New Build ~$1500

[stox]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next month
BUDGET RANGE: ~$1500

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, photoshop, dreamweaver, office applications, hulu

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: nada

OVERCLOCKING: for sure

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: not likely, at least not for quite some time

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080, 1920x1200, alternatively I can skip on the monitor and use my projector which is 720p


Hopefully that covers the basics, I was trying to follow the instructions. Anyway, the last computer I built for myself was back in 2005 I believe, so I'm out of touch. I have been reading the forums and have come up with a few possibilities but would definitely like some suggestions.

CPU+Motherboard: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX + BIOSTAR TA890FXE AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard - $304.98 As a comment, I can separate cpu and MB, just thought this was a good deal. I would like some comments on USB3, as in should I go ahead and get a motherboard that supports it or wait and get an addon card? It could be sometime before I get any usb3 peripherals, I'm not sure as I haven't seen any yet.

Graphics Card: XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support - $294.99

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $89.98

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler - $49.99. I see this one recommended in several threads.

dvd burners: ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM - x2 = $37.98

[strike]Power Supply: I'm not sure what I need, recommendations please. Needs to support the OC.
Standard HD: 1TB something that won't likely fail, I average roughly 1 failure a year.[/strike]
RAM and HD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB & Corsair CMPSU-650TX -$144.98

SSD drive - OCZ Vertex 2 60GB -$170

Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 -$104.99

Monitor: I had a question here, what are the thoughts on the standard LCDs vs LED backlit? Any suggestions? As I mentioned above, there is always the possibility of skipping this and just using my projector as well.

[strike]OS: Windows 7? Should I upgrade to this or stick with XP? Also, if you recommend 7, which version and why?
[/strike]

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM - $99.99

I think that about does it. I can't think of anything else anyway. If you can, please help me fill in the gaps, make changes / recommendations, etc. Thanks for the help!

**new note**
This all comes in to around ~1300 without the rebates involved, and without a monitor added yet or discounts taken into account.

 

[tecmo34]

CPU: I would go with the Phenom X4 955 instead of the X6 1055T. The X4 955 out performs the 1055T in gaming and most other applications.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE & GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H

CPU Cooler: I would get the CM Hyper 212 + from Amazon, since it is half price.

SSD Drive: OCZ Vertex 2 60GB

Hard Drive & PSU Combo: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB & Corsair CMPSU-650TX

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600

OS: Upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit!!

 

[stox]

For the CPU, I would prefer to stay with the x6, as when I am working I generally have ~30 firefox tabs open, photoshop, dreamweaver, filezilla ftp, notepad++ (with usually 5-7 documents), some excel tables, outlook, sometimes pdfs and word documents, along with various other programs. I would think 6 cores could handle this better than 4. I would be willing to give up a slight performance gain in games (is that really the case? can new games just not use all the cores?)

Thanks for the tip about the cooler being half priced on Amazon, that's pretty strange. Newegg used to be pretty price competitive. I'm going to leave it up there on newegg for now, but will likely order on Amazon for the final order.

The SSD looks good, it is out of stock at the moment but I am still going to add it, as most likely it will be back in stock next week. It is actually cheaper than their 50 GB version.

The hard drive you suggested looks good. Is the 650 watt power supply really enough for an overclock build? I would like some other thoughts on this please. Adding it to the list for now anyways.

Ram looks good as well. Looks like to get any better timings is significantly more cash.

Thanks for the response tecmo34.

Still looking for other thoughts, on LCD vs LED monitors, other parts suggestions, etc. I will be updating the top with some of tecmo34's suggestions.

 

[mosox]

For +$35 I would get this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102881

Factory overclocked, Vapor-x. I wouldn't buy an SSD now.

 

[batuchka]

1055T but with H50 and clock a.s.a.p for me hehe