My first build

[Muffs]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to build a computer but I'm not to sure what I should put in it. I do know that I want a I5 though. I have a 800 to 900 dollar budget for my build. I'm planning on using this computer for gaming and I would like to run bf3 on medium or high if possible.

 

[iEye Captain]

For that budget, you could save money by going for a top line i5 instead. According to what I read in this forum, a top line i5 (e.g. 2500) is at least equivelent to a low end i7 (which is what you'll get for that budget)..

 

[Muffs]

Ok, thanks

 

[Muffs]

When I get the processor, should I buy a separate heat sink?

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

You can always do that later. With your budget, that might be a smart move to leave it as an upgrade. Even with the stock cooler you can overclock a decent bit, though I do not believe it is really even necessary at the moment.

 

[a pet rock]

Aftermarket coolers exist for two reasons. Overclocking and noise. If you aren't looking into overclocking, and a regular fan doesn't bother you, then you don't need an aftermarket cooler. But a couple general questions that will help out everybody who wants to help you.

1. What do you need? Do you have monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, OS?
2. Are you interested at all in overclocking?
3. When are you going to be buying? Soon? End of summer for BF3?
4. Where are you going to be buying? newegg? Other site? Local store?

 

[iEye Captain]

I wouldn't recommend overclocking if you're just a normal, everyday user without major processing needs.

I'll leave the specifics to somebody more qualified and knowledgable, but what you should expect to get is:

1) Sandy Bridge i5 - maybe a 2300? - ~$200
2) 4 GB RAM - ~$80
3) GTX 460 or equivelent - ~$200
4) Servicable mobo - ~$120
5) Servicable PSU - ~$75
6) Servicable case - ~$50
7) Servicable HDD - ~$60
8) Servicable DVD drive - ~$20
9) Windows 7 - $100

Something along these lines will play BF3 at medium for sure.

 

[Ph?bus]

Lol 4GB of ram is like $45 nowadays.

 

[iEye Captain]

Lol 4GB of ram is like $45 nowadays.

Even better..

My estimates were pushing the north end of his budget.

Or he can spend it on 6GB of RAM.

 

[iEye Captain]

LG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS70 OEM - OEM - $20

NZXT Alpha Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Open Window - $55

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $58

EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - $200

SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W - $75

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) - $40

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX - $120

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) - $190

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 32-bit - OEM - $100

Total: $856

 

[Darth]

I hope you guys are still here in 10 years time when I need to make my own new pc... I know nothing about computers.

Oh and II, why would you say 6gb? Maybe in the future it could be used but 4gb just for games is plenty.

 

[iEye Captain]

Oh and II, why would you say 6gb? Maybe in the future it could be used but 4gb just for games is plenty.

It's just that RAM is so cheap nowadays, if you're going to spend X amount on 4geebees, might as well spend Y amount more to get 6geebees for Z amount, where Y < 0.5X and Z < $100.

Now, solve for X, Y and Z using multi-variable calculus and ten fingers only.

 

[FreakingHell]

It's just that RAM is so cheap nowadays, if you're going to spend X amount on 4geebees, might as well spend Y amount more to get 6geebees for Z amount, where Y < 0.5X and Z < $100.

Now, solve for X, Y and Z using multi-variable calculus and ten fingers only.

Impossible since you only gave inequalities. And it's just algebra, no calculus (makes me sad).

but $0.00 < x < $66.67, $0.00 < y < $33.33, and obviously $66.67 < z < $100.

 

[Muffs]

No I do not plan on over clocking and newegg would be my preferred site. And I already bought my moniter. And I was thinking about getting it at the end of the month, and upgrading some stuff later in the year.

 

[iEye Captain]

No I do not plan on over clocking and newegg would be my preferred site. And I already bought my moniter. And I was thinking about getting it at the end of the month, and upgrading some stuff later in the year.

My post above are picks from Newegg.com.

 

[Muffs]

Ok that should be ok, should I buy 2 more fans to put in the case?

 

[iEye Captain]

Ok that should be ok, should I buy 2 more fans to put in the case?

Buying a case is like buying clothes in that you should do it yourself. I only "chose" one for you for price illustration purposes.

Go through the cases available on Newegg and choose one that you like while keeping your price range in mind.

Filter for Mid-ATX cases, full ATX towers are pretty big and quite frankly, unnecessary in your case (<- elle oh elle, i made a pun).

Since you're not overclocking, buying a case with one or two 120mm and/or 80mm fans should be enough. If those fans are not included, you can buy them separately and install them, they're easy to install.

If you have a couple of cases you like, feel free to post links to them here and we can give our opinions.

 

[Muffs]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=cases_mid_tower-_-11-146-025-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=cases_mid_tower-_-11-156-244-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=cases_mid_tower-_-11-162-063-_-Product

or this one, which bundles the ram but would I need to use water cooling for that case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.658439

 

[iEye Captain]

I like the NZXT one.

It comes with two 120mm fans, which is good enough.

 

[reflex99]

I'd just get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061&Tpk=nzxt gamma

cheap, and fairly high quality.