[DGRipan]

hi!

i've been looking around for a new computer, but then decided it was best just to get all the parts that i wanted myself and try to build it. i've never done this before so i'm not 100% sure that i got all the parts that i need and that they will actually fit. one thing is for sure though: it definitely is a lot of fun spending time looking for the best parts and trying to build a computer from scratch. i've spent far too many late nights / early mornings in the past week doing so.

the build that i had in mind won't be too expensive - my budget is about $500-$550 and the most demanding tasks will be video and music playing, also, occasionally, gaming (not the most recent games).

i'd really appreciate some input. is there anything that could be better that i could get for less or the same amount of money? is something completely out of place? i'm sure i've missed something.

Case: SilverStone TJ08

PSU: Corsair VX450W

Motherboard: ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with: ATI Radeon HD 3200, Realtek ALC1200, Onboard LAN

CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 7850 2.8Ghz, Dual Core, 3MB, 95W, Socket AM2+, Black Edition

Video card: will upgrade later

RAM: Kingston HyperX Dual Channel Kit - 4 GB ( 2 x 2 GB ) - DIMM 240-pin - DDR2 1066mhz

DVD: DVD±RW Samsung 22X DL S-ATA (i just picked the cheapest one - bad idea?)

Hard drive: got a 500gb one, might buy another one later.

a few of the things that i've been wondering about is if the psu gives enough w, whether the motherboard is ok or if there are better ones, other cases (i've been trying to pick between the silverstone and thermaltek lanbox)?

i plan to updgrade the video card once i can afford it as well, would it be a good idea to get another radeon hd card to use in crossfire, and if so, what card?

lastly, any suggestions for monitors? i don't want something too expensive, but still something that will be alright for watching movies et.c. on.

thanks for your help!

-DGR-

edit: sorry, one more thing. i was lying a bit there, i do intend to use it quite a bit for gaming actually (at the moment, mostly older games like battlefield 2, h-l 2, but definitely diablo 3 once it's out and possibly slightly more demanding games as well like crysis). and my question is this: will this setup be easy to upgrade later on?

Edited by DGRipan, 26 July 2009 - 11:52 AM.

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Hello!
Okay my 1st question where do you live? And whats your peffered sites, make sure to check how close the sites your using is near to your location because you might end up paying more shipping + taxs depending on where you live. So make sure on that because if you can go to a retail store and be able to get that and it seems a tad expensive make sure that you check out the shipping from newegg it may be $57 but it can be up to $88 bucks if you live in canada paying for shipping and handling + taxes.

I suggest getting a barebone kit from tigerdirect.ca it's really a great deal for all the parts togather.
Here's an AMD build.
Link: http://www.tigerdire...e...6&CatId=332
It's a great price for what your getting all you need to get is a graphics card so the money you saved can be spent towards a new graphics card. It also has a 500 watt PSU so it's much more better then what your getting and also, all of the parts will fit into the tower because it's been tested and it will fit 100%. Also don't forget if your in canada i suggest just putting .ca instead of .com on tigerdirect.com the rest of the link will work. For me when i purchased it it ended up being $458 as a grand total because of 5% tax and shipping and handling and i'm also in canada,scarborough. And their shipping it from chicago. So make sure where you live, depending on where you live you'll save more money, and you can spend the rest on your new graphics card. BTW, again you don't need to worry about the case because everything will fit in the kit, it has a nvidia geforce 7000 series card integrated to the motherboard you don't need to worry about upgrading because once you put in your new graphics card it'll override the integrated graphics card and the new graphics card will be the one you'll be using.

Also, i suggest using nvidia graphics cards for stability because a ati graphics card seems pretty cheap but it's not so stable you can encounter alot of problems, while the nvidia has less problems and you can cover it up depending on your brand for example an XFX graphics card has life time warrenty. A 9000+ series XFX geforce graphics card will be perfect for your system and you can handle anything even if it is an old game you'll have it all maxed out and you won't need to buy a new one if suddenly a new game comes out and you want it play it on atleast med/max settings with decent frame rates. You'll be having 40+ fps on all of the games you asked for when maxed out 40-60 at most. Which is really decent for gaming, for crysis you most likely will have to upgrade your processor into a tougher one because crysis is abit more intense on the CPU ( processor), and it'll improve the frame rates.

Hope this helps,
ZzDiety.

EDIT: Here is some deals on some monitors, their really good both have VGA DVI, real nice because you might not need an vga adapter for the graphics cards.

Deal 1:
22' inch LG widescreen LCD monitor ( lg's a good company i have their 48' plasma tv real nice)
Link: http://www.tigerdire.....-W2242TQBF CA

Deal 2:
LCD 19' widescreen VGA only ( Your going to need a vga to dvi adapter for graphics cards most are dvi no worries though most graphics cards include the adapter don't know about the company.
Link: http://www.tigerdire...mp;Sku=H94-1950

Deal 3:
Philips 19' LCD wide screen monitor, pretty good only $129 cheaper then the other deals but the 1st one is pretty big and is a well known and good quality company.
Link: http://www.tigerdire...AIN#detailspecs

Both are really good, the price is 100-185, but hey monitors are expensive.

REMEMBER if your in canada just replace the ".com" part only that part to ".ca" you can leave the rest of the link it'll show up, theres abit price diffrence between canada and us, but go with one that you live near with.

Edited by ZzDiety, 26 July 2009 - 02:10 PM.

[ZzDiety]

Hello!
Okay my 1st question where do you live? And whats your peffered sites, make sure to check how close the sites your using is near to your location because you might end up paying more shipping + taxs depending on where you live. So make sure on that because if you can go to a retail store and be able to get that and it seems a tad expensive make sure that you check out the shipping from newegg it may be $57 but it can be up to $88 bucks if you live in canada paying for shipping and handling + taxes.

I suggest getting a barebone kit from tigerdirect.ca it's really a great deal for all the parts togather.
Here's an AMD build.
Link: http://www.tigerdire...e...6&CatId=332
It's a great price for what your getting all you need to get is a graphics card so the money you saved can be spent towards a new graphics card. It also has a 500 watt PSU so it's much more better then what your getting and also, all of the parts will fit into the tower because it's been tested and it will fit 100%. Also don't forget if your in canada i suggest just putting .ca instead of .com on tigerdirect.com the rest of the link will work. For me when i purchased it it ended up being $458 as a grand total because of 5% tax and shipping and handling and i'm also in canada,scarborough. And their shipping it from chicago. So make sure where you live, depending on where you live you'll save more money, and you can spend the rest on your new graphics card. BTW, again you don't need to worry about the case because everything will fit in the kit, it has a nvidia geforce 7000 series card integrated to the motherboard you don't need to worry about upgrading because once you put in your new graphics card it'll override the integrated graphics card and the new graphics card will be the one you'll be using.

Also, i suggest using nvidia graphics cards for stability because a ati graphics card seems pretty cheap but it's not so stable you can encounter alot of problems, while the nvidia has less problems and you can cover it up depending on your brand for example an XFX graphics card has life time warrenty. A 9000+ series XFX geforce graphics card will be perfect for your system and you can handle anything even if it is an old game you'll have it all maxed out and you won't need to buy a new one if suddenly a new game comes out and you want it play it on atleast med/max settings with decent frame rates. You'll be having 40+ fps on all of the games you asked for when maxed out 40-60 at most. Which is really decent for gaming, for crysis you most likely will have to upgrade your processor into a tougher one because crysis is abit more intense on the CPU ( processor), and it'll improve the frame rates.

Hope this helps,
ZzDiety.

EDIT: Here is some deals on some monitors, their really good both have VGA DVI, real nice because you might not need an vga adapter for the graphics cards.

Deal 1:
22' inch LG widescreen LCD monitor ( lg's a good company i have their 48' plasma tv real nice)
Link: http://www.tigerdire.....-W2242TQBF CA

Deal 2:
LCD 19' widescreen VGA only ( Your going to need a vga to dvi adapter for graphics cards most are dvi no worries though most graphics cards include the adapter don't know about the company.
Link: http://www.tigerdire...mp;Sku=H94-1950

Deal 3:
Philips 19' LCD wide screen monitor, pretty good only $129 cheaper then the other deals but the 1st one is pretty big and is a well known and good quality company.
Link: http://www.tigerdire...AIN#detailspecs

Both are really good, the price is 100-185, but hey monitors are expensive.

REMEMBER if your in canada just replace the ".com" part only that part to ".ca" you can leave the rest of the link it'll show up, theres abit price diffrence between canada and us, but go with one that you live near with.

Edited by ZzDiety, 26 July 2009 - 02:10 PM.

[DGRipan]

thanks for your input!

first of all, i live a bit further away than canada (sweden), so i'm mostly looking at swedish sites for ordering parts. i tend to use newegg quite a bit when looking for info + the review section is really nice, but i reckon shipping to sweden would be quite expensive. besides, the prices are about the same for the same items over here, so it's ok.

i'll be starting university in the fall and the town i'm moving to has a nice gaming shop, so i'll be sure to check that out. i'll need to save up a bit of money for a month or so though, to be able to pay for rent and such, but hopefully i'll be able to get my rig come end of september .

that's a really nice deal for that build! i'd definitely save a lot of money if i could find something similar over here (however, i'm not sure what the corresponding swedish term for "barebone kit" would be). i suppose a quad core processor would make quite a difference in games compared to a dual core?

something that's confused me is this message: "Due to AMD CPU limitation, DDR2 1066 is supported by AM2+/AM3 CPU for one DIMM per channel only" that i've seen for a few mobos now. i plan to use 2x2gb memory sticks with a AM2+ processor, but will they work as dual channel on this mobo: ASUS M3A78-EM. they're not listed in there, so i'm not sure.

anyway, i'll have a little look around for barebone kits and see if i can find some similar nice deals.

that first monitor looks pretty sweet!

thanks again!

-DGR-