Please review and comment on this system proposal, $750 budget

[boiler_81]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week

BUDGET RANGE: up to $750 +/-

SYSTEM USAGE: Email, web surfing, Corel Draw X4 (tracing large bitmaps in vector), Occasional light dditing of HD video (I do not have a program picked out yet), Watching Movies, I DO NOT game and have no need for 3-D graphics

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 2253LW), speakers, OS (Window 7)

PREFERRED WEBSITE FOR PARTS: www.microcenter.com or www.newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel CPU

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1,680 x 1,050


Here is a system I put together agfter looking at some of the other builds in this forum. Please review and comment.


Processor: Intel Corporation Core i5 750 Processor Boxed SKU: 292151 $149.99

MB: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P Socket 1156 P55 ATX Motherboard, Open Box SKU: 291153 $135.96

Video: Asus Computer International GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR2 PCIe 2.0 x16 Graphics Card SKU: 407619 $39.99

Case: Cooler Master CM 690 ATX Mid Tower SKU: 929745 $69.99

Optical Drive: Sony Bulk Optiarc 24X SATA DVD Burner - OEM SKU: 201970 $34.99

Power Supply: Corsair Memory TX 650 Watt ATX Power Supply SKU: 286104 $109.99

Hard Drive: Samsung OEM EcoGreen F2EG 1TB 5,400RPM 3.5" SATA Hard Drive SKU: 243402 $89.99

The Total is 774.74 less $30 in rebates and $20 from Newegg match on the PS. Final cost w/tax is $723.5434

 

[Guest]

pretty good build, but... dont get 5400 rpm drives, it is worth it to spend 20 more dollars on a 7200 rpm drive. second i dont see any ram but i reccomend this:

G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBECO -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231318

or

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279

lastly, i know you have no need for a high end video card, you might as well at least get this:

MSI R5750-PM2D1G Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail

or something like that because the 8400 is nothing, integrated might beat that.

everything else is good

 

[dndhatcher]

You could go cheaper with an AMD CPU (Athlon II x4) and an AM3 motherboard with integrated HD 4200 video. An i5 is overkill for what you are doing.

 

[boiler_81]

I am all for saving money. I thought the HD video would be processor intense. However, if I can get away with something less than and i5 I would like to see some proposals.

For the mother board I would like Firewire, USB and eSATA headers so that I can have them on the front panel.

 

[Guest]

get this, idk if it has the fw usb esata things, but it will save you lots of money, and get great perfromance:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.308218

and with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.308232

those are two awesome deals that will give insanely amazing perfromance

 

[dndhatcher]

I have no idea what your Corel or "light video editing" entail. Do you currently do these things? If so what CPU and how long do they take?

Maybe these articles would help you figure out which CPU is more appropriate for your purposes:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-propus,2414.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410-12.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-cpu-overclock,2304-11.html

 

[boiler_81]

By light editing, I mean I am not editing a feature length movie. My son is a high school wrestler. I plan on taking video of the meets this year. I will then create a season chronology for each individual by putting each of their matches on a single video.

I am not currently doing this as the camera is on order and is due to be delivered this week.

I will take a look at the reviews and come pack with another proposal based on a recommend CPU for the task.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I really appreciate it as the technology has passed me by since I last built a machine 5 years ago.

 

[awrhodes84]

Boiler, you and I are both looking at similar needs and a similar build. For one, everything you list above adds up to $630, not the $700+ you mention.

Second, check out this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.306543

I think all that needs is a video card and a optical drive and its a sub-$600 system. I just posted for help as well, so check out my thread too to see what people say about that kit.

 

[boiler_81]

I missed posting the memory in the first post. With it the $723.54 is correct.

 

[scatrdfew]

Core i5 is overkill in a major way, you could get away with a $64 Pentium Dual Core E5200, they overclock well and have plenty of $$ left over for a SSD.

 

[boiler_81]

I think I am going to stick with the i5. The reason for this is it is pretty cheap at microcenter ($149) and it will allow me to keep the PC in service for a longer time (I tend to replace computers every 5-6 years). In addition if I decide to do more intensive video editing the additional power will come in handy.

I still am not set on a video card. I would prefer to keep it under $50. Does anyone have advise on this?