first time builder

herky86

Junior Member
Aug 30, 2009
8
0
0
hi there, ive been a long time creeper on the forums here, and thought i would post my build on here see what you guys think. i sort of have an idea what im doing but i wouldnt count on it. ill try to answer all the questions that you need before hand. if you have any suggestions or ideas feel free to add them, thanks in advance!!

I will be using it for gaming, movie watching, you know the usual stuff.

My budget is between $1200-$1400, and I am buying my stuff from the United States.

1. Power supply
Power Supply

2. Case
Case

3. Motherboards
Motherboard

4. CPU
CPU

5. Heatsink
Heat Sink

6. Memory
Memory

7. Hard Drive
Harddrive

8. Optical Drive
Optical Drive

9. Video Card
Videocard



 

AirCooledMustang

Senior member
Jul 29, 2009
302
0
0
no problem. im sure some others might come in here and suggest a better Mobo or something. i've haven't done a i7 build yet, so im not a i7 techy.


But i say that Mobo could not get any better, a buddy of mine has it.
 

herky86

Junior Member
Aug 30, 2009
8
0
0
Originally posted by: AirCooledMustang
no problem. im sure some others might come in here and suggest a better Mobo or something. i've haven't done a i7 build yet, so im not a i7 techy.


But i say that Mobo could not get any better, a buddy of mine has it.


Yeah, I read the reviews and stuff on it, sounds like its a good buy. But who knows how much you can trust those reviews.
 

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
6,886
0
76
That ram is over-volted. With i7 you want your ram to stay as close to 1.5v as possible. I wouldn't buy any kits rated at over 1.6v

Heres some lower voltage g.skill - http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231225


For the HD I'd get the bigger, faster Hitachi for $10 more before rebate, same price after - http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822145233


And for opticals I hear sony isn't very good, but samsung/LG are the way to go




Oh and for the PSU I'd get an Antec truepower new 750w instead of that corsair. It's a slightly better/more efficient design, with half modular (which is good because the TX-750 has a TON of extra wires that take up a lot of space) for $10-20 less. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371025
 

philosofool

Senior member
Nov 3, 2008
283
19
81
ATI's 4000 series typically gets a better price/performance ratio than nVidia. If you're an nVidia guy (some people have their loyalties) go for it, and that's going to be a very good card, but the 4870 1GB is comparable and cheaper. Also, depending on your present needs and your future ambitions, you may want to get card that has an HDMI output because then you can do sound over HDMI to a TV or whatever. Maybe that's not a need for you; my computer shares a room with my HDTV and I'm going to start getting movies on my TV soon. (And blu ray computer drives are getting cheap.)
 

herky86

Junior Member
Aug 30, 2009
8
0
0
Originally posted by: philosofool
ATI's 4000 series typically gets a better price/performance ratio than nVidia. If you're an nVidia guy (some people have their loyalties) go for it, and that's going to be a very good card, but the 4870 1GB is comparable and cheaper. Also, depending on your present needs and your future ambitions, you may want to get card that has an HDMI output because then you can do sound over HDMI to a TV or whatever. Maybe that's not a need for you; my computer shares a room with my HDTV and I'm going to start getting movies on my TV soon. (And blu ray computer drives are getting cheap.)

Yeah, I really don't know too much about video cards. Some knowledge on them would be nice.
 

philosofool

Senior member
Nov 3, 2008
283
19
81
Here's the article Anand did when the 4870 was released. As you will see, the 260 core 216 and the HD 4870 have similar performance in most games with the 4870 usually having a slight edge (3-4 fps). At that time, it was an expensive card, but it isn't anymore.

If you are gaming at 1680x1050 or below, there's probably no reason to worry about the difference between the two cards because both are going to knock your socks off. A free batman game probably tips the scales. If you're playing at 1900x1200 or similar large sizes, I think 3-4fps makes a difference in favor of the ATI card. (When you're averaging 30 fps, the dips are taking you down to 25; when you're averaging 35, the dips are taking you to 30, and the difference between 30 and 25 is pretty big IMO.)

[Edit: this should be referring specifically to the 1GB 4870, not the 4870 in general. The linked article gets it right.]