11 replies to this topic

[bilcliff]

Hi all me again. I'm building the girlfriend a new pc for an early Christmas present. primary use will be moderate gaming (arkham asylum, la noire) / word processing / general internet.
current specs: pentium e5200 dual core, Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L, 4gb ddr2 400mhz, 9400gt

Purchases from:
PC Case Gear
MSY (parts list in pdf)
CPL
Scorptec

Budget: $700
Reusing: Case (CoolerMaster Elite 341), KB & M (Wireless Optical Desktop 1000), monitor, speakers, wireless network card (unsure), 1TB HDD, optical Drive.

CPU: Intel Core i5 3470 - $189.00
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77-D3H-MVP - $105
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 G.Skill Ripjaws PC3-12800 (1600MHz) - $49
Graphics: Gigabyte GTX 660 2GB OC - $239
PSU: Antec True Power 650w $119
was going to get a Antec EA-650 Platinum but most places are out of stock / dont sell it.

Total $701 + shipping although i'll be trying to buy in store for most of them. Also already have win7 retail ready to stick on this.

the reason i went with a h77 board was because i'm not sure if her wireless card is PCI or PCIE and a dual slot gfx card blocked the PCI or PCIE 1x on most of the other MATX boards. plus this one has 7.1ch audio others only had 2ch.

if anyone can find better or notices that ive overlooked something im all ears.

[IVIYTH0S]

Very nice machine for the purpose, if I was on the computer I may check out ways to make it better but it's definitely a strong foundation

[vandreadstriker]

I'll try and see if I can shave a few bucks off...

ASRock H77Pro4-MVP - $95 (No difference really. Looks better though and for $10 less)
G.Skill Ares 2x4GB 1600MHz - $45 (Same spec, just $4 less)
Sapphire 7850 OC V2 - $219 (On-par performance, just $20 less)
OCZ ZT 650W (Good ol' Great Wall platform, Modular, 80+ bronze, $20 less)

That's $54 less. You don't need to but I was bored anyway

Edited by vandreadstriker, 21 November 2012 - 06:24 AM.

[ComputerEd]

Before I would buy anything I would verify the wireless cards slot needs. I would also make sure it has support in Windows 7/8 to ensure you will not have any issues. With good USB adapters priced low you could go that route and ignore the card. I actually prefer them, use a lot of Netgear adapters, thanks to the extension cable with stand so I can get the antenna out from the rest of the hardware to ensure a better signal.

[IVIYTH0S]

Before I would buy anything I would verify the wireless cards slot needs. I would also make sure it has support in Windows 7/8 to ensure you will not have any issues. With good USB adapters priced low you could go that route and ignore the card. I actually prefer them, use a lot of Netgear adapters, thanks to the extension cable with stand so I can get the antenna out from the rest of the hardware to ensure a better signal.

I have a cheap little Tenda Wireless N USB and i's awesome on my HTPC

[bilcliff]

for some reason it doesnt properly identify in her device manager
 Capture_11222012_184351.jpg   684.47K   7 downloads

she said its says location: PCI bus 4 and that it has 3 antennae on the back of it
so by process of elimination the only one that is a wireless N, PCI with 3 antennae is TL-WN951N. Which has win 7 & vista listed in the system requirements

I'll try and see if I can shave a few bucks off...

ASRock H77Pro4-MVP - $95 (No difference really. Looks better though and for $10 less)
G.Skill Ares 2x4GB 1600MHz - $45 (Same spec, just $4 less)
Sapphire 7850 OC V2 - $219 (On-par performance, just $20 less)
OCZ ZT 650W (Good ol' Great Wall platform, Modular, 80+ bronze, $20 less)

That's $54 less. You don't need to but I was bored anyway

ill keep the GTX 660 over the 7850. she saw the borderlands physx video the other day and her jaw hit the floor when she realised what she'd been missing out on
$4 for ram doesnt phase me. I've never used ASRock boards before. and ive heard mixed things about ocz psus before.

Edited by bilcliff, 22 November 2012 - 01:31 AM.

[Stonerboy779]

Don't want a 550watt antec psu by any chance?
Or a standard op drive a razer lycosa and death adder v2?

I need to sell them soon and if you need that gear for her build I am happy to sell it to ya cheap.

Also I'll definitely vouch for asrock mobos and if you go for the asrock mobo and an i3 you could spring for an ssd as a primary drive and that is more impressive the borderlands 2 physics haha

[bilcliff]

Don't want a 550watt antec psu by any chance?
Or a standard op drive a razer lycosa and death adder v2?

I need to sell them soon and if you need that gear for her build I am happy to sell it to ya cheap.

Also I'll definitely vouch for asrock mobos and if you go for the asrock mobo and an i3 you could spring for an ssd as a primary drive and that is more impressive the borderlands 2 physics haha

i like having 650w for buffer for future upgrades

pm'd

[El_Capitan]

i like having 650w for buffer for future upgrades

pm'd

All things that matter are getting more efficient. You can prob be ok at 550W - 600W for any future upgrades.

[bilcliff]

All things that matter are getting more efficient. You can prob be ok at 550W - 600W for any future upgrades.

probably not if we were to go sli 660s down the track

[vandreadstriker]

probably not if we were to go sli 660s down the track

A quick calculation would suggest that even a 550W would be able to handle a 3470 and 2x660Ti...

[bilcliff]

spent most of Saturday shopping / building this.

final specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5 3470
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 G.Skill Ripjaws PC3-12800 (1600MHz)
Graphics: Gigabyte GTX 660 2GB OC
PSU: Corsair TX650W Modular
NIC: TP-Link TL-WN881ND

total build cost $726 (plus win7)

Couldn't get the Antec True Power 650w in the store i went to so i ended up with the Corsair instead. Glad i got a semi-modular psu because that Elite 341 m-ATX case is horrible for space / wire management.
Also ended up with a different motherboard to first post (after realising the initial one listed wasn't m-atx ) and then the alternative suggested ASRock Z77 Pro-4 M was out of stock almost everywhere. Also bought a new TP-Link PCIe Wireless card due to frustrations of finding a m-atx board with both

• PCI slot not blocked by a dual slot graphics card and
• 7.1ch audio