A build a computer thread.

[Nimera]

Hi guys.

After talking to a lot of people it sounds like my laptops sound card is kicking the bucket. I'm looking to build a desktop instead. This will be top to bottom. I have a case that's a few years old but I don't know if for a first time build I'd be better starting from scratch.

My budget will be 900 save over 3-4 months. I already have the death adder mouse picked up. Looking for a monitor/keyboard as well.

I want something that can handle 25 man WoW raids on ultra. Or at least high if it puts me way over budget.

If taking apart my current case is doable then don't include a case.

[Henreh]

mm I have a guide coming up soon but could you tell us which case you have? A picture would be a little helpful too.

[Nimera]

I'm starting to think it might not be worth it. It gathered a lot of hair in the vents(?) or something and that was just from playing low key f2ps like years ago.


Think I want to just buy a new case. I think I'd be more comfortable just starting from scratch anyway.

looking for a monitor larger than 17", my laptop is currently 17" and it's just a bit too small. I get the feeling a monitor is gonna hurt.

[Henreh]

any OS preferences? I don't know if you tried windows 8 yet but it's kinda cheaper than windows 7 right now.

[Henreh]

processor/motherboard
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

video card
Newegg.com - HIS IceQ X H785QN2G2M Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

RAM
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Monitor
Newegg.com - Asus VE228H 21.5" Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers ASCR 10,000,000:1

Power Supply
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Hard Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Case
Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CD Drive
Newegg.com - LG 24X DVD Burner - Bare Drive 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH24NS95 - CD / DVD Burners

It was a real pain in the butt since monitors are so expensive and working around $150 wasn't easy. I didn't include the OS yet but that would put it over $900. I would recommend you to get an windows 7 ISO and burn it to a cd and use your laptops CD key or wait till christmas since there's always a sale on windows.

[Nimera]

I have windows 7 on a USB. I'm buying it in bits as pieces and if a better monitor goes over in the end I might bother you about it.

Thanks Henreh!

[Henreh]

Monitors are usually on sale more often then the rest of the parts. I would personally buy the processor/motherboard combo first since deals come and go. I would keep an eye out on the christmas deals especially the video card, hard drive and monitor ones. You might be able to save enough from deals for a SSD to make your new PC that much better O:

[kag]

Some Tools
PSU Calculator
Newegg.com - Recommended Power Supply Calculator.

Buying Guide
I remember someone posted this image once.

This is a new updated version and i think it is the best guide ever

System Build - PCPartPicker
Doesn't have everything but you can pick stuff and give others the link of what you picked out.

[Nimera]

Someone hit my car in a parking lot and I just paid for that, ha. I'm guessing over the next 4 months or so I'll be buying this in bits and pieces, starting probably with the mobo/processor and graphics card as they seem to be the heavy hitters. I just needed a grocery list to start so I can watch for sales/etc.

I'm definitely glad I went with buying a new case... I honestly don't think the one I have would be able to cool well enough for what I plan on using this for. Plus I think for my first build starting from scratch would be easier, though since this desktop is just getting tossed I might spend a day dissecting it ha.

Thanks for the help again guys, if down the road I have any questions/concerns I'll poke this thread. I wish I had the money now I'm excited to build my first system ;o;

[Henreh]

I personally don't recommend the case but for the price you can't go wrong with it. If you can find a Radeon HD 7870Ghz for under $200 I would highly recommend that over the 7850.

I listed the part based on how often they're on sale and important they are.

Processor/Motherboard
Video Card
Monitor
Power Supply
Hard Drive
RAM
Case
CD drive

[Nimera]

I'm willing to go a bit over for the case if there's something monumentally better, but I mean a hundred dollars over my budget will be pushing it. :l

A friend of mine said something about CPU and GPU, not having enough of one and too much of the other. She's built one system and had help the whole way (like me) so I kinda don't take TOO much stock in what she has to say (told me to get AMD just because it's cheaper than Intel sob), but I'm just curious about what reasoning she had/why you're more right (I do trust you more)

I was also told to look into Nvidia 660 Ti, is that something worth looking into to? I've asked some WoW buddies their opinion on my build and I've gotten nothing but nods except for the Nvidia recommendation and my friend pushing AMD/different mobo (I'm assuming).

[Henreh]

I wouldn't even suggest AMD these days for a entry level PC until they can prove they can perform on par with Intel, which they haven't been doing for the past 3 years. Also the i5 3470 was cheaper than the best AMD processor out currently. I assume your friend means bottle-necking (CPU limiting the GPU and vice versa) but no it's not going to happen.

You can look at some performances of the 2 CPUs here and even compare some other stuff.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/702?vs=697

The 660Ti is $270-300 so I didn't even think about it since that's about a third of a budget and it would have limited me to getting lower quality parts. Video cards are always getting better and dropping in price so I recommended the 7850 since it has the best performance to price ratio. I would have recommend waiting for the next generation AMD video cards since it's going to be 20-40% faster then the current generation.

I don't really recommend overpaying for a motherboard if you're not going to utilize all of it's features like overclocking or using up all of your video card slots. The z77 pro3 is amazing for under $100, you can overclock well and it has room for another video card to do a dual GPU configuration. Not to mention you get a discount because of the combo.

The case isn't bad but the cooling is decent and cable management is iffy.

[Nimera]

Alright. Honestly even though I'm new I find it interesting to hear some of the reasonings. She told me she has an AMD 'on par' with Intel and it's way cheaper but even so I wouldn't touch AMD with a 10 foot pole.

And I've honestly had no issues with my Radeon in my laptop it's just that it's well... a laptop. WoW default sets to High graphics but my laptop can't handle that high.


Going to try and work 70 hours a week to afford this sucker q_p but thanks for elaborating I didn't really plan on changing anything but my friend said she could 'build me something better for cheaper' and like I said... she's built once and thinks she's an expert rofl. Thanks for indulging me.

[Henreh]

Oh I also improved your build a bit while I was editing my own computer builds. Although I have no clue if the hard drive and case will stay the same price. I didn't include any combos. Better case, additional wattage for power supply and bigger hard drive.

Processor
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i53470

Motherboard
Newegg.com - ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Video Card
Newegg.com - HIS H785F1G2M Radeon HD 7850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Power Supply
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

RAM
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2

Case
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Hard drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Cd drive
Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner, Bulk Package 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7280S-0B - CD / DVD Burners

[Nimera]

Looks great (as far as I know). 900 isn't a hard limit, I'd say 950 is my hard limit. I'll make a note of what's on sale now and try and get those first.

For the new case, I read in a review to get a dust shield if you can cats/dogs? I have two cats with me, I'm guessing it's something easy to find/install?

[Henreh]

Dust filters/shields are pretty cheap and easy to install. There are magnetic ones and ones you snap down onto empty fan slots.

[iARE1337]

you're better off not investing in a Z77 motherboard and save yourself a few bucks by getting a H77 motherboard instead. you're not going to overclock either way.

Newegg.com - ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

depending on where you live, you can save a little more money ordering some parts elsewhere.

CPU:
Intel Core BX80637I53470 i5-3470 Processor - Quad Core, 3.2GHz, 6M Cache, SSE4.1, Core i5, LGA 1155 at TigerDirect.com

RAM:
Corsair CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10 Vengeance Desktop Memory Module - 8GB, PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, 240-pin DIMM, 1.5V, CL10, Intel XMP Ready, Unbuffered at TigerDirect.com


there's sure to be sales and combos lurking around if you're more vigilant than i am

[Henreh]

The z77 is included in a combo with the 3470. RAM with big heat-spreaders aren't my type so I chose the lower profile one so there won't be any issue with upgrading CPU cooling.

[iARE1337]

oh, I just read your final post that listed all the parts and not the first, so I didn't see the CPU/motherboard combo.

the memory I linked is just marginally cheaper (~4 dollars lol) and with the same performance.

[Nimera]

When do post-holiday sales typically start? I've decided I'm going to likely just charge the majority of the parts, rather than take 5 months of saving up on my current salary.