Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[Amit]

you can make a new thread if you're willing to update it

I would just look up the newer tech and send a list out to Xet and a couple people to check it over. Why make a new thread? I only said I thought it should be updated.

Just received my Radeon HD 5770 and quad core Phenom II in the mail today, only 34 days before I can go home to install them!

God damn.

[Varmint260]

Just received my Radeon HD 5770 and quad core Phenom II in the mail today, only 34 days before I can go home to install them!

I hate you. I'd love to have those components. Then I pawn off my GTS 250 to a friend so he can actually run half the games him and I try to play online.

[Amit]

I hate you. I'd love to have those components. Then I pawn off my GTS 250 to a friend so he can actually run half the games him and I try to play online.

What's wrong with a GTS 250? Doesn't it have like the same performance as the 5770?

[Varmint260]

I've looked up a few benchmarks; what I gathered from them suggested the 5770 has performance more along the lines of a GTX 260 than the GTS 250. In any case, I'd still be getting DirectX11 and as I've noted I'd love to upgrade to that plus a Phenom II quad core. You do make a good point, though... the GTS 250 is still a pretty good GPU and I don't really need to spend the money at this point. Doesn't stop me from wanting newer stuff though, eh?

[Warsaw]

GTS250 has similar performance to an HD4850. The HD5770 is closer to an HD4870. The HD5830 performs like an HD4890, and the HD5870 performs almost as well as an HD4870 X2...

[CN3089]

I would just look up the newer tech and send a list out to Xet and a couple people to check it over. Why make a new thread? I only said I thought it should be updated.

Here I will save you some trouble by copy/pasting the SH/SC System Building megathread hth!

The current Intel Price/Performance "Sweet Spot":
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2
Intel i5 750
G-Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1600 Kit
Radeon 5770

OR

The current AMD Price/Performance "Sweet Spot":
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
Athlon II X3 435
G-Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1333 Kit
Radeon 5770

Quick Picks
Updated 3/16/2010

Here are a list of parts that are generally agreed-upon to be good, solid choices for anyone assembling a new machine.
THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST, NOR IS IT MEANT TO BE.
Everyone's needs in a computer are different. This part should be a starting point in your research, not a definitive guide to what you should get. Changes, corrections, additions, and comments are always welcome.


Intel CPU

• Intel i5 750 The current best price/performance ratio chip available.

AMD CPU

• Athlon II X3 435 our current default recommendation for an AMD build
• Athlon II X2 245 The best "low-end" chip for budget builds

Intel Motherboard
NOTE: Gigabyte P55 boards are picky about memory, check the RAM section below. There have also been some infrequent reports that the ATI 5XXX series do not work/play well with the Gigabyte boards. If you're concerned we recommend the MSI board.

• MSI P55M-GD45 mATX ATX
• Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 mATX
• Gigabyte GA-P55M-USB3 ATX Full size ATX with SATA 3Gbps and USB 3.0

AMD Motherboard

• Asus M4A77TD
• Gigabyte GA-MA770T-USB3 Full size ATX with SATA 3Gbps and USB 3.0

Memory

• 4 Gigs of DDR3 1333 (with voltage of 1.65v or less)
• G Skill 4GB DDR3 1600 (Specifically known to work with the Gigabyte P55 boards)

Graphics

• 1680x1050 and below:
• Radeon 4770 - A slightly less hot and less powerful 4850 that can easily overclock to 4850 levels.
• Radeon 4850- Our typical recommendation at this resolution.
• Radeon 5750 - Slightly faster than the 4850 and less power-hungry/heat producing. Worthwhile at $150 if other choices aren't available.
  
  1900x1200 and below
• Radeon 5770 - Our minimum recommendation for this resolution.
• Radeon 5830 - Decent but overpriced compromise between the 5770/5850
• Radeon 5850 - The most powerful card worth buying without going into serious overkill territory.

Hard Drive

• Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
• Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
• Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB
• Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB

Solid State Drives

• Intel X25M G2 80GB Gold standard of SSDs

Optical

• DVD Burners
• Blu-ray DVD-ROMs

Case

• Antec P183 (Extremely quiet, a great case if noise is an issue)
• Lian-Li PC-7B
• Lian Li Lancool
• CoolerMaster Centurion 5
• CoolerMaster Centurion 534
• CoolerMaster 690C
• CoolerMaster Gladiator

Power Supplies

• An appropriate wattage from this list

Aftermarket Cooling
LGA775/AM2/3 (Core 2 and AMD chips):

• Xigmatek S1283 make sure to purchase the Backplate as well if you have an Intel chipset
• Xigmatek Dark Knight (Come with backplate)
• Sunbeam Core Contact
• Scythe SCBK1000 for small clearance cases

LGA1156 (i5/i7):

• Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-GP

TV Tuners

• Hauppague HVR-2250 PCIe dual tuner supporting NTSC/ATSC/ClearQAM
• Hauppague HVR-950Q USB tuner supporting NTSC/ATSC/ClearQAM

Operating Sytem
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM Edition

HTPC Prebuilt

• Dell Zino
• Acer Revo Note: Comes with XP Home, needs Win Vista/7 installed to support HD decoding

LCDs
In general, most LCDs will be fine for the average user, and price is the biggest driver. However, you can also check the 2nd post of the Anandtech LCD thread, which lists nearly every "picky bastard" choice in the 20-24+ range.

[PlasbianX]

How about this?

Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817176002
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128375
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226117
Graphics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150456
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115225


not counting hdd.

Looking at my mobo again, ive decided I dont like the reviews on it. Can anyone recommend something better?

[Ganon]

Looking at my mobo again, ive decided I dont like the reviews on it. Can anyone recommend something better?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131365

[PlasbianX]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131365

Wouldnt I have to overclock it to get it to support my RAM though?

EDIT: Dont like the reviews on Asus Boards either.

[Ganon]

Wouldnt I have to overclock it to get it to support my RAM though?

No, but to make them run at full potential yes. If you aren't capable of overclocking, don't bother building a computer.

EDIT: Dont like the reviews on Asus Boards either.

May satan rain hot acid down your throat and make you swallow a match.

edit: Dylan Mclovin: hey plasbian thanks for makin ohioans look dumber than 10 boxes of hair and freelancer ok

HAHAHAHAHA