Looking at System Builder Marathon (or any other PC) for New Build

[1dog]

Hi all,

I'm building a new system for my wife. She doesn't game but I thought I'd pick a gaming system. I game and may use her system for low-demand games if my current gaming system is down. However, the most intensive resource use of this system is likely to just be VLC media player. I hope I'm posting in the right forum. The components forum didn't seem right for this topic. I am currently planning on building http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/build-your-own-budget-gaming-pc,review-32915.html. Your opinions on that are welcome. Thanks for your time.

Approximate Purchase Date: This Week.

Budget Range: $2000.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watching movies, surfing internet, MS Office.

Are you buying a monitor: No.

Parts to Build: I have Coolermaster 850W supply, WD Raptor 150 GB HDD, Memorex DVD-R/W drive, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse. Need the rest of the components.

Do you need to buy OS: No. I will use Win XP Professional (32 bit).

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon, Pricewatch, Newegg, www.frys.com (Southern California Brick-and-Mortar locations).

Location: Los Angeles, California.

Parts Preferences: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/build-your-own-budget-gaming-pc,review-32915.html

Overclocking: No.

SLI or Crossfire: No.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050 capable - I haven't tried higher than this on the monitor I have that I plan to use on this new build.

Additional Comments: I'm open to all suggestions but would like to only use Windows XP (I will buy only 4GB RAM) and would prefer a gaming PC just so I don't get components that are fairly useless if I wish to use them later for a low-end gaming system. My budget is relaxed but I don't see the point in going higher end given that my wife won't use it beyond some movies and the lower probability of this actually being used for gaming.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Building: My wife's laptop is overheating (Core Temp shows shutdown around 85 C). Its a Gateway which came with Windows 8. Instead, I put Windows XP and it has never been happy. 1 yr old and quite a bad investment. No more laptop buys.

Thanks, everyone.

 

[vrumor]

Most of those components will be useless due to you using a 13 year old obsolete OS. Most likely that is why the laptop has "never been happy" cause you cant find drivers for it. Who uses XP Pro 32 bit anyhow? What a waste of expensive hardware. Just hate to see it go to waste is all.

 

[smorizio]

there few issues with your parts and os to use. a light gaming pc or entry pc now would be a g3258 and a 750ti card. the g3258 is not a wallet killer and it run all your word and movies fine. just make sure that you use window 7 and 8g of ram with any build. with lack of ram if she tries to muilt task her rig going to slow way down as the os swaps data in a swap file from the hard drive. for motherboard use a h87 unit it let you drop in the g3258 and a newer brodwell if your wife needs more power in a few years. also spend the money on 120 g ssd boot drive and a 1tb data drive. if you or she installs windows 8 or 9 when it comes out the pc will boot real fast..with normal windows 7 and aps it will speed her pc up.
if she or you want small pc then look at itx cases and itx mb.

 

[1dog]

there few issues with your parts and os to use. a light gaming pc or entry pc now would be a g3258 and a 750ti card. the g3258 is not a wallet killer and it run all your word and movies fine. just make sure that you use window 7 and 8g of ram with any build. with lack of ram if she tries to muilt task her rig going to slow way down as the os swaps data in a swap file from the hard drive. for motherboard use a h87 unit it let you drop in the g3258 and a newer brodwell if your wife needs more power in a few years. also spend the money on 120 g ssd boot drive and a 1tb data drive. if you or she installs windows 8 or 9 when it comes out the pc will boot real fast..with normal windows 7 and aps it will speed her pc up.
if she or you want small pc then look at itx cases and itx mb.

Thanks. Your focus is on the upgradeability, right? On a total cost check I got $183.76 for the 3258 & H87.
On the H81 & i3, I got $177.93. So I'm guessing the advantage is in the upgradeability of the motherboard? On the OS, I already have Win 7 on my system. I never had a problem with XP (I have dual boot) and its probably just me but plunking down another $100 on Win 7 for a non-gaming system didn't sit well with me. Just giving my perspective. More than happy to be corrected.

@vrumor - I'll try reinstalling Win 8 on her laptop and seeing how that goes. Meanwhile I still have to get her a new desktop so regardless of that outcome I need to pick the components. But I will update with the outcome of that. Thanks for suggesting that alternative.

 

[vrumor]

Sure. I havent looked for XP drivers for 6 years or so, but I cant imagine that they are being made anymore for new hardware. I may be mistaken and probably am, but its worth a shot.

 

[1dog]

Sure. I havent looked for XP drivers for 6 years or so, but I cant imagine that they are being made anymore for new hardware. I may be mistaken and probably am, but its worth a shot.

Ok. I didn't grasp this point earlier. You're saying that most new hardware (laptop or desktop) don't have XP drivers written for them? If that is the case then, yes, I have to buy another Win 7 copy (not a Win 8 fan after the little I saw of it on my wife's laptop before the XP). Can you confirm?

 

[vrumor]

Well no I cannot confirm. You can easily confirm it yourself and see if there are XP drivers for that particular laptop. If it came with Win8, I doubt they will. But like I said, I could be wrong. There may be a legacy setting in there somewhere. I dont do much with laptops, hate em heh. And as ive said, I havent looked up XP drivers in so long, I dont even pay attention if they are listed.

 

[1dog]

I see. But desktop components (such as the ones I intend to purchase), have XP drivers? I understand you do not use XP but I am just wondering if you happened to have read/heard about XP drivers not being available for those either? I realize it would be a waste of resources but I am curious if they will at least run on XP. My desktop is Rampage II, i7, GTX 285 and it has XP drivers for it but I built it in 2010 and I have not kept up with the news since then.

 

[1dog]

Read some more and it seems that stuff made this year may or may not support XP. So that answers my question. I'll choose my build and try XP - if it doesn't work I'll buy another copy of Win 7 and use that as the OS.

I have a question on: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2212100/bestconfigs-poll-intel-based-office.html I do not see any GPUs listed for those builds. Are they able to run movies at all? Sorry if its a silly question.

 

[vrumor]

I think youd be doing yourself a disservice by buying all this new hardware and putting any version of XP on it. Youd be 1000x better off not spending all that money on PC primarily used for watching movies and invest in another Win7 or 8 OS. You wont even be able to take advantage of most of the features of your hardware simply cause XP doesnt and never will support it.

 

[smorizio]

for your question why no gpu is most intel and amd cpu now have ipgpu that are as fast as nvidia 650 chipsets. amd apu are faster as they have ati video cores.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20775
newest mb chipset drivers from intel dont support xp.
http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/H97MECSM/HelpDesk_Download/
dont have any xp drivers. if your wife like the look of xp with window 7 and 8 there free program called clasic shell that make the os look and act like xp.

 

[1dog]

Thanks guys. The XP idea is abandoned. Is there any version of Windows 7 you recommend? I currently run Win 7 Ultimate on my desktop but I would like your opinions.

Of the two systems I narrowed down from the link I cited earlier:
1. AMD Radeon's Quick Multitasking Office PC
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($66.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.44 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($46.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N250PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($18.99 @ Newegg)

2. shortstuff_mt's "my computer is too fast, how am I supposed to sleep between work tasks?" Intel office build
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD2 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($56.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($113.17 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($46.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 360W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)

For movies, Office 2010, browsing, would you recommend either of these systems? Open to any other system suggestions. Changed my plan from gaming to just a basic PC.

I would still like to use my Power Supply, Raptor HDD, Memorex optical drive. The Mobo, CPU, Memory, Case, are all I plan to get for now. Thanks for your patience and your help.

 

[smorizio]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pk9Hpg
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pk9Hpg/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($135.45 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($85.82 @ OutletPC)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $449.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-23 01:42 EDT-0400

 

[smorizio]

the r300 is a nice case if it too big look at the r200. cases like the r line have the drive bays on the bottom to keep open room for long gpu. the h97 mb will let you drop in a brodwell cpu with just a bios update. if your cd rom and drive are sata you can reuse them.

 

[1dog]

Thanks much. I'm going to go with your pick. I like larger cases too (my wife doesn't but she doesn't have to work on it when something breaks). On the Win 7, do you have any opinion among these? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=windows%207&sprefix=window%2Caps

 

[smorizio]

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-System-Builder-Packaging/dp/B00H09BB16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411451954&sr=8-1&keywords=windows+7
oem 7 good for one pc when you register it online it locks to the mb in the build. if the mb fails all you need do is call microsoft up and they give you a new activation number.
64 bit is for pc with more then 4g of ram. the other version are for work pc (xp) and high end gamer systems that have extra features most home users wont use.

 

[1dog]

Gotcha. I'll get that one then. I appreciate your help. I'm very grateful for your time and effort.

 

[smorizio]

if thsi pc going to be used for a few years look into after market air coolers that use screws and back plate. the intel cpu coolers do work but there known to fall off of cpu over time..weaken from heat becuase there plastic pinned.

 

[1dog]

Yeah I never cared for the stock coolers. I have this one on my desktop: http://www.frys.com/product/7964100?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
I'll get another one for the new system too. Thanks for the tip.

 

[1dog]

Another problem cropped-up. My wife says that since Windows 7 support is being ended too, she would rather get Windows 8. Your opinions? If you agree with her, could you please recommend a Windows 8 package to buy? Thanks.

PS - Could you also recommend a Win 7 compatible graphics card just in case I decide to use it for gaming? I am a bit concerned that this may be the last year to buy Win 7 compatible hardware. Seems like the same thing that happened to Win XP.

 

[smorizio]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776&cm_re=windows_8-_-32-416-776-_-Product
http://www.classicshell.net/
program i use to make windows 8 look and act like 7 or xp.
with hardware like video cards if you buy ati or nvidia they use one driver for all of there cards now. you could use an older 8800gt in windows 8 if you wanted too. what happens with windows is the driver database for xp is not the same for windows 8. so a lot of vendor dont write drivers for older printers and sound cards. for the money the newer 960 that dropping in oct is not a bad card for it price point. amd also may be dropping newer gpu or cutting there price. if you can get a good deal on a 280/280x you be fine for a few years.

 

[1dog]

I'll get that for her (and thanks for the link). Thank you also for the classicshell recommendation. Will definitely need that for her.

By 960, you mean GTX 960? And 280/280X, you mean AMD R9 280? Just confirming.

Thank you.