New Xmas build for my Stepson

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by Kingsix

Hey guys, I read all of this stuff and while I am leaning to Intel and Nvidia for my own build its probably not the best for price. Anyway I am not here to get in on that conversation.

I want to suggest to the OP that at your stepsons age, maybe look at saving some immediate cash by going low end for the case, maybe go kijiji for the monitor, and low end for the keyboard and mouse that might end up covered in candy goop anyway. Use that money to upgrade away from the Internal graphics.
Then in a few years when the young man has matured a little bit and is more interested in it, you could upgrade the case and peripherals with him, sort of do his first build together.
Don't know, just a thought. I am having trouble remembering how much I was into when I was his age. I don't think I cared as much about the hardware as the games themselves.

HE might not care about hardware, but I certainly do.

And I AM going low end for the keyboard/mouse. $30 for the combo is certainly low end.

Originally Posted by LarkStarr

@OP:

ASRock A75M-ITX mITX FM1 A75 Fch DDR3 1PCI-E16 SATA3 HDMI USB3.0 Motherboard - ASRock - A75M-ITX

Yeah, I saw that board before. But: 1) It's AsRock and, 2) it doesn't have DVI Out.

It seems like the only 'nice' mITX boards are Intel Socketed. Which makes me lean more and more towards an i3 build, so that I can use the Bitfenix Prodigy.

[Kingsix]

This is just a quick run up using pcpartpicker and by no means did I completely research how good a lot of this is compared to your build. But its an Intel chip with an Nvidia GPU
CPU Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core $219.99
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP Micro ATX LGA1155 $89.99
Memory G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 $33.49
Storage Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM $56.61
Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB $84.99
Case Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower $29.88
Power Supply Antec 400W ATX12V / EPS12V $29.88
Keyboard Logitech K120 $11.02
Mouse Logitech M100 Wired Optical $9.99
Total: 565.84

Or if you like AMD GPUs
MSI R7750-PMD1GD5/OC - Radeon 7750 1GB for $92.15

Its more costly than your build seeing as it still needs a monitor

I understand that you care about hardware, so put some power in there and give him a black box. And just looking at Kijiji here in Edmonton quick I don't think it would be hard to find a decent LCD monitor for under $50 if you keep your eyes open for a deal and whiddle the price down a bit.
Anyway, just wanted to post it up for another type of option for you. Good luck. No matter what you build I am sure the young man will be EXTREMELY happy.

[LarkStarr]

1) nothing wrong with AsRock. They're decently solid. Good reviews of the board across sites and customer reviews.

2) given that you're going to need a digital cable anyways, just get a HDMI-to-DVI cable or adapter. I'm sure there are cheaper ones if you look, but I found this in 20 seconds. - nGear HDMI-DVI/D (Dual Link) 6FT Cable - M/M (19 Pins) / (24 PINS+1)

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by Kingsix

This is just a quick run up using pcpartpicker and by no means did I completely research how good a lot of this is compared to your build. But its an Intel chip with an Nvidia GPU
CPU Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core $219.99
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP Micro ATX LGA1155 $89.99
Memory G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 $33.49
Storage Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM $56.61
Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB $84.99
Case Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower $29.88
Power Supply Antec 400W ATX12V / EPS12V $29.88
Keyboard Logitech K120 $11.02
Mouse Logitech M100 Wired Optical $9.99
Total: 565.84

Or if you like AMD GPUs
MSI R7750-PMD1GD5/OC - Radeon 7750 1GB for $92.15

Its more costly than your build seeing as it still needs a monitor

I understand that you care about hardware, so put some power in there and give him a black box. And just looking at Kijiji here in Edmonton quick I don't think it would be hard to find a decent LCD monitor for under $50 if you keep your eyes open for a deal and whiddle the price down a bit.
Anyway, just wanted to post it up for another type of option for you. Good luck. No matter what you build I am sure the young man will be EXTREMELY happy.

Ya... if I'm getting an i5, I'll be putting it in MY rig and using my AMD Hex-core in the kid's rig.

And that may actually be an option. It would be a little more money, but I get an upgrade, and the boy gets a machine of his own. I would definitely have to go discrete GPU if I were to do that. I do like the idea though.

[Kingsix]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

Ya... if I'm getting an i5, I'll be putting it in MY rig and using my AMD Hex-core in the kid's rig.

And that may actually be an option. It would be a little more money, but I get an upgrade, and the boy gets a machine of his own. I would definitely have to go discrete GPU if I were to do that. I do like the idea though.

Its always better when you get an upgrade too :)


Just hopped on kijiji winnipeg to take a look for monitors.

19 Inch Widescreen Monitor - 2ms Response time - Winnipeg Computer Parts For Sale - Kijiji Winnipeg Canada.
Pretty good, 2ms response and $55, bet you could get him down to $50 maybe even $40

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by Kingsix

Its always better when you get an upgrade too :)


Just hopped on kijiji winnipeg to take a look for monitors.

19 Inch Widescreen Monitor - 2ms Response time - Winnipeg Computer Parts For Sale - Kijiji Winnipeg Canada.
Pretty good, 2ms response and $55, bet you could get him down to $50 maybe even $40

I really like the Kijiji idea for the monitor. And as it's always local pick up, I can check it out for functionality and dead pixels. Thanks. I hadn't actually thought of that!

[Kingsix]

Yay I helped! Literally made me smile and feel good. Best of Luck Abyss.

[great_big_abyss]

Everybody in this thread helped out. Lots of good suggestions and ideas! Thank You, HWC.

[zypho]

Originally Posted by Kingsix

Hey guys, I read all of this stuff and while I am leaning to Intel and Nvidia for my own build its probably not the best for price. Anyway I am not here to get in on that conversation.

I want to suggest to the OP that at your stepsons age, maybe look at saving some immediate cash by going low end for the case, maybe go kijiji for the monitor, and low end for the keyboard and mouse that might end up covered in candy goop anyway. Use that money to upgrade away from the Internal graphics.
Then in a few years when the young man has matured a little bit and is more interested in it, you could upgrade the case and peripherals with him, sort of do his first build together.
Don't know, just a thought. I am having trouble remembering how much I was into when I was his age. I don't think I cared as much about the hardware as the games themselves.

I think if you look at his original build quote he is already going low end with like a $15 mouse and keyboard or something. I agree somewhat that he could forsure get a cheaper case, but you got to remember this is for a kid. So having a somewhat cool looking case is probably important :)

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by zypho

I agree somewhat that he could forsure get a cheaper case, but you got to remember this is for a kid. So having a somewhat cool looking case is probably important :)

The cool looking case is actually for my benefit. I'll be the one building and tinkering with this thing for years to come, and I'd like to get some enjoyment out of it, too. Nice cases make me happy.