PC Build Questions (Pre-Built)

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A

Aidios

Junior Member
May 7, 2011
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1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
I plan on using it for playing games and watching movies, along with the everyday internet-surfing and occasional Photoshop CS5.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Around 700 or 800 USD.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
United States

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.
Prefer nVidia, but really don't mind switching :p

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Plan on using a 32" HDTV that's setup in my room already, at least until I have more money to buy a separate monitor. The TV I'll be using at first has a resolution of 1366 x 768.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes, I have. I'm good with technical stuff, but not good enough to decide if this would be able to do what I want it to do though.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Overclocking a little, not a lot.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1366 x 768 to start, then 1680 x 1050.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
I plan on ordering it by Thursday.

____________________________________

Alright, so to start off it's a simple Combo Deal on NewEgg, and consists of the following components:

  • MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
  • Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core
  • G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
  • Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC

Here are my questions!

1. Will this setup be able to run graphics-intensive games on medium settings with at least 20-30 fps?
2. Will I be able to upgrade to a dedicated graphics card in the future from the integrated motherboard graphics (Intel HD 3000)?
3. If so, would the 1GB GDDR5 nVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti be sufficient?
4. Once I upgrade to a 1680 x 1050 resolution monitor, and do the GTX 550 Ti upgrade, will I be able to run most, if not all of my games on high? The main games I'll be playing are;

Mafia II
Crysis, Crysis 2
Guild Wars 2
Metro 2033

If I won't be able to run them on high at 1680x1050 with the GTX 550 I was planning on getting, which card would you recommend? My budget was simply for the combo deal, the video card can be whatever. Just wanna be able to play these games on high settings without going overkill. Would I need to upgrade the PSU in the process?

Thanks for any help you can give!
 
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aphelion02

aphelion02

Senior member
Dec 26, 2010
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Seeing as this is a P67 board with no graphics card, you won't even be able to see your bios screen.

Edit: Realized I wasn't too helpful, so here's some points.

1. That combo sucks. The power supply is subpar (which disqualifies it automatically), and the other components don't look that great either.

2. P67 motherboards do not support integrated graphics, so upgrading the graphics card later is not an option.

3. The gtx 550ti is a bad gaming card period. It is overpriced for its performance. For something in that price range, you want to look at gtx 460s, HD 5850s, and HD6850s, all of which are superior performing cards.

4. Do you need an OS?
 
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aphelion02

aphelion02

Senior member
Dec 26, 2010
699
0
76
Nope, I'm just linking to the featured monitors page. There's a couple good deals on monitors now, I think the OP can stretch his budget slighlty and go for 1920x1080, but stick with 1650x1050 if he wishes to keep under $800.
 
A

Aidios

Junior Member
May 7, 2011
10
0
0
Well I'm glad I came here to ask! I figured combo deals were definitely a rip-off. The ones I looked at a while back were really good in one area, and then they slack in another important area to keep prices low. Sorry about the integrated graphics error, could have sworn I saw it on there somewhere. Is this setup any better? After looking around a bit and taking your advice, this is what I've come up with.

Rosewill Xtreme Series RX850-S-B 850W + Rosewill GEAR X3 Gaming ATX Mid-Tower Case Combo

GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 AM3 ATX Motherboard

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

ASUS Radeon HD 6850

Subtotal: $640.94
Shipping: $1.93
Total: $642.87

How is that set-up there? One question about the Radeon HD card, is it close in performance to the 550 Ti? I was basing this on my brother's computer, which runs Crysis on very high with around 30-40 fps, so I was just trying to select components like that.

No matter what I build, my older brother is going to be getting a copy of Windows 7 for me from where he works as a computer technician, so that's fine. He also volunteered to get me a keyboard, mouse, and hard-drive. I could also use my old computer's hard-drive and DVD drives until it came time to upgrade.

More suggestions? Did I screw up again? :p

E: Actually, I did. I forgot to update the cart before I pasted those links over. Lemme go back.

There we go. Oh, and the reason I'm holding out on monitors now is because I may be getting one for free if my mom decides to use my old monitor (takes up less space on her work-desk).
 
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aphelion02

aphelion02

Senior member
Dec 26, 2010
699
0
76
Your new build is even worse than the old one.

1. Rosewill power supplies are not good as a rule. Go with Seasonic, Antec, Corsair or XFX.

2. 850W?!! Your system won't even need 500W. Complete waste of money, and you lose even more when it comes to power efficiency.

3. AMD CPUs are not competitive right now unless at very low price points. Unless your budget is like less than $400, go with Intel Sandy Bridge. No reason to be investing in a 2009 architecture when you can have a 2011 one. If you really want AMD, wait for Bulldozer (comes out in 1 month).

4. RAM and graphics card are fine.

5. Lulu's build is VERY VERY good, its hard to find better deals on any of the components. Use that as a base rather than randomly searching.
 
D

dma0991

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2011
2,723
1
0
If you insist on getting an AMD build it would be better to actually wait till June-July. That is the time where AMD's Bulldozer, 900 series chipset and AM3+ boards will be launched.

You're just wasting time and money on an under performing CPU with a dead end AM3 board. I claim it is dead end as not all AM3 boards or none at all are capable of using AM3+ CPUs. On the other hand AM3+ can support both AM3 and AM3+ processors.

If you can't wait 1 month then the next best thing would be an Intel build with Core i5 2500K like the others have already mentioned.
 
D

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Zap said:
How about an HEC Blitz for $10 less shipped? Very similar in layout, plus the Blitz is black painted even inside, for teh sexy.
Click to expand...

Antec TriCool fans are decent stock fans, and you can adjust the speed to cut the noise. If the HEC has cheaper fans that would be one reason to spend the extra $10 for the Antec.
 
A

Aidios

Junior Member
May 7, 2011
10
0
0
So right now the only things not finalized are the psu and case.

I know for sure I'll be getting that Sandy Bridge 2500K + MSI P67A combo, the same ASUS 6850, and the same G.SKILL 8GB DDR3 1333 pack. With that, my total is 580 so I have plenty of leg room for a case and psu. I'm leaning towards the Antec 300 and the Corsair CX430 mentioned by mfenn. Brings it to a total of ~678, so I still have room for a harddrive if I want to add one.

What are all of your opinions on the set-up now that I've taken in everyone's advice? Will the video card fit in the case? I can't find the dimensions for the HD 6850, so maybe one of you will know off the top of your head.
 
aphelion02

aphelion02

Senior member
Dec 26, 2010
699
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76
I think you are set. I recommend the Spinpoint F3 for a harddrive. I also just noticed this Gigabyte 5850 OC. That is faster than the 6850. At just $15 more, I think I'd spring for that.

Edit: I think its close. Maybe with your low resolutions, the 6850 makes more sense.
 
M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
Aidios said:
What are all of your opinions on the set-up now that I've taken in everyone's advice? Will the video card fit in the case? I can't find the dimensions for the HD 6850, so maybe one of you will know off the top of your head.
Click to expand...

The 6850 is 9" or 9.25" long, depending on the PCB. That's pretty short for a GPU, so you should have no problem fitting it into the Three Hundred.
 
A

Aidios

Junior Member
May 7, 2011
10
0
0
Thank you. Aphelion02, the highest resolution I'll be going to will be 1680x1050 so I think you're right. I'm gonna stick with the 6850. Switching to the 5850 just doesn't seem that necessary.

E: How is this case, instead of the Antec 900? Seems like it'd get the same job done for 15 bucks less. You guys are the experts though, so what do you think of it?
 
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A

Aidios

Junior Member
May 7, 2011
10
0
0
Yeah, been reading them over. Trying to decide if I want to chance it with the NZXT for a couple different things I like better, or play it safe with the Antec for a couple more bucks.

Last question. Would I be able to upgrade this to a CrossFire rig later? I'd just purchase another 6000 or 5000 series card for ~200 or less, 8 more GB of RAM to max it out on the mobo, and then a PSU with about 550W. Would that work?
 
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M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
Aidios said:
Yeah, been reading them over. Trying to decide if I want to chance it with the NZXT for a couple different things I like better, or play it safe with the Antec for a couple more bucks.

Last question. Would I be able to upgrade this to a CrossFire rig later? I'd just purchase another 6000 or 5000 series card for ~200 or less, 8 more GB of ram to max it out, and then a PSU with about 550W. Would that work?
Click to expand...

Yes, you technically can, but upgrading to Crossfire (especially with midrange GPUs) is not a spectacularly good idea. You'll get performance about the same as you would get by upgrading to the the next generation of midrange cards for a higher price (once you figure in the beefier PSU), more power consumption, and more noise. Not to mention the usual Crossfire BS.
 
A

Aidios

Junior Member
May 7, 2011
10
0
0
Alright then, I won't even bother with CrossFire later on, or a new PSU. Just the ram and a newer generation card. Thanks!
 
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