first build

[shin]

helloooo, new member here ive recently took up an interest in computers and decided i wanted to build my own, but im sort of new to this and i want some recommendations from experienced people. my budget is $1200 including monitors and peripherals and i plan on using this computer for basically everything(gaming, school, etc). heres my current future setup

xclio windtunnel case
corsair 750w psu
intel E8400 3.0ghz duo core cpu
g. skill 4gb ddr2 800 ram
WD 640gb caviar black hdd
sony lightscribe sata dvd burner


im not really sure what to get for a motherboard or video card, or a monitor and keyboard/mouse. any tweaks to make this build better would be helpful too. thanks and i look forward to having a good time on this forum

[vtfanmv5]

What you have picked so far looks very nice. I would personally go with a LITE ON dvd drive over that one. Everything else looks great, although you don't need quite that much wattage on the PSU. 550-600W will do you fine.

For a motherboard, look at the ASUS P5Q series. For your price range, you might consider the Radeon 4870 1GB card, or perhaps a 4890.

[shin]

thanks , ill get the liteon lightscribe sata burner instead then. im also confused about one thing, is the radeon hd 4870 2gb or 4890 1gb better? i would purchase a hd 4870x2 but those are kind of expensive. ill also get the asus p5q pro turbo lga 775 mobo. as for the 750 psu, i plan on upgrading my parts over time as i save up more money, so ill just get a 750w. it wouldnt hurt to have more, would it? thanks once again

[vtfanmv5]

The 4870 X2 will outperform the 4890. X2 means that it has two of the 4870 GPUs in one card. I'm not sure if you mean a 4870 2GB or the 4870 X2 2GB, but getting the extra memory on a regular 4870 isn't going to do much for you unless you plan on doing some serious gaming at like 2560x1600.

A single 4870 1GB or 4890 1GB would likely be enough for you, with your budget.

And yes, getting a larger PSU is fine if you are planning on expansion.

[shin]

alright ill go with sapphire vapor-x cooling radeon hd 4890. thanks for the help man, good looking out.

[Khalil]

Sapphires are awesome however they do not offer direct consumer support or RMA.
The only way I would recommend buying a Sapphire is if you are going to buy it from a local long standing reputable computer store, this way you can have recourse.
I recommend Diamond or Asus if you want to have solid after sale support in case something goes wrong with the card.

[shin]

oh wow alright thanks for the heads up, ill go for an asus then. also, could anyone provide some suggestions for monitors and keyboards/mice?

[indaface95]

idk much about moniters, but with keyboard and mice a standard keyboard and mouse from dell or something would work, but if u want an edge in games (specifcally fast pace online games) you can get the logitech G9 mouse and G15 keyboard (i think those are the right numbers)

[Katreat]

Monitors is one area I generally recomend buying from a local store instead of on-line. if you have access to a Costco take a look there, if you get even one bad pixile you just take it back and trade it in for another one. At costco the price is usually within $10 - $20 of what you can find them selling on-line for. The sweet spot, most bang for your buck, is around 22 to 24 inches right now. The problem I have with buying monitors on-line is that the on-line have special return policies for monitors which make you live with dead pixils and such.

For mouse and keyboard I am a Logiteh fan. I use a G-11 keyboard and am very happy with it. The G-15 has more bells and whisles, but many of them dont work with the games I play. I also like that it is much closer to the size of a standard keyward (just a bit longer). The G-15 is very BIG.

For mouse I like the Logiteh MX 516. Very nice feel and almost as fast as the G series for quite a bit lower cost.

Kat