Hello all. I'm looking for help and advice on my first build.
PPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: January 8th
BUDGET RANGE: $650, maybe $700 (if I can talk my wife into it, she's not giving a lot of room to work with). This is for the systems main hardware componants, not the OS, mouse, etc.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, EQ2 and WoW are about it really, though I do have a number of other games, but those are the two I am on most. Web browsing.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Need everything as I got rid of my last PC when the family moved. For this post though I'm not concerned with covering the OS, mouse, keyboard, or monitor. Just the main componants of the system itself.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: I prefer AMD/ATI for CPU and GPU. From what I understand they offer the best "bang for buck". Here's what I'm looking at getting as a whole:
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
This seems like a decent case with reletively good airflow.
Motherboard: MSI 790X-G45 AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130249
I am looking at this mobo because it has an AM3 socket for cpu upgrades down the road if necessary, as well as DDR3 since DDR2 seems to be going out the door.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649
I really like the looks of this processor. From what I understand, most games (not all) only utilize two cores, thus this CPU would give two cores for the game, and another for the OS, or so I have read. Also the price fits my budget perfectly.
PSU: BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702010
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100258-1GHDMI Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102837
Now this is where my budget is really showing. I would like to have something more powerful, but the price fits my budget perfectly. I am not concerned with DX11 or I would have considered the 5750, but from what I've read the 4850 is more powerful (correct me if I'm wrong.) Also, I know it will run the two games I play most at max settings easily.
RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144383
After reading up on GeIL the brand seems decent enough.
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098
It's cheap, WD seems to have a good reputation, and the reviews are great for the most part.
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118032
It's cheap, and again has good reviews.
OVERCLOCKING: Probably as I learn more about it. OC'd CPU before, but have never tried GPU.
CROSSFIRE: Possibly in time, if it seems like it will boost performance enough to justify purchasing a second card. If it came to that though I would probably just upgrade to a single, more powerful card when my budget would allow for it.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Probably 22" at 1680x1050.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This is my first solo build, so I am looking for all the advice I can get. Is this decent, or will it all utterly fail? My budget is super tight, so I am very limited as to what I can get which is really making me struggle. I want the best performance possible for my money. For my past two pc's I've go to a local shop in town and tell them what I want to do and they order and build for me. This time I'm going solo to cut costs, so anyone with experience, please comment and tell me how (if possible) to improve what I am shooting for.
PPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: January 8th
BUDGET RANGE: $650, maybe $700 (if I can talk my wife into it, she's not giving a lot of room to work with). This is for the systems main hardware componants, not the OS, mouse, etc.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, EQ2 and WoW are about it really, though I do have a number of other games, but those are the two I am on most. Web browsing.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Need everything as I got rid of my last PC when the family moved. For this post though I'm not concerned with covering the OS, mouse, keyboard, or monitor. Just the main componants of the system itself.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: I prefer AMD/ATI for CPU and GPU. From what I understand they offer the best "bang for buck". Here's what I'm looking at getting as a whole:
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
This seems like a decent case with reletively good airflow.
Motherboard: MSI 790X-G45 AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130249
I am looking at this mobo because it has an AM3 socket for cpu upgrades down the road if necessary, as well as DDR3 since DDR2 seems to be going out the door.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649
I really like the looks of this processor. From what I understand, most games (not all) only utilize two cores, thus this CPU would give two cores for the game, and another for the OS, or so I have read. Also the price fits my budget perfectly.
PSU: BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702010
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100258-1GHDMI Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102837
Now this is where my budget is really showing. I would like to have something more powerful, but the price fits my budget perfectly. I am not concerned with DX11 or I would have considered the 5750, but from what I've read the 4850 is more powerful (correct me if I'm wrong.) Also, I know it will run the two games I play most at max settings easily.
RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144383
After reading up on GeIL the brand seems decent enough.
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098
It's cheap, WD seems to have a good reputation, and the reviews are great for the most part.
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118032
It's cheap, and again has good reviews.
OVERCLOCKING: Probably as I learn more about it. OC'd CPU before, but have never tried GPU.
CROSSFIRE: Possibly in time, if it seems like it will boost performance enough to justify purchasing a second card. If it came to that though I would probably just upgrade to a single, more powerful card when my budget would allow for it.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Probably 22" at 1680x1050.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This is my first solo build, so I am looking for all the advice I can get. Is this decent, or will it all utterly fail? My budget is super tight, so I am very limited as to what I can get which is really making me struggle. I want the best performance possible for my money. For my past two pc's I've go to a local shop in town and tell them what I want to do and they order and build for me. This time I'm going solo to cut costs, so anyone with experience, please comment and tell me how (if possible) to improve what I am shooting for.