potential new desktop

gschum

Solid State Member
Messages
17
I like to play games but I am not a hardcore gamer. A lot of the games I play are older but I still want to be able to play new HD games.

Tell me what you all think of this setup. Overall, is this a well rounded setup for gaming/school work/music recording/movies etc...?

Suggestions are welcome!

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129021
$99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec%2bnine%2bHundred%2bBlack%2bATX%2bTower

ASUS P7P55 WS SuperComputer LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131594
$239.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131594

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115214
$289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214

PALiT NE/960TSX0252 GeForce 9600GT SONIC 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261001

HT | OMEGA CLARO 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16829271002
$159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271002

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817371015
$79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 Desktop Memory Model KHX2133C9D3T1K2/4GX - Retail
Item #: N82E16820104143
$229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104143

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:HD103SJ
Item #:N82E16822152185
$79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

PLEXTOR 24X DVD/CD Writer Black SATA Model PX-880SA LightScribe Support - Retail
Item #: N82E16827249051
$52.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827249051

Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16823126009
$63.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126009

Logitech MX518 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail
Item #: N82E16826104178
$39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104178

Antec 761345-75121-6 120mm Case Fan - Retail
Item #: N82E16835209006
$14.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209006

SAMSUNG T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor - Retail
Item #: N82E16824001280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001280
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116760
$449.98 for both

Cooler Master V8 PWM Universal CPU Cooler (Intel LGA775 / LGA1366 / LGA1156** & AMD 940 / AM2 / AM2+) (RR-CCH-L9U1-GP)
Part #: cpu-cma-15
Price: $69.99
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8431/cpu-cma-15/Cooler_Master_V8_PWM_Universal_CPU_Cooler_Intel_LGA775_LGA1366_LGA1156_and_AMD_940_AM2_AM2_RR-CCH-L9U1-GP.html?tl=g48c369s1037

total = $1611.86

Any suggestions on lowering the price is much appreciated.
 
Overall awesome rig. well if you really want to get a lower sized monitor but an amazing mouse and keyboard bundle you can go in for the dell SX2210 full hd 21.5 inch monitor rather than the SAMSUNG T240HD...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=320-7976

check it out..

my friend has this monitor, and i think it kicks ass..

* Full HD, 2-millisecond response time (typical), 50,000:1 dynamic contrast (max)
* HDMI and DVI with HDCP
* Integrated 2.0 megapixel Webcam and dual mics
* Facial recognition for authentication (For Windows Vista® only)

and for mouse and keyboard you can go for alienware TactX:

Keyboard: http://www.alienware.com/accessories/gear-shop-Detail.aspx?ItemId=17571&CatId=1154
Mouse: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=330-5797

its gonna cost you 50$ more but i think the tactx is worth it.
 
Seems like you might be spending more than necessary on certain parts, being that they will be bottlenecked by other parts. I understand not wanting to buy all top-of-the-line parts since you only somewhat game and watch movies/schoolwork etc.

What specifically do you need the computer to handle? Any photo/video editing? Encoding? What type of games?

I think you can rearrange your budget to find a more balanced build, rather than what currently looks like a build where some parts are holding back others.
 
cool, thanks computear.

games I play: Infantry, Ultima Online, Half-life 2 Deathmatch, Counter-Strike.

I haven't really looked into any HD games because my current rig cannot support these games but in the future I may be making a few purchases. Diablo III looks cool :)

I do not edit video or photo's often but sometimes I upload videos of me playing my acoustic guitar. Sometimes I convert concerts in flac format to wav to mp3. Music editing too.

I love listening to music so a good sound card is important to me. Also would like to watch movies/videos in HD.

Schoolwork: Microsoft Visual Studio, Excel, MS Office, etc...

I was looking at new egg and they have mobo/cpu combo deals, perhaps there is a package that is more suitable for my needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/ComboDeals.aspx?ComboStoreID=1&name=CPUs-Motherboards

any other info needed just ask.





thanks roastrain.

I looked into the dell SX2210 full hd 21.5 inch monitor. seems like more bang for the buck.

However, I intend to replace my 12 in toshiba TV and just watch tv/movies with the new monitor. I want to be able to watch tv from my bed lol so I might go with the bigger monitor

I am still looking at specs/pricing/reviews for all 24 + inch monitors.
 
for one thing, you dont need that V8 heat sink unless you live in the desert, or overclock your processor, and second, ditch that sound card, its a waste, most new Mobos have great sound already.

AMD is what i would think you would want for a good gaming biuld.

Phenom II 955 BE 180$

M4a78T-E Mobo 130$

DDR3 OCZ Gold 1600 96$

5850 DX11 1GB DDR5 260$


550W Corsair PSU 80$, 60 after Mail in Rebate.

Antec 900 100$

Logitec Wave Keyboard/mouse 85$ ( have it, love it)

Plextor Dvd Drive 45$

Western Digital Caviar Blue AAKS 640GB 70$ ( i honestly dont see the use for 1TB but thats me

Hanns G 28in LCD Monitor 310$

I dont think i missed anything.
All that for roughly 1350$



with Windows 7 64 Bit 190$

comes to 1546$.

Has a better Screen, ton better video card, this PC will last you for a good amount of years to come.
 
First of all, sorry this post is so long. :D

I agree with sniperviper21 that these days your speakers will most likely affect your sound quality much more than a sound card will, and unless you have very high quality speakers, and need professional quality sound/recording, a sound card usually isn't necessary. I suggest you build your rig without ordering a sound card, then if, at a later date, you find your sound quality lacking (which I doubt you will) you can always install one.

For a monitor I suggest this one. I use it as my primary monitor on my main computer and I love it, but I haven't used the built-in speakers I bet the sound quality on them is terrible so don't even rely on those, but the picture quality is great and its 25" usually selling for $199.99.

I (again) agree with sniperviper21 that you will not need the V8 heatsink, save your money there and stick with the stock HSF, it should suffice fine unless you want to overclock (which you won't need to at all).

As per price vs. performance you might consider an AMD build over an Intel build, since you won't be strictly gaming I can't say it will perform neck-and-neck with an Intel build, Intel is still leading in encoding and most non-gaming applications, however you will save a lot more money on both the CPU and the compatible motherboard/RAM. If you want to stick with Intel that's cool too, great hardware, the AMD are just a few $100 cheaper and you get equal performance in gaming and competitive performance elsewhere (I doubt you would notice much of a difference).

You might want to consider getting a slightly better videocard, the one you linked is discontinued but spending $100 on a GPU when you appear willing to spend so much extra on your CPU / MOBO seems a bit odd. A 9600GT should run your current games fine, but if you want your rig to last I suggest picking up at least a (NVIDIA GTX 260 Core 216 or better or a ATI Radeon HD 4870 or better). The new HD 5850 and 5870s are out, which are dominating the market right now, for ~$250 you can pick up an HD 5850 (if you can find one in stock) which will last for quite some time, however if you don't plan on getting any really taxing games anytime soon, a GTX 260 Core 216 or HD 4870 , depending on whether you want NVidia or ATI (both are great cards) will run anything, including newer games to come out (Diablo3, etc) fine.


If you are set on an Intel+NVidia build, then I suggest dropping your sound card and V8 HSF and picking up the monitor I recommended will give you enough extra money to upgrade your videocard to a GTX 260 Core 216 or better, and if you're going with a Core i7, you might as well maximize it and pick up triple channel RAM (3x 2GB = 6GB would be more than enough for quite some time).

Also, after looking at the RAM you chose... That is very fast RAM 2133MHz... You can pick up 6GB of 1600MHz triple channel RAM for almost half the price:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225


Also, do you really think you'll need gaming accessories (keyboard/mouse)?

You can pick up a nice keyboard+mouse combo for like $20, the G11 is a great keyboard but if you don't hardcore game I can't see justifying spending the money on it. A high-DPI mouse may be worth it, especially for photo editing as well, but the keyboard is a little less necessary. Even a lot of hardcore gamers don't buy gaming keyboards.


Oh, and nice choice of hard drive. I hear great things about the Spinpoint F3.
 
Yea, I already crossed off the sound card and v8 heat sink and added the monitor you suggested.

The thing is I purchased the PALiT NE/960TSX0252 GeForce 9600GT SONIC 6 months ago.

Is this card no good? Will it be able to support games like Crysis or along that caliber?

What would be the best mobo/cpu setup with the PALiT GeForce 9600GT SONIC??

http://www.newegg.com/Store/ComboDea...s-Motherboards
 
Yea, I already crossed off the sound card and v8 heat sink. And added the monitor you suggested.

The thing is I purchased the PALiT NE/960TSX0252 GeForce 9600GT SONIC 6 months ago

Is this card no good? Will it be able to support games like Crysis or along that caliber?

Crysis? Most likely not. That card is worth about ~$90 these days, I think to play games like Crysis you need to spend at least ~$150 on a videocard (not that price = quality).

I also edited my post multiple times check it again, lol.
 
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