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Build/Parts guide


eisbar

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So some people can be unsure on system parts, while this forum does have guides on picking psu's, cases and some others. Why not one on system builds?

Buying a new system can be both exciting and daunting at the same time. Technology increases as each day passes so how do you know whats the best for you budget? or just simply would this component be better off in the trash can. Asking a community such as OCC is the best place to start as we can run through your build, picking out errors while also trying to save you some money amd giving you recommendations. But what happens when you have no grounds to start building (I.E you dont know where to start) ? Well, this thread will help you out. Not only will it give you some simple build suggestions but also links to other in-forum pages that will help pick power supplies (PSU), Cases, LCD's, the list just goes on. But wait, there is more! Further down the page, there is a list of CPU's and their sockets both from Intel and AMD. Also you will find a list of the GPUs that you would want to put your money into whether its just a standard everyday use or a heavy, hardcore gaming rig, this thread has it all.

 

NOTE:

- Rough prices from newegg US

- I will try my best to keep the systems updated.

- Although these are labeled as gaming, they will do just fine for other uses.

 

 

Some useful guides;

Crazy_Nate's How to build a system guide

Jammin's PSU list

El_Capitans Case list

Radodrill's Watercooling Information & Suggestions

Psywar's LCD Monitor Information

OCC's Memory FAQ

[RIP] Verran's fantastic Raid guide

 

 

Overclocking guides (Note: Some are from Overclock.net)

The basics of overclocking (What is it?)

Overclocking socket 1366

Overlocking 2600K/1155 (with thanks to El_Capitan for sharing)

Overclocking Phenom II CPU's

NOTE 1: Black Edition (eg x2 555BE, 1090T BE ) and Extreme Editions/K series (eg 990x, 2500k) have unlocking multiplyers meaning you can just bump up the multiplier without changing the FSB

NOTE 2: Overclocking is done at your own risk, as it may void the warranty or damage your chip. It is essential that you have the right cooling before messing with the settings (Refer to CPU Cooling at the bottom)

 

 

Please post your opinions, say what you would change. Chances are I've missed something, or picked a bad part.

 

basic 1 (intel)

 

cpu: Intel Celeron E3300 Wolfdale 2.5GHz - $40

mobo: ASRock G41M-GS - $57

ram: G.SKILL 2GB - $29

gpu: onboard

hdd:Seagate Barracuda 7200 500gb -$40 / 1tb

psu: Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D - $40

case: El Cheapo - $10-20

total: $216

 

basic 2 (amd)

 

cpu: AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz- $43

mobo: MSI 760GM-P33 AM3 AMD 760G - $55

ram: Kingston HyperX 2GB - $25

gpu: onboard

hdd: Seagate Barracuda 7200 500gb -$40 / 1tb

psu: Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D - $40

case: El Cheapo $10-20

total: $223

 

budget gaming/home 1 (amd)

 

cpu: AMD Phenom II X2 555 - $90

mobo: ASUS M4A87TD/USB - $100

ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) - $50

gpu: GTS450 $119 / 5770 $119 / GTX460 $150 / GTX550 $150 / 6850 $170

hdd: samsung spinpoint F3 1tb - $65

psu: SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W - 70$

case: COOLER MASTER Elite 430 - $50

total: $544 - $595

 

Budget gaming/home 2 (intel)

 

cpu: Intel Core i3-2100 - $120

mobo: MSI P67A-C43 (B3) - $125 / BIOSTAR TH67+ (use onboard gpu) - $105

ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) - $50

gpu: GTS450 $119 / 5770 $119 / GTX460 $150 / GTX550 $150 / 6850 $170

hdd: samsung spinpoint F3 1tb - $65

psu: SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W - 70$

case: COOLER MASTER Elite 430 - $50

total: $460 - $600

 

Midrange gamer

 

cpu: i5 2500k $220

mobo: MSI P67A-C43 (B3) - $125

ram: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) - $42

gpu: GTX460 $150 / 6850 $170 / 6870 $204 / GTX560 TI $239 / 6950 $240

hdd: samsung spinpoint F3 1tb - $65

psu: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600 - $70 ?

case: refer to El_Capitan's list

cpu cooler: Hyper212+

total: $612 (w/o case) - $762

 

amd midrange gamer

 

cpu: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition - $200

mobo: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO - $119

ram: Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) - $42

gpu: GTX460 $150 / 6850 $170 / 6870 $204 / GTX560 TI $239 / 6950 $240

hdd: samsung spinpoint F3 1tb - $65

psu: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600 - $70 ?

case: refer to El_Capitan's list

total: $646 - $736

 

 

High end

 

cpu: Intel Core i7-2600K - $328

mobo: ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) - $240

ram: CORSAIR XMS3 C9 8GB - $95

gpu: 6950 $240 / 6970 $339 / GTX570 $369 / GTX580 $529 / 6990 $700

hdd: samsung spinpoint F3 1tb - $65

psu: CORSAIR AX750? - $169

case: refer to El_Capitan's list

cpu cooler: Noctua NH-D14? - $75 / Watercooling

total: $1212 w/o case - $1672

 

ihavetoomuchmoney

 

cpu: 990x x 2- $2000

mobo: evga SR2 - $ - newegg out of stock :P

ram: Mushkin Enhanced Redline 12gb (3x 4) x 2 - $500

gpu: GTX580 $529 / 6970 x2 $687 / sli GTX580 $1058 / 6990 $700 etc

hdd: samsung spinpoint F3 1tb - $65

ssd:Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe 240gb - $464

psu: HX 1000W - $230

case: 800D ? HAF X?

cpu cooler: Custom water cooling loop x 2 (one for cpus other one for gpus )

total: ...

 

HTPC

cpu: i3 2100 - $125

mobo: ASUS P8H67-I DELUXE - $160

ram: G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) - $40

gpu: onboard - $0

hdd: samsung spinpoint F3 1tb - $65 (x2?)

psu: case comes with 150w

Disk Drive: Hp BD240I-h01 combo (?)

case: Antec ISK 300-150 - $80

total: $470 - $535 (w/ 2 hard drives)

 

CPUs

 

Intel

 

1155: - DDR3 dual channel ram (i.e 4gb, 8gb, 16gb etc)

i3 2100 - dual core - $120

i5 2500 - quad core - $209.99

i5 2500k - overclocking God, quad core - $220

i7 2600 - quadcore - $299.99

i7 2600k - overclocking God, quad core - $328

 

1366: - DDR3 Tri-channel ram (i.e 3gb, 6gb, 12gb, 24gb etc)

i7 950 - quad core - $279.99

i7 970 - 6 cores of power - $594.99

i7 980x - hexcore powerz - $949.99

i7 990x - hexcore powerz - $999.99

Xeons

 

socket 775 is your core 2 duo/quads (DDR2/3 and dual channel ram) and 1156 is the i5 7**/6** and also i7 8** (DDR3 and dual channel ram)

 

AMD - DDR3 dual channel ram (i.e 4gb, 8gb, 16gb etc)

Athlon II X4 640 - quadcore - $99.99

Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition - dual core - $89.99

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - quad core - $139.99

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T - hexa core - $179.99

Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition - hexa core - $199.99

 

 

 

GPUs* - Heres the best GPUs from both manufacturers, ATI/AMD and Nvidia

 

ATI/AMD -

5770 - $119

5870 - $219

6850 - $170

6870 - $204

6950 - 2gb version can be flashed to a 6970 - $240

6970 - $339

6990 - dual 6970's on one board ? - $700

 

Nvidia -

GTS450 - $119

GTX460 - $150

GTX550 TI - $150

GTX560 TI - $239

GTX570 - $369

GTX580 - $529

GTX590 - $700

 

 

 

CPU cooling - Running too hot? Heres some great coolers.

Corsair H70 (closed watercooling) - $104.81

Hyper 212+ - Best Bang For Buck - $29.99

Noctua NH-D14 - $74.99

Noctua NH-U12P SE2 - $69.74

Prolimatech Megahalems- $64.99 - be aware that you will need to buy fans for this

Zalman CNPS9900 Max - $79.99

Thermaltake Frio - $58

 

When picking an operating system, make sure you pick 64bit as this doesn't have a cap on the amount of ram you can use. 32bit OS only allows 4gb including video ram.

 

 

 

Cheers

 

*GPU prices are entry fee for the card.

* Moderators: If there is anything i should not have such as the links in the over-clocking guides or anything that you disagree with please feel free to remove.

Edited by eisbar
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Great guide mate! :thumbsup:

Hope it gets a sticky. I haven't got much time to look through it with a fine comb yet but so far it looks good. One thing I would suggest would be to change the colour of "basic 1 (intel)" label to something other than black - which is hard to see.

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I quite like this guide. Its a very good place to start, atleast a way of comparing compatibilities if one was to swap in some other parts.

....if only there was a way to put it all into a nice little GUI and it spit out the perfect list of parts based on a few choices....

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Thanks lads :cheers:

But please do post some suggestions :)

What should i add, i.e a list of good hard drives as i only have got a samsung F3 there? More coolers? Should i add a workstation and HTPC?

 

Cheers

Edited by eisbar

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Cheers lad :)

 

Just a quick note, im going to be away for a week as of tomorrow, any updates (if any) ill have to change when i get back.

 

 

Cheers

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Maybe update for price ranges?

Superbiiz will normally put Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB's at $50 after a $15 promo code. So, $50 - $65 depending on the time of month. Newegg will have them down to $55 on occasion.

 

Lowest prices I've seen for graphics cards after promo codes, MIR's, and shipping:

GTX 460 1GB = $119.99

GTX 580 1.5GB = $435.99

 

HD 6950 2GB = $229.99

HD 6970 2GB = $307.86

 

Only noting those prices because they're the top of the line single GPU graphics cards for both AMD and Intel, and the GTX 460 1GB is the best dual graphics cards to buy for price/performance. For $238.98, you can outperform a GTX 580 that costs $435.99... and just about the same cost as a HD 6950 2GB.

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Maybe update for price ranges?

Superbiiz will normally put Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB's at $50 after a $15 promo code. So, $50 - $65 depending on the time of month. Newegg will have them down to $55 on occasion.

 

Lowest prices I've seen for graphics cards after promo codes, MIR's, and shipping:

GTX 460 1GB = $119.99

GTX 580 1.5GB = $435.99

 

HD 6950 2GB = $229.99

HD 6970 2GB = $307.86

 

Only noting those prices because they're the top of the line single GPU graphics cards for both AMD and Intel, and the GTX 460 1GB is the best dual graphics cards to buy for price/performance. For $238.98, you can outperform a GTX 580 that costs $435.99... and just about the same cost as a HD 6950 2GB.

I forgot to add that these prices were all before promo codes and other deals as i'm not too familiar with newegg so i don't know how long these promo codes and deals will last.

 

 

UPDATED HTPC

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