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Build Advice $2000 build advice

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by bustinthejus, 5 Aug 2011.

  1. bustinthejus

    bustinthejus What's a Dremel?

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    So I almost have enough cash to build my first rig, but seeing as it's my first rig, I thought I'd post up what I've got so far to make sure everything's good, and to see if there's any improvements to be made. Keep in mind the $2000 includes absolutely everything, including OS, mouse, keyboard, and monitor. I'd love to save cash where possible though, so if there's anything where I could save some money for minimal performance loss, or if there's anything you think I'm going overboard on, let me know.

    I also don't really have any ideas as to what mouse/keyboard I want. I do know that I want a mechanical keyboard, mostly used for typing, and neither has to be particularly fancy, since I won't be extensively gaming on this rig.

    Here's what I have so far:

    Motherboard: MSI P67-GD53 $152.99
    CPU: Intel I5-2500k $219.99
    GPU: MSI GTX570 Twin Frozr III $369.99
    PSU: Antec TruePower 650w $119.99
    Case: Fractal Design Define R3 $109.99
    RAM: Corsair XMS 8GB $76.99
    Cooler: Thermaltake Frio $59.99
    HDD: Samsung Spinpoint 1TB $74.99
    SSD: Crucial M4 64GB $149.99
    DVD Drive: Lite-On DVD Drive $20.99
    Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX $83.99
    OS: Windows 7 Home Premium $109.99
    Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5 $9.99
    Monitor: Dell U2311H $229.99
    Keyboard (possibility): Ultimate Model S Silent Das Keyboard 4135
    ---------
    $1924.86


    Budget: $2000
    Main uses of intended build: I won't be gaming a lot on it, but I do multi-task quite often and video editting every once in a while.
    Parts required: Everything, plus monitor, OS, keyboard, and mouse
    Previous build information (list details of parts): This is going to be my first build.
    Monitor resolution: 1920x1080
    Storage requirements: The 1TB should be fine for now, since I'm surviving on 500GB, but I will probably buy more storage when I have more cash. A 64GB SSD should be fine.
    Will you be overclocking: Quite probably, although I've never done it before and probably won't be overclocking by a lot.
    Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): Nothing out of the ordinary.

    Thanks, and let me know if I've left out any info!

    Edit: Oh yeah, anybody know why the Fractal Design Define R3 and MSI P67-GD53 are deactivated on the Canadian NewEgg website? Most other website seem to still have them in stock, so I don't believe they've been discontinued or anything...
     
  2. bustinthejus

    bustinthejus What's a Dremel?

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  3. microsoftPerson

    microsoftPerson What's a Dremel?

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    Well I saw this earlier and it didn't seem to make sense at the time. Why are you getting the 570 for graphics if you are not going to be gaming much/at all?

    Do your video editing software suites use a lot of GPU power? Otherwise the build is pretty solid though I personally don't know much/anything about that PSU... but it could be great. As for Canadian Newegg, I don't know... we still have them active on USA Newegg.

    That keyboard looks pretty cool. I was looking at a split keyboard, I think that might be cool.
     
  4. bustinthejus

    bustinthejus What's a Dremel?

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    Well I would like to future proof the thing as much as possible, as I will occasionally game on it, so I figured I might as well go for a GTX570. My other choice was a GTX560 Ti, but I still had a bit of cash left in my budget so I figured I might as well go for the higher-end card. Also, I believe video-editing softwares do make use of the GPU to do rendering, especially real-time rendering, so things will be a bit speedier if I have a nicer GPU. I'm not 100% on that though, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong. As for the PSU, I'm more woried about whether or not it has enough wattage for my build. I believe it was recommended in Bit-Tech's most recent buyer's guide so hopefully it's good.

    Thanks for the reply!
     
  5. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

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    guys doing quality video encoding generally use ati or intels 2500k integrated graphics to encode.. it's because it's just faster and quality wise it's same

    here's a couple of threads that might help

    http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20439464
    http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228

    intels quicksync kicks ass.. seen ati's performance and quality for myself I doubt I'd ever go back to nvidia.. it's all hype, but gaming if that's all your doing- then fine.. huangs got the devs wrapped around his little finger
     
  6. bustinthejus

    bustinthejus What's a Dremel?

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    Hmm interesting, good to know, thanks. However, I will probably end up gaming on the thing, so better safe than sorry I guess. I will however downgrade to a GTX560 TI, since in reality I probably won't be needing a GTX570, and I can save some money to put towards other things. I've worked through absolutely everything I need and this is what I've come up with:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    It works out to $2329.25 for everything which I can probably live with. If I've forgotten anything, or if something's incompatible, or if you guys have any suggestions for better parts or places where I could save money, I'd be glad to hear them!

    Thanks!
     
  7. microsoftPerson

    microsoftPerson What's a Dremel?

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    Everything looks good. Do you have a .edu email address or know a friend with one? You can get Windows 7 Pro for 29.99 through Microsoft's Student Discount Program. Also, it is more than possible to do a full clean install with a Windows 7 Upgrade disk (if you didn't already know).

    Also, personally, with your budget (and also considering the drop from 570 to 560 in the graphics department) I would try to squeeze in another 64GB SSD for some RAID0 goodness or perhaps a 128GB ssd. 64 is plenty to get that great SSD feeling on your most used programs, windows, and a couple games . . . but more is always better right?

    Oh and I believe you will be just fine with that many watts for the 560 in case you were still wondering. I ran a 600W PSU with my rig (see sig) for about 3 weeks, I only changed it out because I got the CX850W from Corsair for free through one of my design clients. Is the PSU you are purchasing modular?

    *edit* The price seems kind of high but I am also having a hard time making out the shopping list, it is pretty small. I see you are purchasing from Newegg, so you are from the US like me... right? Check to see if you have a MicroCenter in your area, they sell the i5-2500K for 179.99 (in store only). That's a good $40 savings for you.

    *edit 2* Upon closer examination I see you added a bunch of stuff that are not strictly build related (ie mousepads, mouse, keyboard) in which case the price is all good but you can still save at least the money I mentioned above.
     
    Last edited: 7 Aug 2011
  8. bustinthejus

    bustinthejus What's a Dremel?

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    Hmm that's a good idea - I'm not a student yet, but I'll definitely check with some friends, thanks! I will look into another 64Gb drive but as it stands my budget is already pretty stretched, so we'll have to see. For my PSU, I believe it's a hybrid, where the mandatory cables are hardwired, while the rest are modular. Unfortunately, I live in Canada and we don't have MicroCenters here. And yes haha, I've added absolutely everything I'll need PC-wise for a while, including an external hard drive, muse, mousepad and keyboard.

    Thanks for the response!
     

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