 support.
 
Umm, you can't really compare those specs since those cards are based different GPU platforms. Actually look for a review dude.

Anyway, the main reason why the GTX 260 is a horrible deal at $165 for the following reasons:
- The HD4870 1GB is slightly faster than the GTX 260 yet can be found for $145.
- The HD5770 1GB is slightly slower than the HD4870 1GB but offers Eyefinity and DX11 support.

Gotcha. I've been out of the fold since I built my last rig about 5 years ago. Back then the 7600GT was king :D
 
I agree with Danny and you really don't need an i7 rig. i5 750 would more than serve your needs. As you can buy a more powerful video card with the savings like a 5850. Which will last you longer.
 
Dunno... worse, it appears as if most of the major online retailers don't have the 5770 or 5870 in stock. With the holiday season fast approaching, expect the available stock to be even smaller and more "random."
 
So 2 5770's are combo'd with my PSU. Would you rather go with a POWERCOLOR or XFX?
 
XFX has the much better warranty and CS.

Wait -- why TWO HD5770 cards? Because the 5870 is OOS?

No, I meant as in there were only 2 brands, Powercolor or XFX. Sorry for the mixup ;)

EDIT: AH CRAP! I forgot that combo deals reset at the end of the month :mad:
 
Spend the extra and get the i7 860. You'll be asking yourself why you didn't in a couple weeks. (same thing my brother did) I went with the i7 860 mostly due to the hyperthreading not being enabled on the i5 and after seeing benchmarks and such...going with the i5 really wasn't a big improvement from my DDR3 and Q9550. Spending that much money on a new system, and skimpin on the CPU is not what I would call wise. Don't mean to flame anyone or such, Just my take.
 
Alright, considering absolutely none of my parts want to combo now, can someone cook me up something similar?
 
Try to get some of your parts from Amazon.com as they do not charge us CA residents tax.

Also, DEFINITELY go to MC to buy the CPU. The Core i7 920 is only $200 and the Core i5 750 is only $160 there.

Just an incomplete prelim build:
$200 - Core i7 920 from MC
$210 - Asus P6T SE Intel X58 ATX Motherboard FS
$140 - G.Skill F3-12800CL8T-6GBRM 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$31 - Samsung SH-S223B SATA DVD Burner
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case FS
 
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You don't necessarily need Hyper-Threading for a gaming machine. All that Hyper-Threading does is manage CPU tasks a little better and "fools" the computer into thinking that you have twice as many CPU cores than you actually have.

To keep everything under $1000 (besides shopping at Amazon for the major components), pick up the Core i5 750, a mid-range P55 board like the Gigabyte P55-UD4P (or, if you don't need that many features, the Gigabyte P55-UD3R), and a "brand name" 2x2GB DDR3 (1333 or 1600) dual-channel kit that runs at 1.5V (off the top of my head, G.Skill and Mushkin make RAM that run at that voltage level).

Stupid question, but one that I had to answer (many times) recently: Do you need all of the features of Windows 7 Ultimate? The only differences between it and Professional are the BitLocker drive encryption (which can be replicated in many ways using TrueCrypt instead) and the 35 language support. And if you don't plan on using Windows XP Mode, nor do you have a need for remote desktop support, then you would be better off using Windows 7 Home Premium.

Additionally, the 1TB Seagate 7200.10 is a better buy at NewEgg. It uses the 500GB drive platters that make it faster than the WD Black 750GB HDD, and it's available there for $90. Oh, right... it's available at Amazon as well....
 
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Going with the i5 really wasn't a big improvement from my DDR3 and Q9550.
An improvement for what? I think it really depends on what system the OP is coming from. Upgrading from a Q9550 to an i5 is not what I would call wise. But an i5 is a very formidable processor for just about any other scenario.

Edit: That said, I don't think the 860 (or the 920) is a bad deal, either. You may be able to get a slightly better deal on a motherboard with the 860, though.
 
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I just checked the Tustin store, since you said you were in SoCal. They have 151 i5 750's in stock.

Aha. I just checked and realized that they didn't show up before because I typed 'i7' into the search box. Good catch :D
 
So my budget has received a donation by my parents (being a student sucks) and I now have enough for an i7 920. Conveniently, my MC just got some in stock and I'm on my way right now. :D
 
nice. btw, if you bring a printout of your newegg shopping cart, they may pricematch other parts if they're in stock.
 
Your mileage may vary... it really depends on the particular Micro Center store in question. From my past experiences, they appear to be more willing to price-match motherboards, processors, and memory -- but they aren't willing to price-match bundle deals.
 
Yeah, I was sucked in by the processor, but decided to just get it over with and buy all my parts there. Unfortunately, I went about $500 over budget :eek: But at least this rig is going to kick major ***!

So here's my rig:
Evga x58 SLI LE INT 1366 -$230
Diamond HD5850- $300
Seagate 1TB HDD- $85
Coolermaster HAF-922 Case- $110
Antec Truepower New 750W PSU- $130
Intel i7 920- $200
OCZ DDR3 Gold 6GB 1600- $150

Now I've gotta let my bank account recover!
 
An improvement for what? I think it really depends on what system the OP is coming from. Upgrading from a Q9550 to an i5 is not what I would call wise. But an i5 is a very formidable processor for just about any other scenario.

Edit: That said, I don't think the 860 (or the 920) is a bad deal, either. You may be able to get a slightly better deal on a motherboard with the 860, though.

I didn't go with the i5 because I didn't think it was anything faster/better than the Q9550 setup that I already had. It made no sense to buy something new just to have it. I don't mean to imply that the i5 is inferior to the Q9550, I was just stating that going from a Q9550 to an i5 really wouldn't be a very beneficial move. My brother DID do that....Q9550 system got sold....i5 system purchased....decided in a week or so that he should have just spent the extra for the i7 860 and then did just that. When a friend offered to buy my nearly new Q9550 setup, I sold it to him and then got the i7 860. I just didn't want somebody else to do the same thing as my brother and also regret it.

OP, glad ya got what ya wanted and I'm sure you'll be tickled to death once ya get it all up and running. Good times.
 
K, so I put everything together and connected all the cables. Before I plugged anything in, I booted her up to make sure all the fans were working properly, which it turns out my front fan wasn't. I think I fixed the fan problem, but now she won't boot up. I get the LED's on the motherboard, which means that power is going through, but she won't boot. Any help?
 
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