First time builder

[Eduard]

So I've decided to build my first computer, I have a rough idea of what components I would like. Price range for the whole kit (including monitor and peripherals) is around 1000 - 1500 AUD. Let me know what you think and I also need help determining what size PSU I should get. Any input will be a great help.

 

SEASONIC X-650 80PLUS GOLD MODULAR for the PSU (not sure if too big)

 

 

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1460-KR

 

 

ASUS Xonar DS 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

 

 

Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX

 

 

Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

 

 

Samsung B2230 22-Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black

 

 

Coolermaster, CM 690 II Advanced

 

 

So this is what I have so far, should mention that I am planning for this to be a mid range gaming set up. So I need help with the PSU, the mother board and disk drive.

Also is it worth getting a SSD just for the OS and a few favourite games?

Thanks!

[VaporX]

Eduard, first welcome to the wonderful world of computing DIYers. You have a good solid base but before we can help with the motherboard options we need to find out what CPU will be choosing. The i5 2500K is probably the best pure bang for the buck on the market right now but in your market I am not sure of pricing. I would get pricing on an i5 2400 and i5 2500K as well as a Phenom II X4 like an 955 or up and then compare. I would also hold off on adding sound with a discrete card, a lot of the modern motherboards have pretty good onward sound that could get you buy fine and let you save a few bucks to use elsewhere in the build.

 

The PSU size you have chosen is about spot on perfect for the proposed build you are looking at. Look for one from Antec, Thermaltake, Silverstone, Seasonic or even OCZ (now all made by PCP&C) and select the least expensive and you should be fine.

 

With the money you saved from dropping the sound card could you afford to move up a notch and get the 560ti, it is worth it you can afford the move. The pure 560 will do the job but if the budget allows that extra umph would come in handy down the road.

 

As for the SSD the worth of it is a purely subjective call. An SSD will make the whole system seem snappier and games will load faster but actual game play will not really gain anything. If you go the i5 route I would get a Z68 motherboard and use the Smart Response with a 60 gig SSD to get a nice snappy feel for the system. While it is not as nice as a pure SSD drive it does benefit the system feel. If you go this route just get the cheapest 60 Gig you can of quality and you will be fine. If you are going the AMD route I would spring for a full 120 Gig SSD if you can. A 60 gig will hold the OS and few a games, but will feel cramped quickly.

 

Overall you are off to a solid start, once we get a feel for what CPU options you have then the choices will be easier.

[Eduard]

The jump between the i5 2400 and the 2500K is only around $30 here, so I'll go with the 2500K. So for the mother board, are there any specific brands to stick with? I only know of ASUS and GIGABYTE. Z68 is the type, anything else I should look for?

[Alexandre]

Hello my friend and welcome to OCC!

Good to see another Aussie join up!

 

So far your build is looking good and with $1000-1500 to spend you can get a pretty decent computer.

 

A 2500K is a fine choice for a CPU. Yes the Z68 is the chipset of choice and I would probably stick to the brands you mentioned - but that is a personal choice given my experience with these manufacturers. Don't be scared of checking out ASRock and MSI too.

 

A few questions:

 

1) Where are you planning on buying your parts from? (Any websites you can point us to?)

2) What are the prices for your current component choices?

3) Have you got an operating system?

4) Are you planning on overclocking?

 

The PSU wattage looks like it's in the right place and that PSU is excellent at what it does.

 

EDIT:

While the PSU you have is awesome, if you want to check out other PSUs you can purchase, see OCC's Recommended Power Supply List for a good range of PSUs which have proven to be reliable.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Alexandre

[Eduard]

Probably going to get most stuff from PCDIY, http://www.pcdiy.com.au/ or MSY http://msy.com.au/ . I searched for all the components on Amazon only because I could see all the components in one place and do a rough price check, not buying from them though. So prices are (all in AUD) from PCDIY:

around 200 - 270 for the GPU

100 for the case

100 - 250 for monitor (undecided)

80 for memory

200 for HDD

going with Windows 7 for OS (not sure on price for that (or which version))

230 for PSU

[Alexandre]

Probably going to get most stuff from PCDIY, http://www.pcdiy.com.au/ or MSY http://msy.com.au/ . I searched for all the components on Amazon only because I could see all the components in one place and do a rough price check, not buying from them though. So prices are (all in AUD) from PCDIY:

around 200 - 270 for the GPU

100 for the case

100 - 250 for monitor (undecided)

80 for memory

200 for HDD

going with Windows 7 for OS (not sure on price for that (or which version))

230 for PSU

Thanks for the reply.

 

For Windows 7 I would probably stick to Home Premium or Professional (ultimate is not really worth it).

I've seen a few good deals for Windows 7 on gumtree going for about $100. You can also get it for around that price point if you are a full time tertiary student at It's Not Cheating (look at the bottom right hand corner).

 

For 270 bucks you can get a 2GB 6950 from MSY which is a sweet graphics card.

 

When do you need to have this computer finished? It might be worth waiting for the 22nd to see what AMD has got lined up in the 7xxx series but it's up to you.

 

As for RAM you can get decent 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 memory for about $52 at MSY so you can save a bit of money there.

[Eduard]

Cheers for the info. I'm probably going to stick with Nvidia only because I've had it before. There's no deadline for this build but I want to stick with Nvidia and Intel just for this first build, though I have heard that Intel is releasig their Ivy bridge serise soon, so I might wait around and see how much the sandybridge ones drop. I'll check out that RAM too, cheers.

[Alexandre]

Cheers for the info. I'm probably going to stick with Nvidia only because I've had it before. There's no deadline for this build but I want to stick with Nvidia and Intel just for this first build, though I have heard that Intel is releasig their Ivy bridge serise soon, so I might wait around and see how much the sandybridge ones drop. I'll check out that RAM too, cheers.

Yeah waiting till mid Jan will probably be a wise idea when all the new hardware like ivy bridge will most likely be launched.

 

As for the nVidea vs. AMD - both provide great graphics performance so it would be wise to give both sides a good hearing.

Go for which one gives best performances for your needs at the price point you are willing to spend - try not to let bias affect your answer too much.

[d6bmg]

First thing about the sound card you have selected:

ASUS Xonar DS 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

 

Most of the last motherboard is equipped with audio chipset which are almost same as the quality of DG card. I think either you should opt for DX card or be satisfied with onboard sound.

[Eduard]

Any ideas for which disk drive to get? Blu ray I guess with decent read/write speeds. Which brands to look out for and what figures to go by.

[VaporX]

Any ideas for which disk drive to get? Blu ray I guess with decent read/write speeds. Which brands to look out for and what figures to go by.

 

For an optical drive the numbers are all pretty much meaning less. If you want a Blu-Ray I would go with LG or Samsung, though ASUS has some solid drives.

 

The 2500K is a great choice and you should be happy. As for which motherboard I am personally partial to Gigabyte but there are great baords by MSI and Asus, plus Asrock as come along as well. Look for a good feature set but do not get carried away. You should be able to find a reasonably priced motherboard.

[Stonerboy779]

Eduard can you buy from pccasegear.com? Better prices than msy. Also if you are buying from pcdiy I assume your near box hill so take a drive down eastlink to pccg to pick things up (so no shipping) you can get better prices on just about every component if the build.