Need Advice on first custom build

[blown38pontiac]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 2-4 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: 500-1000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, multitasking, photo editing, auto cad, website design

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor (I want to use my 32inch LCD TV), have mouse and keyboard. using nvidia geforce 9500gt

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, tigerdirect, microcenter (those are the sites I know but really any site will be fine)

PARTS PREFERENCES:

OVERCLOCKING: (not to familiar with overclocking)

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: would prefer SLI capable.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: unsure

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
1) Would buying a 2nd geforce 9500gt be of benifeit to me or would buying 1 new video card for now be better?
2) I use a 1T external hardrive so the internal does not need to be that big.

Thanks ahead of time for your input. If you have any questions please ask and I will respond as soon as possible.

 

[nerrawg]

hmm, depending on how much money you want to spend and whether you're gaming or you're multitasking is the most taxing thing you do on your system you would be either looking at an AMD phemon II or an Intel core i7 system. If you want SLI capable go for the i7 system.

Budget Gaming System that will multitask for most home purposes (but not to a "professional" level, like running final cut studio master alongside soundtrack pro and final cut studio motion graphics - it will be noticeably slower than the i7 system in this case)

CPU and MOBO:
AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE and gigabyte 790X combo - $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190734

GPU:
4870 1GB - $175 - upgradable later on
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161269

(If you have to go Nvidia) - BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896OCE GeForce GTX 260 - $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143140

RAM:
Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104098

Case:
Antec 300 - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

PSU:
Earthwatts 500W - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

HDD:
WD 640 GB - $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

Optical drive - any DVD burner that is good - roughly $20

Total: $650 - $675 without OS (windows 7 is free or get vista for $100)

Core i7 build: go with any of these builds by Why_Me:

Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265357-31-need-recommendation-build

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129042 $58.95 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341012 $59.99 ($39.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W ATX12V / EPS12V Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U3R $179.99 | $164.99 after rebate
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.192479 Combo Discount: -$7.00 Combo Price: $367.98 $20.00 Mail-In Rebate
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233029 $39.99 Free Shipping*
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

GPU (edit):
4870 1GB - $175 - upgradable later on
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161269

(If you have to go Nvidia) - BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896OCE GeForce GTX 260 - $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143140

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151171 $24.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM

Total: $957 | $887 w/mail in rebates
Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Why_Me on 05-15-2009 at 08:13:06 AM

The Core i7 is a stronger PC - but it costs more as well - so it depends what you need. I always suggest to buy the cheapest system that will meet your end needs - here is an article on getting the most for your money over the long term (years): http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264181-31-best-bang-buck-spend-systemhttp://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264181-31-best-bang-buck-spend-system

The AMD system will let you play any current games today at 1600 res. at max settings. However it might not be as future upgradable as the i7 (very likely that it won't be). However the i7 system might not be the best bang for the buck either - it depends on what your system demands are.

 

[blown38pontiac]

Thanks for the input. The budget build you have listed doesn't sound bad at all. One thing is last night i was looking around newegg and i saw this...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190732
I believe its worth the extra $50 but your input would be greatly appreciated.

About the core I7 build you posted. Most of the links do not work. I will try to look around at newegg to check out what they have. I am not new to computers at all, I have just never built a custom comp and I never really looked to much into mobo's or processors.

Also, any ATX style case will work with this correct?

 

[nerrawg]

any atx case will work - the 300 was just a suggestion cause its cheap and excellent. As for the 940 BE combo it is brilliant - I would go for it if you are multitasking a lot. Sorry that the links don't work for the i7 build, its because I cut and pasted them from here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265357-31-need-recommendation-build

so you can take them from there if you want.

Hope that helps

 

[blown38pontiac]

This is what I am leaning towards after hearing all of your input

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156226

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190732

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104098

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

total so far is 509.94

Any suggestions or comments would be great. Thanks

 

[batuchka]

The 9500GT would be a multi media/HTPC GPU so i'd just hit a HD4770 and i assume your 32" LCD TV is 1368 x 768 then pixels wise its even less demanding than 1440 x 900 and 1280 x 1024 so a single HD4770 is good to go hehe Heck i have clients on a HD4670 for those kind of LCD TVs

 

[g3force]

This is what I am leaning towards after hearing all of your input

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156226

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190732

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104098

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

total so far is 509.94

Any suggestions or comments would be great. Thanks

The 9500GT isn't considered a "gaming" card in todays standard, you will probably have to scale down detail settings considerably in modern games. I would seriously recommend the GTX 260/4870 in nerrawg's suggested build for a 1080P resolution. If you resolution is 720P, something more in the lines of a GTS 250/4770 would be more suitable.