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12-15-2011, 04:24 PM
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#1 |
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Member (4 bit)
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Critique my casual gaming/home use build!
Hi. I've never built a PC before, but am good with my hands and the thought of creating one appeals to me. I have a basic grasp of technology, but am not a mechhead by any stretch of the imagination.
Desktop will be for casual gaming and academic use - I would like to play Skyrim (but can't at the moment, due to an outdated laptop and the lack of a working PS3 version), but don't absolutely *have* to have it running on ultra (I'd like it to be pretty, though). Outside of that, I'll mostly play older games, do some non-intensive music editing, and typical PC stuff you could do on a $300 laptop. I want a PC that will last me a long time, so I'd like it to be upgradable to a reasonable extent. My budget is roughly $1000 US, but that would preferably include a monitor since the only monitor I have other than my HDTV is a CRT. I'll be doing this in the first half of next year, hopefully after HDD prices have corrected themselves, so prices are of course current. They'll hopefully go down and I can get something nicer. I don't really know how these parts interact with one another - if they'll fit in the case, or if they'll set my apartment on fire after starting up Freecell, so I'd like your advice on what I have so far. Anything I'm totally skimping out on or totally overspending on relative to my needs? Case: Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $59.49 Seems to be fairly mainstream and practical. CPU: Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HD96ZTWFGRBOX $124.99 I wouldn't even begin to know how to overclock something, so non-black is fine. I figure quad-core gives me the most future potential. I've primarily used AMDs in the past and am happy with them. MoBo: Newegg.com - ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $104.99 Only reason I picked this is because people seem to recommend ASUS and it has USB 3.0. PSU: Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $69.99 I don't think anything I use will approach 550W. RAM: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R $46.99 I'd prefer 2 x 4 GB, of course, so I can just add on if and when I feel like it. Graphics: Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $144.99 Need help here. HDD: No pick on a hard drive yet, but will just get the best I can for about $100 and at least 500 gigs. We'll see what prices are like next year. Pri Opt: Newegg.com - ASUS 24X DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B3LT LightScribe Support - CD / DVD Burners $25.99 OS: Windows 7 64-bit $99.99 That's $777.42, not including a monitor. The two things I'm never sure about are the graphics card (it always just looks like a mess of acronyms to me) and whether the cpu includes a fan/heatsink. If not, please recommend one! Thanks! If for some reason it doesn't appear that, for my needs, I'm not saving any money by building my own PC, please tell me. |
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12-15-2011, 04:46 PM
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#2 |
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I like all of your choices and you will be able to play Skyrim at max settings as it exceeds the recommended specs. It is a great card and well worth the money. Excellent motherboard.
CPU comes with the heatsink/fan. If you are not heavy overclocking than you are good to go. If you are into the overclocking, let us know and we can recommend an aftermarket heatsink/fan. Keep in mind if you go with a beefier one, you need to change your ram to the same brand (Corsair Vengeance) but in low profile to get proper clearance for the heatsink. Monitor Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor Newegg.com - Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1 |
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12-15-2011, 05:32 PM
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#3 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2011
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No overclocking at all planned. I've never done it in the past, and am not a serious enough gamer to really care. Thanks! Good to know my basic research skills are still functional.
Is there anything I've picked that may go relatively obsolete in the near future? |
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12-15-2011, 05:45 PM
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#4 |
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Depends on how you look at it. My main rig is 3 years old and it still does everything I need it to. My test rig is even older, like 5 years. AMD has a newer line of CPU's (Bulldozer) currently but with your budget and needs, your selections should serve you well. You can always upgrade the video card in the future if your into playing the latest games. However that card will play pretty much every game out there, maybe just not at max settings. You selected a quad core which games do not even take advantage of yet. It is a solid build.
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12-16-2011, 09:44 AM
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#5 |
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Techphile.
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Francisco Bay
Posts: 5,959
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With that CPU, overclocking it will have no noticeable effect in your game speed. It's all a function of your graphics card, which as jdeb said, is plenty fast. Overclocking can make a difference with CPU intensive applications like media conversion or Photoshop etc.
Some games now can take advantage of a quad core (can utilize more than 2 cores), but yeah, most don't
__________________
Asus P8P67 WS Revolution | Intel 2600K @ 4.7 GHz | Win 7 Pro 64 |8 gigs Corsair 1600 | Two Diamond 6990's in Crossfire| Corsair AX1200 | Thermalright Silver Arrow | Western Digital Black 2TB 64 meg cache | Lian-Li PC-A71B | Logitec Z-5500 | Three Asus 26" VW266H monitors running under Eyefinity | Last edited by David M; 12-16-2011 at 09:51 AM. |
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12-16-2011, 10:27 AM
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#6 | |
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Member (4 bit)
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Quote:
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12-16-2011, 10:32 AM
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#7 |
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Techphile.
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Francisco Bay
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I would spend as little as necessary on a hard drive for now. I don't think you will see prices fall back to normal in the spring. Higher demand for hard drives will still be backed up for quite some time after production starts back up again. Prices will not drop radically the day production starts.
If you want to spend more, for a gamer I would throw more money at the graphics card. That is your game speed bottleneck for your build Last edited by David M; 12-16-2011 at 10:36 AM. |
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12-16-2011, 11:01 AM
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#8 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2011
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Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Is the 6870 much of an upgrade over the 6850? |
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12-16-2011, 11:07 AM
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#9 |
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Techphile.
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Francisco Bay
Posts: 5,959
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What is the most you want to spend on your graphics card?
Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December 2011 : Best Graphics Cards For The Money, December Update Hierarchy list.... http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ce,3085-7.html Last edited by David M; 12-16-2011 at 11:10 AM. |
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12-16-2011, 05:44 PM
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#10 |
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Put the money towards another video card. The HD6870 is a nice card as well. It would not cost you 50.00 more though, probably only 20 or 30. Don't get an XFX card though.
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12-19-2011, 03:46 PM
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#12 |
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Bump that power supply up to this to give you a little head room since you changed the GPU
Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply |
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12-19-2011, 04:12 PM
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#13 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2011
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Will do.
Is it worth upgrading to the Newegg.com - ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS ? I can't seem to find a mobo that I really like. |
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12-19-2011, 04:17 PM
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#14 | |
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12-19-2011, 04:19 PM
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#15 | |
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If the Sabertooth will last, then I'll go with that. EDIT: And I just saw it has a 5-year warranty. Last edited by Kirobaito; 12-19-2011 at 04:23 PM. |
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12-19-2011, 04:29 PM
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#16 |
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I would only go with the Sabertooth if you are planning on crossfiring. Other than that, this board is a great choice
Newegg.com - ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS or this Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard or the original Newegg.com - ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard |
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12-19-2011, 04:38 PM
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#17 | |
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Member (4 bit)
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Quote:
Case $64.99 CPU $139.99 MoBo $149.99 RAM $46.99 PSU $79.99 GFX $239.99 HDD $100 Opt $19.99 OS $99.99 $941.94 Last edited by Kirobaito; 12-19-2011 at 04:41 PM. |
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12-19-2011, 08:14 PM
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#18 | |
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12-20-2011, 07:20 PM
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#20 | |
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