First Time Builder - Help me spend my money

[bonanza2000]

• What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
  2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread 3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
  4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
  5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
  6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
  7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
  8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
  9. What resolution do you use?

Hey Guys,

My old computer is starting to give me problems and I started looking at new ones and none of the current offerings from Gateway, Dell, and HP seem to offer USB 3.0 support and have other deficiencies so I CRAZILY thought maybe I should build my own. (U can stop laughing now). I have just enough computer knowledge and skill to get into trouble.

Here’s what I am thinking:

• Mostly internet, internet gaming, and basic MS office stuff. I am just tired of waiting for my old computer to do things. When I click I want it to work NOW! I also want the ability to use new USB 3.0 items when they come out.
• Budget is $1200-$1500
• USA (sorry but I love this web site!!)
• No real brand preference but I want things to work and be easy. I don’t need thousands of applications and tweaking utilities but something that allows me to do simple tweaks would be good.
• No current parts – all new
• I have been searching and looking and my thoughts are
  • Win 7 Home Premium 64
  • Case with 450 watt power supply – suggestions?
  • Processor – some i7 variant like 930 or 950
  • Motherboard – Gigabyte GA-X58A- UD3 or UD5; ASUS P6X58D; others?
  • RAM – 6 or 8 GB ( 2 x 4GB or 3 or 4 x 2GB – does it matter?)
  • Video Card – Gigabyte ATI HD 5850 1 GB (other suggestions – better faster cheaper?)
  • Sound Card – Creative Labs (haven’t gotten here yet) – suggestions?
  • Hard Drive – some 1TB drive (haven’t done enough research here) suggestions?
  • DVD drive – some blue ray writer/reader – suggestions?
• Probably run at default speeds but I see that many MB makers have utilites to tweak things
• Build it over the next 2 months
• I would like to hook up the computer to a as yet unbought 1080p TV and a 20 inch monitor and switch between them with the video card but not exactly sure how to do all that.

Give me all your accumulated wisdom!

[martin_metal_88]

If yo want a 5850 + a I7 you will need more then 450W PSU. 450 will work but will be dead short and not safe. Look for 620W and above. For the case, look at the fractal design define R3, Coolermaster 690 2 advanced, or Lancool K62. Go with the I7 950 and the GA EX58-UD3R for the mobo with 6GB or G.skill, patriot, mushkin or corsair ram ( 8 BG won't work on X58 ) you need to go tripple channel so 3X 2gb. For the video card, Asus 5850 are rpetty good. No real need of a sound card, onboard card do well now and creative are not that good any more...if you really want a sound card look at Xonar or auzentech. Finally, the HD. Western digital Caviar black or samsung spinpoint F3 will be fast and reliable.

[_dangtx_]

if you chose a corsair 450 watter(it does roughly ~400 watts on the 12v) you will be fine with one card.
i prefer giga boards,the one you mentioned is a fine exemple but chose whichever you like. people here swear by the -e version of that asus.

[xlilmissmjx]

Welcome to HWC mate

Cases are subjective, but I usually stay away from those that offer a psu.
I'd suggest the Corsair Graphite 600T, Fractal Design Define R3, Cooler Master 690 II Basic/Advanced

PSU: Any from Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone or Antec. I personally love Corsair's AX & HX series, both are modular and the AX is Gold rated in power efficiency. Any unit around 600 for a high end single card or dual mid range cards, higher for dual high end cards.

Mobo: Gigabyte X58A UD3/5, ASUS P6X58D-E Premium are good choices for 1366, for 1156 go with Gigabyte's GA-P55A-UD3R or ASUS P7P55D-E Pro.

CPU: Intel Core i7 930 for 1366, for 1156 - i5 750

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master's Hyper 212 Plus (excellent performing budget cooler) or V6GT

RAM: You went with dual channel, the X58 chipset does tri-channel, so 6GB in 3x2 or 12GB in 3x4 is the way to go. Any DDR3-1600 kit from Corsair, G Skill, Mushkin or Patroit will do fine

Video: If your an ATi fan than stay with the 5850 and get a 2nd later on for CrossfireX, otherwise get the cheaper and better performing GTX460 1GB card and get a 2nd later on for SLI. If you want a single card solution, then get the 470/480 or 5870 (again if your an ATi fan).

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series card or Auzentech Inc. X-Fi HOMETHEATER HD Audio card are my top choices.

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12, WD Caviar Black, Samsung Spinpoint F3

DVD drive: LG, Asus, Pioneer, Samsung, Plextor will fit the bill

Good luck with your build

[bonanza2000]

I seem to be drawn to the Gigabyte GA-X58A-DU3R board (nice price point and feature set) and I was trying to look at power supplies for this new computer build and discovered I don't really know what kind of connectors I need. Can someone give me a crash course. For example I found a Cooler Master Pro Gold 800 Watt power supply that has these connectors but don't know enough to settle on a PSU yet. Help!
4-Pin P4 - 1
6-Pin PCI-Express Connector - 3
6-Pin/8-Pin PCI-Express Connector -3
4-Pin Floppy Connector - 1
4-Pin Peripheral Connector - 4
SATA Power Connector - 9

[sswilson]

What website are you looking at for purchasing your kit from? That would probably be a good place for folks to be able to suggest a PSU or two for you to look through.

Personally, I'd stick with corsair, seasonic, and/or antec, but with PSUs the model # is critical. Your wattage requirements won't be all that high with a single GPU, but you can't go by the advertised ratings unless you do your homework.... chances are, a $50 800W PSU would have a hard time putting out 400W of clean power let alone the 800Ws they're claiming (Unless of course you live in a freezer with an ambient temp of -20c.... ;) ).

Welcome to the forums!!!

[bonanza2000]

Well I am cruising around Tigerdirect since they seem to have a lot of stuff and let you compare things. I kind of found the answer to my question above still afraid in my ignorance I might miss something critical. This Ultra PSU seems to fit the bill (but I will look for the above mentioned PSUs too)

Ultra X4 750-Watt Modular Power Supply - 135mm Fan, ATX, Lifetime Warranty w/ Registration, 80+ Bronze, NVIDIA SLI & ATI Crossfire Certifications, Vibration Dampener Included at TigerDirect.com

here's the corsair hx750
Corsair HX750W 750-Watt Modular Power Supply - Single +12V Rail Design at TigerDirect.com

[fishingfanatic]

Welcome to HWC! A lot of the suggestions are pretty good. I own the P6X58D-E. I would highly recommend that with a 1366 socket. If the 950 is close enough to the price of the 930 where you are buying from I would consider that. Look for a mobo with next gen sata and usb capabilties.

For psu, +1 for Corsair. Modular is definitely the way to go. Make certain when you're buying it, though I'm pretty sure you'll have more than enough cables for whatever you may need.

For memory, I prefer Mushkin. Any of the lifetime warranty ram is pretty darn good. G Skills, Patriot, and Corsair are a few others that are good choices. As the other members suggested, if getting socket 1366, triple channel memory, socket 1156 are dual channel.

As stated, case selection is subjective. Look for good air flow. I like Cooler Master's HAF series.

For video cards, the gtx 460 is a great card. You can go sli eventually which actually runs better than a single 480.
I own a Creative Labs Fatality Champion and think it's a great sound card. Mine is a few yrs old, so maybe a newer Auzentech is better.
Samsung's 1tb F3 or WD black's are 2 darn good hdds. Just make sure they are the 6gb/sec models, though this should be a given.
I recently purchased a LG BlueRay writer and it's a good unit for the price.
My system is hooked up to a 1920x1080p 40" tv and it works great. Make certain the card has a HDMI port as well as the tv. This takes care of both audio and video with great results.
Enjoy the build, as it really isn't too difficult. The experts on this site can help with any questions or issues and enjoy the new system!

[3.0charlie]

You want to build a rig using an X58 board, an i7Quad core and a 5850 for "Mostly internet, internet gaming, and basic MS office stuff."? And you have a 1.2k-1.5k$ budget? Damn...

Seriously. I'll go the opposite and save you some hard-earned doe.

Case: LIAN LI PC-A05NB. Clean looks, small ATX form factor, Lian-li quality.
PSU: SeaSonic M12II Bronze 620W Modular. Great PSU, modular cabling will help with the case size.
Board: GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3. Great board, USB3.
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz. More than enough for a long time.
HSF: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus. Best HSF out there, price/performance.
Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL. 4Gb plenty, with oc headroom.
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM. OS, Apps and personal documents storage, speed is there too for gaming.
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100283-3L HD 5770 1GB. All you need for the time being, and Crossfire is feasible with board/psu combo.
DVD: LITE-ON Black SATA CD/DVD Burner. Cheapest I could find.
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Need an OS to play, right?

Total using Newegg.com: USD 975$. Add taxes and shipping.

Want more speed? Add an SSD (SDD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 60GB as an example) for ~140$.

[bonanza2000]

Well as far as motherboards go I have it narrowed down to these 3. They all seem to support USB 3.0 and SATA 6 GB/s. Anyone with any preferences or further suggestions?

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
Asus SABERTOOTH X58
ASUS P6X58D-E Motherboard