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Help me build a system for my son

H

hmp1

Junior Member
I am building a gaming system for my 11 year old. He is mostly in to gaming.
I would like something that will last at least 5 years and ready for new games. I will not be overclocking at all. Basicly I want a system that will be stable. I would like recommendations for MB, CPU, Graphics card and memory.
Also, It does not have to be Intel, AMD is fine. I have a 19 inch LCD with DVI input.

Here is my pick:

i7-930 for $199 at Microcenter
any Intel Brand for stability purpose
Graphic card ?:
Memory ?

Any ideas? It does not have to be Intel
 
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hmp1 said:
I can spend about $700. He wants to plays game like Battlefield, Halo.
Click to expand...

does it have to be intel?

700 on intel will be tough because of the GPU + X58 Board.
What monitor does your son have? Like size / resolution?

And AMD approach would allow a better GPU in the purchase which he would more enjoy over a better CPU.
And a AMD machine is just as stable as an intel machine if you select good parts.
 
hmp1 said:
It does not have to be Intel. AMD is fine. Also, I have 19 inch LCD with DVI input.
Click to expand...

Ok...

In a solid gaming machine i find these are important:

1. At least 4gigs of ram... there are games which can use up to 1.5gigs alone. That means if u have a 2gig system, that leaves 500megs for your entire windows resources + page files.
4gigs is a good solid entry point in a gaming machine.

2. At least a tri core... quadcore is more future proof, and AMD even has a X6 which would probably last your son a VERY long time. And the X6 isnt expensive on the AMD side.

3. Look for a board which has good power regulations.
They are boards with big heat sinks built onto the board.
The better cooling the board has, the more stable over time it will be.
Cooler running hardware is always happier hardware.

4. I would go with a HD5850 or a 460GTX seeing how your only on a 19.
Either Or would also allow your son upgrade his monitor in the future to a 20, or a 22.5. 24's might give the card some problems.
A 5850 will also allow eyefinity.
You should google eyefinity and check that out. However your son would need 3 monitors to get eyefinity to work.

That being said..

I would go with a gigabyte UD series board for AM2+ /w DDR3 support.
I would probably get a X4 or a X6.
I would get 2 x 2 gigs of DDR3.
Any Hard drive, although the larger the platter, the faster the drive usually.
I would get a DECIENT PSU 500-650W.. not a no name brand like Xilico.
Then i would get a Mid tower, so you dont cut yourself building it.

All that should be slightly under 700 if im not mistaken.
Im sure someone will come in here, and individually list the parts i recomended.

I dont build many AMD machines... im more of an intel person, but from what your telling me, AMD would be a better match with your son.
 
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Ok well here's a preliminary build:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz + GA-870A-UD3 Mobo $266.98

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 + NZXT M59 - 001BK Black Steel ATX Case $129.98

EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 OC (Fermi) 768MB $189.99

OCZ 500w ModXStream 80+ PSU + Lite-On DVDRW $63.98

Total comes out to $640.98 - $30 Mail in Rebates - $10 Newegg Gift Card + $5.99 shipping = $616.92. For the GTX 460 OC from Ewiz use coupon code bubble20 for $20 off.

I picked the AMD 965 since it's the highest clocked AMD processor, and once you decide to overclock the system in a year or two it'll be very easy due to it having unlocked multipliers. And I went under budget because I don't know if you have an OS or not.
 
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Yeah I figured no sinks wouldn't be too much of a factor because OP didn't want to OC. But in the future he can add his own if he decides to. I looked at some of the cheaper P55 boards and they don't have sinks either (but I hardly know anything about the vrm placement on Intel boards, so what do I know lol).
 
richierich1212 said:
Yeah I figured no sinks wouldn't be too much of a factor because OP didn't want to OC. But in the future he can add his own if he decides to. I looked at some of the cheaper P55 boards and they don't have sinks either (but I hardly know anything about the vrm placement on Intel boards, so what do I know lol).
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure that AMD platform would be much better then a low ball i3 platform.

Which his budget would of limited him to.

And there is just no way he can build a X58 for 700.
Not unless he wanted to go used on most of the parts.

200 for the cpu
150-200 on the board
150 on the ram
100 on psu
= 600 without gpu... LOL.. not possible.
 
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i7 860 - $200 at Microcenter, i5 750 $200 elsewhere

Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 - cooled MOSFET's, overclockable, $120

4GB G.Skill 1600MHz DDR3 RAM - $90 (on sale ATM at newegg)

One of the new NVIDIA GTX-460's - $200

At $610. Enough for a case, HD, ODD, and maybe a Cooler Master 212+ or (splurge for later OCing) a Noctua NH-D14. An Intel machine for $800. Not too far off.
 
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richierich1212 said:
Ok well here's a preliminary build:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz + GA-870A-UD3 Mobo $266.98

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 + NZXT M59 - 001BK Black Steel ATX Case $129.98

EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB $199.99

OCZ 500w ModXStream 80+ PSU + Lite-On DVDRW $63.98

Total comes out to $650.98 - $30 Mail in Rebates - $10 Newegg Gift Card + $5.99 shipping = $616.92

I picked the AMD 965 since it's the highest clocked AMD processor, and once you decide to overclock the system in a year or two it'll be very easy due to it having unlocked multipliers. And I went under budget because I don't know if you have an OS or not.
Click to expand...

Why not just go for the 1055 hexacore? That leaves more room for the OS, which MUST be Win7.

In any case, he's gonna be a lucky boy.
 
Dadofamunky said:
Why not just go for the 1055 hexacore? That leaves more room for the OS, which MUST be Win7.
Click to expand...
In a gaming machine? I can count the number of games that support quadcores on one hand and even for those the focus lies on one or two threads. Until hexcores are usefull for games, the 1055 probably won't cut it anyhow, so that's an easy way to save money for a better GPU (also if the OP doesn't want to OC, the 1055 is a good bit slower than the 965 as well).

If you want to future proof something I'd get a 1gb GTX460, since I don't think he'll use the 19" monitor for the next few years and 768mb RAM could be a problem with a 24" monitor and modern games..
 
IMO, you want at least a 22" 1080P monitor instead of the 19". There is no video card that is a good value in the $700 budget that will get you through 5 years of use. Maybe close to that with only a 19" monitor but in 5 years he will be a greatly advanced gamer moving from 11 yo to 16 yo.

Spend a lot less on the CPU, it won't make as much difference remembering that benchmarks of high gaming FPS aren't as important as having a good enough video card to prevent very low FPS, it is not average FPS that matters as much as minimal FPS. Just my opinion, I'd rather have constant 30 FPS than 40 high and 22 low.
 
aigomorla said:
Im pretty sure that AMD platform would be much better then a low ball i3 platform.

Which his budget would of limited him to.

And there is just no way he can build a X58 for 700.
Not unless he wanted to go used on most of the parts.

200 for the cpu
150-200 on the board
150 on the ram
100 on psu
= 600 without gpu... LOL.. not possible.
Click to expand...

If the OP is willing to go to $800 he can get a 1GB 460 and with an SLI board he can add another later. I doubt any card bought now will be good for gaming 5 years from now. Of course he would still need a case, K+M, hard drive etc. lol About $950 would be a better budget.

His son can pay him back the extra $250 by mowing the grass and other chores. I mean when I was a teen I only got $5 for mowing the grass and games were $40 so I mowed the grass a lot. lol
 
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