Building a comp - need help

[trungdok]

Thinking about building my next computer and trying to decide on a cpu, motherboard, video card, and case. I'll be doing some medium gaming and video editing so I want it to have some power. My budget is around $800 and definitely less than $1000. What do you guys suggest. I'm most interested in those 4 components but if you have the time to recommend all of them I'd appreciate it.

Newegg currently has a bunch of complete systems at nice prices.
http://www.newegg.com/Black-Friday-D...ionStore/ID-49

I personally think this one is a good one even as refurbished.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883256159

[jussi]

Ok guys I'm thinking on pulling the trigger on this video card (unless a better deal appears on BF). It seems to have the best reviews just below the Radeon 7970 and uber expensive Geforce gtx 690. I've read these high end ones need a real beefy power supply. What do you suggest?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125423

[chopnhack]

Wow, 1/3 of your budget on the vid card. Whenever I have built a system I have always started with the chip/mobo and then worked my way out from there. It has always worked for me and ensured stability and reliability. YMMV

[jussi]

Wow, 1/3 of your budget on the vid card. Whenever I have built a system I have always started with the chip/mobo and then worked my way out from there. It has always worked for me and ensured stability and reliability. YMMV

You may be right and I'm definitely open to opinions. My thought was since video (ie gaming / video editing) was going to be my priority I should get the best video card. Like woodturner alluded, the gpu would be the most important component. I was initially going to put more money in the cpu and get a top of the line i7 but am thinking I can get away with an medium speed i5. Plus as I said, I already have the hard drives so I can take that out of my total. Anyways here's a rough idea of the cost I got from the research I've done so far. Am I missing anything?

Video card - $330
Mobo - $150
cpu - $200
RAM - $100
Case - $50
Power supply - $100
Audio card - not sure yet. maybe just onboard for now.
Hard Drive - already have
DVD ROM - recycled from old comp

[jussi]

Well I made my first purchase. The CPU. I was going to wait till BF sale but I doubt I'll find a lower price. $229 for a Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz LGA 1155. Even though I said I was only going to get an i5, I couldn't pass this up. 1 down 5 to go.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...spx?sku=425405


I was thinking of marrying it with this mobo. What do you think?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...SUS-_-13131792

[jussi]

Ugh ok I just realized Microcenter is selling the 2700k for $200 on BF. Both i7 and 3.5ghz. Is Ivy bridge a huge upgrade from sandy? $30 worth it?

[LCHIEN]

sounds like I7-3770K for 229 is a good price. Ivy bridge passmark score is 10300
i7-2700K is sandy bridge, passmark score is 9300
the GPU is HD4000 vs HD3000, somewhat better I hear but it doesn't sound like you'll be using it.

I'm working on a Streaming video computer
Core I3-3225 ($130)
ASRock Gen3 Pro3 Z68 ATX ($104)
8G (2x4G) DDR3-1600
so far

[Stytooner]

This is the one I would have jumped on.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883229365

Pretty decent specs on it for the price.

The last time my computer started having issues, I went with a bare bones from Tiger Direct.
It was a decent system to start with, but I had to add more to it. The case was not a good design. The HD's are supported by little rubber bungi cords. Difficult to install properly when the bays are loaded. I would have chosen a different one if I had the choice.

I did get the Sandy Bridge i7 2600K @ 3.40 Ghz. I added liquid cooling. Without that it would not over clock much and remain stable. After the radiator install, it runs at 5 ghz extremely stable.
Its a few years old, so I imagine the newer ones would perform better. I think the K value means unlocked, so you can overclock easily. It comes with Intel software that will allow you to overclock yourself or let the software pick a stable overclock point.

[cabinetman]

This is the one I would have jumped on.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883229365

Pretty decent specs on it for the price.

That is a great price. LOML would have gotten that, except many of her games are for Win7.

.

[chopnhack]

Its a good deal on the cpu. Since you are looking for gaming, you may want to consider a mobo that supports multiple vid. cards such as the asus maximus. IIRC they offer sli or crossfire so whatever vid cards happen to be the cheapest you can run pairs of amd or upto 3 sli cards.

[Chris_B]

I build computers for friends, and having a fast-but-quiet PC is important to me.
A few resources that I have not seen in this thread should be helpful:

Case selection: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article75-page5.html

PSU selection: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_PSUs
IMO, Seasonic builds the best PSU's by far. They sell under their own brand as well as through several OEM's.

Good overall build guide: http://techreport.com/review/23814/t...8-system-guide

For motherboards, just be sure to get one with a good UEFI BIOS. ASUS was the clear early leader, but other manufacturers have started to catch-up.

[jseklund]

[QUOTE=Chris_B;511079]I build computers for friends, and having a fast-but-quiet PC is important to me.
QUOTE]

This is one of those lessons you learn as you build a computer or two that has a few issues - and part of the reason I stated to get a good case and power supply in my first response.

My first computer lasted me 4-5 years but it had a bunch of small fans and they were loud. I learned to go with fewer 120 mm fans in a well designed case. Also look at the db rating on the fans when it is available. If you get a decent case, the fans are usually also decent - but if it's a budget case, they have to save money somewhere and this is often the first place someone looks.

Most people won't think about noise until everything is assembled and they turn it on and it's too late.

Most people won't match a power supply to a system until it arrives and they go to install it to find it didn't have the right connectors for the components or not enough power for the GPU.

Since you are buying a seperate video card, I think you'll be happiest with a system that has a motherboard/cpu that has NO integrated graphics (unless you get them at a savings - sometimes it works out better) and take the money you save and put it towards the GPU. I would still start with the CPU/MB and work out from there, since you can easily upgrade a GPU later on but an unstable MB can ruin a system.

If it were me, I'd get the best MB I could find, the most reasonably priced medium-high performance chip I could find to pair with it (I doubt you'll see much difference between 2.9 ghz and 3.1 ghz on a quad-core processor), and a strong GPU since you want video editing capability.

[alpha]

On your power supply, I would suggest you look at a modular one. That way, you only use the power connecter that are necessary and will get better air flow. There are plenty of bargains out there right now. I like this one for the price at New Egg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153106

[Knottscott]

+1 on Tiger Direct (aka Circuit City)....they've got some nice deals going now (been looking myself). Look at their barebones kits. The compatible components are all plug & play. You just install them, hook them up, then load your OS. Originating your order thru Ebates.com will get an extra 2.5% off.

I'd be inclined to stick with kits with Gigabyte or Asus motherboards vs MSI or Biostar. AMD based kits tend to offer better bang for the buck in lower price ranges....not sure how that correlates in your budget, which is higher than what I've been looking for. I'd look for a strong power supply with good amperage to the vital parts (not just a high wattage rating), a fast processor with large L2 & L3 cache and fast FSB ratings, and get a good cooler for it.

[jussi]

Standing at a very long line in Micro Center Hope to get at least 75% of the components today.