Need new build advice

[asabrantes]

ALREADY PURCHASED

Hello everyone,

I am going to try to build my first ever computer. I have been reading the posts and guides here and put something together. If anyone has any advice on places to save money or improve performance without raising the cost please let me know. Also, let me know if there is something wrong with the build or there is some part I am leaving out. The total is now, with shipping, $897.55 ($832.55 after mail in rebate). Thanks!

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Approximate Purchase Date: Today


Budget Range: $500-$1200 After Rebates


System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies, vpn with work, statistical software


Parts Not Required: mouse and optical drive not needed, (high quality speaker system and "gaming" keyboard are optional, maybe later)


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: not important


Country of Origin: USA


Parts Preferences: AMD


Overclocking: In the future


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments: I am concerned about heat, temperatures here reach 115F and I don't have air conditioning


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Include a list of any parts you have already selected with descriptively labeled links for parts.


Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147060

Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052

MSI 970A-G45 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130608

PowerColor AX6850 1GBD5-DH Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131374

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

 

[ScrewySqrl]

consider the Challenger U3, $10 more but a USB3 front end.

 

[Wisecracker]

The Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB is generally considered a bigger, faster and better HDD for another $10.

That's not really a CrossFire motherboard in the typical sense -- for an x8/x8 future CrossFire you may want to consider the ASRock 970 EXTREME4 AM3+ 970.

I've got no issues with MSI ... love their stuff ...

 

[gogetta]

Hard Drive: Look into this... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 - This will be much faster than the Seagate, double the space, and it's only $20 more. However, if you can afford an SSD drive for the OS and critical programs, definitely look into that.

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020&cm_sp=Cat_Power_Supplies-_-Spotlight-_-17-139-020 - Same price as the one you have listed after rebates (deal ends today though). Corsair is a very solid name in PSU's, plus this gives you a little wiggle room with 650 Watts as opposed to a somewhat constraining 550 W.

Case: Just a casual suggestion, but check out this case if you can afford it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107 This should be a little roomier than the one you have listed and I found the cable management to be pretty nice.

Good luck!

 

[asabrantes]

I changed to the U3 case and the 650W power supply. Is the spinpoint HD really that much better? It is 3Gb/s instead of 6Gb/s with the same 7200rpm, it seems like it should be slower.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

the 3.0 Gb/s vs 6.0 Gb/s means NOTHING to mechanical hard drives. the SATA 2 Spinpoint F3 manages about 77Mb/sec, the 500 GB you have there manages about 75 Mb/sec

 

[gogetta]

I changed to the U3 case and the 650W power supply. Is the spinpoint HD really that much better? It is 3Gb/s instead of 6Gb/s with the same 7200rpm, it seems like it should be slower.

I'm tellin' ya man.. if you can scrape up enough $$, you won't regret this... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725

I was going to skip over an SSD with my build because it isn't exactly a necessity.... until you actually have one. Those things are lightning quick. From completely powered off to joining a Starcraft 2 game is about a 25-30 second process.. no kidding.

Boot time is literally 15 seconds.

 

[Why_Me]

That board you have up there isn't meant for dual vid cards. It runs dual cards @ x4. Also your not going to get that great of FPS with that card and your resolution.

 

[asabrantes]

I upgraded to the 1TB drive and made the purchase. Thanks for all the help. I am almost convinced to order the SSD and have it arrive later but I will resist. I am happy that I could keep the price under 1000.

 

[jackspeed]

If you are ok with going in your upper range of the budget get this. THe intel i5 is better than the phenom but it is also significantly more expensive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130582&Tpk=msi%20p67a-g45

Price difference 135ish and if you live near a microcenter you could get the cpu cheaper 40ish. this should fit in the $1200 budget.