Need help finishing off a system

[Geosurface]

Hi all,

Back in January I started making my first from scratch desktop in many years. I got sidetracked and now I'm focused on finishing it again. At the time I was working from a wishlight on Newegg that I still have up there, I'm going to link some of the parts. I'll start with the ones I already have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...t-_-11-119-160 (the case)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145324 (RAM)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072 (processor)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131729 (motherboard)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065 (cooling fan)

Okay so... that's what I have so far (not 100% positive it's that exact case but it's one that looks identical by same company, might be a HAF ___ some different number, it's huge)

So... now I need to get a graphics card (I had originally planned to do SLI 2x but I'm just going to go with one graphics card at least for now, I'd like to get one that I could double up on later though... financial priorities have shifted)

So yea, graphis card... at least one hard drive (my intention had been a SSD and then a traditional, I'll link the ones I had my eye on in a sec) but again with the financial priority shift I may just want to do one traditional, and not go with an SSD.

I'll also need a copy of Windows... I use Windows 7 64 bit professional on my laptop (it's an Asus G73) and I want that again... I hate how expensive it is, ha. I'm in the military and I plan to buy it on base, at the store we have with no tax on anything... but if anyone knows of great deals on getting ahold of a Windows license, I've heard there are sometimes such deals. I'd appreciate any tip on that.

If I could get this all finished off (HD, Graphics card, Windows) for about $800 max, that'd be fantastic.

Here are the HDs and Graphics card I had been looking at in January:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130593 (vid card)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145493 (traditional HD, still looking pretty good to me)

Thanks for anyone who gives me input on this, I know there are probably tons of threads like this. If it helps you want to help me, I've been PC gaming since the 80's and I still have my Diamond Monster 3D video card

 

[lehtv]

Gaming resolution is? For 1080p and with your budget in mind, I'd suggest HD7870 ($350).

If you're not going to buy an SSD, get a 7200RPM hard drive e.g. Seagate 2TB for $120-130

What's your PSU by the way?

I'll also need a copy of Windows... I use Windows 7 64 bit professional on my laptop (it's an Asus G73) and I want that again... I hate how expensive it is, ha.

Unless you know for a fact that you need features that Pro offers and Home Premium doesn't, you won't need Pro. How much does Win 7 HP 64-bit OEM cost at your store? It's $100 on newegg.

 

[Geosurface]

Gaming resolution is? For 1080p and with your budget in mind, I'd suggest HD7870 ($350).

If you're not going to buy an SSD, get a 7200RPM hard drive e.g. Seagate 2TB for $120-130

What's your PSU by the way?



Unless you know for a fact that you need features that Pro offers and Home Premium doesn't, you won't need Pro. How much does Win 7 HP 64-bit OEM cost at your store? It's $100 on newegg.

Thank you for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it.

Gaming resolution = 1920x1200 when on my monitor, 1920x1080 when on my TV (I alternate depending on my mood or the game)

I have a Radeon in my laptop and for variety's sake I was wanting an Nvidia in the desktop.

PSU, I believe (can't check right now) is a 750watt Corsair silver

 

[lehtv]

I have a Radeon in my laptop and for variety's sake I was wanting an Nvidia in the desktop.

Variety doesn't get you any better performance or bang for buck. But by all means buy NVIDIA, they're releasing new 600 series cards soon (in addition to the $500 GTX 680), and you should also see custom cooled GTX 680 cards from Asus, MSI etc. fairly soon.

 

[Geosurface]

Variety doesn't get you any better performance or bang for buck. But by all means buy NVIDIA, they're releasing new 600 series cards soon (in addition to the $500 GTX 680), and you should also see custom cooled GTX 680 cards from Asus, MSI etc. fairly soon.

Oh I know, my thinking was supporting both companies, since I like competition, but more importantly if I am trying to play a game that has issues with ATI (Rage for instance) I have the Nvidia to fall back on, and vice versa.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it.

 

[Charlie98]

Although I like Hitachi HD's (I have 3 in my build...) that one you listed isn't the best on the planet. If you stick with Hitachi, you have 2 pretty good choices:

2TB and 1TB, both 7200RPM drives. Do you really need 3TB storage? I'm not sold on the reliability of the big TB drives just yet. Of those two I would pick the 1TB drive because it's the .D model, they are supposed to be pretty good and I intend to fill up my HTPC with those when the time comes.

 

[Geosurface]

Thanks for your help folks.

I decided to just go to Best Buy today and finish up this system, and opted to save a bit of money by going with an Nvidia brand (didn't even know they made their own cards ever) 550 ti, and a Seagate 2gb 7200 rpm internal... and a copy of Windows 7

Thanks again for the help.

 

[lehtv]

550 Ti eh? Well, I hope you're not disappointed with the performance. It's equal to a 5770/6770, a card that wasn't really that fast when it was first released over 2 years ago.

(If it's NVIDIA "brand" it means it's an OEM unit)

 

[Geosurface]

550 Ti eh? Well, I hope you're not disappointed with the performance. It's equal to a 5770/6770, a card that wasn't really that fast when it was first released over 2 years ago.

(If it's NVIDIA "brand" it means it's an OEM unit)

Sometimes I'm a bit impulsive. I didn't want to wait around and pay shipping fees etc. I also was trying not to spend a ton.

I haven't opened it yet, but I was about to.

The other options Best Buy had were 2 EVGA's Both 560 ti's, both with 2gb vram on them. If I don't have enough patience to order online, would you suggest I go back and get the better of those 2? or a second 550 ti to SLI?

 

[lehtv]

The other options Best Buy had were 2 EVGA's Both 560 ti's, both with 2gb vram on them. If I don't have enough patience to order online, would you suggest I go back and get the better of those 2? or a second 550 ti to SLI?

None of those are good options. I mean, they're bad value for money. 550 Ti on its own is slow, and it'd make no sense to SLI it because it'd still be bad value for money and you'd get increased power consumption, potential dual GPU issues and really not all that good performance. For the price of 550 Ti SLI, 7850 2GB is an infinitely better choice.

You also don't want a 560 Ti 2GB, it just doesn't make sense when 7850 2GB is faster and consumes less power but costs slightly less (on newegg).

My original recommendation was 7870 2GB as it was in your budget, but if you're looking to really save cash, here's a 6870 for $130 AR AP. It's this much faster than 550 Ti, and not too far from 7850 level performance.

 

[mfenn]

None of those are good options. I mean, they're bad value for money. 550 Ti on its own is slow, and it'd make no sense to SLI it because it'd still be bad value for money and you'd get increased power consumption, potential dual GPU issues and really not all that good performance. For the price of 550 Ti SLI, 7850 2GB is an infinitely better choice.

You also don't want a 560 Ti 2GB, it just doesn't make sense when 7850 2GB is faster and consumes less power but costs slightly less (on newegg).

My original recommendation was 7870 2GB as it was in your budget, but if you're looking to really save cash, here's a 6870 for $130 AR AP. It's this much faster than 550 Ti, and not too far from 7850 level performance.

Not to mention that Best Buy's in store prices on "high end" GPUs typically aren't competitive.

 

[Geosurface]

Okay I returned the 550 ti and I"m going to order a card from Newegg.

Let's start from scratch on that.

My budget for the card is 300 or at a max 350. I'd prefer Nvidia so I have one of each, but I am not entirely closed to ATI. Any further suggestions from anyone given this new framework? thanks in advance. I'm going to go look at the ones linked above again too now.

 

[Termie]

Okay I returned the 550 ti and I"m going to order a card from Newegg.

Let's start from scratch on that.

My budget for the card is 300 or at a max 350. I'd prefer Nvidia so I have one of each, but I am not entirely closed to ATI. Any further suggestions from anyone given this new framework? thanks in advance. I'm going to go look at the ones linked above again too now.

EVGA GTX570 for $267AR shipped: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130621

EVGA GTX570 Overclocked for $280AR shipped: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130620

Next step up would be the AMD HD7870 for $357 shipped: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102981

Here's a comparison of the two: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/518?vs=548

 

[Geosurface]

Thanks for the suggestions, so between the overclocked one you mentioned and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130593 which would you get?

NVM went ahead and ordered the EVGA GTX570 Overclocked you linked.

 

[richaron]

My budget for the card is 300 or at a max 350. I'd prefer Nvidia so I have one of each, but I am not entirely closed to ATI. Any further suggestions from anyone given this new framework? thanks in advance. I'm going to go look at the ones linked above again too now.

I'm also looking for mid/upper-mid Nvidia, but there's nothing 'perfect' on the market. A gtx560ti or gtx570 are both decent performers & if you can find them for the right price you'll probably be satisfied.

Problem for me is with power consumption & efficiency, they are simply outclassed by current gen AMDs. The idea of buying "last generation" nvidia for the same price seems wrong, so I'm stuck twiddling my thumbs for a few more months.

 

[Termie]

Thanks for the suggestions, so between the overclocked one you mentioned and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130593 which would you get?

The $280 card is faster, cheaper, 9" long, and has a 3-year warranty.

The $300 card is slower, more expensive, looks cooler, is 10.5in long, and has a lifetime warranty.

Take your pick!

 

[Geosurface]

The $280 card is faster, cheaper, 9" long, and has a 3-year warranty.

The $300 card is slower, more expensive, looks cooler, is 10.5in long, and has a lifetime warranty.

Take your pick!

K thanks again and thanks to everyone in the thread who helped me out. I went with the overclocked one you linked, thank you.

I didn't want a Radeon in both my laptop and my desktop... that may be irrational but I remember Rage not working for me at all, I ended up having to buy it for XBox and then it wasn't even that great of a game frankly. And this from an id fan since Commander Keen.

Anyway... I thankfully don't keep a close enough eye on the parts world to really be aware that the card I just ordered is last gen tech or whatever... I don't care that much. It'll be solid for Diablo 3 and such. Should last me a while.

 

[lehtv]

GTX 570 is a decent card for that price. I hope it won't disappoint you, however there's one thing that would stop me from buying it. It has only one fan and it'll make more noise than dual fan solutions because of that. But then again I'm a bit of a silence freak =) (The same applies to the $130 radeon 6870 I mentioned but I posted that just cos it was cheaper than most 6850's)