Help reducing costs on this build?

[deadcactus]

First of all, hi everyone. Decided to build a desktop for the first time. I could use one and it seems like one of those things every self-proclaimed nerd should do at least once.

USES:

In order of importance:
Photoshop CS5 and Dreamweaver
Gaming
Computation Software (STATA, Matlab, etc.)
Playing Music/Movies

The ideal is to be able to run two monitors (~20 inches).

For gaming, I’d like to run SC2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 multiplayer at medium to high settings.

For movies, a Blueray player would be a plus but isn't necessary yet. Playing music means I eventually want a sound card and some good speakers, but this can wait to be added on later...


BUDGET:

I have $800-1000 for the case and its contents plus the OS. Under-budget is better; value over cutting edge.


COUNTRY:

US


BRAND PREFERENCE:

None.


OVERCLOCKING:

Never done it. Probably won’t mess with it this time around. May do it when I start upgrading components.


RESOLUTION:

Ideally, two roughly 20” screens at 1920 x 1080. Though I would only be running a game on one at a time. The other would be doing something less intense like a movie or photoshop.

WHEN:

Soon. Trying to decide if I should wait for black Friday sales.

CURRENT ROUGH DRAFT:

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core
ASUS AM3 AMD 890GX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
OCZ Vertex Series 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive
OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.467750
$490

OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
[A second one to add to the combo above.]
$100

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal HD
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.492736
$130

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119196
$90

GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125333
$200

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Writer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136147
$20

Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820223103
$15

TOTAL: $1045 + shipping and OS.

Tolerable, but over budget. I’m not sure where the best places to skim down are though. I’m thinking drop the SSD and downgrade the CPU/Mobo combo.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.500533
$250

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-277-_-Product
$90 x 2 = $180

NEW TOTAL: $885 + shipping and OS

Just not sure if that’s the best route to go. Will this even run what I'd like it to do?

Thanks for any input. 

 

[muskie32]

You could go with This Ram It is 2x4GB sticks for $20 less that getting 4x2GB sticks...

The only difference is it is DDR3 1333 not DDR3 1600

 

[Davidh373]

OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
[A second one to add to the combo above.]
$100

You could go with This Ram It is 2x4GB sticks for $20 less that getting 4x2GB sticks...

YES, OCZ is a no-no for pretty much everything BUT SSDs

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal HD
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.492736
$130

Get a Samsung F3 1TB, same performance for $15 less.

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119196
$90

Get the Antec 300 for $70

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.500533
$250

Get the $200 Phenom II X6. It's only $15 more without the combo and i'm sure we can track down another combo that's just as good.

I'll build you something and try to get it down a little.

Case + OS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...504.11-129-042

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9005&Tpk=650tx

Phenom II X6 + Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.509726

RAM (1600 ram won't matter for performance)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3332167&SID=

Radeon HD 5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-338-_-Product

OCZ Agillity 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-542-_-Product

Samsung F3 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-185-_-Product

Total with shipping and OS included is $1037.86

If you want to save money get 4GB RAM to start and then Upgrade to 8 if needed later.

 

[muskie32]

Get this PSU/HDD combo to save $20.00

Get This G-card/OS combo to save $15

Get this Case/Optical Drive combo Saves $10

Then get the Ram, Solid state drive, And CPU+mobo listed above and it will save you: $45.00


I think that covers everything right?

You could also get This ram (4gb) to save some $$$ as well

 

[Davidh373]

Get this PSU/HDD combo to save $20.00

Get This G-card/OS combo to save $15

Get this Case/Optical Drive combo Saves $10

Then get the Ram, Solid state drive, And CPU+mobo listed above and it will save you: $45.00

Nice spots on the combos!

 

[muskie32]

Nice spots on the combos!

Yup :thumbsup:

 

[Zap]

I'd also say get the higher density RAM. "Faster" RAM doesn't add much in real world performance, but sounds as if you're doing some intense stuff on your rig so it would be nice to be able to go 16GB in the future.

Your other choices are fine depending on your budget and personal choices. For instance I had that case (won it at a LAN party) but I didn't care for how it looked. I would also get a Samsung or LG optical drive instead of the Lite On, Samsung HDDs instead of the WD (unless you care about the 5 year warranty of the Black). I'm also more of an Intel fan for this current generation due to what I feel is higher performance per watt. However, if your software can take advantage of more than 4 cores, then AMD would be a better bet at your budget.

EDIT:

Radeon HD 5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-338-_-Product

Doesn't Matlab take advantage of CUDA?

 

[mfenn]

Doesn't Matlab take advantage of CUDA?

Kinda, but the support isn't that great. R2010b is due out later this year and supposedly has a lot better CUDA support though.

To the OP, I would say that that CPU+mobo+RAM+SSD combo isn't all that great. The $45 combo discount could just as easily be saved by not getting a $145 mobo.

One obvious place to cut costs is the SSD. It is nice to have, but is by no means necessary.

Here's a 1055T build:
1055T + M4A87TD/USB3 $275
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $160
GTX 460 1GB $200 AR
DVD Burner $20
Samsung F3 1TB + 650TX $115 AR
Three Hundred Illusion $50 AR
Total $820 AR

Add ~$100 for a Windows license and you're all set.

 

[deadcactus]

Thanks a lot everyone. This helps a ton. Would I be able to drop the price down even further if I waited until the post Thanksgiving sales hit or would it be roughly the same?

Also, any suggestions on a decent pair of ~20" monitors to go with the build?

 

[Davidh373]

I'd go at least 23" these days. 24" if you can.

What were you thinking? IPS or TN?

 

[deadcactus]

IPS would be nice, but I'm not firm on either...

 

[Davidh373]

Well, IPS is going to cost ~ $650, while TN will be around $400. It's up to you, what is your budget for these monitors.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks a lot everyone. This helps a ton. Would I be able to drop the price down even further if I waited until the post Thanksgiving sales hit or would it be roughly the same?

Things will likely be completely different in November. There are new products and sales pretty much every week.

Also, any suggestions on a decent pair of ~20" monitors to go with the build?

Personally, I don't see the value in a pair of small monitors. I would only go dual once I hit the limits of reasonable pricing (24" at the moment).