Foist

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Hey guys. So I've been checking out iBuyPower because the thought of building my own PC scares the crap out of me, lol. However, I have heard you can save a lot of money by building it yourself, and I want to squeeze as much out of my money as possible. I was looking for something around the pricepoint of $1500.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Month or so, gatta get the cash finalized and together.

BUDGET RANGE: Around $1500

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, multimedia (animation, video editing), surfing the web.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, sound system, monitor.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Only one I know of is Newegg, and I'm Canadian so probably Newegg.ca and Newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: x58 Intel i7, Nvidia graphics, no idea about the mobo.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes, atleast a little bit.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Possibly if budget allows it.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm upgrading from a 6 year old Dell prebuilt with a P4, anything is going to seem amazing to me so thats why I need your help. :p
 

Wolygon

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Hello, you'll be glad you decided to build.

Your budget seems a little high, for only 1680x1050. However what games are you playing? I reckon a bit smaller budget then upgrade in a year. New generation AMD graphics cards and CPUs are around the corner.

Thanks.
 

Foist

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Hey thanks for the reply. $1500 is just the price iBuy kicked out when I refined my build to what I wanted. Well on this Pentium 4 hunk of crap I'm generally restricted to Source Engine games, however I do own higher end games and wish to be able to play them and others maxed with relatively good performance (ARMA II, Crysis, Mafia II, Metro, Bad Company 2, etc etc.)

Here's my iBuy machine for reference

Case
NZXT Lexa-S Gaming Case-Black w/ Blue Light

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 930 Processor (4x 2.80GHz/8MB L3 Cache)-

Processor Cooling
Asetek 550LC Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ 120mm Radiator (Intel)-

Memory
6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1600-Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 - 2GB-Single Card

Motherboard
[3-Way SLI] ASUS P6T-


Power Supply
600 Watt -- Power Supply-SLI Ready

Primary Hard Drive
1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s-Single Drive

Optical Drive
24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black

Meter Display
NZXT Sentry 2 Touch Screen Fan Controller & Temperature Display-

Sound Card
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard-

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel)-64-Bit

Advanced Build Options
Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower-Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis

Advanced Build Options
Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower-Basic Pro Wiring

Advanced Build Options
Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower-Advanced - Power Package (Individually Sleeved 24-pin ATX, 8-pin CPU, and SATA Drive Power Cabling)

Advanced Build Options
Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower-Advanced - Video Package (Individually Sleeved 8-pin and 6-pin PCI-E VGA Power Cabling)

Advanced Build Options
Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound-The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks

Advanced Build Options
iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System-Protect your investment during transportation!

Warranty
Standard Warranty Service-Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support

--------------------

Subtotal* $1463.00 (plus tax & shipping)
 

Wolygon

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AMD Phenom II X4 955 + OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W $215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.469005

ASUS M4A78T-E $115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

G.Skill Ripjaws 1600MHz CS9 $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277&cm_re=g_skill_ripjaws_4gb-_-20-231-277-_-Product

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

Cooler Master 690 + Samsung DVD Writer $73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.466987

Sapphire HD 5850 $285
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102884&cm_re=5850-_-14-102-884-_-Product

Total: $843

This PC will out perform the one you listed, and is much more upgradable as AMD's new processors will support AM3. I think a HD5850 will suit you well, however if you think you need some more performance you could get a 5870 however I think it will be a bit overkill for 1680x1050.

Hope this helps.

[EDIT]
Just realised you want a X58. I would like to discourage this, for gaming it is not required and I'm pretty sure it will be replaced so will be getting no more processors. Going with AMD saves you money and gets you a better PC. Hope this changes your mind.

The case is up to you, I wasn't sure if you wanted a full ATX or not. I think the CM 690 is a nice case but you might not like the look. Also you wanted a bit of OCing, the Hyper 212+ is a great cooler.

$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&Tpk=cooler%20master%20hyper%20212

Also I was wondering if you wanted an OS with that...
 

rainvie1

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Aug 2, 2010
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i5 Build

i5 760 $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067&cm_re=i5-_-19-115-067-_-Product

ASUS P7P55 WS SuperComputer $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131594&cm_re=p55_motherboard-_-13-131-594-_-Product

G.Skill Ripjaws 1600MHz CS9 $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


Cooler Master 690 + Samsung DVD Writer $73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.466987


Sapphire HD 5850 $285
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

total $920 ish
add a 5870 instead and its about $1030
 

Wolygon

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Jan 26, 2010
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If you would like to post a rival build would you please explain to the OP why he should go with yours and not mine, as to not confuse him with choices.

1156 is EOL and thus will not have any new processors, the OP does not require the performance of an i5 at the moment and thus AMD is a much better idea.

Your build is more expensive (ha I just realised you don't even include a PSU with that) yet is not required, maybe if the OP was going for Crossfire 5870s this might apply.

[EDIT]
Have you heard of edit?
 

rainvie1

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an i5 760 and 5870 with this monitor will get you Crysis on highest res on highest settings with a good fps, and in the future, just throw in another 5870. if you really want nvidia.... a 470?
 

rainvie1

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your build is missing a PSU as well, and I tacked one on. and the total is still less than their posted build.

they said they wanted an i7, and like you said, the i5 is slight overkill, but P55 is cheaper than X58, giving more $$ for graphics.
 
G

Guest

Guest
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case-$89.98
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply-$109.99

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard-$199.99
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor-$289.99
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler-$62.00

(your choice Nvidia or ati cant go wrong with this two)
EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card-$329.99
ASUS EAH5850 DirectCU TOP/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 Video Card-$329.99

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory F3-12800CL7T-6GBP-$159.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive-$59.99
Boot drive-OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)-$99.95

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe-$25.99
Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate-$14.99
NZXT SEN-001LX Sentry LX Aluminum dual bay fan controller-$67.00

total-$1509.85

source:newegg
 

Wolygon

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Jan 26, 2010
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HAVE YOU HEARD OF EDIT! FOUR POSTS IN A ROW. THERE IS NO EXCUSE.

Well actually mine does include a PSU, open your eyes.

The i5 has more performance than a Phenom II so don't compare them as "both quad processors and a clock speed".

You say "the option of crossfire/ SLI as a cheap future upgrade" yet the CPU will not be able to be upgraded. Do you listen, AM3 will have more processors coming yet 1156 will not. This makes AMD more appealing, also at the present time the OP does not require an i5's performance so it isn't needed.

I have already said that I believe the OP should keep the $500 for a year or two then upgrade his processor/graphics. The OP has not said that he wants another monitor, which means that one 5850 will be plenty for his resolution at this time.

You have wrecked this thread for the OP, with an unmanageable amount of posts. Disappointment.



 
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Guest

Guest
lol punkinator. your right all the way. but hes an intel and nvidia fan.do you know how its feel if if your a fan of of any proc/vc manufacturer? you feel your system is slow even if its not. ha ha ha

anyway I7 setup will get you for about 2-4 years if you have a good motherboard for overclock. remember that even you have an AM3 board now its not futureproof as manufacturers and technology is evolving. Next time we know we have PCIE 3.0, DDR-4 ,SATA 4, USB 4.0 .
 

Foist

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Aug 13, 2010
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Your nattering and bickering is incredibly unhelpful, but the other parts of your posts are good. Thanks.

However, punkinator, my post mentions I am upgrading from a 6 year old P4 Dell. From this you can probably decode that I don't like buying a new computer every 2 months as most gamers do. I'm trying to get as much power into my budget as possible.
 

Wolygon

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Jan 26, 2010
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It wouldn't look so bad if someone didn't post three times then four times in a row.

So you don't want to upgrade you PC every once in a while. Are you sure you wouldn't replace a graphics card or a CPU to upgrade your performance? It's not like building the whole PC again and it allows you to game with high end hardware for much longer for much cheaper.

Surely you wouldn't mind spending half an hour in a year or two to upgrade your performance no end. But if you don't want to then I would suggest an i5 with Crossfire 5870s as it will fit your budget although you will waste a lot of money especially as you don't require the performance as of now.

Thanks, would have been less stupid if you could have posted back sooner.