Help a total stranger design a new PC

[dud]

All, here is my sob story:

I am old. I feel old ... and one of life's cruel ironies (at least to me) of getting old is that when you are young, you have no money but want everything ... but when you get old, you have the money but want nothing!

My birthday is around the corner and my wife (she who must be obeyed) wants to buy me something for it. I don't want anything. In desperation I am considering building a new PC. To that end please recommend a system design that will run Win 7, has a mid-level capability to run games and is what could be called a "best value" ... not cheap but definitely not top-of-the-line.

Thanks ...

 

[Athadeus]

Hey Dud, I hope you have a nice birthday and can get a nice shiny new PC built to enjoy. I can make you a whole list, but first I'd just like to know some of the basics first like if you have a monitor, what resolution it is, and if you plan to overclock it at all. Thanks for asking on here so we can help you out!

 

[dud]

Hey Dud, I hope you have a nice birthday and can get a nice shiny new PC built to enjoy. I can make you a whole list, but first I'd just like to know some of the basics first like if you have a monitor, what resolution it is, and if you plan to overclock it at all. Thanks for asking on here so we can help you out!

Thanks for replying Athadeus. I have an old Samsung 1280x1024 monitor that I may be replacing with a 1920x1080 (prefer 1200 but oh well). I do not usually overclock.

I have not built a system since 2000. I am currently using a docked Dell Precision M90 and would like to replace it.

Thanks ...

 

[Athadeus]

$24.99 Free shipping w/ promo code EMCYSYR32, ends 5/10
Rosewill R101-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147112

$49.99 ($34.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate Card ) and 10% off w/ promo code 400wsave, ends 5/10
CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139008

$99.99 MSI P55M-GD41 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130253

$199.99 Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-215-_-Product

$114.99 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231276

$159.99 ($149.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate Card ) ASUS CuCore Series EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121363

$74.99 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185

$22.99 SAMSUNG 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 4X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24x DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151216

$169.99 ($149.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate Card ) ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen 16:9 Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 12000 : 1) Built in Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236051

$99.99 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product

I made a system for someone else in this case, and it is a really nice small case, compared to how much larger regular mid-towers are. I just suggest moving the rear fan to be a front intake fan, which is pretty easy to do as long as you are careful not to strip the screws.

How does that look for ~$970 after rebates? Only $3 of shipping is pretty impressive. This system seems like practically a steal. I'd get some decent powered speakers to go with it at a local shop, unless you already have some. Grab an MX518 next time it's on sale at a local BBuy or Newegg too, don't use a cheesy old mouse. I try to avoid doing this kind of thing because it is sooo tempting to order it myself now.

 

[Axon]

That's a tremendous system - it might even be overkill for his needs. However, that will probably go for 5 years with a mid level user before it starts seeming long in the tooth.

 

[mfenn]

I would probably go with a different case (P183, Three Hundred, etc), but that's really personal preference. For uATX, I like this CoolerMaster, the inverted ATX layout is pretty nice for keeping everything cool since heat from the GPU rises into the PSU exhaust and there is a duct for the CPU HSF. Might want to get a 120mm fan for intake with the CoolerMaster, since it doesn't come with any fans.

Otherwise Adatheus's build looks really good.