PCMech Forums - View Single Post

bigsully · 02-21-2011, 06:00 AM

Very nice and helpful forum you guys have here!

I'm usually a do-it-myself type of guy, but I have EXTREMELY limited computer technical experience. I've been wanting to attempt my own build for several years now. I even have a beast of an ATX/E-ATX/BTX CMStacker 830 aluminum case (cream of the crop back then) I purchased about 4 or 5 years ago (I think about $180 or so) and never used, cause I chickened out, haha . Back then I had dreams of building a super multi mon monster. So the stacker just collected dust, but still looks a real beauty sitting in the corner. I'm not sure you can even buy these any more, except used, or with highly customized and very expensive paint jobs on them. It seems things are getting smaller again.

Now it comes time to again decide to tackle my own build, or to just buy another pre-built box. So, after researching again, and feeling fairly overwhelmed, I was just about to give in and buy another pre-built box, even though I really didn't really appreciate the offerings at all. When I informed my other half on what I was about to do, I was encouraged and coaxed into reconsidering. After much trepidation, I finally decided to go for it on my own.

My build will be used mostly as a trading comp, multiple real time charts running at same time, heavy stock scans, trading platform windows, live chats/message boards, live data and news wire feeds, etc. I will do little to no gaming, but some personal internet, photo, music, etc. use. I want to get up and running with 1 monitor first and then need to add 2 more shortly after. Prob all 3 used in portrait position, or P-L-P. Maybe even go for the super multi mon monster eventually, hehe.

I wanted to go with AMD-better bang for the buck I think and I tend to like the underdog.

I narrowed MOBO choices down to 2- ASUS and Gigabyte. 2 calls to each manufacturer's customer support made me decide to go with Giga. The first time I called ASUS, the tech was extremely hard to understand. The second time I was requested to leave name and number and they would call back-they didn't. Gigabyte's customer support seemed better and easier to understand/ contact.

So I chose the following components

MOBO Gigabyte 890GX ATX GA-890GPA-UD3H $134 I hope there aren't many/any problems with the 890/850 chipset. This particular board has integrated ATI 4290 graphics on board. Hopefully this can run 1 monitor, doing what I want to do. Later add something like a 5770 card to run 3 monitors in total, one on the 4290, the other 2 on the 5770.
Amazon.com: Gigabyte Socket AM3/AMD 890GX/SATA3&USB3.0/A&V&GbE/ATX Motherboard GA-890GPA-UD3H: Electronics

CPU AMD Phenom II x 4 925 2.8 HDX925WFGMBOX $120 This 1 is the latest C3 stepping, not sure if that's good or bad?? Newegg was out of stock on them, with very few reviews thus far.
Amazon.com: Phenom II X4 925 AM3 45NM 95-Watt 2800 Mhz Box C3 8 MB: Electronics

PSU Corsair CMPSU-650TX $90 less 20 rebate
Amazon.com: Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650-Watt TX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply: Electronics

Memory Kingston HyperX 1333 CL7 8gb (4 x 2gb) KHX1333C7D3K4/8GX
Got a great deal from Newegg on these-$100 less 15 coupon + free 2gb USB flash drive
Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KHX1333C7D3K4/8GX

HDD WD 640GB black SataII 32mb WD6401AALS $65
Amazon.com: Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD6401AALS: Electronics

Heat sink/fan Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus RR-BIO-212P-G1 $29
Amazon.com: Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus 775/1156/1366/AMD/AM2/AM3 Universal Direct Contact Heat-Pipe 120mm Fan CPU Cooler: Electronics

CD/DVD r/w Lite-on IHAS 324-98 $20
Amazon.com: Liteon 24X DVDrw Sata Retail: Electronics

DELL U2211H 21.5" IPS monitor. was on sale for $200, direct from Dell. Have 1, want 2 more.

Windows 7 home premium full retail $180 at Amazon. Went with the retail version ($80 more) cause i suspect I will need Windows/Microsoft support. Plus I bought Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 for 1 year, 3 comps, nearly free - $13 when purchased with windows 7.

Everything purchased at Amazon, with the exception of the memory and arctic silver purchased at Newegg, and the Dell monitor. Everything that I bought at Amazon, i made sure I was buying directly from Amazon and not a third party vendor via Amazon. Be very careful about that as /shipping/returns, etc. won't be the same as direct from Amazon. Amazon direct always beat on price/returns/shipping, etc. and is serious about helping with manufacturer rebates/warranties. Pricing/shipping/return policies usually beat those of even Newegg's.

By the time I found this forum, it was too late to ask for advice before purchasing. I hope I did well enough on my own. All of my components should be here today or tommorrow and I can start my build. I will likely be back here asking questions/looking for solutions-I hope not too much, but my confidence level not too high...... yet anyway....

In the meantime, any advice, tips, comments, suggestions, or even criticisms would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.

THNX
Lou

02-21-2011, 06:00 AM	#1
bigsully Member (6 bit) Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 41	Glad I found this forum Very nice and helpful forum you guys have here! I'm usually a do-it-myself type of guy, but I have EXTREMELY limited computer technical experience. I've been wanting to attempt my own build for several years now. I even have a beast of an ATX/E-ATX/BTX CMStacker 830 aluminum case (cream of the crop back then) I purchased about 4 or 5 years ago (I think about $180 or so) and never used, cause I chickened out, haha . Back then I had dreams of building a super multi mon monster. So the stacker just collected dust, but still looks a real beauty sitting in the corner. I'm not sure you can even buy these any more, except used, or with highly customized and very expensive paint jobs on them. It seems things are getting smaller again. Now it comes time to again decide to tackle my own build, or to just buy another pre-built box. So, after researching again, and feeling fairly overwhelmed, I was just about to give in and buy another pre-built box, even though I really didn't really appreciate the offerings at all. When I informed my other half on what I was about to do, I was encouraged and coaxed into reconsidering. After much trepidation, I finally decided to go for it on my own. My build will be used mostly as a trading comp, multiple real time charts running at same time, heavy stock scans, trading platform windows, live chats/message boards, live data and news wire feeds, etc. I will do little to no gaming, but some personal internet, photo, music, etc. use. I want to get up and running with 1 monitor first and then need to add 2 more shortly after. Prob all 3 used in portrait position, or P-L-P. Maybe even go for the super multi mon monster eventually, hehe. I wanted to go with AMD-better bang for the buck I think and I tend to like the underdog. I narrowed MOBO choices down to 2- ASUS and Gigabyte. 2 calls to each manufacturer's customer support made me decide to go with Giga. The first time I called ASUS, the tech was extremely hard to understand. The second time I was requested to leave name and number and they would call back-they didn't. Gigabyte's customer support seemed better and easier to understand/ contact. So I chose the following components MOBO Gigabyte 890GX ATX GA-890GPA-UD3H $134 I hope there aren't many/any problems with the 890/850 chipset. This particular board has integrated ATI 4290 graphics on board. Hopefully this can run 1 monitor, doing what I want to do. Later add something like a 5770 card to run 3 monitors in total, one on the 4290, the other 2 on the 5770. Amazon.com: Gigabyte Socket AM3/AMD 890GX/SATA3&USB3.0/A&V&GbE/ATX Motherboard GA-890GPA-UD3H: Electronics CPU AMD Phenom II x 4 925 2.8 HDX925WFGMBOX $120 This 1 is the latest C3 stepping, not sure if that's good or bad?? Newegg was out of stock on them, with very few reviews thus far. Amazon.com: Phenom II X4 925 AM3 45NM 95-Watt 2800 Mhz Box C3 8 MB: Electronics PSU Corsair CMPSU-650TX $90 less 20 rebate Amazon.com: Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650-Watt TX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply: Electronics Memory Kingston HyperX 1333 CL7 8gb (4 x 2gb) KHX1333C7D3K4/8GX Got a great deal from Newegg on these-$100 less 15 coupon + free 2gb USB flash drive Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KHX1333C7D3K4/8GX HDD WD 640GB black SataII 32mb WD6401AALS $65 Amazon.com: Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD6401AALS: Electronics Heat sink/fan Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus RR-BIO-212P-G1 $29 Amazon.com: Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus 775/1156/1366/AMD/AM2/AM3 Universal Direct Contact Heat-Pipe 120mm Fan CPU Cooler: Electronics CD/DVD r/w Lite-on IHAS 324-98 $20 Amazon.com: Liteon 24X DVDrw Sata Retail: Electronics DELL U2211H 21.5" IPS monitor. was on sale for $200, direct from Dell. Have 1, want 2 more. Windows 7 home premium full retail $180 at Amazon. Went with the retail version ($80 more) cause i suspect I will need Windows/Microsoft support. Plus I bought Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 for 1 year, 3 comps, nearly free - $13 when purchased with windows 7. Everything purchased at Amazon, with the exception of the memory and arctic silver purchased at Newegg, and the Dell monitor. Everything that I bought at Amazon, i made sure I was buying directly from Amazon and not a third party vendor via Amazon. Be very careful about that as /shipping/returns, etc. won't be the same as direct from Amazon. Amazon direct always beat on price/returns/shipping, etc. and is serious about helping with manufacturer rebates/warranties. Pricing/shipping/return policies usually beat those of even Newegg's. By the time I found this forum, it was too late to ask for advice before purchasing. I hope I did well enough on my own. All of my components should be here today or tommorrow and I can start my build. I will likely be back here asking questions/looking for solutions-I hope not too much, but my confidence level not too high...... yet anyway.... In the meantime, any advice, tips, comments, suggestions, or even criticisms would be greatly appreciated and welcomed. THNX Lou