Gaming Build ~$750 USD. First build. Philadelphia, PA.
90 replies, posted
I will be needing a new monitor and power supply. I have my own case, but more on that later.
I want to go for 64 bit and I want at most 4 GB of RAM. For a HDD, I have a 1TB external drive that is nowhere near full and I've been using 250 GB for years with no issues, so 500 GB will be more than enough. For the OS I will be dual-booting Linux (Probably Mint or Ubuntu) with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, which is included in the $750.
About the case I have, it was donated to me by a family friend. She assures me that it will be fine so long as I can replace the PSU, but I can no longer get in contact with her to get the model or manufacturer. My friends assure me that it's a full-sized tower and that it should be universal. To be safe, here is a picture gallery of it taken with my phone. If you need more accurate dimensions or better pictures I could provide them.
[url]https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/7333627/1/computer?h=e2c3ae[/url]
[editline]22nd June 2011[/editline]
I should also note: On the fans inside the case, it says "Axio" and a url: "www.axiotechnology.com" which is a dead link.
I just found $100 bucks under some junk on my desk so I now have a working budget of $850.
-snip- didn't read..one sec
[editline]25th June 2011[/editline]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.662146[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231425[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009261[/url]
$882 (if you can go over..)
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30701857]-snip- didn't read..one sec
[editline]25th June 2011[/editline]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.662146[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231425[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986[/url]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009261[/url]
$882 (if you can go over..)[/QUOTE]
I think you're missing a few parts. (the GPU?)
I tallied up all those parts and it came out to about $691.
Thank you for the suggestions, though!
Thank you, this may be enough to help me get started.
[editline]26th June 2011[/editline]
Welp, a friend of mine gave me one of his Windows 7 64 bit Professional keys he got from school so there's another 100 bucks I can use.
With the money I'm saving from Windows, should I go for this?
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073[/url]
That brings my total to roughly $890.
If you can fit a motherboard (G43 + 2500k combo (you will want to overclock))
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.660242[/url]
So I should just get that then? I honestly don't understand what you mean by saying if you can "fit" a motherboard.
That would actually save me roughly $50 dollars.
It would? Well then, go for it!
This is where that leaves me:
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7333627/mybuildsofar.png[/img]
[editline]27th June 2011[/editline]
Forgot optical drive. Don't need anything fancy, though.
[editline]27th June 2011[/editline]
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289[/url]
Would that do the job? I have no interest in Blu-Ray or anything.
[editline]27th June 2011[/editline]
Actually, I just found this deal and I might go for it.
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.675226[/url]
+
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349[/url]
= $895. I'm thinking the quad core i7 + 8GB ram would be worth the price. I can recycle a monitor for now.
i7 and 8GB ram is only worth it if you can utilize hyper threading and the extra RAM
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30752748]i7 and 8GB ram is only worth it if you can utilize hyper threading and the extra RAM[/QUOTE]
Point taken. On second thought I don't think I would need the i7, I've heard that it can be overkill. I could always upgrade RAM for cheap later when I get more money, and the better monitor may be worth it.
My one friend is saying to not go for Intel and to go for the AMD and claims that Intel is greatly overpriced and the AMD gets me more bang for my buck. Is there any credence to this claim?
The i5 2500k is about the best cpu you can get for gaming, especially if money is not a concern. Just get that.
Considering you save money getting Intel..AMD won't give you "more bang for your buck". Sandy bridge is highly overclockable (5GHz easy) and the 2500k/2600k are the two most powerful CPUs on the market right now (excluding the 980x, 990x and 995x (usually only in circumstances where more cores = better))
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30758790]Considering you save money getting Intel..AMD won't give you "more bang for your buck". Sandy bridge is highly overclockable (5GHz easy) and the 2500k/2600k are the two most powerful CPUs on the market right now (excluding the 980x, 990x and 995x (usually only in circumstances where more cores = better))[/QUOTE]
I'm also terrified to overclock, especially considering how hot my room gets in the summer. (32 Celsius, no air conditioning.)
That's god damn ridiculous, usually 105f during the day here and the house can only stay 20f cooler. You should be fine aslong as you have a well ventilated case and apply thermal paste correctly
Thank you for your help and answering all my noob questions. One final thing:
I know the heatsink comes with thermal paste applied already. Should I buy a better paste or just leave it on stock?
IMO if it's that hot, don't bother with the stock cooler. Sandy Bridge runs pretty cool, but you should invest in a cheap cooler like a Hyper 212+
Thanks for the recommendation. I am going to stick with stock for now, but if I notice it's getting too hot I can easily just pick up that fan.
Also, I'm getting this too because it's the same graphics card for the same price but with an additional free game because why the hell not?
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.656836[/url]
I'm going to need a wireless adapter.
Needs to support WPA2, wireless N.
I want to avoid USB.
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106061[/url]
How would this do?
In addition I'm considering switching out the HIS for a Sapphire, I'm hearing it runs cooler and it's only $5 more.
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102913[/url]
Sapphire cards do run quiet and quite cool.
[editline]30th June 2011[/editline]
nearly got "quiet" and "quite" mixed up
Alright, I think I'm ready. A friend of the family owns a computer store so I'll ask her for advice before I buy, and I'll see her on the 4th of July. Also I may buy the HIS GPU from Amazon because it's out of stock on Newegg and I have a $25 gift card to there. So I'll buy after 4th of July and I'll get back to you when I'm building.
Amazon is terrible for PC parts..
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30807165]Amazon is terrible for PC parts..[/QUOTE]
Why is that?
Every experience I've had with shipping and amazon was fucking terrible. Many times they wouldn't send an email or tracking number and there are a lot of shady sellers on there..
Also, I've decided on this wireless card.
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124342[/url]
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