YANB (Yet Another New Build)

[Rootstonian]

Give me a break guys, I've been on this forum a long time, just haven't been active. I have some Xmas money and I'm looking for a PC gamer on the low end (around $600). Here is what I have in my cart at Newegg:

COOLER MASTER Elite 430 case $50
CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W power supply $70
Intel BOXDH67BLB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 mobo $90
Intel Core i5-2320 Sandy Bridge 3.0GHz cpu $190
Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $50 (50 bucks for EIGHT gig!)
EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) $135

About $585. I have DVD/CD ROM, 2 WD 320 gig drives, 20 widescreen LCD, Windows 7 OS.

I have to go work out now...hopefully I'll have some comments when I get back.

Oh, btw, I'm not out to run the "latest and greatest" on MAX settings. Rather, I"m looking to play older games when the above rig would have been top-end LOL. Playing some new games would be nice....like Skyrim and The Witcher 2( which I heard really tests your system)

Thanks,

Roots is still alive and well

P.S. And "shhhhh..." I'm actually using a Mac these days...don't tell anyone ROFL

[Hezx]

Any possibility going AMD?
I would say going with the cheaper FX-4100.....

Now I wait for people to smash the FX series.....

[nickslick74]

If you aren't planning on upgrading the video card in the future, you can get away with a less expensive (but still good) power supply.

Something like this would suffice: Newegg.com - Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply $46 w/shipping

And 8GB of ram is still somewhat overkill, 4GB is plenty for games nowadays, though for $50 I would go fo it.

Otherwise what you have looks fine. Some might suggest a jump up in your motherboard to a Z68, but at the price you're looking at, it doesn't seem worth is for a few extra things you probably won't use anyway.

[Rootstonian]

Cool, thanks. Appreciate the feedback.

I may try to shave it down to $500 even by saving on power supply and dropping to 4 gig RAM. And yeah, I was shocked at 8 gig RAM for $50 too.

I was looking at an AMD Quad core setup...some complaints about the cpu's default fans noise level and difficulty getting it off as it was glued on.

<edit> I do have an older Radeon 4000 series card..I might just order this rig sans GPU and see what the games I want to play need AND then get card. Any luck and prices will drop LOL

[nickslick74]

Which 4 series do you have?

[Rootstonian]

Hey Nick...I forget...4500? PCI-E 1x slot. Moot, as I ordered what I posted above. I think there is $50 in mail-in rebates too.

For $550 - $600, I think I'm getting a pretty solid unit that will get me probably 2 years of current games and hopefully ALL past games. What did DDR3 1 gig stick cost when it came out? $40? $80? More? And I'm getting 8 gig for $50.

newegg..no tax, no shipping, s/b here in 3 or 4 days. Time to strip the old rig for drives, cables etc.

<edit> Stripped the DVD/CD, 2 Western Digital 320 gigglers and some cables from older PC. Since this is probably a gamer only, I might stripe the 2 drives for max speed, copy game saves to external as req'd. Now come the worst part....waiting! LOL

[SoloCamo]

Looks solid Roots.

I have a GTX 550ti as well that I paired with a much slower rig than yours

A64 x2 4200+ dual core @ 2.5ghz, 3gb ddr400 and of couse the 550ti.

I play Skyrim on high settings graphically without issue, even at 1920x1080. The only thing that holds me back is CPU, so since your is I5 is worlds above my old DDR1 setup, you should be good to go for most games on higher settings

[nickslick74]

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how quick your rig will be, especially for the price!

[ShyguyXPC]

Hey Nick...I forget...4500? PCI-E 1x slot. Moot, as I ordered what I posted above. I think there is $50 in mail-in rebates too.

For $550 - $600, I think I'm getting a pretty solid unit that will get me probably 2 years of current games and hopefully ALL past games. What did DDR3 1 gig stick cost when it came out? $40? $80? More? And I'm getting 8 gig for $50.

newegg..no tax, no shipping, s/b here in 3 or 4 days. Time to strip the old rig for drives, cables etc.

<edit> Stripped the DVD/CD, 2 Western Digital 320 gigglers and some cables from older PC. Since this is probably a gamer only, I might stripe the 2 drives for max speed, copy game saves to external as req'd. Now come the worst part....waiting! LOL

when it came out? DDR3? or the hardware for your new rig?

DDR3 has been low in price for over a year now, and well over 6 months now its been around that pricing, 4GB or so for under $30, and 8GB for below the $50 mark.

a few weeks ago I picked up a Pareema Branded 4GB Stick of DDR3 1333MHz for $15 or so, not including shipping, never heard of the brand before, but supposedly from what I read its decent stuff.

mainly picked it up to use for testing in other PC's to see if the systems would boot before buying or tossing in some good more expensive Dual, Triple or Quad Channel RAM.

[Rootstonian]

You have to love our "addictions" when it comes to PC hardware and especially when you can get stuff for cheap. I remember the first CD (not DVD) drives came out..they were $1,000!

I have a PS3 in my bedroom paired with a LG 32 LCD...fun stuff. I was actually just looking for a PC to use in there. Shopped some name brand low end PC's and for $400, you basically got nothing from Dell or HP. So I said to myself, "if you're going to spend $400 on a door stop, why not put a little more into it and do a build?"

Having the monitor, Windows OS, drives, keyboard, mouse saved me a couple hundred probably; so in reality, it's about a $750 to $800 build from scratch. Still, not bad IMO!

Yeah, I'm pretty excited. It's been probably 10 years since my last build, so we're talking Pentium 4 series ROFL.

[Hezx]

Hey now I had a P4 3 years ago..... I enjoyed it.

[ShyguyXPC]

While you guys were enjoying the benefits of hot running overpriced Pentium 4 systems, I was cruising along fine on my AMD Athlon XP's and Athlon 64 systems

then I moved up to Intel Core 2, and have been Intel since then, just because for the money better performance.

[Rootstonian]

Got the chip and stock HSF. After remembering a build with stock HSF, I just ordered a COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 +. $30...thing looks friggn' massive

Since this case does have a window on the side, I figured I may as we'll 1) get a HSF that cools better than stock and 2) just looks bad ass. ROFL

I'm sure the stock HSF would be adequate, but since this is a gamer only PC, the CPU is going to be under heavy load a lot so I went with something nicer for HSF. Had to go for next day shipping so hopefully all parts will be here tomorrow!

[stroyal]

While you guys were enjoying the benefits of hot running overpriced Pentium 4 systems, I was cruising along fine on my AMD Athlon XP's and Athlon 64 systems

then I moved up to Intel Core 2, and have been Intel since then, just because for the money better performance.

Not me, although I did have several P4, my best and main computer from that era, was my Barton 2500+ clocked to 3000+.(so much for overclocking, shortening CPU life)

The only trouble is, it is still my main desktop.
My i5 laptop is helping a lot though.

[stroyal]

Why would anybody in their right mind, knowingly get a power supply 4 times bigger than they need?
The 550Ti only calls for a 400watt, that means a 350watt Corsair could handle it. (if they make one that small)
Even if he had 2, you only need a 500w or a 550w

Why would anybody, that knows what they are talking about, buy an Ultra power supply.
Maybe you better check, our good and bad list.
Power Supply Info


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4 times.

[ShyguyXPC]

To heck with the corsair, get an X3 1600 watt :P

I hope your not suggesting people by those crap Ultra Brand PSU's?

I hope you were joking...

[Rootstonian]

911..HELP...just did install of mono, cpu, went with stock HSF...1 stick RAM in DIMM 1.

Hooked up a DVD/ROM and hard drive. Power switch and reset to mono headers. 24 connector in.

NOTHING...well, green light on mobo and the hard drive spins, the CD trys to boot but no CPU or Case fan.

I really need some help here guys...I'm a recovering addict and quit drugs, drinking and smoking 3 months ago..this has got me really stressed out...and I'm not saying this for "instant" responses (well, kind of LOL0... I can't go back to the drugs....

[ShyguyXPC]

make sure the additional 4 pin or 4+4 Pin EPS/ATX12V Connections are plugged into the motherboard as well.

[SoloCamo]

911..HELP...just did install of mono, cpu, went with stock HSF...1 stick RAM in DIMM 1.

Hooked up a DVD/ROM and hard drive. Power switch and reset to mono headers. 24 connector in.

NOTHING...well, green light on mobo and the hard drive spins, the CD trys to boot but no CPU or Case fan.

I really need some help here guys...I'm a recovering addict and quit drugs, drinking and smoking 3 months ago..this has got me really stressed out...and I'm not saying this for "instant" responses (well, kind of LOL0... I can't go back to the drugs....

Any shorts? Make sure theres no grounding issues with the mobo stand

[ShyguyXPC]

also wouldn't be running the case fans off the Mobo, just plug it into the PSU directly.