Building first rig
 

Hey guys first off great site and great info. Ive been thinking of building a rig for about a month now and have never built one before(got a buddy who has, he is gonna give me a hand). Im just looking for any suggestions that would help to save a few bucks or improve the build.

Here is what Im thinking. I want to play games and watch movies. I wanted to stay around $1200 CAD but will go as high as $1400. Everything listed here totals $1364.72. Everything listed is from NCIX would like to order it all from one place. Planing on building with in next 2 to 3 weeks.

MD Power of Black Bundle Deal Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHZ & Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P DDR3 Motherboard

Corsair XMS3 DHX TW3X4G1600C9DHX 4GB 2X2GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN Memory Kit

XFX Radeon HD 4890 XT 1GB 875MHZ 1GB 3.9GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDTV Video Card

Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan

Coolermaster Storm Scout Black ATX Tower Case 5X5.25 5X3.5INT 120MM & 140MM Red LED Fan No PSU

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200RPM 32MB Dual Proc 3.5IN SATA Hard Drive OEM 5YR Mfg Warranty

LG GH22LS30 Black 22X SATA Lightscribe DVDRW OEM

LG W2242TQ-BF 22IN Widescreen LCD Black 2MS 1680X1050 8000:1 300CD/M2 VGA DVI Tilt Monitor

Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard Black Silver Programmable Backlit Keys USB

Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse 5 Button 1800DPI Infrared Optical USB

For that kind of money, try and build a Core i7 rig instead. If you want to stick with Phenom II and save some money, change the RAM to DDR2 and get a DDR2 motherboard. That way will save you around $70. Change the DVD burner as well. Many DVD burners can be bought for around $26. You might want to change the case to a cheaper one as well if you plan to get Core i7 since you want to spend around $1200 on your computer.

Other than that, everything looks pretty good to me. Don't forget to get NCIX to price match the competition, and check out the weekly sales. Oh and you might want to wait for the Canada Day specials at NCIX since the current NCIX sale will be over in a couple hours.

Thanks for the quick response. I was thinking of going with and i7 rig but everything I looked at and read just seemed like bang for the buck is with Phenom II. I would like to stick with a DDR3 motherboard and RAM. Im not sure why just one of those things that Im stuck on. I will take your advice though and wait for Canada Day sales and see what pops up. Im just jacked to build this as I have never had a good computer before and finally have the money to do so.

I recommend the LG W2252TQ from Futureshop as i have the TG version with 20 000 dynamic contrast. Its gorgeous. I'll bet u that 50k of Dynamic Contrast will smoke ur average LCD tvs.

Drop that fail corsair ram for a tripple channel kit of OCZ 1600mhz 8-8-8 timings for less then the corsair I bet. Sell off the 3rd stick or keep it and dont dual channel for 6gb of ram. I know the OCZ golds and platinum kits go for the $100 mark and are much better moduals.

Also drop the G11 for a sidewinder X6 or atleast a G15, you wont be disapointed, their much MUCH better keyboards then the G11.

Other then that solid build, I personally wouldnt change anything.

Dynamic range is BS and doesnt mean jack, its a marketing spec that LCD makers hype but really doesnt do jack all. Actual contrast ratios is where its at... The monitor you picked out will work just fine, but price match to save some cash ;)

LG W2242TQ-BF 22IN Widescreen LCD Black 2MS 1680X1050 8000:1 300CD/M2 VGA DVI Tilt Monitor - DirectCanada

Use pricecanada.com to check for the lowest prices you can find then get NCIX to pricematch those prices to save you some coin ;)

I like it actually, Looks good. For that kind of money I would have gotten that if I didn't have a rig already.

Enjoy it! It will last you quite some time.

First off great looking build. I wouldn't really change anything. Just remember to Price Match and watch for the sale tonight! You may see a surprise special on some of your components.

Ditto on waiting for the sale. NCIX usually saves the good sales for the holidays that actually matter lol.

Great Combo deal! With PM your total comes to $ 1270..... after changing the RAM to 6Gb OCZ Gold 1600MHz 8-8-8-24. You can also go for a GTX 275 and drop your total to $ 1211!

This will be a nice build no matter what! :)