Requesting suggestions on build

[AgentCipher]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to create a PC for office work, gaming, and general multimedia. Looking to build the entire thing for around $1,000, but I'm willing to go up a little to get the best performance vs price ratio. Will be buying from the US, intend to do a little overclocking, and I'm looking primarily at i5 + ATI setup right now, since from what I've read that's the best performance for the money currently. Would like to build by around the end of the month, as my current desktop is starting to have some hardware failures. Plan on gaming around 1680x1050, as that's what the 2209WA monitor supports (which I'm planning on buying).(There, that should answer all the questions from the sticky'd thread )

So here's the build I've got spec'd out. Any suggestions would be extremely appreciated :-D

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12331732

Note that I'm already a bit close to my $1k setup (Over, after the monitor purchase), and I'd like to lower that a bit, as I'm a graduate student who's pretty much living off Ramen to afford this sucker.

Thanks!

 

[Blain]

Hey guys,
Any suggestions would be extremely appreciated :-D

Thanks!

* Dump the WD Green for a WD Black
* Drop the high volted Patriot and go for standard volted DIMMs @ 1.5-1.6v
* For "office work, gaming, and general multimedia" at 1680x1050, you will do fine with a 4870 or GTX 260.

 

[AgentCipher]

* Dump the WD Green for a WD Black
* Drop the high volted Patriot and go for standard volted DIMMs @ 1.5-1.6v
* For "office work, gaming, and general multimedia" at 1680x1050, you will do fine with a 4870 or GTX 260.

Any particular brands that you'd suggest for the memory? I selected the module primarily due to the CAS timings, and the name "patriot."

Also, according to a few reviews, people found that the performance drop from WD Black to Green wasn't too staggering. Considering that the Green has the highest GB/$, I figured that would be a good selection. I'm also debating grabbing the $85 Kingston SSDNow when it's released in a few weeks for my OS drive, so would that make up for the Green's usage as cheap storage?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Any particular brands that you'd suggest for the memory? I selected the module primarily due to the CAS timings, and the name "patriot."

Also, according to a few reviews, people found that the performance drop from WD Black to Green wasn't too staggering. Considering that the Green has the highest GB/$, I figured that would be a good selection. I'm also debating grabbing the $85 Kingston SSDNow when it's released in a few weeks for my OS drive, so would that make up for the Green's usage as cheap storage?

4GB G. Skill Ripjaw 1.5v DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 $90.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

 

[Quiksilver]

What I came up with

Is ~$50 cheaper than your original build. Also if you do the CM690 + I5 750 Combo you can take off another $15. Which leaves you with enough room to buy the prolimitech megahlems that someone below me suggested. Unfortunately you would break your budget by a little once you take into account a heatsink fan for it...

Also your forgot to toss in an OS
Another thing, the Samsung F3 1TB drive outperforms the WD Black Drives due to the higher platter density and is $5 cheaper than the WD Green drive you have selected.

 

[AgentCipher]

4GB G. Skill Ripjaw 1.5v DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 $90.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

Considering that the mobo and the i5 are only 1333 compatable, 1600 memory would be downclocked. However, is 0.05v really that much higher than 1.5 -1.6? What kind of performance difference will I be seeing, and will it have a significant impact on overclocking my processor? I've never OC'd before, as my last build was 4 years ago, when OCing was significantly more risky than current...

 

[AgentCipher]

<reserved for more thoughts later when I get back from work>

Also your forgot to toss in an OS
Another thing, the Samsung F3 1TB drive outperforms the WD Black Drives due to the higher platter density and is $5 cheaper than the WD Green drive you have selected.

Haha yeah I managed to both forget an OS, AND an aftermarket fan+heatsink for the processor. Amazing how it's the small things that you always leave out...

I'll be using Windows 7, free of charge, thanks to the deal MS has with my Uni. I don't know anything regarding aftermarket cooling for the i5 though (the last research I did on it was for the i7), so I'll have to check that out. If i5 is anything like i7, the default cooling setup is pretty worthless for OCing at all.

I'll check out that samsung! How's the company doing lately in terms of customer support, etc, for their HDD?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Considering that the mobo and the i5 are only 1333 compatable, 1600 memory would be downclocked. However, is 0.05v really that much higher than 1.5 -1.6? What kind of performance difference will I be seeing, and will it have a significant impact on overclocking my processor? I've never OC'd before, as my last build was 4 years ago, when OCing was significantly more risky than current...

If you overclock you want faster memory so the limitation is not placed on slow ram speed. Remember the memory controller is on the CPU so high memory voltages can kill your CPU.

Don't pay attention to what the motherboard is "compatable with" it doesn't care if you put DDR3-2000 memory in there. Notice in the specifications it says "DDR3 2200+ Support"

For cooling, I'd recommend something like this http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/prmeforinso7.html with a good fan like a Scythe S-Flex or similar.

 

[Quiksilver]

updated my post.

 

[AgentCipher]

Thanks guys :-D

Lastly, would you suggest overclocking? I spoke with a friend of mine about it, and he said it was pretty much a waste of time / money for the applications I'd be using. However, I've read that it's much easier now than it used to be (barring enormous processor heat sinks).

Considering that the most taxing thing I'll ever be doing with my computer will be gaming, and that I'll be doing so on a 1680x1050 setup, what are your thoughts?

Thanks again for all your suggestions :-D Truly.

 

[elconejito]

Everybody above has covered the bases, but I like throwing my $0.02 in...

An SSD + WD Green is a great combo if you're getting two drives. If you're only getting one drive though, get either a WD Black or the Samsung F3.

You might consider a non-modular PSU if you wanted to shave a few bucks, or for the same price get more wattage.

+1 for one of the cards in the $150 range like 4870 for gaming at 1680x1050.

You don't have to overclock. It's purely optional, and these new chips are plenty fast. You might even leave it at stock for a while, and when you feel like you need an extra boost, you can overclock then instead of buying a new processor. Having said that... I disagree with being a waste of time/money. It's essentially free performance. Even if you don't get a better HSF, you can overclock at least a little (maybe around 3Ghz) with the stock fan. With a good HSF you can easily get it into the mid 3Ghz range with very little effort. It's super easy these days. It's extreme overclocking that takes a lot of time and effort and diligence, but a mild overclock is very easy.