Custom Computer Specs

[bpruitt]

I've been "out of things" for a while...i fell victim to the "Dell" ease of buying a computer. The last computer i built by myself was back when the 233mhz processor was new and high tech...so needless to say - it's been a very...very long time. But, Dell has recently reminded me why it's best to build your own PC, so im getting back into it for my next unit.

Things I use my PC for:

• Photoshopping (nothing too major, i just make my own graphics for my websites)
• Gaming (Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 when it comes out)
• Web Design
• FRAPS - i typically record "how-to'" for photoshop, and also record gaming sessions between me & my friends

So...performance is a decent sized issue, but i still don't think I need the absolute top of the line. Im hoping to keep it around $1,200, but can go more if a good case can be presented as to why I should


So as for my build, ill list the things im thinking of buying first, then list all of my questions afterwards. Basically, my main concern for this build is “is it all compatible?” and is it going to be a pretty good machine?

• Case - Ultra X-Blaster - $44.99
  
• Motherboard - ]ASUS P6T - $199.99
  
• Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB - $79.99
  
• RAM - A-Data 4GB DDR3 - $116.99
  
• Motherboard - Asus P6t - $199.99
  
• Video Card – Radeon Hd 5770 - $159.99
  
• Sound Card – Diamond Xtreme - $19.99
  
• Power Supply – Ultra LS500 500w - $34.99
  
• CDROM – Samsung DVDRW w/ Lightscribe - $24.99
  
• All in One Media Reader – Ultra Media Dashboard - $34.99
  
• Processor – Intel Core i5 - $219.99
  
• Processor Fan – Cooler Master N520 $33.99
  
• Operating System – Windows 7 Home Premium - $199.99
  

I will definitely end up buying a few fans for the side of the case (the VGA vent & CPU air duct) but I haven’t looked into which ones yet…my guess is they don’t need to be too terribly expensive.

So this build puts me in the ball park of how much I want to spend, but I have concerns that im just too out of date to know how to figure out:

• On the specs for my motherboard – it says it supports Core i7, but does not mention Core i5…does that mean anything? Since i7 is newer and better than i5, wouldn’t the motherboard support both?
• Is my Processor Fan good enough to keep that i5 from over heating?
• In the future, if I ever decide I need more graphics support, have I set it up properly so that I can install an additional HD5770 video card to take advantage of ATI crossfire technology?
• Do you notice any compatibility errors and do you have any criticisms of this build?
  

Any and all questions/comments/criticisms are most welcome. Thanks in advance!

[glc]

I see quite a few problems there. You can't put a socket 1156 processor into a socket 1366 motherboard. You are also buying too much from Tiger Direct, and you are falling for their descriptions that make a turd smell like a rose.

Here is my recommended build for that use - just over $1200:

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER ELITE 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I7870

Newegg.com - A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD3U1333B2G9-DRH

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - HIS H585FN1GD Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Newegg.com - Rosewill RCR-IC002 74-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate

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

You don't need additional fans, you don't need a sound card, and you don't need a CPU cooler. I doubt that you would ever need a 2nd video card, but if you decide you do, both the motherboard and PSU will support a second 5850.

[bpruitt]

thanks for the suggestions! looking through them now

the first questions that pop out at me are:

is the i7 "too much" for what im looking to do?

and

Best Buy & Microsoft.com both offer Windows 7 - new (not upgrade) for $199.99....how is Newegg.com able to sell it for $99.99?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by glc i see quite a few problems there. You can't put a socket 1156 processor into a socket 1366 motherboard. You are also buying too much from tiger direct, and you are falling for their descriptions that make a turd smell like a rose. Here is my recommended build for that use - just over $1200: newegg.com - cooler master elite 335 rc-335-kkn1-gp black secc steel atx mid tower computer case newegg.com - asus p7p55d-e pro lga 1156 intel p55 sata 6gb/s usb 3.0 atx intel motherboard newegg.com - intel core i7-870 lynnfield 2.93ghz 8mb l3 cache lga 1156 95w quad-core processor bx80605i7870 newegg.com - a-data 4gb (2 x 2gb) 240-pin ddr3 sdram ddr3 1333 (pc3 10666) dual channel kit desktop memory model ad3u1333b2g9-drh newegg.com - western digital caviar black wd1002faex 1tb 7200 rpm 64mb cache sata 6.0gb/s 3.5" internal hard drive -bare drive newegg.com - his h585fn1gd radeon hd 5850 (cypress pro) 1gb 256-bit gddr5 pci express 2.1 x16 hdcp ready crossfirex support video card w/ eyefinity newegg.com - corsair cmpsu-750tx 750w atx12v / eps12v sli ready crossfire ready 80 plus certified active pfc compatible with core i7 power supply newegg.com - rosewill rcr-ic002 74-in-1 usb 2.0 3.5" internal card reader w/ usb port / extra silver face plate newegg.com - microsoft windows 7 home premium 64-bit 1-pack for system builders - operating systems you don't need additional fans, you don't need a sound card, and you don't need a cpu cooler. I doubt that you would ever need a 2nd video card, but if you decide you do, both the motherboard and psu will support a second 5850.

outstanding!:d

[glc]

That is an OEM version of Windows 7 - for system builders. You are a system builder!

If you want to save about 80 bucks, the i5-760 will do a good job.