Legit Reviews

So im new here. And im a beginner at makin a pc.... cuz i never made one. I have swapped out a vid card in my shitty ass emachines pc. I had a radion 1300 or whatever it was called and got me a pny nvidea 9600 gso. put in a new psu and some more memory also. Its all nice n stuff but games still run slow cuz i got a single core proc. Amd athlon 64 3200+. yea old school i know. anyway ima get to the good stuff now.

Heres what i plan on gettin. Im hopin someone will be kind enough to help me out a little with my choices here. possibly tell me if i need sumthin else or i f'ed up on sumthin. its all from new egg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103471
AMD cpu.... $155.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813186150
FOXCONN mobo.... $124.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227364
OCZ ram.... $106.99(2 x 2gb)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811156062
RAIDMAX case.... $94.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118046
ZALMAN heatsink.... $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835100007
ARTIC SILVER thermal compound.... $9.99

total comes to about $700 so far....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136284
WD hard drive.... $99.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827249055
PLEXTOR bd player.... $134.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116762
Windows 7 os.... $179.99 OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814121361
ASUS gpu.... $299.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371022
ANTEC psu... $129.95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6899261003
ROSEWILL tool kit(why not).... $19.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6823239006
STEELSERIES gaming keyboard.... $89.99
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6823175103
SAITEK keyboard.... $39.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6826153054
RAZER mmo mouse.... $79.99

Theres a few things you could change, but theres one thing you HAVE to change. That CPU cooler is useless, all you can say about it is that it's better than the stock cooler and looks flashy. You can get a Scythe Mugen for half that price and much better cooling performance. Since you were planning to spend 70 on the cooler anyway, why not $15 more for the best air cooler out right now (NH-D14 from Noctua), which is only $85.

Other parts are fine however I would strongly consider core i7 or i5 rather than an AMD, those are just so much better than even AMD's best processor out now that there's really not much reason to get AMD for a new computer except for the extremely low price. Of course, it will need an X58 motherboard which cost about ~$200 and the processor itself will also be around that much so it'll add on another 200 to your total, but the performance you get from i7 is like double the AMD scores so I think it's worth the price. If you decide to get an i7, your going to have to get DDR3 RAM. It's slightly better than DDR2, virtually the same price, and kind of futureproofs your comp.

Doesn't really matter much, considering that case looks pretty awesome, has good air flow, and is decently priced. But doesn't it just feel like a waste not using the power supply that comes with it? If you want to eventually grab another GPU and run crossfire, then it would make sense, but with just what your getting, that 500W power supply should have enough juice to power the whole system.

Some alternatives to look at and don't forget about this http://forums.legitreviews.com/about25908.html


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139005 Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835233003 CPU Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811112238 Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151199 BD

as the previous posters have stated, the component that could be improved the most is the cpu cooler. XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 has the best bang for the buck, while the most overkill cooler is the Noctua NH-D14.

NH-D14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ctua%20d14
its review on LR
http://forums.legitreviews.com/about25801.html

Skip Foxconn and get a Gigabyte or ASUS motherboard.

Thanks for the suggestions. I like that Xigmatek heatsink so ima get that one instead of the one i have posted up there. Dont really need top of the line heatsink cuz i found out that the 940 can get oc'ed to 3.6ghz with just the stock heatsink. Maybe ill be able to get the sucker up to 4ghz with the xigmatek? The samsung bd player would look real nice for the case too so ima get that one instead. My goal is too make a good gaming pc with a low budget, tryin to keep it around 1500. Intel is real powerful stuff and id really like to future proof it with some ddr3, but tryin to save money. also lookin at the 650w power supply as well, would it still work out if i got another of them really expensive vid cards? For crossfire? Ima stick to the case psu unless it wont provide enough for it.

Basically ima be building this pc over a long period of time. Gonna be tryin to order a part a week. Once i get that thing up n runnin ima post some screen shots of it on this site. Any other help and suggestions are very welcome and much appreciated.

It's funny how my low budget and your low budget varies by almost $1000 dollars. Do you have a Microcenter around you?

pwcmed wrote:It's funny how my low budget and your low budget varies by almost $1000 dollars. Do you have a Microcenter around you?

i think the $300 video card knocks it out of the 'budget' category not to mention a BD player and a $95 case, thats more on the 'extravagant' side

Major_A wrote:Skip Foxconn and get a Gigabyte or ASUS motherboard.

more like: skip the headaches and frustration and get an Gigabyte or ASUS motherboard.

i'd also say drop the zalman, there are much better coolers since the zalmans(dont think they've made any new ones since the Core2 line, and they're just too expensive for what you get)

also the PSU included in any case can be considered garbage right off, even if its 800W i'd rate it with a 500W 'decent' PSU at best, i would never get a case w/PSU as it just adds to the shipping basically i'd get just a case and save moneyz for an actually good PSU (corsair preferrably, their 400W PSU is better than most 550W units)

I'd grab a different case (your paying for a cheap power supply you won't use when you could get a cheaper case or a higher quality one)

I'd also second/third swapping the zalman for the xigmatek and grabbing a gigabyte motherboard.

You can also save a few bucks on th psu if you get a comparable corsair without sacrificing any quality.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103674
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MB(MOTHERBOARD/GREEN BOARD) http://forums.techarena.in/polls-voting/954949.htm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131398
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128378
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RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231193
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PC Mid tower Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119196
(Tip: Notice in the pictures how the Hard drive bays are made) (you can pull the HDDs out easily, you dont have to pull out your GPU's just so you can get the hdd out without damage, plus all the front ports are on top, leaving room for leg space and chair wheels (you dont want cables attached to bottom of the case)
if you dont like this case find something with same HDD bay layout.
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
As for the heat sink, look for something solid. around $50 +/- (something massive in metal w/regular fan)
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102857 (PCI Express 2.0 x16) screw 2.1.
********************************************************************************************************************************
PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139005
**************************************************************************************

I like the mouse, but keyboard....Just get a standard keyboard for 19.99, Use your Shift key ex:
Shif+A+W+D+E+Q+R+F+V+C+X+Z+Spacebar and q,e,r,f,v etc.

you dont need no joystick, dont underestimate the keyboard.

Hdd is good, Monitor,...get a 23" widescreen if you dont already have one . any 17" monitor should do you fine too.

you might need this lol:

http://www.debspecs.com/Format_Melanin_ ... 595C57.cfm
i get headaches without these

for the computer kit, go out to your local hardware store and buy:

long/thin/slim Flat/Phillips screw drivers. Security bits, pliers. And keep magnets away from electronics.

Twynczyk wrote:I like the mouse, but keyboard....Just get a standard keyboard for 19.99, Use your Shift key ex:
Shif+A+W+D+E+Q+R+F+V+C+X+Z+Spacebar and q,e,r,f,v etc.

you dont need no joystick, dont underestimate the keyboard.

Hdd is good, Monitor,...get a 23" widescreen if you dont already have one . any 17" monitor should do you fine too.

you might need this lol:

http://www.debspecs.com/Format_Melanin_ ... 595C57.cfm
i get headaches without these

I have always been curious about computer lenses, but never got around trying them : /

redkal13 wrote: Basically ima be building this pc over a long period of time. Gonna be tryin to order a part a week. Once i get that thing up n runnin ima post some screen shots of it on this site. Any other help and suggestions are very welcome and much appreciated.

I would suggest NOT buying a piece a week at a time. Put the money each week into a savings or something. What you will see is 3 weeks after you get a part from the egg, NEWEGG will have BLOWOUT pricing on something you already bought for $30-$50 or less than what you paid. Also computer prices are always dropping as the latest and greatest comes out and in the 2 or three months it takes you to get all your parts you whole system could be $200 or more cheaper.

Save up and buy everything at once or sign up for the newegg emails and you will get their shell-shocker deals of the day. look for what you need in those and get them for much less+ free shipping.

wait a week and buy the AMD 890GX motherboard for $139 - http://www.legitreviews.com/news/7472/

It has native SATA 6Gb/s support, USB 3.0 and is said to support upcoming Phenom II X6 'Thuban' processors

790GX + SB750 is old news

890GX + SB850 is what you need