New Computer

[compute]

Hi, I'm looking to build/buy a new computer... It will be used for streaming and watching Blu-Ray/HD movies, stream movies to TV. I will also have a lot of programs opened at once. I won't ever be overclocking or anything.

Games I might play FIFA 2011

My budget is $1500, could use please recommend what I can change?

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K - $219.00
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V Motherboard B3 - $199.00
Memory: Corsair DDR3 8GB (2x Vengeance 4GB) 1600MHz CL9 (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9) – $69.00
Graphics Card: ASUS GTX 560 Ti DirectCU II Overclocked 1GB – $259.00
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 600W ST60F-P – $99.00
Monitor: BenQ GL2440HM 24in Widescreen LED Monitor with Speakers – $184.00
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint 1TB – $55.00
Optical Driver: ASUS DRW-24B3ST 24X DVDRW Drive – $25.00
Keyboard: Logitech G110 – $65.00
Mouse: Logitech G400 Optical Gaming Mouse – $49.00
Mouse Pad: Razer Goliathus Fragged Omega Control Refresh – $16.00
Printer: Canon MG6150 – $186.00
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Premium, Service Pack 1, 64-bit – OEM - $95.00
Case: CoolerMaster CM 690 II Advanced with Window – $125.00

Total: $1645.00

 

[jmsellars1]

If youre not overclocking then you can definitely save a lot of money.

- You will only need 500W max on your PSU
- Speakers on a monitor sound awful and make it look ugly, better off getting one without speakers and just buying a $50 set.
- You don't need a Z68 motherboard by the looks of it, H61 or H67 would be fine.
- You don't need the i5-2500k, the i5-2400 will be pretty much the same without overclocking and it's cheaper.

Basically i'd save money on the things you don't need as mentioned above and get a GTX 570 and some decent speakers.

 

[compute]

If youre not overclocking then you can definitely save a lot of money.

- You will only need 500W max on your PSU
- Speakers on a monitor sound awful and make it look ugly, better off getting one without speakers and just buying a $50 set.
- You don't need a Z68 motherboard by the looks of it, H61 or H67 would be fine.
- You don't need the i5-2500k, the i5-2400 will be pretty much the same without overclocking and it's cheaper.

Basically i'd save money on the things you don't need as mentioned above and get a GTX 570 and some decent speakers.

which GTX 570 should I get from http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=193_1177&vk_sort=1 since I'll only be watching Blu-ray/HD movies and a little bit of games?
Also do you think this monitor is good? LG E2441V-BN 24inch LED Widescreen Monitor

thanks

Edit: do you think the i5-2400 cpu fan that comes with it is good enough?

 

[kajabla]

^all that's true, but only if you're never going to upgrade the GPU (the bottleneck in this build). If you went P67/2500K, you wouldn't processor-bottleneck for years, whereas a 2400, I think, won't be good beyond around 570 performance. jm's suggestions are the best for the most performance right now, but a 2500K would let you keep this build going later on.
A good 500W PSU would be the best in any case.
Definitely true that speakers on the monitor will be useless. Are you planning to be playing sound out loud or with headphones most of the time?
Mouse-wise I like the Razer Deathadder, personally. Check it out and decide for yourself; try them if you possibly can.
Ugh why do you have to include the printer in the computer price? If you didn't, you could keep the 2500K and get a 570 too....


Whoa, whoa, hold on. You're not gaming? Then why this whole setup? A $500 box would be absolutely fine for Blu-ray and Fifa.

 

[compute]

^all that's true, but only if you're never going to upgrade the GPU (the bottleneck in this build). If you went P67/2500K, you wouldn't processor-bottleneck for years, whereas a 2400, I think, won't be good beyond around 570 performance. jm's suggestions are the best for the most performance right now, but a 2500K would let you keep this build going later on.
A good 500W PSU would be the best in any case.
Definitely true that speakers on the monitor will be useless. Are you planning to be playing sound out loud or with headphones most of the time?
Mouse-wise I like the Razer Deathadder, personally. Check it out and decide for yourself; try them if you possibly can.
Ugh why do you have to include the printer in the computer price? If you didn't, you could keep the 2500K and get a 570 too....


Whoa, whoa, hold on. You're not gaming? Then why this whole setup? A $500 box would be absolutely fine for Blu-ray and Fifa.

Playing sound out loud
I read this on a forum is it true? "ASRock motherboards are un-trusted and not really good for the amount you pay"

where you talking about the ASUS Sabertooth P67 Motherboard B3?

 

[jmsellars1]

I almost always use ASRock motherboards and i have never had a problem. Also just realised you won't be doing much gaming so either of those graphics cards are massive overkill. The integrated graphics on i5/H61 is more than enough for Blu Ray, for Fifa however, I'm sure a GTS 450 would cope but since you got the budget I would get a GTX 560Ti. Also the i5-2500k will not keep his computer going longer if he doesn't overclock it and he said he doesn't want to.

For your usage, all you really need is:

i5-2400
ASUS P8H61-M LX
8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X
MSI Twin Frozr II/OC GTX 560Ti
Corsair CX-500
Coolermaster Storm Scout
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Windows 7 Home Premium
ASUS 24'' Monitor
DVD Burner

That would come to just over $1000, you could then spend $150 on mouse, keyboard and mousemat. Then ~$150 to get a USB headset and some speakers. Personally i would then get a 64GB Crucial M4 SSD too.

That ends up at $200 less than your original build and should give better sound quality and the speed of an SSD.

 

[compute]

I almost always use ASRock motherboards and i have never had a problem. Also just realised you won't be doing much gaming so either of those graphics cards are massive overkill. The integrated graphics on i5/H61 is more than enough for Blu Ray, for Fifa however, I'm sure a GTS 450 would cope but since you got the budget I would get a GTX 560Ti. Also the i5-2500k will not keep his computer going longer if he doesn't overclock it and he said he doesn't want to.

For your usage, all you really need is:

i5-2400
ASUS P8H61-M LX
8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X
MSI Twin Frozr II/OC GTX 560Ti
Corsair CX-500
Coolermaster Storm Scout
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Windows 7 Home Premium
ASUS 24'' Monitor
DVD Burner

That would come to just over $1000, you could then spend $150 on mouse, keyboard and mousemat. Then ~$150 to get a USB headset and some speakers. Personally i would then get a 64GB Crucial M4 SSD too.

That ends up at $200 less than your original build and should give better sound quality and the speed of an SSD.

Is this okay?

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500 - $209.00
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67-M PRO Motherboard B3 - $139.00
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM (2x4GB) DDR3 – $75.00
Graphics Card: MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC 1GB – $289.00
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 600W ST60F-P – $99.00
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint 1TB – $55.00
Optical Driver: ASUS DRW-24B3ST 24X DVDRW Drive – $25.00
Monitor: ASUS VE248H 24in Widescreen LED Monitor – $215.00
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Premium, Service Pack 1, 64-bit – OEM - $95.00

Total: $1201

also what do you mean by "will not keep his computer going longer if he doesn't overclock it and he said he doesn't want to."? if you overclock doesn't it put more pressure on the components?

with the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC 1GB whats the difference between MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Hawk 1GB? why is overclock so good?
um one more question how much watts does the gtx 560 use? how does it work 600w etc for electricity wise?

 

[jmsellars1]

He means that an i5-2500k will last longer because it will give more performance. I am saying that yes it will give more performance but only if you overclock it.

The GTX 560Ti doesn't use much power, 400-450W would probably be ok but you don't usually get enough power connectors for it on a 400W PSU so i would get 500W.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

1. RAM - The only cooling effect of these big coolers is that they "look cool". While they served a purpose (when they were effective) w/ DDR2, they are absolutely useless on DDR3.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=773&Itemid=67&limit=1&limitstart=1

At more than 2" tall in certain areas the Corsair Vengeance could pose a problem for users like me who use large coolers such as the Scythe Mugen 2. I was able to use the Corsair Vengeance only after I mounted the fan on my cooler on the backside. Size is definitely a concern with heat spreaders of this size and therefore I encourage users to check that they will have enough space under their heatsinks before purchasing the Corsair Vengeance kit.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=773&Itemid=67&limit=1&limitstart=6

The problem I have with the Corsair Vengeance is the same I have with many kits of RAM on the market. Companies insist on putting large coolers on their RAM and it limits the choice in CPU heatsinks that can be used within users system. DDR3 does not require these elaborate coolers with its lower voltages which translate to lower temperatures then RAM saw during the DDR, and DDR2 era. Corsair is correcting this with low profile versions of its Vengeance line but ultimately I would like to see the average size of coolers drop instead of having to look for specific low profile versions of a memory line.

Same RAM, same specs, no CPU cooler interference and much cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196

2. You said not overclocking anything but your GFX card is already factory overclocked. The 900 MHz 560 performs with a few % points of the 570 and it's 2/3 the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

3. Good PSU (9.5 jonnyguru performance rating) but underpowered. Oh it's OK for a single GFX card but cuts down upgrade options down the road as you can't add 2nd GFX card in SLI later on. Would suggest getting an XFX Core Edition ..... same 9.5 performance rating from jonnyguru but significantly less expensive.

$85 for 750 watter http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207015
$90 for 850 watter http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

4. Consider the G500 for $10 more

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008652%2050001080&IsNodeId=1&page=3&bop=And&CompareItemList=65|26-104-577^26-104-577-TS%2C26-104-318^26-104-318-TS

5. No gaming ? You don't need much of this if not gaming.