So im looking to build my first computer , ive been doing alot of reading and roaming. Its main use will be for gaming. I wanna stay in the $700-$900 range.. I wanna stay on the side of not having to upgrade in the near future also.
CPU:
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor - Processors - Desktops
From my understanding there are no games that utilize more than 2 cores. I looked into both the amd and intel. Seems that without going up to a quad core the phenom II x3 series are the cheapest way to get L3 cache. Im not really sure exactly how much of an impact it really has but i was thinking it was quite an impact.
Mobo:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
I liked the price and Raid options. I was interested in both doing raid and crossfire when i was initially deciding to build my own computer. Though I have no experience with either and thought it would be best to put those on the back burner because ive simply been taking in too much information. I do realize that this board only has 1 pci e 2.0 slot. The other board I intially was looking at was
Newegg.com - ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
But i was trying to cut some cost. If i can save else where then that would proly be my choice.
Ram:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK - Desktop Memory
My choice of ram changes all the time. I dont really know what I want. I figure ddr3 was the way to go since it seems to cost about the same as ddr2 and i wont have to upgrade anytime soon.
GPU:
Newegg.com - XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
or
Newegg.com - XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
I dont really understand this. same core clock same streaming processors. but the 128 bit has a higher memory clock over the 256 bit.?.? The dx11 feature is of no importance i guess being as there are no games that even use it.
PSU:
Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Power Supplies
Mainly price here and brand. I wanted to stay with a quality brand. Ive seen this brand on a number of good psu lists. Im unsure exactly what I need. I was thinking 2-12v rails and about 550 watts.
HDD:
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
I dont really need alot of hd space. I was unsure if the cache really makes that big of a difference. I initially was looking at the 32mb but to cut some cost i went down to the 16mb.
CD/RW:
Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - CD / DVD Burners
I just really need to be able to load my games from disks.. Looked like this could do pretty much anything cd related. watch burn load listen etc..
OS:
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems
So thats what I got.. I am also interested in over clocking, but that will be later down the road after i have the system. I dont wanna do too much at once. Any feedback would be great.
P.S. I proly wont be doing this for a month or so.. So i havnt really payed to much attention to combo deals as they seem to change often.
CPU:
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor - Processors - Desktops
From my understanding there are no games that utilize more than 2 cores. I looked into both the amd and intel. Seems that without going up to a quad core the phenom II x3 series are the cheapest way to get L3 cache. Im not really sure exactly how much of an impact it really has but i was thinking it was quite an impact.
Mobo:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
I liked the price and Raid options. I was interested in both doing raid and crossfire when i was initially deciding to build my own computer. Though I have no experience with either and thought it would be best to put those on the back burner because ive simply been taking in too much information. I do realize that this board only has 1 pci e 2.0 slot. The other board I intially was looking at was
Newegg.com - ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
But i was trying to cut some cost. If i can save else where then that would proly be my choice.
Ram:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK - Desktop Memory
My choice of ram changes all the time. I dont really know what I want. I figure ddr3 was the way to go since it seems to cost about the same as ddr2 and i wont have to upgrade anytime soon.
GPU:
Newegg.com - XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
or
Newegg.com - XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
I dont really understand this. same core clock same streaming processors. but the 128 bit has a higher memory clock over the 256 bit.?.? The dx11 feature is of no importance i guess being as there are no games that even use it.
PSU:
Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Power Supplies
Mainly price here and brand. I wanted to stay with a quality brand. Ive seen this brand on a number of good psu lists. Im unsure exactly what I need. I was thinking 2-12v rails and about 550 watts.
HDD:
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
I dont really need alot of hd space. I was unsure if the cache really makes that big of a difference. I initially was looking at the 32mb but to cut some cost i went down to the 16mb.
CD/RW:
Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - CD / DVD Burners
I just really need to be able to load my games from disks.. Looked like this could do pretty much anything cd related. watch burn load listen etc..
OS:
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems
So thats what I got.. I am also interested in over clocking, but that will be later down the road after i have the system. I dont wanna do too much at once. Any feedback would be great.
P.S. I proly wont be doing this for a month or so.. So i havnt really payed to much attention to combo deals as they seem to change often.