Building my first Desktop

[Xjac0bmichaelX]

So here's the deal. I'm a noob and heard that this was a good forum. I wanna build a desktop from scratch and keep it under 500 dollars not including the monitor/mouse/keys that sort of thing. My main goal is to be able to do a lot of audio mixing and work and be able to play most good games too. Here's what I have so far....


Part Brand Unit Price
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 $54.99
Ram Transcend 2x(2GB) 240 pin $33.99
Video Card Sapphire HD 4870 $164.99
Case Logisys Area 51 w/ power supply $36.99
CD drive Samsung Black OEM $20.99
CPU AMD 64 X2 5800 $69.99
Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 500Gb $59.99
Total $441.93

All from NewEgg. Any help/advice about something won't fit, won't work... Pretty much never done this before, just getting advice from friends. Let me know of cheaper stuff and problems forscene.... Would this be a good computer?

 

[Xjac0bmichaelX]

To clarify I will also be building this soon. Not using any parts of my own, no brand prefs and I'm in IOWA in the USA. THanks

 

[Xjac0bmichaelX]

Also probably won't be overclocking...

 

[Slugbait]

You'll be pulling the PSU before you begin building...it's not powerful enough for the video card. Even if it was 100w more powerful, it's such a piece of junk that it still might not power your machine well enough, or for more than a year. Although you get a free case along with the PSU for your $37+s/h, you get an extremely crappy case...and considering you have to throw away the PSU, it becomes a complete waste of money. The best bottom-end case for the price at the 'egg right now is this NZXT for $40 shipped AR...includes a free card reader to sweeten the deal. There's no such thing as a "best bottom-end PSU", this forum is littered with threads complaining about system instability...the best price for a quality-name PSU is this Tuniq 650 for $47+s/h AR. Or you could drop to a 550W Mushkin to save $7 AR, but considering it's a rebadged Topower, I'd spend the extra $7.

Save a few bucks on the RAM.

Skip the Barracuda. Go with a Hitachi.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
You'll be pulling the PSU before you begin building...

:thumbsup:

 

[Xjac0bmichaelX]

A buddy of mine has a Rosewill case and a 400w rosewill power supply. How would that work with the rest of this stuff?

 

[JTP709]

I personally don't trust Rosewill PSUs. Even if it means downgrading to a 4850, get a good, reputable PSU. The PSU is the one component that can (and will) fry your entire system, and I know from experience (DONT TRUST APEVIA PSUs!!!).

If anything, get the AMD Anthlon X2 7750 Kuma BE CPU. Its got unclocked multilipers for overclocking, meaning you can push it past that 5800 easily, and even at stock speeds the 7750 matches the performance for the same price. Not to mention I also believe it is more energy efficient as well.

For a system under $500 here is what I recommend:

AMD Anthlon X2 7750 Kuma BE

Foxconn A78AX-2 770 ATX Mobo

Sapphire HD 4850 1GB Video Card

OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2800 Memory

WD Caviar WD3200AAJS 7200rpm 320GB Hard DRive

Samsung DVD+-R Burner Optical Drive

Antec Sonata III 500 Case with 500w PSU

Total:$497.93

I realize my build has a slightly less powerful GPU and smaller Hard Drive, BUT this build has a much better case and reliable PSU, more powerful and efficient CPU, better memory designed for gaming, and a DVD drive rather than a CD drive considering most retail games like to use DVDs nowadays.

This is the system build I have planned for a good friend of mine, however his system is $35 more because of a better mobo with a 790GX northbridge and SB750 southbridge. I recommend saving up the extra $$$ because that mobo will allow much more efficient overclocking if you choose to do so, and will provide better performance overall.

Also, Newegg LOVES combos, and one day I was able to upgrade his system to a 4870 1gb and faster memory for the same price. Regrettably he doesn't have the funds quite yet. But those deals come and go and waiting a few days for the right combo can allow you a great upgrade for the same price.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Xjac0bmichaelX
A buddy of mine has a Rosewill case and a 400w rosewill power supply. How would that work with the rest of this stuff?

You're going backwards. Your original case has a crappy 450W PSU that isn't powerful enough for the video card. Now you think a less-powerful crappy PSU will do the job?

 

[JTP709]

You're making one of the biggest noob mistakes: focusing all of your money on the CPU and GPU, and find the cheapest option for all other components. I did the same exact thing when I built my first computer in 2004. In the end you are really hurting yourself because of the cheap components will be unreliable (with a PSU that can fry everything), and bottleneck your gaming performance, negating the more powerful GPU and CPU you have. You get what you pay for.

 

[Xjac0bmichaelX]

Well I haven't made any mistakes yet. I am gathering all my information first, then buying things. So thanks for the advice. What exactly CAN i save money on? Which parts are most important so that I don't bottleneck at all? I like that build but it seems like there's cheaper brands that have the same good reviews. And anybody know anything about monitors?

 

[Operandi]

Everything in your build is OK aside from the case/PSU combo, for all the reasons previously mentioned, Logisys is junk.

With PSUs quality is more important than quantity. A $30 500 watt PSU may reach 500 watts output for 15 mins and go up in smoke. A quality $70~+ 500 watt PSU should be able to run at full load for years (assuming thermals are not an issue). Both qualify as 500 watt units but only one is worth buying.

Having said that however 400 watts is enough to run your build. Antec is one of the few case manufcatures that bundles PSUs worth using. The NSK 4480B II comes with a 380 watt Earthwatts which is built by Seasonic for Antec. 380 watts is plenty.

Also like JTP said you really do want the 7750 Be (Kuma). I would stick with Gigabyte boards however.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Having said that however 400 watts is enough to run your build...The NSK 4480B II comes with a 380 watt Earthwatts which is built by Seasonic for Antec. 380 watts is plenty

Just keep in mind that the card you selected specifies a 500W or greater PSU, so if your build doesn't run, don't freak.

Also, the card you selected includes two 6-pin adapters. Since the Earthwatts only has one 6-pin connector, you will need to use one of the adapters.