My ~$2000 Build

[Bustinthejus]

Hey guys, so I've almost saved up enough money for my first build, and was just hoping I could get some input on the parts I've chosen, to see if there's any improvements to be made or anywhere I could cut costs.

I will be occasionally gaming on this build, and I multi-task a lot and do the occasional video editting. My budget is about $2000 for absolutely everything I plan on buying, including the monitor, mouse, keyboard, an external hard drive and operating system. I'm from Canada and will be buying my parts from Newegg.ca and NCIX.com. No real brand preference, although it seems as though Intel is the only way to go for higher-end computers and nVidia is my preference for video cards. This will be my first build so no old parts I can use. I will most likely be overclocking, although this will be my first overclock so probably nothing big. Finally, I will be gaming at 1920x1080 with it and will probably build it within the next month or so.

Here's what I have so far:

Thanks!

 

[mnewsham]

Doesnt look too bad, might want to hide your Postal code in the second image.

 

[Bustinthejus]

Good catch, thanks!

 

[mfenn]

Look OK, overall, but there are a few items that I would change:

- The PSU is way overkill (and overpriced) for what you need. The XFX Core 550W can be had for $53 if you don't mind a USD rebate. Even at $73 it is a better value than what you currently have.
- Likewise, the RAM is overpriced. This Patriot kit is essentially the same specs but is $38 AR.
- Mobo is again overpriced. The GA-Z68A-D3H has more features and costs $20 less.
- Finally, the sound card is almost certainly superfluous. Onboard sound is good enough for 95% of people, and the other 5% are going digital to an outboard DAC anyway.

 

[Bustinthejus]

Look OK, overall, but there are a few items that I would change:

- The PSU is way overkill (and overpriced) for what you need. The XFX Core 550W can be had for $53 if you don't mind a USD rebate. Even at $73 it is a better value than what you currently have.
- Likewise, the RAM is overpriced. This Patriot kit is essentially the same specs but is $38 AR.
- Mobo is again overpriced. The GA-Z68A-D3H has more features and costs $20 less.
- Finally, the sound card is almost certainly superfluous. Onboard sound is good enough for 95% of people, and the other 5% are going digital to an outboard DAC anyway.

Awesome, thanks for the suggestions! The PSU you suggested seems to be fixed cable - do you have a modular, or even semi-modular suggestion? $38 for the RAM is a steal, so I will definitely grab that instead. Motherboard looks like a good one as well - I'll do a bit of research on that before I make my decision though. As for the soundcard, you may be right... Maybe I'll hold off on that for now, and grab it if I really don't like the quality of the on-board, or maybe even just opt for the DS.

 

[mnewsham]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817371020

or

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817341017

And a 2nd vote for the Gigabyte board.

 

[Bustinthejus]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817371020

or

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817341017

And a 2nd vote for the Gigabyte board.

Ah, didn't look into a 550W Antec - looks like a good choice, thanks!

Also, anyone have any opinions on the CoolerMaster V6GT? From what I've read it sounds as though the V6GT performs similarly to the Frio, but I do prefer the look of the V6GT(not that looks are a primary concern when it comes to a cooler, but if they perform similarly, why not, right?).

 

[T_Yamamoto]

cheaper ram? generic ones without heatspreadersd...if u want to save money

 

[AdamK47]

Awesome, thanks for the suggestions! The PSU you suggested seems to be fixed cable - do you have a modular, or even semi-modular suggestion? $38 for the RAM is a steal, so I will definitely grab that instead. Motherboard looks like a good one as well - I'll do a bit of research on that before I make my decision though. As for the soundcard, you may be right... Maybe I'll hold off on that for now, and grab it if I really don't like the quality of the on-board, or maybe even just opt for the DS.

After owning an Asus Xonar Essence STX I can't see myself going back to onboard sound. Unless that sound also happens to be a Xonar, like what is offered in the Asus Rampage III Black Edition.

 

[Davidh373]

I'd go with Gskill value RAM and go for a less expensive PSU like the others have been saying.

 

[Bustinthejus]

cheaper ram? generic ones without heatspreadersd...if u want to save money

I'd go with Gskill value RAM and go for a less expensive PSU like the others have been saying.

Hmm, I took a look around and it appears as though the cheapest RAM is only like a $5 difference, so I think I'll stick with what I already have, but thanks guys! Also, I looked at the Antec TP-550 and I save about $50 so I'll definitely be going for that instead.

After owning an Asus Xonar Essence STX I can't see myself going back to onboard sound. Unless that sound also happens to be a Xonar, like what is offered in the Asus Rampage III Black Edition.

Haha yeah that's the thing, it sounds like sound card opinions are mixed - some people swear by them while others say they aren't worth the money. I have the budget to stick one in though, so I guess I might as well include it - especially since I have some pretty decent speakers. Thanks for the input!

 

[mnewsham]

Haha yeah that's the thing, it sounds like sound card opinions are mixed - some people swear by them while others say they aren't worth the money. I have the budget to stick one in though, so I guess I might as well include it - especially since I have some pretty decent speakers. Thanks for the input!

What are "decent" speakers to you?

 

[Bustinthejus]

What are "decent" speakers to you?

Corsair SP-2500. Obviously not amazing to an audiophile, but for an average guy like me, it's a vast improvement to the $20 Logitech speakers I had before, and to be honest the sound quality's quite good - in my opinion of course.

 

[mnewsham]

Unless you are rocking some higher end speakers (5.1 or 7.1) or some good headphones (usually 300 bucks +) you usually wont notice a difference (besides the placebo effect) If you really want good sound get an outboard DAC instead of a Xonar. At least try the onboard sound and if it isnt good enough THEN upgrade (and realize nothing changes)

 

[mfenn]

Unless you are rocking some higher end speakers (5.1 or 7.1) or some good headphones (usually 300 bucks +) you usually wont notice a difference (besides the placebo effect) If you really want good sound get an outboard DAC instead of a Xonar. At least try the onboard sound and if it isnt good enough THEN upgrade (and realize nothing changes)

Agree 100%. Sound is one of those things that is hard to quantify, so the big ol' P-L-A-C-E-B-O makes a huge difference.

 

[mfenn]

Awesome, thanks for the suggestions! The PSU you suggested seems to be fixed cable - do you have a modular, or even semi-modular suggestion?

Why do you want a modular? The R3 is a box-shaped object with plenty of room for cables. If you buy a modular unit, you just have to fine another box for the cables. That box is just another piece of junk either (a) get lost, (b) take up space.

 

[RussianSensation]

Agree 100%. Sound is one of those things that is hard to quantify, so the big ol' P-L-A-C-E-B-O makes a huge difference.

Sound Card - I completely disagree. Dedicated sound card destroys onboard sound. The difference is very real. I bought an X-Fi Platinum for $40 off Creative's website on special and the difference in sound is HUGE on my budget $75 Creative 5.1 sound system. I mean it's not even close. There is no way I'll use onboard sound unless it's a mobo with a dedicated X-Fi or Xonar chip.

Then again, some people can't tell the difference between Apple stock headphones and say Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 or Shure SE535 or Senns 650s.

You can get the same sound card cheaper on Newegg.ca - $70 Asus Xonar is world's better than onboard.

Keyboard - what's with the $130 keyboard!!!? Any reason a $16 keyboard isn't good enough?

Even something as "cool" (if keyboards can be cool) as this keyboard is still less than the one you are getting.

SSD - I'd rather get 120GB Vertex 2 for $140 than C400 64GB for $116.

RAM - G.skill - $10 a little cheaper than that Corsair.

Hard Drives - I am not understanding getting 2x 1TB hard drives, but then you are getting an external storage box for 1 of them?

Since you are getting an SSD, you don't need 7200 rpm drives for storage. For example, for $69 ($10 off ends today), you can get 2x 2TB hard drives! That's 2x the storage for the same price you are paying. Transfer rates will not be any worse than they are on the F3s since 2TB drives have denser platters. Alternatively, you can get a nice small 1TB hard drive as backup (that you carry around with you and don't need a power adapter and we'll be able share files with friends too: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136755). Or you can get a larger 2TB with USB 3.0 enclosure already. Put it this way, you are paying $75 for a 1TB drive + $30 for a USB 3.0 enclosure. For $140, you get a 3TB USD 3.0 drive.....

7200 rpm drive only matters as a boot drive. The 7200 rpm won't really benefit your transfer rates, esp. on an older drive such as the F3.

PSU - $120 for that power supply is a huge rip-off. It's not even that great and not even modular.

$55 - 600W Corsair

If you want to be able to run 2 videocards down the line, Corsair 650 for $80.

Videocard - GTX560 Ti for $230? That's way too much.

Get the Gigabyte Windforce HD6870 for $155 with an amazing cooler.

HD6870 will be within 12% of the GTX560 Ti in performance at your resolution.

Alternatively, here is a GTX560 Ti by Gigabyte for $200.

Motherboard + CPU - You can get the MSI GD65 + 2500k for similar amount as a combo.

Case & Heatsink - Same case with a very good & quiet Noctua NH-U12P SE2, with 2 fans too for $140. Alternatively, if you want budget performance, get the Corsair A70 for $30. The Frio is neither quiet, nor the best performance bang for the buck. So $60 for that heatsink is way too expensive, esp. if you want a quiet heatsink combo. The Noctua NH-U12P SE2 is much quieter and will easily let you max out your 2500k (esp. since it doesn't look like you are going for a 4.8-5.0ghz overclock).

Monitor - You are paying extra for the IPS color/viewing angles? As long as you want that Fair enough! Keep in mind 23 inch non-IPS is about half.

 

[mnewsham]

I completely disagree. I bought an X-Fi Platinum for $40 off Creative's website on special and the difference in sound is HUGE on my budget $75 Creative speakers. I mean it's not even close. There is no way I'll use onboard sound ever again.

Then again, some people can't tell the difference between Apple stock headphones and say Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 or Shure SE535 or Senns 650s.

There is no need to spend that much $ on a sound card though. A $70 Asus Xonar is world's better than onboard.

OP what's with the $130 keyboard!!!?

If you actually could read you could see we are only saying he tries the onboard sound FIRST, IF (and i do mean if) that doesnt satisfy him then he can upgrade, but why spend the money now when it might not be necessary.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you actually could read you could see we are only saying he tries the onboard sound FIRST, IF (and i do mean if) that doesnt satisfy him then he can upgrade, but why spend the money now when it might not be necessary.

How is he supposed to know if it's "good enough?" Those speakers cost $200-250 CDN.

1) He will improve the sound quality with the sound card by a magnitude of times (if he really enjoys sound);

2) That $70 sound card can be re-used for future builds (i.e., he'll get at least 3-5 years life out of it).

His speakers + onboard sound = still good sound due to his awesome speakers.
But with a dedicated sound, it will be much better.

How is he supposed to be able to tell the difference without actually buying the sound card? That would be like you listening to music on your iPod Touch / iPhone and never trying EarSonics, Ultimate Ears, Shures, Westones and claiming that the stock headphones sound amazing (because they blow the doors off your previous BlackBerry headphones).

Look, I have always used onboard sound because I have continued to read on our boards that it's "just as good/good enough". People who appreciate good sound quality will need a dedicated sound card. When I got the X-Fi and I plugged it in (set the Crystalizer on) , I couldn't believe the difference. I even had my friends come over and toggled on-board sound vs. X-Fi and they all were extremely impressed.

My view is 2-fold:

1) People who claim onboard sound is just as good / good enough have never actually used a dedicated sound card themselves;

2) Don't appreciate good sound / have bad hearing.

Neither my X-Fi nor my speakers is anything special compared to what you can get in the audiophile world. The Xonar and OP's speakers are a better combo than mine - i.e., so the difference will be even more magnified.

BTW, I tested onboard sound on my Gigabyte P55 and it was still miles worse than the X-Fi Platinum. Honestly, onboard sound lacks details and has none of the fullness of music / sound that a dedicated sound card gives you.

 

[mnewsham]

How is he supposed to know if it's "good enough?" Those speakers cost $200-250 CDN.

His speakers + onboard sound = still good sound due to his awesome speakers.
But with a dedicated sound, it will be much better.

How is he supposed to be able to tell the difference without actually buying the sound card?

Trust me, I have always used onboard sound because I have continued to read on our boards that it's "just as good". Then I got the X-Fi and the minute I plugged it in, I couldn't believe the difference. And neither the X-Fi nor my speakers is anything special compared to what you can get today. The Xonar and his speakers are a better combo than mine - i.e., the difference will be even more magnified.

BTW, I tested onboard sound on my Gigabyte P55 and it was still miles worse than the X-Fi Platinum.

If he isnt satisfied he can upgrade, trust me, i own over $3000 in audio equipment and have found that with new motherboard the onboard audio is about as good as is needed for speakers below the 300-500 mark. And headphones below the 250 dollar mark. If he was rocking Sennheiser HD 600's or better then i would suggest an outboard AMP/DAC like this(with a DAC).

 

[Bustinthejus]

Sound Card - I completely disagree. Dedicated sound card destroys onboard sound. The difference is very real. I bought an X-Fi Platinum for $40 off Creative's website on special and the difference in sound is HUGE on my budget $75 Creative 5.1 sound system. I mean it's not even close. There is no way I'll use onboard sound unless it's a mobo with a dedicated X-Fi or Xonar chip.

Then again, some people can't tell the difference between Apple stock headphones and say Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 or Shure SE535 or Senns 650s.

You can get the same sound card cheaper on Newegg.ca - $70 Asus Xonar is world's better than onboard.

Keyboard - what's with the $130 keyboard!!!? Any reason a $16 keyboard isn't good enough?

Even something as "cool" (if keyboards can be cool) as this keyboard is still less than the one you are getting.

SSD - I'd rather get 120GB Vertex 2 for $140 than C400 64GB for $116.

RAM - G.skill - $10 a little cheaper than that Corsair.

Hard Drives - I am not understanding getting 2x 1TB hard drives, but then you are getting an external storage box for 1 of them?

Since you are getting an SSD, you don't need 7200 rpm drives for storage. For example, for $69 ($10 off ends today), you can get 2x 2TB hard drives! That's 2x the storage for the same price you are paying. Transfer rates will not be any worse than they are on the F3s since 2TB drives have denser platters. Alternatively, you can get a nice small 1TB hard drive as backup (that you carry around with you and don't need a power adapter and we'll be able share files with friends too: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136755). Or you can get a larger 2TB with USB 3.0 enclosure already. Put it this way, you are paying $75 for a 1TB drive + $30 for a USB 3.0 enclosure. For $140, you get a 3TB USD 3.0 drive.....

7200 rpm drive only matters as a boot drive. The 7200 rpm won't really benefit your transfer rates, esp. on an older drive such as the F3.

PSU - $120 for that power supply is a huge rip-off. It's not even that great and not even modular.

$55 - 600W Corsair

If you want to be able to run 2 videocards down the line, Corsair 650 for $80.

Videocard - GTX560 Ti for $230? That's way too much.

Get the Gigabyte Windforce HD6870 for $155 with an amazing cooler.

HD6870 will be within 12% of the GTX560 Ti in performance at your resolution.

Alternatively, here is a GTX560 Ti by Gigabyte for $200.

Motherboard + CPU - You can get the MSI GD65 + 2500k for similar amount as a combo.

Case & Heatsink - Same case with a very good & quiet Noctua NH-U12P SE2, with 2 fans too for $140. Alternatively, if you want budget performance, get the Corsair A70 for $30. The Frio is neither quiet, nor the best performance bang for the buck. So $60 for that heatsink is way too expensive, esp. if you want a quiet heatsink combo. The Noctua NH-U12P SE2 is much quieter and will easily let you max out your 2500k (esp. since it doesn't look like you are going for a 4.8-5.0ghz overclock).

Monitor - You are paying extra for the IPS color/viewing angles? As long as you want that Fair enough! Keep in mind 23 inch non-IPS is about half.

Wow great response, thanks! I'm curious though, are you citing your prices from the websites you're linking to? Because some of the prices don't seem to match up, for example, the 600w Corsair is $85 on the website but you cite $55. Just wondering, since I'd much prefer the $55 pricetag!

Sound Card - Hmm, another person suggesting a sound card - I guess it'll just come down to budget in the end!

Keyboard - I've always wanted to try a mechanical keyboard, so i thought I'd invest a bit more money and get a nice one - especially since keyboards can last much longer than say, a GPU or CPU. I also like the fact that the keys are blank.

SSD - Wow that's a pretty good deal - will definitely look into it!

RAM - NCIX says it's $57 and backordered while the Corsair Vengeance is only $3 more and in stock, so I'll probably stick with my RAM. Thanks though.

HDD - Yep, I was planning on getting one for internal, and then stick the other one in the external enclosure for backup. Also, do you happen to have any links about RPM speeds not affecting transfer rates as a storage disk? I've always been under the impression that 7200 RPM drives will actually have faster transfer speeds than 5200 RPM. If they do in fact have no effect on transfer speeds, the drive you recommended looks like a bargain! I'm not quite sure I get what you mean by "Or you can get a larger 2TB with USB 3.0 enclosure already." Do you mean that I should just get a 2TB hard drive for my enclosure instead of going with a 1TB? The 3TB drive is tempting, but there aren't any reviews or anything so I don't know about reliability - the main reason I wanted to get an enclosure was so that I would know for sure that it would be a quality drive, since external hard drives tend to have cheaper drives in them to cut costs.

PSU - Hmm, as I said earlier, I would prefer a modular PSU, but maybe I will just go for a fixed-cable one since it will save me some money. To answer mfenn's question, I would prefer a modular PSU because this will be my first build and I figure a modular PSU will make cable management easier. However, you do raise a good point about having to find a place to put the cables...

I'll probably go for the Corsair 650 since I do plan on adding another video card down the line, as I doubt I'll build a new system for at least a few years and adding an extra video card will probably help my system last me a little longer.

Video Card - Hmm, will have to look into the HD6870. Haven't really looked at Raedon cards but I'll definitely search around. The Gigabyte 560GTX Ti only has two reviews, with one saying it's unstable at the factory OC speeds, so I think I'll pass on that. Reason I went with the MSI card was because Bit-Tech gave it some pretty good reviews and it comes with a decent factory OC, and a good cooler.

Motherboard + CPU - Hmm, if I go for the GD65 combo, I have to pay $45 more, for a board that doesn't have very many advantages to the GD53. Unless I've overlooked something? Although I do need a firewire port and just noticed the GD65 does have one while the GD53 doesn't...

CASE + Heatsink - Again, prices don't seem to match up... NCIX shows $190, which is a $15 increase in price compared to the Frio. I was also looking at the V6GT cooler, which is about the same price as the Frio, but I wasn't sure about performance/noise.

Monitor - Indeed I am paying more for IPS and the color/viewing angles. I figure a monitor will last me a long time so why not?

 

[RussianSensation]

Wow great response, thanks! I'm curious though, are you citing your prices from the websites you're linking to?

That's because some of the deals I pulled from NCIX Aug 3-10th specials. For some reason they show up ONLY when you go directly from this URL:

http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale....id=dogdays2011

Find the items I linked in that URL and you'll see those prices! (like PSU, RAM and Case + Noctua combo, CPU+Mobo combo). These special ends today.

HDD - Yep, I was planning on getting one for internal, and then stick the other one in the external enclosure for backup. Also, do you happen to have any links about RPM speeds not affecting transfer rates as a storage disk?

There is hardly a difference in reads/writes:

F3 (7200 rpm) vs. F4 (5400 rpm) = 116 vs. 107
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...s/h2benchw-3.12-Avg-Read-Throughput,1010.html

Almost the same for Writes: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/.../h2benchw-3.12-Avg-Write-Throughput,1013.html

So you are literally paying 2x more $ for 7200 rpm (i.e., better seek times).

"Or you can get a larger 2TB with USB 3.0 enclosure already." Do you mean that I should just get a 2TB hard drive for my enclosure instead of going with a 1TB?

I mean that you bought a 1TB $75 drive + $30 enclosure. You can just buy a 2TB external hard drive for almost same price. If you aren't going to be using the mechanical drive as a primary drive, I'd take a slower 5400-5900 rpm quieter drive with 2TB of space over a 7200 rpm 1TB drive for backup

PSU - Hmm, as I said earlier, I would prefer a modular PSU, but maybe I will just go for a fixed-cable one since it will save me some money. To answer mfenn's question, I would prefer a modular PSU because this will be my first build and I figure a modular PSU will make cable management easier. However, you do raise a good point about having to find a place to put the cables...

Modular is cool; I have one myself. My main point was that $120 for an Antec PSU is too much $. Grab a Seasonic, PC Power & Cooling, Corsair, Enermax/Lepa at this price. Antec is more of a mid-range PSU maker; and as such should be in the $60-80 range max (other than their Signature series).

Video Card - Hmm, will have to look into the HD6870. Haven't really looked at Raedon cards but I'll definitely search around. The Gigabyte 560GTX Ti only has two reviews, with one saying it's unstable at the factory OC speeds, so I think I'll pass on that. Reason I went with the MSI card was because Bit-Tech gave it some pretty good reviews and it comes with a decent factory OC, and a good cooler.

AMD is looking to launch HD7000 series before the end of this year. So if you aren't gaming all the time, perhaps you can use the HD3000 series on Z68 chipset for now and grab a new $250 card from HD7000 series. $230 is a lot to spend on a GTX560 ti imo, esp. when plenty of HD6870s can be found for < $170 with shipping.

Take a look at this view. It has HD6870 vs. GTX560 Ti.

Motherboard + CPU - Hmm, if I go for the GD65 combo, I have to pay $45 more, for a board that doesn't have very many advantages to the GD53. Unless I've overlooked something? Although I do need a firewire port and just noticed the GD65 does have one while the GD53 doesn't...

? Your original build has 2500k for $220 + Mobo for $150. That's $370.

I linked you a 2500k + GD65 for $360 after $20 MIR. Follow this link and its right at the top!

BTW, V6GT is an awesome cooler but it gets pretty loud at full fan speeds. In the $60 range, the Frio is simply too expensive imo. You are nudging on NZXT Havik 140 territory here, a cooler far superior in noise and performance. Personally, I think Cooler Master Hyper 212+ will be more than enough for you for $30 at NCIX.

 

[ieatdonuts]

It's kind of ironic you deride him from buying a $130 mechanical keyboard when you think he should buy a sound card. Both are niche products for people who can feel or hear the difference.

 

[mnewsham]

It's kind of ironic you deride him from buying a $130 mechanical keyboard when you think he should buy a sound card. Both are niche products for people who can feel or hear the difference.

Stole the words from me

 

[RussianSensation]

It's kind of ironic you deride him from buying a $130 mechanical keyboard when you think he should buy a sound card. Both are niche products for people who can feel or hear the difference.

First of all, there are plenty of other mechanical keyboards much cheaper. Can you link me a better sound card than the Asus Xonar for $70?

Did you miss the part where he already has $200-250 speakers? You think a $130 mechanical keyboard will increase his typing speed from 60 to 120 WPM? That keyboard isn't the slimmest, doesn't save you $ by using solar energy, doesn't have gaming keyboard features, etc. Since he is on a budget, a keyboard that's nearly half the price of his videocard/CPU is pretty steep. I wanted to know why he is paying a premium for that specific keyboard considering you can get a gaming + Mechanical keyboard for $85 from Razer.

I love how people continue to claim that the sound quality difference between onboard sound and a dedicated sound card is "subjective". Sound quality between high-end audio equipment is subjective. But the difference between onboard audio and a dedicated sound card isn't - it's massive.

If you can't tell the difference between a $70 dedicated sound card and onboard sound, it likely means you need to clean the wax in your ears, your hearing has been damaged so you can no longer hear properly, you have never used a dedicated sound card and are just basing your opinion based on 100s of other people in the same position (95% of people of our forum members likely fit in this category), you simply don't care about good quality sound and fail to acknowledge this fact but yet you claim the the difference doesn't exist or is very minor.