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building a new rig, about to pull the trigger

U

ubercaffeinated

Platinum Member
I haven't built a rig in a while, so I want double check with you guys before I click "buy".

I'm building this machine to use on a 40 inch 1080p 120hz lcd hdtv. Video will be connected to TV via HDMI. I already have Win 7 64 bit, keyboard, mouse, and speakers on hand. I also have a 1TB external usb drive for downloads/music/movies/photos. I will be using a cat 5e cable to connect to my router, so not planning on getting a wireless card.

Will be using it 50/50 for school and Starcraft 2 on highest settings and movies. I will eventually pick up a gaming monitor when I can afford one.

Expectations are to have a fast and reliable primary system.

A concern I have is that the video card says it comes with a mini hdmi port. Am I better of going mini hdmi => hdmi or should I use a dvi to hdmi converter?


List of parts:

-Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3540

-Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

-GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H57 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

-MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video

-Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC Power Supply

-OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

-G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM

-LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM




Priced the way it is, it comes out to total about 770 shipped from newegg, which is about exactly what I want to be spending. I want to stay under 800.

Please critique away.
 
actually found another gskill kit @ 1600 with cas 9 latency for 10 bucks cheaper - that makes it cost the same as ddr3 1333 modules. also the chosen PSU is 15 bucks cheaper than the 80+ bronze units and comes with a power cable (which i don't have on hand anyways). thanks for the input! any other recommendations? i'm at about 750 shipped now.
 
I'd rather pick up this Antec TP-550 or that Seasonic PSU David listed over the Antec Basiq. It's well worth the few extra bucks, IMO.

Are you sure you can't fit a quad core into this build? I wouldn't buy any dual core for a gaming rig.
 
i reality don't see myself gaming beyond starcraft 2 and diablo 3 - if i can play those two games at highest setting, i'll be pretty happy. i just want a nice experience for when i do work, and this would be my first build with an ssd - the gaming would be a bonus. i suppose if i really wanted to i could upgrade the gpu and processor in a year and a half?

i've added antec 80+ bronze psu per your guys recommendations.
 
ubercaffeinated said:
i reality don't see myself gaming beyond starcraft 2 and diablo 3 - if i can play those two games at highest setting, i'll be pretty happy. i just want a nice experience for when i do work, and this would be my first build with an ssd - the gaming would be a bonus. i suppose if i really wanted to i could upgrade the gpu and processor in a year and a half?

i've added antec 80+ bronze psu per your guys recommendations.
Click to expand...

If you want that upgrade to be worth it in a year and a half you'll be getting Intel's new offering "Sandy Bridge" or AMD's "Bulldozer". Both of which will require a new motherboard, and therefore another $100 copy of Windows OEM. Build everything you want into it before you get caught with your pants down so to speak. I wouldn't upgrade a system's core for at least 3 years. That is the only way you'll get your money's worth out of the upgrade. So figure either that you will not play the games coming out from this day forward and you're sure about only running SC2, or get the system that bounds beyond system requirements now so you don't have to pay $500 to get what you would have gotten for an extra $100 originally.
 
 
ubercaffeinated said:
i kind of wanted usb 3.0 support. is it not worth it at this point?
Click to expand...

USB 3.0 isn't really necessary. A lot of the hard drives that even support 3.0 don't have the transfer speed to peak it out. Since external drives are mostly for backups of small file transfers, it isn't really critical you have that anyway.

Intel is also releasing a new technology that dwarfs USB 3.0 called lightpeak. They showcased it with a hard drive storing scratch files across the room and streaming 4K footage. Just as USB is becoming commonplace you will see lightpeak release and completely revolutionize everything.
 
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