My new, cheap, build.

[Shawk]

Hey guys,

So my girlfriend needs a upgrade, so that means i get to handmedown my current build to her and get my own computer :)

I seem to only look up computer hardware when I upgrade my computer so I have no idea what is the latest and greatest so just looking for some input on my current build ideas. Here is what I have so far, please let me know what you think and if I should make some changes.

I already have the Hard Drive and DVD drive. My budget it $600. 1680x1050. At most I will be playing games like Guild Wars 2 in the near future, nothing extreme.

GPU: GTX 460 -- Buy Gigabyte [GV-N460OC-1GI] Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 Fermi 715MHZ 1Gb GDDR5 2XDVI Mini-HDMI PCI-E DX11 Video Card
or
Radeon HD 6850 -- Buy Gigabyte [GV-R685D5-1GD] Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 775MHZ 1GB 4.0GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI Mini DisplayPort HDMI PCI-E Video Card

CPU: Amd Phenom II X4 955 BE -- Buy AMD [HDZ955FBGMBOX] AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor 3.2GHZ AM3 8MB Cache 125W Retail Box

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H -- Buy Gigabyte [GA-880GA-UD3H] Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H AMD880G ATX AM3 DDR3 3PCIE 2-WAY CrossFireX GBLAN SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard

Ram: Gskill Ripjaw 2x2gb 1600 -- Buy G.SKILL [F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL] G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit

PowerSup: Antec Truepower 650w -- Buy ANTEC [TP-650] Antec Truepower New 650W Modular Power Supply ATX12V V2.3 Active PFC 80 Plus SLI Ready 120MM PWM Fan


That's $550.00 before a case.. what do you guys think? whats your opinion on GPU situation.. do i really need 650w power and is that ram going to be my best bet?

Thanks for help

[ilya]

Are you going to be overclocking? You have a black edition CPU and higher clocked RAM, but you have a board with no VRM cooling and onboard graphics. (even though it's got fairly adequate power delivery) If you're overclocking, there are better boards for that in the same price range, if not, a different CPU/platform may be a better choice, RAM probably won't get much cheaper though. (unless you go for 2x4GB) Also, you would probably want an aftermarket cooler if you're overclocking, something like the CM Hyper 212 at $20 is the usual recommendation here.

Anet/NCsoft seems to be jumping ship and making their game pretty pro Nvidia so far, I'd go for the GTX460 768mb, or another GTS 250 or newer GPU. GW2 is going to be pro Nvidia 3D vision and 3D vision surround, as well as using a hefty bit of Physx for the combat mechanics. It might be just around the corner too, since Nvidia's latest beta drivers offer support for GW2. Not sure though, as I didn't manage to sweet talk my way into alpha testing.

All of those parts are quality parts though, the only issue is the pricing doesn't leave much for a case. I guess you could go with a budget Silverstone Precision or CM Elite. Thermaltake V3's also come at that price point. I guess you could try ordering from NCIX and pricematching everything to squeeze out some budget space.

You honestly won't need a 650W PSU though, unless you plan on adding another video card. But that would be pointless unless you're going for a triple monitor setup.

[xlilmissmjx]

I would keep the 650, it would serve you great if you decided to upgrade the gpu to a more powerful one and even then it would still give you some sweet headroom I know I'd prefer to have a 650W unit (at minimum) in any gaming build as the need for a more powerful card could become an option later on and having to upgrade both the gpu & psu at the same time would be a bigger cost.

There's nothing wrong with getting a motherboard with onboard graphics, but you do have to take some sacrifices in other areas due to having it, but overall it's a great board to get.

I would go for the 460 1GB version over the 6850 as it did win over it in 5 of the 7 games, with 4xAA turned on, in the hwc review of the 6870 & 6850's.

As for the cases, I agree with ilya, the silverstone precision & cm elite series are awesome cases for those looking for cases with great features for a low budget.

Good luck with the build and enjoy the new machine

[Wurmer]

I think you will enjoy this built very much, it's pretty much what I am running right now and it's a decent rig (I am just using a BE555 unlocked instead which is pretty much a BE955). I have used CM elite in the past and they are OK case if you are on a budget. If you can manage a bit more $, the CM 690 is a pretty decent case and a good notch above the CM elite series, good airflow and cable management.

[Shawk]

Thanks for help,

Yah I didn't pick the case just because I figured it didn't really matter, but I will probably go with the one you guys suggested, my budget isn't completely $600, just my goal tbh.

But reason i chose bestdirect.ca is because after $500 shipping is free within canada.. so I will probably buy the case from them ;)

I don't plan on doing any overclocking, I currently play WoW, AoC and BadCompany 2 with my GTX260 perfectly (at least to my eyes lol,) so I don't think I really require a huge boost in performance, as long as I notice a decent boost I should be happy.

Can you guys suggest what would be a better motherboard at that price? I'm horrible at picking motherboards..

Thanks again

[_dangtx_]

or you may look into the new chippies, 2500k and a mobo should be maybe 50-75 bucks more but the difference? hoho

[Shawk]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

or you may look into the new chippies, 2500k and a mobo should be maybe 50-75 bucks more but the difference? hoho

2500k? sorry don't know what this is

[_dangtx_]

my bad : Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5-2500K & Core i7-2600K Processors Review

[ilya]

Originally Posted by Shawk

Thanks for help,

Yah I didn't pick the case just because I figured it didn't really matter, but I will probably go with the one you guys suggested, my budget isn't completely $600, just my goal tbh.

But reason i chose bestdirect.ca is because after $500 shipping is free within canada.. so I will probably buy the case from them ;)

I don't plan on doing any overclocking, I currently play WoW, AoC and BadCompany 2 with my GTX260 perfectly (at least to my eyes lol,) so I don't think I really require a huge boost in performance, as long as I notice a decent boost I should be happy.

Can you guys suggest what would be a better motherboard at that price? I'm horrible at picking motherboards..

Thanks again

A better case typically makes for an easier build. The above mentioned cases are fairly adequate though, no need to stretch the budget if it's an important goal.

Reason I suggest NCIX is because they're the same company as Bestdirect, they pricematch and have free shipping deals a good amount of the time. Only issue is the new Ontario warehouse... But that's up to you, I'm personally just too much of a penny pincher to not get the lowest possible retail price on everything.

If you don't plan on overclocking, those K series processor would be a total waste, even though it's only a mild price premium over their non K counterparts. At that resolution with those games you honestly don't need that much horsepower. The difference from your previous computer will probably be something like going from 60 fps to 120 fps. A huge increase, but you won't notice it. Your original build should be more than adequate.

As for the motherboard, if you plan on sticking with AMD, you made a pretty good pick, the layout is very good and it uses quality components. The only 2 problems I see are the lack of VRM cooling (which you would only need if you're overclocking) and the CPU socket location, which makes it hard to install a large aftermarket cooler with high profile RAM. You might want one if you find the stock cooler noisy, but you usually don't need one if you aren't overclocking or running extremely CPU intensive programs.

[Shawk]

Thanks again for help, went with the original build and bought it from BestDirect.ca, Ncix was almost $100 more for everything I wanted to buy for some reason.