Contemplating a new computer

[75]

Ok, I have a pretty good list now.

NOTE : I'm updating this as I go, this list is up to date.

Processor - Intel i5 $205
Graphics - EVGA GTX 470 $249 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130549&cm_re=EVGA_470-_-14-130-549-_-Product
CD Drive - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X...  $21 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289&cm_re=Lite_on_black-_-27-106-289-_-Product
Case - Cooler Master HAF 922 $90...  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 you guys said I should think about getting a better case, what do you guys recommend?
Power supply - Antec truepower 750 W $109 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025&cm_re=Antec_truepower-_-17-371-025-_-Product
Monitor - Acer G215HAbd-1 $120 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009275
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar green 2TB, $90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136514
Memory - 8 Gb - G. Skill $120 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314&cm_re=Memory_G_skill-_-20-231-314-_-Product

Motherboard - $140 GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412

SubTotal - $1176.89, without mail in rebates and shipping, no promo codes

Mail in rebates - $55

Shipping - $10

Promo codes - $25

Total: $1106

[brain candy]

I'm the Gigabyte peddler. I think I've managed to strong-arm everyone who has built a desktop here into a Gigabyte and I don't think any of them have regretted it.

I'll get you some specifics later, but if you want to shop around in the mean time, I definitely would. Get acquainted with the various features you could get on one.

Edit: Duuuude, don't by an ASUS video card! Stick with eVGA.

[75]

ah, I meant EVGA
EDIT4 - I found a better one, it has four slots for memory instead of just two, so I can upgrade it if need be - $86

GIGABYTE GA-H55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128437R

there aren't any reviews for it, though.

[ChexCommander]

Ooh, USB 3, nice! And I have to say, I do love my Gigabyte board. The DualBIOS is definitely good insurance in case something were to happen.

[75]

Just tallied it up, the actual total is about $946 without shipping

[brain candy]

ah, I meant EVGA
EDIT4 - I found a better one, it has four slots for memory instead of just two, so I can upgrade it if need be - $86

GIGABYTE GA-H55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128437R

there aren't any reviews for it, though.

75, I would look at a different board, preferably with a P55 chipset, or X58 if you're feeling rich. The H55 chipset is built for economy builds or HTPC builds, not for gaming. Having onboard video would just be a waste. I'll get you some links when I get home. Also, that one is an open-box. That means it's used, pretty much.

Edit: Check out my Homebuilt guide for tips.

[75]

Ok, how about this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425

GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $120

Just a warning... A quality issue has been identified relating to the most popular maker of LGA 1156 sockets (Foxconn), used in almost all brands of P55 boards. This issue will mostly effect serious overclockers, not moderate overclockers or non-overclockers. Problems have been seen in non-overclocked motherboards though. Steps were taken to eliminate this problem, so look for newer boards sporting Lotes sockets. 

how do I know if it's Foxconn? Should I still be worried, or is this old news?

I got rid of the cooler, I've never overclocked in my life, and I probably won't start now.


EDIT - I went for a little more expensive CD burner, the reviews on that cheap one made me nervous

Now, it's up to $1,036

[ChexCommander]

Ok, how about this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425

GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $120

Just a warning... A quality issue has been identified relating to the most popular maker of LGA 1156 sockets (Foxconn), used in almost all brands of P55 boards. This issue will mostly effect serious overclockers, not moderate overclockers or non-overclockers. Problems have been seen in non-overclocked motherboards though. Steps were taken to eliminate this problem, so look for newer boards sporting Lotes sockets. 

how do I know if it's Foxconn? Should I still be worried, or is this old news?

I got rid of the cooler, I've never overclocked in my life, and I probably won't start now.


EDIT - I went for a little more expensive CD burner, the reviews on that cheap one made me nervous

Now, it's up to $1,036

Just saying, but Lite-ONs are pretty well-known for good DVD/CD drives. A $20 or $30 burner is all you need, though I guess quiet always helps too, if you can find it.

Foxconn is a brand, like Gigabyte. You'd know if its a Foxconn because it would say Foxconn on it.
They do also produce the iPhone processors though, and not too many people know that, I suppose.

[brain candy]

They also make the sockets for a majority of the LGA boards, Foxconn or not. I think this problem has mostly fizzled out... I think Foxconn got their crud together.

And yeah, Lite-On is an epic company. They're one of he cheapest but have been the most reliable for me. I've had every other drive by Samsung, HP, etc go bad, either due to age or general bad quality.

[75]

This one's only an extra $5, and it's not OEM.

From the reviews, OEM on this drive means it doesn't come in a box and may or may not include the parts you need.

Are the case and power supply ok?

I'd like to order it before the 20th, I just want to make sure it'll work.


The power supply seems to be ok, according to the article here I have more than enough power for everything, but I have a feeling it's out of date, since it doesn't mention PCI Express v2.0

EDIT2 - it says on the graphics card specs page

System requirements: Minimum of a 550 Watt power supply.

Does that mean that this video card takes 550 Watts by itself? I kind of doubt it, but I just want to make sure

Also, under 3d API, it only lists Direct X 11, does that mean it won't support OpenGL?

oh, never mind, on this website it says it supports   NVIDIA CUDA, DirectX 11, Shader Model 5, OpenGL 3.2, OpenCL, and DirectCompute 5.0, so I'm ok



EDIT3 - uh oh, I just noticed something on my power supply, my video card reccomends a minimum +12V current rating of 38A, but the power supply spec page says

+12V1@25A, +12V2@25A, +12V3@25A, +12V4@25A,

that's not enough, I should look at another one, right?

But hey, even this beast of a 1200 Watt Power supply doesn't put out 38A at +12, what's going on here?

+12V1@30A, +12V2@30A, +12V3@30A, +12V4@30A, +12V5@30A, +12V6@30A, +12V7@30A, +12V8@30A,

EDIT again -I think I get it, it has two cables hooked up to it, so it makes sense, 2*25 = 50, which is more than enough



EDIT yet again -

I only have one CD drive and one hard drive in this so far, isn't it kind of a waste to get a case with five 5.25 bays and six 3.5 bays? Do I really need something this big?

Should I buy a cooler? Is the stock intel i5 fan/heatsink ok?

[brain candy]

This one's only an extra $5, and it's not OEM.

From the reviews, OEM on this drive means it doesn't come in a box and may or may not include the parts you need.

What do you guys think of my motherboard? Are the case and power supply ok?

- OEM products are totally fine, because all the cables and screws you need come with the motherboard and computer case. You pay more for retail and all you get is a pretty box and cables and screws you don't need. Newegg has been perfecting their OEM shipping boxes over the last couple of months, but I'd never had a problem previous to their revamp. It does come in a box, and before it came in a box surrounded by packing peanuts, wrapped in bubble wrap. I'll buy OEM if I can.

- That motherboard looks good. I guess there aren't many LGA 1156 Gigabyte boards to pick from! This one is a bit more but a lot more "future proof" in that it also has SATA Rev. 3 ports, so you can get an SSD or faster hard drive down the line:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412

I was going to suggest looking at the eVGA motherboard they have, but not only is it $100 more and it only has a 1 year "limited" warranty. Screw that.

- That PSU looks excellent. I always get nervous when I see people with bad Antec PSUs, but I guess that's just how it goes. I've only ever received one DOA Antec and Newegg was great about getting it switched out quickly. All the Antecs I personally own are still working after 5+ years.

- Another real popular "cheap" case is the Antec Nine Hundred. Right now, I do like the Cooler Master over this Antec though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

I thought I'd throw that out there as Antec's price equivalent to this Cooler Master. I prefer Antec, but own a ton of Cooler Master cases, and I will say they tend to get rattly with all the plastic they have, but for the price this Cooler Master is a monster. It has ventilation for your PSU, comes with 3 stock HUGE fans, has behind the motherboard cable management (so your computer will have great airflow and look real clean), and it has access to the backside of the CPU socket without unmounting the board so you can install a 3rd party cooler whenever you want. Also, I love side-loading hard drives.

- You have the right idea with that eVGA GTX 470 Superclocked. I don't know if you noticed, but there are two versions in that price range with a $10 difference. They're both the same price right now, so the Superclocked edition is definitely the way to go. That's the one you linked, so hurrah!

EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130549&cm_re=EVGA_470-_-14-130-549-_-Product

- For gaming, I'd consider a full 22" monitor with a faster refresh rate (critical to gaming). Your Acer is 5ms. I found an ASUS that is 2ms gray to gray (GTG) which is the ultimate refresh test. A GTG would win in a 2ms vs a 2ms GTG fight.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236076 (Funky stand.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009212 (Not 2ms, but full 22)

Edit: I'm referencing this post for parts, by the way.

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

- Also, I forgot. The RAM looks great although it is not listed on Gigabyte's "Qualified Vendor" list for memory compatibility. That's usually the case though... their list is tiny. 

[75]

I'm going to pass on the full 22", the 21.5"'s price is great, I didn't find any that were 2 ms that weren't about $50 more.

Motherboard - okay! Looks good!

Case - the antec is an extra $10... the cooler master one is better, I'll stick with the cooler master

I'm updating the list on the top of the second page... now

**Updated**

[brain candy]

You should post your list down here too... I don't see which motherboard you liked best!  

EDIT3 - uh oh, I just noticed something on my power supply, my video card reccomends a minimum +12V current rating of 38A, but the power supply spec page says

+12V1@25A, +12V2@25A, +12V3@25A, +12V4@25A,

that's not enough, I should look at another one, right?

But hey, even this beast of a 1200 Watt Power supply doesn't put out 38A at +12, what's going on here?

+12V1@30A, +12V2@30A, +12V3@30A, +12V4@30A, +12V5@30A, +12V6@30A, +12V7@30A, +12V8@30A,

EDIT again -I think I get it, it has two cables hooked up to it, so it makes sense, 2*25 = 50, which is more than enough



EDIT yet again -

I only have one CD drive and one hard drive in this so far, isn't it kind of a waste to get a case with five 5.25 bays and six 3.5 bays? Do I really need something this big?

Should I buy a cooler? Is the stock intel i5 fan/heatsink ok?

- Responding to your edits. We had a big discussion about dual-rail (12v1 @ 12A, 12v2 @ 12A, etc) when Atarian purchased his PSU. Since this power supply has so many rails, some of them have to be tied together, so you should be okay. I'm at work so I can't look into it thoroughly right now.

- That case is not a waste. It's a "Mid Tower" which is the middle of the road in case size. Big cases with good airflow design and expandability are a lot more desirable than a little case with crap airflow. Also, you want a case that can accommodate long GPU cards, so this is it. Edit: You're going with the Cooler Master. Good!

- I HATE the Intel LGA stock coolers. The performance is blah at best and the little posts you stick through the board to hold the heatsink in place can pop back through if you don't mount it right. I've had these coolers dislodge themselves on my friend's rigs and fall onto their GPU. If you're confident you can mount it properly and aren't concerned with peak performance, overclocking, and potentially lengthening the lifespan of your CPU, you don't need a 3rd party heatsink/HSF. It's not that huge of a deal, but in high end, performance oriented machines, I do recommend them.

- The 21.5" is definitely a good price. I just wish it was not an Acer and had a more gaming oriented refresh rate. You may see some ghosting at 5ms.

[75]

Yeah, I don't like Acer either... 

but what can go wrong with a monitor? I'd never buy one of their computers, but a monitor would be pretty hard to screw up, right?

I just updated it with the motherboard I liked, I must have deleted it on the first edit.

PSU - My graphics card takes two 6 pin PCI-E power cords, so you double the current, putting out a total of 50A, which is more than the graphics card requires (38A). My power supply has four total PCI-E power cords (two 6 pin and two 6 + 2) so that's ok.

Cooler - hmm... how much is a cooler? I don't do overclocking.

$30... hmm... is it really worth it? Do you have a cheaper one you would recommend, since I don't care about overclocking?

[xbolt]

I don't know if you subscribe to the Newegg newsletter, but that G.Skill memory you have currently has a $20 promo code: EMCZNZT38

You should think about getting at least that part soon, I think the code will expire in a couple days.