My new PC!

[Tyrael]

I was thinking about buying an Xbox 360 but then either my motherboard or processor died, so I just changed both amongst a few other things and now my PC is completely renewed :p

Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3
Intel Core i5-2500
2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Kingston HyperX
AMD 6950HD
Power Supply NOX HUMMER 80 700w
Keyboard Ttesports Challenger Pro
Mouse Logitech G-500
1TB Seagate HDD
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster B2330HD

I think its pretty decent for now, its a huge step up from the amd phenom 9550 I had for a couple of years, I always though the PCSX2 emulator was crap, but with my new PC most games look and run even better than in the PS2 itself!.

So no Xbox 360 for a while, I may get a PS Vita instead in the near future depending on how it turns out.

[Soul Sojourner]

I personally recommend buying a 360, they are a blast and they're much more reliable than they used to be. However, I wholeheartedly support buying computers and computer upgrades first!

For me, my computer is always top priority over my 360.

[Tyrael]

That has happened to me twice already, the first time I decided to buy the 360 like 3 years ago, my graphic card burned down and I got a good graphic card instead, then some new games came out and I forgot about it. The 360 is like cursed for me I tell you!

[Meclar]

Nice Tyreal,  I picked up an Acer Aspire i7 to play Skyrim.  heh though the AMD 4200/GeForce 9200(?) was ok.

[Soul Sojourner]

Alright, I'm just gunna post it in here rather than make a new topic. I *finally* am building a computer I *want* and not some makeshift upgrade that I have to live with because I can't afford anything else. I would do better obviously if I could afford it but I am satisfied with what I got going for sure.

So anyway, I bought some of my parts, got a loan and bought the rest of them. I got promoted at work recently and make a lot more money plus over time so I can pay off my loan fairly quickly. I don't usually get excited about games coming out anymore, hell, I anticipate it a little but half of the time I don't even get them when they're released, it's just not a big deal for me to get excited about anymore, but one game is different. Diablo III is coming out soon and my current computer surprisingly meets every recommended requirement except for the video card, and even that it meets all of the sub-requirements. Plus I have one vid card I can swap out with it, but it should have the same problem even though it's more powerful. Nonetheless, I've been due for an upgrade for a long time, especially when it comes to building something I actually want.

So anyway, this is what I got coming:
Tower: LIAN LI ATX Mid Tower (I may have to upgrade to a full, I got the video card and it's huge.)
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3 LGA 1155 ATX Intel Motherboard
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155
Power Supply: CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 (Modular)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
Video Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
HDD: No upgrade. Plan to use my current. Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM (SATA)
Optical Drive: No Upgrade. ASUS DRW-2014L1T Multi-Drive. CD/DVD RW Lightscribe
Network: Intel EXPI9301CTBLK Network Adapter 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express (Got a good deal on this puppy, so I added it to the configuration.)
Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz (I had planned on a better one than this, but I settled for this one to save money, however it's still a major upgrade from onboard audio.)
Speakers: Logitech Z523 40 Watts RMS 2.1 (My current speakers are ancient but still work well. Been needing a replacement for some time now anyway.)
Monitor: No upgrade. Asus VK278Q Black 27" 1920x1080 2ms Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Webcam
Mouse: No Upgrade. Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical (Pretty basic, my last one was just like it only white, lasted 13 years. Newegg doesn't carry this model anymore. I plan to upgrade this later.)
Keyboard: No Upgrade, Saitek Cyborg V5 CCB44026N0B2/06/1 Black USB Wired Gaming Keyboard (I plan to upgrade this later.)

Extras: (Mostly to protect my investment.)

Extra Cooling:
HDD: Vantec Hard Drive Cooling System with 80mm Fan
Video Card: Titan EC-TTC-SC-03 PCI Slot VGA Card Cooling Fan
Processor: Intel BXRTS2011LC Liquid-cooled Thermal Solution
RAM: G.SKILL FTB-3500C5-D Fans
Case Fans: I have a bunch of 80mm and some 120mm case fans already.
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver what else?
Cooling configuration will be figured out once I'm building it, I may or may not need additional cooling or an alternative product.

Uninterruptable Power Supply: CyberPower Intelligent LCD Series GreenPower UPS CP1350AVRLCD 1350 VA 810 Watts 4 x 5-15R Battery/Surge Protected

So far, that's where I'm at. Most of my parts will arrive next week. Configuration changes may happen as I go along, hopefully I won't have any DOA's or any other issues. I may have to switch to a full tower and/or increase cooling. I intend to upgrade my mouse and keyboard down the road hopefully, and maybe if shit pans out my audio card too. As for my HDD, I have a 500 gig and a 40 also in my current computer, so I plan to delete a few things and fit all my shit on this HDD on the 500 then install Windows 7 on this HDD and take what I need from my 500.

I got a decent amount of specials and promotion codes on a number of things, as well as some rebates I'll need to collect on. Shipping costed me $10 altogether and that was for the computer case. Everything else was free 2 day shipping thanks to Shoprunner. Except for the UPS, that was free 3-day from Newegg. I got some parts this week cause I bought them first and then bought the rest the next day, so I should be getting the rest no later than Wednesday.

If anybody sees any changes I should make or add especially regarding cooling, or any advice/input for when I build/install software let me know. I know how to build a compy, but I'm not used to working with so much cooling and whatnot. I'm also not experienced with overclocking or any of that jazz, although I don't plan to at this time.

[420]

If anybody sees any changes I should make or add especially regarding cooling, or any advice/input for when I build/install software let me know. I know how to build a compy, but I'm not used to working with so much cooling and whatnot. I'm also not experienced with overclocking or any of that jazz, although I don't plan to at this time.

Looks good to me, you can always upgrade the video/sound card (that's what I plan to do with my current computer).

Anyway, I'll see you in D3. Only 9 days left!

-420

[Mo]

I didn't finish reading the whole post, I'm just wondering if it's not better to wait for Ivy Bridge CPUs to ship.  Very soon.

[Tyrael]

Those fans for HDDs are not as good as you may think, I work repairing computers and I've seen my share of broken HDDs due to those fans, all they do is draw dust into the HDD electronic part, and without constant cleaning it can turn out to be very harmful.

Other than that seems a very good pc, but dont know why do you want all those fans, its going to be very noisy!

I only have 2 Fans enabled on my case, a big lateral one to let air in and a back one to let air out, thats all it needs :p

CPU is always between 25-35

[Soul Sojourner]

I didn't finish reading the whole post, I'm just wondering if it's not better to wait for Ivy Bridge CPUs to ship.  Very soon.

Diablo 3?
Waiting is not an option.

Those fans for HDDs are not as good as you may think, I work repairing computers and I've seen my share of broken HDDs due to those fans, all they do is draw dust into the HDD electronic part, and without constant cleaning it can turn out to be very harmful.

Other than that seems a very good pc, but dont know why do you want all those fans, its going to be very noisy!

I only have 2 Fans enabled on my case, a big lateral one to let air in and a back one to let air out, thats all it needs :p

CPU is always between 25-35

I actually read quite a number of reviews on one that looked very promising and passed it up for this one even though it was a cheaper model because of problems reported with the fan quality of the other one. I understand the dust issue, these are reported to have some form of dust filter as does the tower itself. I plan to keep a close eye on it for awhile with the tower's side window and also with Speccy to track temperature.

I may or may not use fans/cooling depending on what my temps look like, but the more powerful a comp, the more heat it's going to generate, so I prepared for it anyway.

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll keep a more watchful eye on the HDD Cooling System.

I got mostly everything else today. I am now waiting on my UPS and Tower. Hopefully mid is large enough.

[Tyrael]

Yeah I got a mid tower too, everything fits in perfectly, I forgot to put it on my post but its this one,
http://elements.thermaltake.com/

[Soul Sojourner]

Coolness. Yeah there's some sweet lookin' towers out there, but I wasn't going to look at anything other than a lian li. Stubborn that way.

[Illutian]

Only thing that sucks about Lian Li is the fact that all the "cool" cases don't support XL-ATX, and by cool I mean the PC-X2000F



....fact that's the major thing that sucks about today's cases, most only support E-ATX or smaller, probably be a few more years till it's XL-ATX and smaller

[Elessar Telrunya]

Also continuing the thread instead of starting a new one -

I'm taking my first foray into building a desktop, so I can stop pretending to play video games on my laptop.  Since this is a first, I thought I'd post the potential build here for feedback/in case anyone spots some egregious error on my part before I actually purchase.  I probably won't actually start purchasing until the end of the month (cash flow), and I'm trying to keep it under $1000.

Anywho, here are the parts I'm looking at:
CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Graphics: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M 650W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Semi Modular High Performance Power Supply
Case: Xigmatek ASGARD PRO USB 3.0 CCC-AE37BS-U02 Black Steel + Aluminum and Aluminum Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I'm getting a pretty basic dvd burner/mouse/keyboard and a 21.5" monitor (although I'll probably snag a larger one if I can find a good deal on one...).  The monitor I'm currently looking at has built in speakers.  I'm planning on putting Windows 7 on it, which hopefully I can acquire cheaply through my campus bookstore...

The only thing I'm currently confused about is the wattage on the power supply.  I had a hard time figuring out if it had a high enough maximum power rating, and when I read more on it, I got more confused.  The graphics card specifies that it needs a minimum of a 450W power supply, but I wasn't sure if that was 450W for the card alone or if a power supply rated at 450W would be sufficient for the entire system.


Any input is appreciated!

[Illutian]

I would not get an ATI, their drivers are shit.

On just about all the recent games' tech forums you find a 'Sticky' along the lines of "ATI Driver Issues", posted by a Community Manager no less.

Grab a GTX 570 2.5GB card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130687&Tpk=gtx%20570

-or-

GTX 560Ti 2GB card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130683

*And yes, I'm partial to EVGA :p <3 my GTX 670 4GB, I can finally yell at dragons again!

For memory: I prefer Corsair, I've never had issues with their PSUs, Cases (<3 my Obsidian 800D), or Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

For PSU: This is just a personal pref, I hate being stuck with cables I will not be using (looking at you Mr. Extra 8pin CPU Power Cable). Difference between the one you have and this one is that it's fully modular. Up to you if you think the price increase is worth it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139035


As of now cart is: $994.93
Rebate Total (as of 6/9/2012): $65

As for the wattage that is supposedly for the entire system, running a benchmark/stress test (ie the Vid Card is being fully used). And a general rule of thumb on PSU is to never exceed 75% of their rated wattage.

I would also recommend getting a UPS rated at a minimum wattage equal to the PSU + any secondary items (ie monitors). CyberPower UPSs are pretty good, APC fucking blooooooooooooooooooooow (unless you go with their Corporate Models). In the end just make sure the UPS has at least USB connection for monitoring (Serial is officially a dead plug-type these days).

Reason I say this is it's summer...great time for God to go "Hey, Elessar, guess what................lightning storm ! *power outtage*". Also, with the heat you'll experience more brown outs from people running their A/Cs at the same time. Nothing ruins a PSU more than brown outs (Under Voltages) and power surges (Over Voltages)

PRO TIP: All PSU made after ~2004 are Active PFC. I won't go into details, but basically it means if the UPS does exactly mimic the AC Sinewave, your PSU will either still lose power during a power outtage or will fry. This is also why I use CyberPower, they actually took the time to make an entire line of of "Active PFC" UPS (aka the organized their models into clear categories)

http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups-systems/adaptive-sinewave-series.html

//Side Note:

You should look into getting a Intel SSD for your boot drive (cash permitting). Those 28-second boot times (non-RAID0) are sweet.


Regardless of what you do. We'll need pics of you putting it together!

[420]

Any input is appreciated!

I agree with Ivon (Khadgar? I forget) that ATI is crap. Get a nVidia video card.

Power supply should be sufficient. I wouldn't worry about a solid state drive, maybe when we have home holodecks it will be necessary.

-420

[Illutian]

I agree with Ivon (Khadgar? I forget) that ATI is crap. Get a nVidia video card.

Power supply should be sufficient. I wouldn't worry about a solid state drive, maybe when we have home holodecks it will be necessary.

-420

Yes, it's me Khadgar

Eh, in my opinion, if you got the cash (~$290 USD) pop on a SSD. Same with SLI, if you got the cash...might as well play!

-The boot time is so radically different that now I no longer cringe at a "Installation complete, please reboot." message....my boot times were about 1min 57sec. Now they're sub-45sec with all the same software installed. Plus it's hilarious to see a 70gig Full Image backup finish in 3min; validate in 5 [minutes].

[Elessar Telrunya]

Well, again, budget, so SSD is probably out of the question right now, and it also means both the graphics cards you recommended are a tad out of my price range.  I'm putting the GTX 560Ti in my wishlist though just in case... It's only another $90 over the GTX 560 1GB card I'm looking at now, but I still have to buy Windows 7, and monitors are annoyingly expensive as well.

I'm not really worried about the PSU being semi-modular, because from the reviews I've read, the only cables they leave permanently attached are always necessary anyway, so I think I'll stick with the lower price.  I'll look into the UPS later today when I have more time.

Thanks a lot for the advice!

[Illutian]

I would not recommend anything under 2GB for a Video Card.

Crysis on max easily eats 800MB

Skyrim...well...mine is currently taking 1.7GB

Hell, even WoW on max will take 650 - 700MB

I simply look at it as a waste of money to get a card that will demand you replace it in about 1yr. This was the case for my GTX 570, because I foolishly didn't partake of EVGA's 'Step-Up' program, which allows you to send in you EVGA Product (mobo/vid card) with in 90 days of purchasing and if everything is in working order your purchase price is put towards your next same-type (mobo for mobo; vid for vid) purchase.

In short, for $70 more I could have saved $530 (or $360 if I went with the 570 2.5GB)

In regards to the SSD, no doubt there, but if you're on the fence for saving up for 'Pimp My Rig' items. An SSD should be #1 on the list


By the way:

What monitor(s) you got now?

I've got a mailer from Newegg:

Windows 7 Home 64bit w/ SP-1: $79.99 (would be $99) [promo code needed] (48hrs @ 6/9/2012)
ASUS VE248H Black 24" Full HD LED LCD Monitor: $169.99 (would be $229) [promo code needed] (48hr @ 6/9/2012)
-or-
Acer G215HVAbd Black 21.5" Full HD LCD Monitor: $109 (would be $159; sale ends 6/14/2012)

COUGAR Solution Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer: $29.99 [after MIR -plus- Promo Code] (would be $59) [promo code needed] (Promo code expires 6/14/2012)


I don't need them, so if you think you do, lemme know.

PS: I highly recommend you subscribe the Newegg Newsletter if you haven't already done so...so real nice deals come our way

[Elessar Telrunya]

I don't have a monitor yet, but I'm already signed up for the newsletter and have been keeping an eye on it.  Unfortunately I won't be able to jump on anything until I get my paycheck next week.

[Soul Sojourner]

Actually, you can click E-mail promotions on their website to see all of their current e-mail promotions. You also get unique ones like what Khad has posted by signing up for the newsletter. (I think viewing items also prompts them to send you a promotion sometimes, or at the very least a recommendation. Had a few of those.)

[Illutian]

I don't have a monitor yet, but I'm already signed up for the newsletter and have been keeping an eye on it.  Unfortunately I won't be able to jump on anything until I get my paycheck next week.

Blah, by then the current deals will have expired. Hopefully a new set will arrive!