This is good...Can we make it better?

OsirisZero

Distinguished
Jul 16, 2009
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18,510
Alright, it's been about five years since I last built a PC, and the time has come. Just need some input here.

So far, I have a pretty good idea of what I want... I just want to lay it out here and see if maybe there's something I can do to get more for my money...

I pretty much will be using this for gaming, internets, video streaming, general stuff, etc.

My Budget is about $800, and its not a huge deal if this is spaced out over a few weeks...or even a good month or so if it's worth it.

I don't really care about AMD vs. Intel (though I usually go AMD)

If you can recommend a better set-up that gets either essentially the same thing or better for equal (possibly a li'l higher) or preferably less money, then I will fake internet pretend forum buy you a beer!

Anyways, here's what I got so far (and where I think I'll be getting it so far)

-AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W ($205 orig.)
-MSI 790FX-GD70 mobo ($167 orig. Combo'd together with Phenom II 955 above for $347 @ zipzoomfly.com (was $310 @ NE until I decided to write this :C ))
-OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) [OCZ3P1600EB4GK] (~$75 @ newegg)
-COOLER MASTER RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower (combo'd w/ PSU for $180 @ newegg)
-XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 (~$200 @ newegg)

Altogether, this comes out to roughly $800 or so.

Ideally, I'd like to be closer to $700 as I'll eventually be getting a blu-ray drive, etc but like I said its not that huge a deal...plus I know DirectX 11 is on its way, so I'll probably be upgrading a few parts in a few years anyway.

Oh yeah, I don't need a Monitor (but will prolly be using 1900x1200 HDMI if I can), keyboard + mouse, HDD, DVD-drive, sound card, or speakers.

Thanks for your help! :sol:
 
Alright, awesome. That's pretty much the one thing I wasn't too sure about...power supplies.

And actually, looks like doing that with some different combo deals and such, going with that one actually frees me up to get all that for about $750 before any MIRs.

Thanks!

[Imagine a beer here...or whatever you drink]

😉
 

If you're waiting for DX 11 cards, just get a 4870. The 4890 is good, but at most resolutions a 4870 can handle just about every game. Saves you 100$, which you can spend on a Blu-Ray drive. Unless you need the fantastic performance for 6 months, I'd save some money and get a 4870.
 
Thanks for the idea, but when I say I know that DX11 is coming out soon, I mean that I'm not gonna go crazy on the vid card front, but I still plan on keeping it for a good two years or so (unless I get impatient which could definitely happen).

Plus, I'm getting the 4890 with the Phen II 955 as part of a combo deal for $346 total (which takes off $45 somewhere which technically if you look at it this way makes the 4890 roughly the same price as the 4870 atm)

Really, I also chose this set up because it's very upgradeable (unlike my current one) and so I will totally be able to upgrade various parts here and there (as opposed to my current set-up where I have to essentially upgrade everything.)

On the downside, apparently the deal for the PSU is over... right before I buy it. Nice.

Oh well. Still cheaper.