The Ultimate 'Build-A-PC' Thread. Complete With Pricings & Recommendations (06/06/10)

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Question, what would you recommend for bluetooth capability? When I look up bluetooth on amazon all I see are dongles. Is there no PCI alternative?
 
[quote name='Kanik']Question, what would you recommend for bluetooth capability? When I look up bluetooth on amazon all I see are dongles. Is there no PCI alternative?[/QUOTE]

I dont have personal knowledge but just looking at toms and newegg it seems like a usb adapter is whats being used.
 
I wanted to go with Amazon since I have prime and Newegg charges tax. How do these look? I plugged in the model #s but some of them don't look exactly like their newegg counterpart.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
 
[quote name='Kanik']I wanted to go with Amazon since I have prime and Newegg charges tax. How do these look? I plugged in the model #s but some of them don't look exactly like their newegg counterpart.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance[/QUOTE]



Wrong memory, those are triple channel for X58 motherboards. Not that they won't work on your setup, but you can really use 2 of the 3 pieces in dual channel configuration, rendering you overpaying for the extra piece of RAM. This is what you want to get, Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600. But everything else looks good.
 
GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 is currently unavailable from NewEgg. Found it for $87 shipped from buy.com. I think I'm going to wait and see if newegg restocks, but this is the card for me once I stop procrastinating.
 
I'm looking to get into PC gaming and would like some ideas about upgrading my pc. I have a dell xps410 with the following specs:

- 2.13Ghz Intel Core 2
- 3GB Ram
- ATI x1300 pro video card
- 500GB Seagate 7200 hard drive
- Vista Pro

For now, I'm mostly interested in being able to play TF2, maybe COD4, GTAIV and some older games. Ideally, I would love to be able to play Bioshock 2, MW2, and some more newer and upcoming games.

I ran a few "can you run it" tests, and my video card is the only thing showing as failed.

Any recommendations for video cards? I looked on newegg but i'm not really sure which ones are good and would last a while. Would I need to upgrade anything else besides the video card?

Any input or recommendations are appreciated.
 
[quote name='HotShotX']I'm interested in grabbing this kit. As far as I can tell, all I need to get afterwards is a Video Card and an OS. Any thoughts?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...TD&recordsPerPage=10&body=REVIEWS#ReviewStart

Potential Video Card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4111742&Sku=E145-9504

~HotShotX[/QUOTE]

The combo kit is not that great, but not terrible either. The one good thing about it is the 8GB of DDR2 which nowadays will run about $180 or so. The CPU, while good enough to handle many of today's tasks, pales when compared to the newer Athlon II X4 620. The power supply is garbage; it will work no doubt, but it's like running a ticking time bomb in your computer, you never know when or how it'll go bad since it's a low quality PSU.

For the video card, I would stay away from 9500GT, they're slow by today's standard. I'd go for either the GT240 or 9600GT at the minimum.


[quote name='mzuraw1']I'm looking to get into PC gaming and would like some ideas about upgrading my pc. I have a dell xps410 with the following specs:

- 2.13Ghz Intel Core 2
- 3GB Ram
- ATI x1300 pro video card
- 500GB Seagate 7200 hard drive
- Vista Pro

For now, I'm mostly interested in being able to play TF2, maybe COD4, GTAIV and some older games. Ideally, I would love to be able to play Bioshock 2, MW2, and some more newer and upcoming games.

I ran a few "can you run it" tests, and my video card is the only thing showing as failed.

Any recommendations for video cards? I looked on newegg but i'm not really sure which ones are good and would last a while. Would I need to upgrade anything else besides the video card?

Any input or recommendations are appreciated.[/QUOTE]

You might want to look into the $100 ATI 5670 series. It's likely the most powerful card you can get without needing any extra power source from the power supply. So you don't need to upgrade anything else since they all look good enough for Source games and COD4. MW2 runs on the same engine as COD4, but Bioshock 2 might choke a bit. If you have more spare change, you can probably step up a notch and get either the $115 ATI 4770 or the $140 5750 which both may or may not require a power supply upgrade, depending how your Dell's 375W PSU handles the card. But since your Dell's case doesn't require Dell PSU, you can easily replace it with any standard ATX PSU if you want a more powerful video card.
 
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well the last of my parts came today and im up and running. this thing is ridiculous. windows 7 install in... 11 minutes haha.

edit - for those wondering about a hsf the hyper 212+ is nice. im at low fan speeds between 24-26C
 
[quote name='paz9x']well the last of my parts came today and im up and running. this thing is ridiculous. windows 7 install in... 11 minutes haha.

edit - for those wondering about a hsf the hyper 212+ is nice. im at low fan speeds between 24-26C[/QUOTE]

The Intel SSD is a beast. Period. haha



[quote name='Waughoo']Unless I'm missing it, that doesnt include any cooling for the CPU.[/QUOTE]

Good catch, I don't think it comes with it either lol.
 
Yeah I'll update it over the weekend, I dont think much have changed since last month in terms of hardware and pricing. AMD is still good for sub $600 builds, while i3/i5 are good for $600 - $900, and over $900 i7 is the choice.
 
[quote name='mzuraw1']I'm looking to get into PC gaming and would like some ideas about upgrading my pc. I have a dell xps410 with the following specs:

- 2.13Ghz Intel Core 2
- 3GB Ram
- ATI x1300 pro video card
- 500GB Seagate 7200 hard drive
- Vista Pro

For now, I'm mostly interested in being able to play TF2, maybe COD4, GTAIV and some older games. Ideally, I would love to be able to play Bioshock 2, MW2, and some more newer and upcoming games.

I ran a few "can you run it" tests, and my video card is the only thing showing as failed.

Any recommendations for video cards? I looked on newegg but i'm not really sure which ones are good and would last a while. Would I need to upgrade anything else besides the video card?

Any input or recommendations are appreciated.[/QUOTE]

You likely need to upgrade your power supply. Do you know what it is currently?
 
[quote name='HotShotX']I'm interested in grabbing this kit. As far as I can tell, all I need to get afterwards is a Video Card and an OS. Any thoughts?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...TD&recordsPerPage=10&body=REVIEWS#ReviewStart

Potential Video Card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4111742&Sku=E145-9504

~HotShotX[/QUOTE]

I am not a fan of the kit or the card. I feel like you should be able to price a computer with DDR3 memory for around the same price (maybe just little more).

And as far as the video card goes I know you likely want to save money but I think you would be happier in the long run with a slightly stronger card. Maybe one that sports DDR3 as well.
 
Alright, So I have set some money aside and am gunna finish my pc. Trying to put together the last pieces here and buy the stuff. I have an i7 920, 6gb tri-channel ram (dominator), 5870 that I need to buy still. Was looking at buying 2 wd caviar blacks and making a raid 0. I have a coolmaster sniper case which has the holes for water cooling and I'm wondering if I should water cool this sucker or air cool it. Also its the accessories that I don't know what to get. I was looking at headsets and I think I made up my mind on the sennheiser 350. But what about mouse and keyboard. Can't find anything that screams at me yet. Also, I wanted to set up my consoles to run on my monitor as well since I don't have a good tv. Is there a way to run the sound into the computer, I know my dell monitor doesn't like sound. If not do I have to get like the Mixamp from Astro to get sound. I'm just trying to make a sweet all in one media spot. Anyways let me know if anyone has any input on this. Trying to get some numbers in my head.
 
well depending on your OC ambitions air cooling will probably be fine. the sniper has good airflow from what I gathered. Im running an i7 860 at 3.6 with a cm hyper 212+ in a haf 922 and im idling at around 26-31 highest ive seen it in use is 42. Really, OC'ing these is just for fun, they kill most anything you can throw at them at stock speeds.
I oc'd my 5870 and i cant tell a difference it already eats up everything.

my understanding is that the samsung f3's are slightly better than the wd blacks. i havent looked at benchmarks or anything though.

the samsung's use 500gb platters.
 
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yeh the case is mesh sided and has several huge fans in it. It seems well cooled. I'll look into the samsung f3's and compare the 2, thanks for the tip.
 
So when my laptop died the other day, I figured it'd be a good time to finally get around to building my first PC. I'm not really a huge PC gamer these days, but I'd like to at least have the ability to play today's games decently if I wanted too. Any thoughts?

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor Model ADX630WFGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model 996768 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226092

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

SAPPHIRE 100284L Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102859

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

Total: $638
 
^^ looks to be a very good build. Everything falls right into place and the computer as a whole has a good balance among all parts. Now what you should do is try to find some combo deals on Newegg to sweeten it. Check what I found within 15 seconds: your original X4 630 + 5750 would cost $247 if bought separately, but this combo deal of X4 630 + 5770 is $242 after $10 rebate. You end up paying $5 less but with a better video card. Try to play around with the combos and get the most out of your budget!

*Edit* I found a combo with your X4 630 + Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P for $162 after rebate, save $15 there.
 
I want a bigger and quieter case, so I'm about sold on the cosmos 1000. I'm not quite sure it'll fit under my desk though, so does anybody have one on here who can measure the exact distance from top to bottom? It says 23.54" on newegg, but does that include the bars?

I've got a little less than 25" under my desk, so if that doesn't include those bars on the top/bottom then I'm probably boned.
 
id read the reviews for the case on newegg. id imagine if the dimensions are bigger than advertised somebody will have complained about it.
 
Yeah I've been looking through them, nobody has said anything really specific though (it's huge! Have lots of room!) except one I saw that said to make sure you have 25" or something like that. But I don't know if that came from measurement or they just said a nice round number.
 
I've seen the actual case, it sounds about right that its under 24" WITH the bars. The corsair 800D is slightly taller than the cosmo and it's 24" tall.
 
Cool, thanks. My gf has a full tower that's about 22" with its little feet, so it sounds about right that it would be 23.54" with the bars, I'd just hate to get the thing and it's like a quarter of an inch too tall. As long as it's under 24.75" I should be safe. I think I'm going to go for it then, it should be a lot quieter than my current case and have a lot more room anyway.
 
I need some advice for a non-overclocker mainstream gaming build.

I've looked around the net and it seems most websites & forums gear their recommendations towards OC'ing.

I'm putting together an Intel i5 system as a first build. I've got a pretty good idea of what I'd like, but I'm still unsure about RAM and the PSU.

RAM: Is it really important for a non-overclocker to get fancy RAM? Can I go with whatever is inexpensive & reputable (I'm thinking Kingston ValueRAM)?

PSU: I've plugged my build into some "power supply calculators" online and the results are well below 500w (i.e. 399w on the newegg calc). My build is quite similar to the $800 i5 + HD5770 sample build on page 1, but that build is using a 650w PSU.

Can I shave off some dollars by getting a decent 500w modular PSU instead? Is the extra wattage for future SLI/Crossfire capability? Is it more reliable or something? Or is it just better value to spend that bit more for substantial PSU gain?
 
[quote name='vicesquad']RAM: Is it really important for a non-overclocker to get fancy RAM? Can I go with whatever is inexpensive & reputable (I'm thinking Kingston ValueRAM)?

PSU: I've plugged my build into some "power supply calculators" online and the results are well below 500w (i.e. 399w on the newegg calc). My build is quite similar to the $800 i5 + HD5770 sample build on page 1, but that build is using a 650w PSU.

Can I shave off some dollars by getting a decent 500w modular PSU instead? Is the extra wattage for future SLI/Crossfire capability? Is it more reliable or something? Or is it just better value to spend that bit more for substantial PSU gain?[/QUOTE]

It's always better to get some better-than-average memory, especially if you're going to overclock. Kingston ValueRAM is considered 'average' because of their lower grade memory chip which likely not able to withstand even mild overclocking. Something like this G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 1600 would be your most basic companion RAM for overclocking. Kingston ValueRAM isn't considerably cheaper; I would get some quality RAM so you won't run into headaches down the road.

You'll be fine with a quality 500W if you run the i5 750 and 5770. Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, Silverstone, PC Power & Cooling are some quality brands for premium-like price. If you need to go inexpensive, OCZ gives you a decent alternative but their PSU's are of lower quality; they'll work fine but you might have to cross your fingers every time you turn your PC on.
 
I just want to say first off that this thread is awesome and has saved me some serious headache while coming up to speed on recently PC hardware. I have not updated my PC's core components since somewhere around 2006 when I bought an Athlon X2 3800+ and it seems things have changed considerably since then. I just purchased Bad Company 2 and it runs like utter shit so I am finally going to bite the bullet and upgrade my Mobo/CPU/RAM and I was hoping I could just run it by you guys and ask a couple question:

What I currently have:

- ASRock 939Dual-SATA Mobo (has an AGP and PCIE slot... weird right?)
- Athlon X2 3800+ (2.2 Ghz)
- 2 GB DDR2 Crucial RAM
- WD 640 GB SATA Caviar Blue HDD
- BFG GeForce 260GTX OC 896MB
- 550W Antec TruePower PSU

What I want to upgrade:

CPU: Intel i5-750 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=AFC-C8Junction&AID=10446076&PID=1312731&SID=

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=AFC-C8Junction&AID=10446076&PID=1312731&SID=

RAM: Crucial 4GB DDR3 PC3-10600 - http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=3EC793F9A5CA7304

Some questions for you experts:

- Is there anything wrong with the components above or anything I should know about recent tech? I haven't really paid much attention to hardware over the past 4+ years.

- Are the quad cores worth purchasing at this point? I notice that the i5 also comes in a dual core with a higher clock rate at around the same price.

- Is there some reason everyone is going with Kingston/Corsair/OCZ these days? I've always using Micron/Crucial for like a decade and it's always been extremely reliable.
 
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[quote name='kevlar51']SOS-- He's not going to overclock :)[/QUOTE]

Oops. I guess I missed the non part in non-overclocker haha

In that case, to the person who asked, doesn't matter but stick with 1333mhz at minimal.
 
No worries, thanks for the info, SOS.

I was looking at an OCZ PSU, too. I guess I'll look elsewhere.

Can I get away with a Corsair VX 450w?
 
[quote name='vicesquad']No worries, thanks for the info, SOS.

I was looking at an OCZ PSU, too. I guess I'll look elsewhere.

Can I get away with a Corsair VX 450w?[/QUOTE]

the comment about the ocz psu is the first questionable thing ive seen sos post.
check their reviews and check whats said about them on toms and anandtech. you shouldnt have any reservations on purchasing one.
 
[quote name='paz9x']the comment about the ocz psu is the first questionable thing ive seen sos post.
check their reviews and check whats said about them on toms and anandtech. you shouldnt have any reservations on purchasing one.[/QUOTE]

I think you're more correct here. I'm a bit over exaggerated on the OCZ quality. OCZ PSU makes perfect sense in sub $600 builds where every $10 saved matters. They are quality PSU for their price no doubt. For higher end systems that's where I would start steering away from OCZ and look into the Corsair and Antec TP series. But no need to cross fingers haha, and I believe it's on the recommended PSU list in the first post since day one.
 
[quote name='SpecTrE3353']
What I currently have:

- ASRock 939Dual-SATA Mobo (has an AGP and PCIE slot... weird right?)
- Athlon X2 3800+ (2.2 Ghz)
- 2 GB DDR2 Crucial RAM
- WD 640 GB SATA Caviar Blue HDD
- BFG GeForce 260GTX OC 896MB
- 550W Antec TruePower PSU

What I want to upgrade:

CPU: Intel i5-750 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=AFC-C8Junction&AID=10446076&PID=1312731&SID=

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=AFC-C8Junction&AID=10446076&PID=1312731&SID=

RAM: Crucial 4GB DDR3 PC3-10600 - http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=3EC793F9A5CA7304

Some questions for you experts:

- Is there anything wrong with the components above or anything I should know about recent tech? I haven't really paid much attention to hardware over the past 4+ years.[/QUOTE]

I think those are all good choices so far. I'm guessing you picked out a micro ATX motherboard because your case doesn't take full size ATX? It's still a solid mATX board though. As for memory, may I recommend G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 1600? I know it's not Crucial brand that you're accustomed to, but G.SKILL has skyrocketed their status in reliable memory within the past 2 years with great overclocking and stable RAMs. But the Crucial RAM you picked out is fine too.

[quote name='SpecTrE3353']- Are the quad cores worth purchasing at this point? I notice that the i5 also comes in a dual core with a higher clock rate at around the same price.[/QUOTE]

I think quad cores are good buy right now. Their prices are reasonable, many of them (including the i5-750) are good overclockers. Just think of it like even if your quad core has a lower default clock speed, you can always overclock if you need more juice. But with dual core you cannot grow 2 more cores to make it a quad core. So right now if you are going to upgrade, it makes more sense to upgrade to a quad core.

[quote name='SpecTrE3353']- Is there some reason everyone is going with Kingston/Corsair/OCZ these days? I've always using Micron/Crucial for like a decade and it's always been extremely reliable.[/QUOTE]

I think because 5 years ago, you can clearly see the difference between a good brand like Crucial and Micron vs average brands like NEC, Samsung, and Hynix. Crucial had their little fallout couple years ago when many of their stock had faulty memory chips that blue screened many users. But since they picked up their slacks they've been solid again since. At the same time, no name companies like G.SKILL, OCZ, Patriot rose to their current high quality status along side Corsair and Crucial for their solid RAM products. So basically nowadays you just can't go wrong with Corsair, Crucial, Mushkin, G.SKILL, and Kingston. I put OCZ and Patriot below them because they're somewhat inconsistent with their RAM quality. Micron doesn't really market their own retail brand anymore.
 
I may actually take your suggestion on the RAM... $15 less than the Crucial stuff and it seems to have solid reviews. As far as the mobo goes, I think that was actually an oversight that I linked a micro-ATX... I just listed the first Gigabyte LGA1156 board I saw in-stock on Newegg. After looking around and reading up a little more I think I am actually going to switch to getting this ASUS P55 board instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=asus_p55_lga1156-_-13-131-634-_-Product

Thanks for the help Troop.
 
Thanks for updating the thread, I was thinking about going with one of the builds but it looks like some of the parts are OOS....
 
Got my cosmos 1000 case and put it together yesterday. It's pretty awesome, I'd recommend it. Almost silent compared to my old case, if I replace my stock CPU cooler it'd probably be quieter. It's gigantic and heavy as fuck, but it fits under my desk, so I'm happy.

And btw it's the same price ($180) on Amazon as on Newegg, but with free shipping, which saved me $30.
 
Hopefully I'm not out of bounds by asking for video card help here.

I want to upgrade to a XFX Radeon HD-5770 from a MSI GeForce 8800GT. It just doesn't perform as great as it used to and I had to underclock it because games would freeze otherwise. Will the 5770 work with this setup?

Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ (2.6 GHz but I believe I can overclock to 3 GHz)
RAM: 2 GBs
Resolution: 1920x1080
OS: Windows XP

Would there be anything that would make the 5770 not work? If you have something better in mind let me know as well.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']whats your motherboard and your psu?[/QUOTE]

I bought parts for a new PC in 09/2007 on Newegg so thank god for that because I wouldn't remember.

Mobo: BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
PSU: I had a 500W PSU purchased but that broke down on me. I believe I got the same wattage or maybe higher but I can check (open the case or is it somewhere on XP?) if that's really a problem.
 
[quote name='Hostile']I bought parts for a new PC in 09/2007 on Newegg so thank god for that because I wouldn't remember.

Mobo: BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
PSU: I had a 500W PSU purchased but that broke down on me. I believe I got the same wattage or maybe higher but I can check (open the case or is it somewhere on XP?) if that's really a problem.[/QUOTE]

as far as the psu, if youre running a 8800gt you should be fine with a 5770, theyre very power efficient.
 
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