Building a Computer & Opinions

Putty

Putty

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Oct 3, 2009
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So I built my first computer last night, or one of my friends walked me through it basically. And it REALLY sparked my interest. So I picked out all of these parts. Can you guys that know how to build a computer give me your opinion?

Motherboard ($99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121355&Tpk=dg45id )
Processor ($190 Q9400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115131&cm_re=q9400-_-19-115-131-_-Product)
RAM ($200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104108)
HDD ($55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395)
Video card ($155 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130514)
Opitical drive ($28 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167)
Power supply & Case ($57 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121004)
internal usb card reader ($13 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300608)
OS $30 (OS & Microsoft Word & such I can get at my college for cheap)
Microsoft $10
Keyboard & Mouse ?? (I'll pick these out in a store)

I added it up, and factoring in $50 for a mouse and keyboard, it was about $900.

So to come up with money, I was going to sell my 360 (I could've started another thread about that). But basically, I haven't played it in two months, my Live expired, and I really have no interest of games out/coming out. And then I was going to sell my laptop, and hopefully get $500 (since I bought it for $800 this past summer).

Then I was going to get a netbook, but I haven't really looked into it much. I was just panning on spending about $300 on that.

Any feedback is appreciated, thanks guys :)
 
Okay couple of things.

First I would select a different motherboard. The one you selected has been deactivated on Newegg's website. Personally I like AMD, and if you're trying to build a budget rig, a Phenom II X3 is a great way to go. But the intel processor you have listed is very nice.

Second I wouldn't spend $200 on RAM. You won't need more than 4GB for anything you're going to be doing. I'd spend the extra $80 and upgrade your Case and Power Supply. A nice power supply is a must as cheaper ones can result in problems down the road.

Also don't be afraid to shop around for your parts. Tiger Direct sometimes has the same exact parts youre looking for, but for cheaper. And they also have some great deals.
 
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The reason I went with that mobo and mainly Intel, is because the guy that's helping me do it is VERY familiar with Intel.

I tried using my laptop (2.26ghz dual core, 4gb of ram) and when I use Blender, my processor AND ram are maxed out, like crazy maxed out.
 
Would it work to just get 4gb of ram now, and then get 4 more gb later?
 
nice, i will agree that $200 on ram is a lot, but wow that is a nice computer
 
That's what I was thinking lol. I could settle with 4gb right now, especially if it chops $100 off of that price tag lol.
 
i got mine 530 dollars from tiger direct get a barebones gameing kit i have quad core, 2 sli connetd 1gig on each video cards, 750 watt power supply, cd dcd burner, 2 500 gig hard drives striped all for 600 with 70 dollars back after rebate. so yeah al i added to the barebones kit was anbother g card, harddrive, and cpu fans. this thing can play crysis with out lagg so i wouldnt pay 900 i would goto tiger direct dude. more bang for your buck here is a linkfor a sweet barebones kit http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5214804&Sku=B69-0123 oh yeah and they usually ome with 4 gb
 
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be careful of getting a cheap power supply like the one you're getting. a lot of times the ratings on those are downright wrong and you'll find that it doesn't deliver enough volts on the 12V rail, which will cause your PSU to overheat and your computer to shut off. when this happened to me I could only run CoD5 for about 15 minutes before this would happen. if you're going to be doing anything where your computer is taxed to its absolute limit (it sounds like you are, blender can get quite intense) then make certain you get a good brand name power supply. 550 or 600 W should still be enough, but see if you can get one from Corsair, BFG, PC P&C, Antec, or another good brand.

also, for a video card, I'd recommend:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121291&cm_re=4870-_-14-121-291-_-Product

same price, more power all around.
 
Dark Diggler, can you try to find that rig again? THat sounds amazing.

Thanks for that video card, looks great :D
 
Alrite here is my suggestion:

Processor - Get an Intel i5-750, its only $10 more and performs much better, beats an AMD Phenom II x4 965 clock for clock and overclocked.

GPU - If you want a card in that range, i suggest getting an ATI 5770, much much faster. If you can spend more, get an ATI 5850, would be the best option if you have the money.

Case / PSU - Don't buy a case that comes with a PSU, the PSU generally sucks. I recommend you get a case and PSU seperate. Look at the OCZ PSU's they are decent for the price you pay.

RAM - Yes, don't spend $200 on ram, If you go along with my suggestsions, get a 4gb DDR3 kit, they aren't that expensive and might even be cheaper than DDR2 considering DDR2 is rising in price like CRAZYYYY. Its like $80 for 4gb now its ridiculous for only DDR2. So you might as well go DDR3.

Mobo - I would just recommend you find a decent price P55 mobo for the socket 1156.

If you know what your doing and you know how to look for stuff, this rig with i5 should be around the same as the current build your doing.
 
Endiment said:
be careful of getting a cheap power supply like the one you're getting. a lot of times the ratings on those are downright wrong and you'll find that it doesn't deliver enough volts on the 12V rail, which will cause your PSU to overheat and your computer to shut off. when this happened to me I could only run CoD5 for about 15 minutes before this would happen. if you're going to be doing anything where your computer is taxed to its absolute limit (it sounds like you are, blender can get quite intense) then make certain you get a good brand name power supply. 550 or 600 W should still be enough, but see if you can get one from Corsair, BFG, PC P&C, Antec, or another good brand.

also, for a video card, I'd recommend:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121291&cm_re=4870-_-14-121-291-_-Product

same price, more power all around.
Click to expand...

+1
a good PSU is a necessity

and for the combo your friend suggested you would need a dvd burner and video card
 
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That is a pretty good combo deal.

The mobo and processor are great, the case should be fine, full-tower will fit all your needs and it doesn't look half bad.
The only iffy thing about that combo would have to be the PSU, but it should do you fine.

And yes, all you need is a video card pretty much, a DVD reader/burner is only like $20. You'll be spending prob a bit over $1,000 but you will be getting a really nice performing rig. The i7 920 will be beastly, i would recommend overclocking that baby to 4.0ghz and over if you know how to. It would require an aftermarket cooler though.
 
If you want one that comes with everything, even a video card and a card for PhysX then look at this one.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5263783&CatId=4910

The processor isn't as good as the i7 920 but the i5-750 is a really good CPU and will compete really well against a 920. It only comes with a GTX 260 but it should be good enough if you aren't too hardcore. It still needs a dvd burner. This one comes with a much better case, i have the same case, the Cooler Master HAF 932 is amazing and i believe one of the best airflow cases out there if not the best.
 
How would the one you posted, compare to the one I posted with the video card that Diggler recommended?

Sorry for making you do all this looking up and stuff, I'm just not really sure about all of the numbers n' such.
 
Motherboard is a little cheap though. It would be better getting an Nvidia chipset. And what happened to the Q9550's?? They used to be the same price as that Q9400 but now they're $250 :(
 
what will you be using this computer for?? i saw you said you use blender, do you do modeling/animation/game creation? what other programs do you use that may require hardcore requirements
 
Gaming, photoshop/blender. I'm going into digital media, so I need to be able to do editing type stuff.

I think I'm going to end up going with the setup I posted, but with Pewpew's suggestions. That seems like the cheaper route.
 
Yeah, I'd look into a different mobo, processor, video card, RAM, PSU, and case. That's just my personal opinion.

For Mobo, personally, I like eVGA or Gigabyte.
Processor, I'd look into a i5 or i7. Maybe a Q6600 if you want a very good one you can overclock. That's what I have now and it's clocked at 3.0GHz, running at 22-25C idle.
For the video card, I wouldn't get a 250 GTS. I'd look into at least a 260 GTX or something. Take the only you save on RAM and spend it on the video card.
Then for RAM, you won't need that much and I wouldn't get RAM from Kingston. I like OCZ, Corsair, or G Skill.
For the PSU, I'd go with a Corsair one, preferably a modular PSU.
And a case, go for the HAF, Antec 900/1200, or the new Corsair 800D Obsidian (It's a beauty but a little pricey).
 
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