Holidays Build

[Buckeye269]

I am planning on buying most items on black friday through online sales.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming, homework, browsing, other light work.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1100-$1300

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
'merica

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Intel, Nvidia

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Nothing, plan on buying everything including monitor and peripherals.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Light OC's. Nothing too huge.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1920x1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Right at beginning of December.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.
Noted.

Wouldn't mind just having basic mouse and keyboard, I'm not picky. I would prefer to have a 570 if at all possible. I also need Windows 7.

 

[lehtv]

Beginning of December? I'll check back to this thread in about 3 weeks then and see if I can help

 

[mfenn]

With the caveat that a month out is a long time to be planning for a specific build:

i5 2500K + PNY DDR3 1333 8GB combo $242
ASRock Z68 Pro3 $105
Hyper 212 Evo $35
6950 2GB $245 AR - No real point in a GTX 570 when a 6950 2GB is at $245 AR
Hitachi 7K1000.D $90
Lite-ON DVD Burner $20
Antec Neo Eco 620C $50 AR
Corsair 400R $90 AR
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit $100
ASUS VH242H $149 AR AP
Logitech keyboard $13
Logitech G400 $35
Total: $1174 AR AP

I highly suggest adding a Crucial M4 64GB SSD for $110. That will bring the total to $1284, but will add a great deal to the overall responsiveness of your system.

 

[Buckeye269]

Might be a stupid question, but is a cpu fan really necessary?

 

[fffblackmage]

^Nope.

 

[ElFenix]

Might be a stupid question, but is a cpu fan really necessary?

if by fan you mean 'aftermarket heat sink' no, not really. the one that comes with the processor has always been adequate for stock use. some people overclock their sandys using it. it could be a bit loud at full blast.

if by fan you mean the fan part itself, well, you need some airflow over the fins on the heatsink. the fan doesn't necessarily have to be mounted to the heatsink to accomplish that. you could duct an exhaust fan to draw air through the fins. or if you have a big enough tower heat sink it can be possible to go mostly fanless and let nature do its thing. though that's usually only an option with low power processors.

 

[lehtv]

The biggest tower coolers like HR-02, Megahalems, D14 are better in passive mode than the stock heatsink with fan. So if the stock fan is good enough for overclocking a 2500K or equivalent, each of these big passive towers will be even better while producing no noise.

 

[Buckeye269]

I know that the cpu cooler would be needed for OC'ing it, but is it needed for just running the 2500k at stock speed?

 

[nubki11a]

If you wont be overclocking your CPU, get the i5 2500 (no k), which is cheaper, but cant really overclock. Though, there are plenty of cheap fan/heatsinks out there. You wont need an aftermarket CPU cooler if you're not overclocking.

 

[Buckeye269]

Well I might get into overclocking in the future but not right now. I think I'll just get the 2500k from microcenter since I live an hour away and not get an aftermarket cooler just yet.

 

[lehtv]

Good plan :thumbsup:. Can always replace the heatsink when you want to OC

 

[Buckeye269]

Is it true that nvidia is better at some games than radeon? I've heard this so this is why i prefer a gtx card.

 

[lehtv]

560 Ti 1GB vs 6950 1GB (same price point): http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/331?vs=330

 

[mfenn]

Good plan :thumbsup:. Can always replace the heatsink when you want to OC

Agree.

Is it true that nvidia is better at some games than radeon? I've heard this so this is why i prefer a gtx card.

Yes, but then again, the Radeon is better at others. Nvidia doesn't have much that can touch a 6950 2GB for 1080P gaming at $250 though.

 

[Buckeye269]

My build time is getting near. I recently got a job so I have roughly $200 to spend on the black friday sales. Newegg has some intense sales but I don't know what to look for. I picked out http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005 but I'm not sure if that is a decent price or quality. I also plan on picking up a nzxt phantom if they put the white one on sale. I'm not sure what else to get to have the best savings. I see they have ram discounted but I don't know what to look for in ram.

 

[fastamdman]

That is a great PSU at a great price. The tx650v2 and 750's are both amazing. The 650v2 can run any single card just fine

 

[mfenn]

You can get pretty much the same build that I linked above. A few alterations are:
- The combo deal on the CPU and RAM is no longer available. You can get the i5 2500K and G.Skill DDR3 1600 for $255 together though.
- HDD prices have gotten even higher. Here's the 750GB version of the drive I linked above for $110.
- If you don't mind missing out on Dirt3, you can get the GPU for $245 AR
- The Neo ECO 620C is a great deal at $35 AR.

 

[Ken g6]

You mentioned Micro Center. They're selling the i5 2500k for $150 on Black Friday if you get there early enough. They should still have the $60 off mobo combo deals going too. The cheapest z68 boards, like this mATX ASRock are $110. With $60 off, that's $50. Total for the combo, if I'm right: $200 exactly. (Don't forget tax!)

 

[Buckeye269]

I have to work all day black friday. My parents won't let me drive into Columbus to get it either. Trust me, I already thought out that plan long ago. But thanks anyway!

 

[nsavop]

i would get this Galaxy GTX 570. It trades blows with the radeon 6970 and is consistently faster then the radeon 6950. At 269.99 AR and a free Batman AC game its a steal compared to the $250 radeon 6950.

 

[Buckeye269]

Is galaxy a decent brand? I have never heard anything about them.

 

[lehtv]

Their customer support is probably pretty terrible though I'd love to be proven wrong. I'd expect the component quality to be decent, and they certainly offer good value.

 

[Buckeye269]

That's one reason I like EVGA. I have only heard good things about their customer service.

 

[Skott]

Is it true that nvidia is better at some games than radeon? I've heard this so this is why i prefer a gtx card.

Some games take better advantage of nVidia cards and some games take better advantage of AMD cards. Depends on the games but generally its not a huge problem and only a matter of a few fps difference.

You may have heard that Skyrim has a ATI problem but that's when running dual cards in CF whereas SLI runs fine. Not all CF users have the problem however. AMD has said they will release new drivers to correct the CF problem.

 

[Buckeye269]

I would like to stick to a single card setup for now.