Hey, I am going to be building a gaming rig. I am also a college student. I have not been paying attention to the tech in the past 7-8 months so I have no idea what is top and what is not. I have $1,700 and I need everything computer, lcd, keyboard, mouse, speakers (5.1). I am unsure what processor to go with amd or intel. I would like to get newest generation also. My list so far: optical drive----$24 if it can fit into the budget i would like to get blu ray WD Caviar WD6401AALS 640GB 32MB---2x$75 should i just go with 1080p which would be $100 cheaper?(ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG)) CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W--$145 (it is not modular would like a modular psu) z-5500 speakers!! $$300 Then generic keyboard and MX518 for the mouse (ones I want). edit: So now i have $860 for gpu, cpu, motherboard, ram (8 gigs if possible but will go with less) and a nice case to keep everything cool. Personally I am no fanboy, what ever is fastest. quad core preferably and would like to overclock some to at least 3.0. Thanks in advance for everything.
Oh man with $730 I don't think you're going to get much. CPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649 @ $169.00 GPU - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161265 @ $238.99 Mobo - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378 @ $174.99 RAM - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231200 @ $69.49 Subtotal: $652.47... Antec Three Hundred?
well, you are about $120 short (plus shipping of course) of a nice, 6 gb ram, core i7 rig with a gtx 275 vga on a gigabyte x58 sli mobo stuffed into an antec p182b. i'd skimp on those speakers if i were you. grab a nice headset for now or something, or go 2.1. and for god's sake dont spend $240 on a 1gb 4870...not even canadian dollars...
i think i may skip the speakers and use my old headset and get better speakers in the future. so what would you advise then? and advice is greatly appreciated. also this hd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 instead of getting two.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433 Give one of these new Seagates a whirl. The 500GB platters are nice and zippy. Only getting one will save you a bit of cash up front as well. You can always add another later. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009127 This monitor would be my choice simply to save money for more important parts. I like the monitor you have picked out though. Depends on if you really want perfect 1080. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379006 These Zalman PSUs are nice. Its about the same price and is modular but 100W less. Should be plenty of juice though. My advice would be to hold off on the speakers. Use that money on the parts that count! Find something to tide you over for now. Generic keyboard is fine and I like the mouse you have picked out. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 The core i7 920 will serve you well and overclock far beyond your needs. I would suggest stock cooler and speeds until you have more cash. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136066&Tpk=lanparty%20jr I'm going to do something different here and suggest a micro-atx build around the DFI Lanparty JR. It has everything you need and is a bit cheaper than the standard ATX solutions. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 The vanilla GTX275 has been coming down in price steadily and is enough of an improvement over the 260 to merit the extra cash. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224 One kit of dominators now and you can upgrade with another later. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129041 Finally you can pop it all in this. The Antec mini p180 is simply a smaller version of the highly praised original. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608004 I would also suggest two of these. Noctuas are fantastic for quiet but effective cooling. They are a bit pricey but I know you can get them cheaper than Newegg. This setup should stay within your budget... you just need to hold off on certain things that can always be replaced so you can get the highest quality parts that count up front. I went with micro-ATX since you are in college. It should be more mobile and less obviously a high end machine. In other words you can lift it... and other people won't.
thanks joekerh. would the micro atx build still have the same oc potential on the cpu? and how would the cooling be?
The Lanparty Jr/i7 920 should OC just fine. The "mini" in the mini p180 is a bit misleading. It is quite large for microATX. You should be able to fit a decent size CPU cooler in there. At second glance I realize the top fan is 200mm... wow. It also has two 120mm spots in front for intake... though you have to remove the drive cages to install them. I would say passive intake should be enough if you remove the air filters. In other words it has plenty of cooling potential.
not tryin to one up joekerh or anything, because it is solid advice, but if you have the money to spend and don't need the small form factor, meaning you aren't lugging this thing around to lan parties or w/e, then don't go mini or micro. plus, i think the gtx 275 might have a hard time fitting in the mini p180. almost positive. the new seagates get very good reviews. so have the caviar blacks. i'd personally go with the wd black, better warranty and quieter... all in all, if you are holding off on the expensive speakers, grab a good gigabyte x58 sli mobo, that 920 i7 quad-core, 6 gigs of pc12800 ocz ram, a gtx 275, and i love the p182b, but there are other quality cases...
There should be a subforum for i7 builds. I wouldn't call the p180 mini a real m-atx case, it's more halfway.. I would say either bite the bullet and go with a truly SFF case, or go full size.
Trig is correct. You would have trouble fitting any GTX card in the mini p180. Though if you remove the bottom drive cage (They are meant to slide out easy btw) I think it will solve the problem. The rest of his advice is solid as well. I agree with the i7 build subforum/sticky idea. I like that Lian-Li. They have superb build quality and stay cool... but tend to be a bit noisier.
what's with that...i remember them being so quiet in the past...of course, the ones i used were more money than that model, but still...
The one I owned rattled when the optical drive was active. Other than that it might have just been the fans I had in it making all the noise. They make several open air cases that do nothing to dampen noise. Its not a serious concern though.
