Never built a system, considerring for gaming/general use

splunge

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Feb 16, 2006
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I've never built a system before but have braved openning the case to add memory, add a graphic card and once replaced a power suppply.

My old XP system is starting to lag and lock up and am considering replacing it with a new system for general use and gaming. I was looking to spend $800-1200. I'll need an OS. My old system has speakers, an anolog CRT monitor and working dual DVD reader and CD ROM reader/burner.

Is self building a money saver? Are there any good tutorials? I'm sure I can find some "recipes" for good home builds here, but am still rather nervous and could use some "handholding".

Also, is there any way to migrate programs from the old to the new system without having to reinstall from disk/download each one?

Thanks in advance and happy new Year.
 

cball1311

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Dec 15, 2012
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This is all new stuff considering most newer graphics cards don't have VGA (analog) connections anymore. So your build will have a new HD monitor, Window 7 Home Premium. Just left the keyboard and mouse up to you. You can drop the SSD if you want but the performance increase is rather nice. You might need a DVI cable for the monitor and GPU connection but they are rather cheap (around $15). You will be much more please if you go with everything new on that budget.

You can migrate the data using a migration software. Just install the old HDD into the new machine and use the bootabe migration software of your choice.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($208.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($132.55 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Samsung S22B300B 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($169.95 @ Mac Connection)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1201.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-31 14:50 EST-0500)
 

Emelth

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Why get a Z77 motherboard when he cant overclock with the CPU u picked switch it to a B75 or an H77

I would drop the SSD to put more money towards Case (Corsair 500R is a great case but u might want to get around a $100 case or less), GPU

(Nice find on a 1.5TB HDD for that price)

Paying way too much for 8GB RAM u can find same type for $45, get 8GB RAM DDR3 1600 1.5V with no heatspreaders (the toothy things on top of them) like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186
 

cball1311

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Dec 15, 2012
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Good point :pt1cable:

Chose the slightly higher RAM for tighter timings.

If you want to drop the SSD then go with this.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($208.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($376.48 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Samsung S22B300B 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($169.95 @ Mac Connection)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1200.30
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-31 16:54 EST-0500)
 

Emelth

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Lol switch ur RAM ur paying too much
 

splunge

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Feb 16, 2006
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Thanks all for the enthusiastic reccommendations.
Back to basics, though. What are the advantages of a home build? How challenging is it, how much time should I plan for?

I found a series of New Egg videos on home builds- any other reccommendations for tutorials?

SSD? Define, please.

Do I need a dedicated sound card or do motherboards have the connections for speakers/mikes etc?
 

cball1311

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Dec 15, 2012
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The advantages of doing a home build is like building a bird house with your son. It is an unforgettable experience (through good and bad) and you get to learn a lot about the internals along the way and it's your creation.

Since this is your first, I would give it a nothing else to do Saturday or Sunday (you probably will hit some bumps in the road, hopefully not). The newegg tutorials are good and there are some good ones on YouTube.

SSD stands for Solid State Drive and it uses NAND technology (sorta like a flash drive) that hold larger amounts of data. There are no "mechanical" parts like a traditional HDD. They are much, much faster than HDDs too.
 

camohanna

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I suggest this. Overclockable, roomy 180GB SSD leaves 100GB+ for games. 1.5TB HDD for movies etc. 7870 GHz has excellent bang for buck.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vhSi
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vhSi/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vhSi/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($132.55 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Intel 330 Series 180GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.68 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VE228H 21.5" Monitor ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1146.10
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-01 07:40 EST-0500)
 

splunge

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Feb 16, 2006
130
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18,685
Thanks all. I decided to wuss out and used your suggesatiuons for a build with AVAdirect. Costlier but as my wife put it, worth the avoidance of the aggravation, plus nice to have a waranty and tech support. Should be a nice system!
 

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