Help with first build

H

Handsome Dan

n00b
Joined
Mar 7, 2009
Messages
32
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I'll mostly be doing school work and web browsing, with very minor gaming (like world of goo and other non-graphic intensive games) and some photo editing.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I would like to keep this under $500 including tax and shipping, but am willing to go a little higher if there is a big jump in quality/speed

3) Where do you live?
Chicago suburbs

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

I have an ATX case. I would like to stick to AMD processors for cost reasons, but will consider Intel if costs are similar. I will need RAM, a PSU, a motherboard, and a video card that will allow for dual monitors and is fairly reasonable in price. I also need an optical drive. I would like one that can read blu-ray and write cds and dvds. I don't know if that's possible, and just a cd/dvd burner would suffice. I'm not sure what else I would need, so please advise to the things that have slipped my mind.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
N/A

6) Will you be overclocking?

I wouldn't mind some slight overclocking, just to squeeze out a little extra power. Nothing Major.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

I have two monitors, a 17" lcd and 19" widescreen lcd

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Building and buying over time, doesn't have a specific end date.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

Honestly, nothing special here. All I really care about is the ability to expand the system as needed, so a good number of SATA ports and pci-e slots would help.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I do not. Like I said before, there's no specific date this needs to be finished by, so I'm considering building for Windows 7. If not, Vista is fine.
 
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz & ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.172814 $134

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $40

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074 $55

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $24

Antec 300 & Earthwatt 500 watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.176613 $105

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $100

Total before S&H from newegg.com $458
 
lt shiro's build is good. If you're not doing anything 3D intensive, you can go for onboard video or a much cheaper vedcard instead, like an HD 4350, 3450, etc.
 
I thinking about it, I agree with enginurd... if you just minor gaming.

Edit - Change out the video card for Asus 780G mATX board & 7750 combo.

Onboard video card can do dual displays and play even Fallout 3 on medium settings.
 
Heres a quad core build and good for school work programs, games, and such..
Really simple neat Case looking... $490.14


AMD Phenom Agena 9600 2.3GHZ QuadCore
Gigabyte 780G Am2/Am2+
OCZ 2x2GB 1066Mhz Memories
500GB SATA II Hard Drive 16Mb Cache
PowerCooler 4830 512MB 256Bit
ASUS Sata 22x DVD+-R 48x CD+-R
Rosewill Case/Power Supply 500Watt

MOBO/CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.172785

Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227362

Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136149

Video Card[HDMI]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131129

CD/DVD Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135196

Case/Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.176187
 
Heres another good setup for your personal. up to date AMD Processors
$487

AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHZ
BioStar 790GX AM2+/AM2
OCZ 2x2GB 1066Mhz Memories
500GB SATA II Hard Drive 16Mb Cache
Sapphire 3870 512MB 256Bit
ASUS Sata 22x DVD+-R 48x CD+-R
Rosewill Case/Power Supply 500Watt

CD/DVD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135196

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136149

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719

Memories[RAMs]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227362

Case/PowerSupply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.176187

MOBO/CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.165023

This is the new Phenom II x3 Build. If youre lucky. it can become a quad core buy unlocking its 4th core. Go to bios and put AUTO on ACC.
 
Yes in terms of multi-tasking it does the job but in games it will be murder by 7750 and overclocking.
 
Handsome Dan said:
You know I was thinking the same thing, but with my lack of experience I thought it might possibly be a diamond in the rough type of situation. Thanks for catching that and thanks to everyone for all the help! If anyone has any more suggestions, I'm still listening.
Click to expand...

Do your LCD monitors use VGA, DVI or HDMI? Note that the onboard video can support two monitors but only 1 digital (DVI) and 1 analog (VGA) at a time.

Oh and I'd definitely would go for the 500GB hard drive that hondah22aboi recommended since it's only $5 but you get 180GB more storage. Then again there's a possibility that the 500GB drive will be slower than the 320GB drive that lt shiro recommended. Though I think the increase in space is worth the possible decrease in driver performance.
 
Danny Bui said:
Do your LCD monitors use VGA, DVI or HDMI? Note that the onboard video can support two monitors but only 1 digital (DVI) and 1 analog (VGA) at a time.
Click to expand...

They are both VGA, but I assumed that a DVI-->VGA adapter would work. Is that wrong?
 
Handsome Dan said:
They are both VGA, but I assumed that a DVI-->VGA adapter would work. Is that wrong?
Click to expand...

I'm actually assuming the same thing. I recommend trying it and see what happens. I'm fairly sure that a DVI to VGA adapter should work with the onboard video.
 
I don't think you can use a DVI->VGA adapter on the dvi port of the mobo. It looks like the 4 analog pins surrounding the horizontal ground pin are not present... meaning no analog signal.
 
I see what you're talking about. That's rather unfortunate. Well if anyone else has a build plan they want to share, please do so.
 
hondah22aboi said:
it powers up my i7 for back up just fine.
Click to expand...

But as you can see from the review, it failed HardOCP's tests, so it's not a good choice as a primary PSU (nor a secondary/backup unit, IMO, lol -- much better choices out there for the money). Its your parts, so its your choice... we just don't recommend it.
 
enginurd said:
But as you can see from the review, it failed HardOCP's tests, so it's not a good choice as a primary PSU (nor a secondary/backup unit, IMO, lol -- much better choices out there for the money). Its your parts, so its your choice... we just don't recommend it.
Click to expand...

Pretty ballsy to run a spanking' hot i7 system on that PSU. Guess you've got a lot of faith.
 
hondah22aboi said:
it powers up my i7 for back up just fine.
Click to expand...

When it comes to power supplies, anecdotal stories of supposed "success" don't weigh much if there's proof that the PSU is a POS. But as enginurd said, your parts so do what you want with it. But please don't recommend that PSU to others considering that its been proven to be a POS PSU. You would be doing that person a disservice by recommending a part thats known to be of low quality and capable of harming PC hardware.
 
xenotype said:
enginurd said:
But as you can see from the review, it failed HardOCP's tests, so it's not a good choice as a primary PSU (nor a secondary/backup unit, IMO, lol -- much better choices out there for the money). Its your parts, so its your choice... we just don't recommend it.
Click to expand...
Pretty ballsy to run a spanking' hot i7 system on that PSU. Guess you've got a lot of faith.
Click to expand...

In case you thought otherwise, I'm not running an i7 system at all. ;) If you were simply agreeing with me, then ignore this post, lol.
 
Which combo? You can use any CPU with any GPU -- they do not rely on each other, and operate independently.
 
 
@ neoice
That build won't work for the OP either since it only has one VGA port whereas the OP needs two (or just one and one DVI capable of supporting Analog). Also, the PSU is a poor choice since its more than likely based on the troublesome FSP Episilon platform. The FSP Episilon PSU design which has out of spec ripple, or voltage fluctuations, at high loads that can damage or kill your system. Granted, you may not reach such high loads but why pay for a PSU that can kill your system?
 
^^ thanks for pointing that out, didnt read he read he needed 2 vga capable, but i havent read anything on that model being based on the FSP Episilion Platform. Do you have anything on that by chance?
 
neoice said:
^^ thanks for pointing that out, didnt read he read he needed 2 vga capable, but i havent read anything on that model being based on the FSP Episilion Platform. Do you have anything on that by chance?
Click to expand...

Oh quite a ton:
OCZ GameXStream 700W <== First Review Where the Ripple was Found.
FSP BlueStorm II 500W PSU @ HardOCP
FSP BlueStorm II 500W PSU @ jonnyGuru
FSP Everest 700W PSU @ HardOCP
FSP Everest 700W PSU @ jonnyGuru
FSP Everest 900W PSU
FSP Everest 1010W PSU
OCZ GameXStream 1010W
Sigma SP-700 700W PSU
Super Talent Atomic Juice PS-700 700W PSU
Antec Basiq 500W PSU

The FSP Platform is good for up to 500W. However past that and things start getting crazy.

EDIT: Oh misread your question. TBH, it's an assumption on my part considering that most of the StealthXStream line are FSP PSUs. So it wouldn't surprise me if the 700W model was a FSP design as well. Also if you compare the PSU label of the OCZ GameXStream 700W and the StealthXStream, they're virtually the same.
 
Thanks Danni, that is a ton, never even heard of that affecting that model. Thanks for all the helpful info. i learned something new today as well
 
Ahh, thanks for the tip.

Edit: Is there an all-inclusive place to get information about processors and all that good stuff that's dumbed down to a newbie level? So when I think "Oh, a 5050e combo, that seems like a deal," I can look it up and read "power saver, not powerhouse."
 
Wow, thanks! I just paid for the General Mayhem part of the site, but I honestly did it just to help out the site here. The wealth of information and friendly, useful, help has amazed me, I felt I should do something the give back. Thanks again!
 
Handsome Dan said:
Ahh, thanks for the tip.

Edit: Is there an all-inclusive place to get information about processors and all that good stuff that's dumbed down to a newbie level? So when I think "Oh, a 5050e combo, that seems like a deal," I can look it up and read "power saver, not powerhouse."
Click to expand...

hardforum.com :p use the search function ;)
 
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