New Computer for a friend.

[Piano Man]

I have a friend who is going to be building his first machine. Until now he's been using a PoS iMac, and he's finally decided to ditch it. This guy lives and breathes World of Warcraft. He wants to OC his machine as well. He has a budget of $1050 and needs the following components:


CPU
MoBo
Memory
Vid Card
HDD
DVD-RW
Case
PS
Keyboard
Mouse
OS
HS&F

He has the following components:

Monitor (22" Acer 1680x1050)
Headset
Speakers

He also wants to buy everything from 1 place, instead of going to multiple stores. I selected Newegg, as it doesn't charge him Tax.

Here is what I came up with:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1100 (PC2 8800)

Vid: XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM

DVD-RW: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

PS: XIGMATEK MC NRP-MC651 650W SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Silver/Black USB Wired Standard Media

Mouse: Logitech MX518 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB or PS/2 Wired

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

HS&F: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail

Fan: (for optional rear HDD Cooling bracket) Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan

Paste: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM



Total shipped comes to $1,046.29

I could have gone with a cheaper case/PS and could have upgraded him to a 4870, but I wanted him to have a case and PS that can last a couple upgrades/builds.

I went with the XFX 4850 because its rear exhaust and it has double lifetime warranty, if he ends up selling it in the future for an upgrade. He also has a 1680x1050 screen, so it should handle WoW well, especially given that WoW is CPU limited in most cases (other than its shadow quality, which kills GPUs).

I went with the C2D E8400 because its a great overclocker, cheaper than the i7, and the fact that WoW doesn't use more than 2 cores.

For the HS, I went with the XIGMATEK because newegg doesn't carry the TRUE, and after reading reviews, it seems to be almost as good while being much cheaper. Any other thoughts on that would be great.

For the PS, I wanted modular because he is using a mid tower with limited places to hide cables. The XIGMATEK seems to be getting good reviews while maintaining 80Plus Efficiency. A little pricey, but I think a solid PS is extremely important to any build.

So basically, just let me know what you think. Remember, I"m at my peak cost right now, so any changes need to keep it at the same price point or lower it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[brblx]

after looking at your components i was going to say what you addressed right after- go with a cheaper case, PSU, and up it to a 4870.

imo a case is a case and he's probably never going to crack it open, anyway, right? switch your choices for a sonata case w/ 500w antec psu and you could actually get him a 4890.

of course, the rebuttal to that is '4850 is more than enough for wow.' well, yeah, but you could build a machine to play that game for about $500. if you're gonna spend a grand you might as well put the best performing parts you can get in it. he's not gonna notice pretty PSU cables or a case with slightly more elbow room.

 

[skunkboy72]

another thought is to save the money on the case and psu and get a bigger hard drive. Since the 4850 will more than handle WoW you could maybe get a terabyte or so in there. Of course, if he doesn't do much downloading or take up much space it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[z1ggy]

Yeah I would say the case doesn't need to be GREAT...and all you need is 500watts. Maybe also you could find a friend with the OS for you??? You have to know somebody you can borrow the CD from..I think you can use the copy up to 3 times ?? That is just another way to save money so you can up the GPU. If not...Try looking through some posts here..Windows 7 RC is prob. still up and you can DL that for free for like a year long trial. Just make sure he buys the software when the time is up.