new pc $600-800 range

[cakemountain]

Please ignore original title, budget is gone but still not unlimited.

Please comment on any parts if you see an issue or have a suggestion!!

1. Case: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

2. Motherboard: Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

3. Video card: MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Newegg.com - MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

4. Processor: Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500

5. memory: Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK
Newegg.com - Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK

6. Power supply: Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

7. OS: Win 7 64 bit
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

8. Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

9. Fans:COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan

10. Monitor- Newegg.com - Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design 250 cd/m2 ACM 12,000,000:1 (1000:1)
11. Keyboard- Newegg.com - Logitech K200 Black 8 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Keyboard for Business
I honestly hate media keys and crap. Nothing worse than screwing something up in the middle of a sc2 match because of keys that I don't want. I don't use macros and don't intend to even though my mouse could if I wanted to.

12. Mouse- already have a steelseries XAI, but it has too many features I don't want.

13. cd/dvd- Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

14. spray paint- so I can paint lighting bolts to make it go faster

[JPMiller]

Welcome...
You've come to the right place..

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Family Pack/ Home Premium Upgrade - Retail 3 PCs
Win 7 HP 64bit 3pack (this way you can install it on your girlfriends PC as well to facilitate networking and compatibility)

Newegg.com - HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition ATX Mid Tower Computer Chassis Gaming Case w/ Front Blue LED 120mm Fan & Top 120mm Fan
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 CMPSU-430CX 430W ATX12V Active PFC Power Supply ...Use coupon code EMCKGKG26 to get 10% off
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Newegg.com - Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Without video card your looking at about $600 shipped (plus $30 in rebates)
You can decide how much you want to spend for video power, and there are better people on here to help you with that decision than me...

[ShyguyXPC]

Can you do a Fresh FULL Install with that Family pack? Since its an Upgrade Pack?

Case is a good Solid case design, am very happy with mine, a couple minor quibbles Style of Standoff used for Mobo, barely enough room on back side of Mobo plate to route PSU cables, Can't move the top bay with Power Switch and front I/O ports, No Thumb Screws for Side Panel Removal just standard screws), but all in all for $40 the case is as good as some of the other Top names.

I have yet to put my parts in mine, but looking at it, its pretty good for the price, also VERY light weight, I'm used to much Heavier cases.

[cakemountain]

thanks for help so far guys, ill keep main post updated with suggested parts, etc.

[JPMiller]

Can you do a Fresh FULL Install with that Family pack? Since its an Upgrade Pack?

Yes, but you have to do the re-install trick...
Maximum PC | How To: Use Your Windows 7 Upgrade Disk On a Fresh PC

Scroll down to... "Clean Install / Fresh Install"


http://www.winsupersite.com/article/...ade-media.aspx
another site with instructions

[ShyguyXPC]

Cool, Bookmarked, Thanks

[cakemountain]

Does anyone have recommendations on a video card or thoughts on my currently suggested parts? From the reviews at newegg everything suggested seems to be ok, but I am still hunting for more input before I dive in.

[nickslick74]

Either of these should be more than enough.

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1380-KR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) SSC+ 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $199 w/free shipping

OR:

Newegg.com - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $215 w/free shipping

[cakemountain]

I don't really know what they mean when they refer to stuff as factory overclocked. Do I have to overclock?In the summer it can get pretty warm in my house because I am cheap with the a/c, and it is my understanding that overclocking can lead to heat issues and reduce the life of the parts.

The most important aspect for me is reliability and stability.

[ShyguyXPC]

Pretty self explanatory, Factory Overclocked, Past tense, which means it IS overclocked.

Most Factory OC'd cards are only a bit faster than stock, and don't really add up to a lot of performance over stock, maybe a few extra Frames per second better, sometimes a dozen or so, depends on the games and settings, but if a person is getting nearly 100 frames per second in a game, another 5 or 10 is not going to be noticed.

Mainly comes down to benchmarks with most factory OC'd cards.

Though there are some nicely clocked cards, at up to 100MHz over stock clocks, which is NICE OC.



Most OC'd cards do not add much more heat to whats going on, as most of these cards have very adequate better than stock design Coolers on them.

Heat issues, depends, if your case is a piece of junk and unable to provide good ventilation and airflow, or improperly set up fan placement, etc, its going to overheat. Some cards like Nvidia's GTX 400 series (GTX 465, 470 and 480 cards), run VERY Hot when running many games.

Lifespan of parts, not really, most Factory OC'd cards are under warranty for a few years at least, as long as you register the card when you get it, if it dies from heat related to stock factory settings, it should be covered. (EVGA is one of the best for this with Nvidia cards, XFX is the best for ATI radeon Cards).

If reliability and stability are important, then don't buy a Factory Overclocked card, but most should be fine no matter what, if the Factory OC'd card is on sale cheaper than a Stock card, why wouldn't you buy one, especially if its covered under warranty.

With the case JP suggested above, and proper fan placement, Cable Management. it should have plenty of Air flow and cooling for a Factory OC'd card.


Just as an example, the EVGA card Nick posted above is $200 with free shipping for out of pocket Costs.

the STOCK clocked version is $210 with $5 in shipping,

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1371-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) FPB EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

If it were me I'd go for the one Nick posted.

Or the Radeon 6870 he posted, either card will be in the same general performance range.

the GTX 460 with that much of an overclock, might be a bit better, but again, depending on the games played, it might only be a small amount, barely noticeable difference.

[cakemountain]

ok thanks for explaining that. I got some ram with my current pc that was slightly overclocked and had massive issues with it, and the guy I had look at it just said overclocking was bad news. As far as temp, my place is around 65-80 F year round. The girl hates cold. Is that going to be a prob?

[ShyguyXPC]

no, my room is usually at least that warm in summer, and I don't run any OC's on my hardware right now, and temps are fine, even if I had an OC, it would still be ok.

You might want to maybe look into a Corsair H50 or H70 Watercooling kit, for the CPU cooler (its a completely enclosed system, you just mount the unit to your CPU, and the Radiator/Fans to a 120mm Rear Exhaust position in a Case, assuming you buy a case with a 120mm exhaust on it, and your done)

The only time you might want to worry about the GPU heating up is when your actually using it for 3D intensive stuff.

If your worried about Temps, make sure to get a Card (Stock clocked or Factory OC'd) with a good cooler, one that vents the air out the back of the case, or in the case of the Radeon cards, one of Sapphires Vapor-X Series cards would be a good option.

[cakemountain]

So I am confused on cooler now. If I am looking at EVGA 01G-P3-1380-KR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) SSC+ 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card, it comes overclocked I guess.
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100283VX-2L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity reviews sometimes refer to this as an offbrand card. how do these 2 cards compare?
If the EVGA is better at all can I get more cooling from something simple?
It looks like the coolers you suggested are for the processor. Should I be worried about the processor?

[JPMiller]

Your over complicating things...
start with retail cooling for the CPU, and simply look at the different cards available and choose one with decent cooling, i.e. large fans, heatpipes and venting out the back...
If you have heat issues, you can address it after the fact.
As long as you have a decent case with good airflow, and do a decent job of wire routing youll likely have no issues.

[ShyguyXPC]

for example, this HIS Radeon 5770 Vents out the back.

Newegg.com - HIS IceQ 5 H577QT1GD Radeon HD 5770 Turbo 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity


This one Does to some degree, but actually vents out in all directions.

Newegg.com - HIS H577FK1GD Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

This HIS 6870 vents out the back as well

Newegg.com - HIS H687F1G2M Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity



This Zotac Geforce GTX 460 1GB vents out back

Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-40402-10P GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


This EVGA GTX 460 1GB, just like the 2nd HIS one above, Vents out partially in rear, but also in other directions as well,

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1380-KR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) SSC+ 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card



as to FAT Heatpipes, right now Many of Asus' Cards utilize a fairly large Heatpipe diameter design.

Some of Sapphire and HIS cards with the Radeon GPU's do as well.


Some more examples, from my collection of cards.



1st one shown at top, Vents out the rear, 2nd one vents in all directions, 3rd one (currently the one I use) vents out the rear, 4th one also vents in all directions.





1st One at top Vents in all directions, and the other 2 actually direct/vent Heat back INTO the case (an older style of cooling often used on single slot cards, since the back plates are almost never slotted to ventilate air out.)

[JPMiller]

Wow, I hadnt realized Shy was a hoarder until now...
Is there at least a trail through the stacks of technology in your house?

[ShyguyXPC]

not really LMAO!!!

Aside from the 6600GT in that pic, all of these cards are capable of Folding to some extent.

I think my old Q6600 Quad core was able to match the Radeon 2600 Pro there in Points per day, but I suspect that is because of the poor support for Radeon Cards with current GPU Clients for F@H.

Sad thing is I/We Can't afford for me to hook all these up for folding with power bill, and 2nd thing is, I don't even have enough PCIe Slots/Mobo's to run all these anymore.

Not shown, is the 9800GTX+ I have to try out, maybe solder on a new Cap, GTX 260 1.75GB model (Supposedly unstable, but have to find out why), GT 220.

When I took that pic, I had already sold one of the 2 9600GSO's, and Gave away one of the 2 4870's.

that 2nd 4870 is now going in my brothers new system I'm building for him (along with the 3 way Crossfire Socket 775 P45 Mobo, Antec 400W PSU, and Celeron Dual Core E3200).


also not pictured is the 7800GTX I got recently from a trade (with some other parts, including a Socket 939 SLI board, CPU, RAM, and 750W Refurbished PC P&C PSU), Traded out my old 9800GTX (original GTX, not GTX+) for that stuff.

Missing is also my Geforce 4 Ti 4200, Geforce 3 Ti 500, Geforce 4 MX 460, ATI Rage Fury 32MB, Radeon 9700 Pro, and Two Voodoo 3 Cards (3000 & 3500), and My Voodoo 5 5500 AGP card (Not for Resale marked Card, looks like an Engineering Sample with soldered Wires on it).

And then there's the old Geforce 6600GT AGP flavor card that is in my brothers older Socket A system.

So yeah, Hoarding is putting it lightly.

[cakemountain]

so many video cards to choose from. Id roll a die but I don't think an old school D&D die would have enough sides

[ShyguyXPC]

True, very true, you'd probably need a few handful's of those Die to decide, LMAO!!!

[cakemountain]

so it sounds like I should be more worried about the case than anything else. Maybe pay a little more for a better case? Is the card I am currently looking at a good choice? I don't know how to tell the difference between them