First gaming build =)

[KRP230]

Hello everyone! I've been reading a couple of forums including this one for a while now trying to get an idea of what I want to do for a new rig. This is my first one I will build, and I have around 1k in USD to spend; give or take a bit. My mouse, keyboard, screen, and OS are already taken care of. I was wondering if you guys would be willing to give some advice on what you think I should do. This is one of the builds for an i5-750 I was looking at

The problem is I'm unsure of how reliable HIS is when it comes to video cards, and I'm also completely clueless about motherboards. The one I have for this build seemed okay, and the combo with the RAM also seemed pretty decent. Any advice on either of these issues would be appreciated =).

I also have another build that instead of an I5-750, I get a Phenom II 955. It's essentially the same build as the newegg one but minus the motherboard RAM combo and obviously the I5-750 and HIS 5850 combo. I would use this for the phenom and card AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Processor w/ XFX Radeon HD 5850 Black Edition Video Card Bundle - PIIX4 955 w/ HD5850 - Buy.com. This appealed to me because I would be able to get an XFX card with their lifetime warranty. But I also have no idea what to do mobo/RAM wise with an AMD build. So I'm also asking what's your guys' opinion on whether I should go with the intel or AMD build, and if the AMD build: possibly a good suggestion for a reliable motherboard?

Lastly, are there any suggestions for possible cable extensions I'll need/you suggest for the PSU/Antec 1200 combination in terms of cable management?

I appreciate any help, thanks!

 

[InsaneJester17]

I'm no expert, but personally I'd go for the AMD build right now. I just built mine and it's wonderful. I found going AMD would save me at least 100 bucks. Price it out both ways, everything I've read suggests the 955 is very much on par with the i5's.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Motherboard wise I'd get an 890GX right now.
Asus is coming out with an 890FX Crosshair soon from what I've heard, I'd probably buy that on a $1000 budget.

HIS is a great video card manufacturer, I'd say they were on par with Sapphire probably.

At the very least they're magnitudes better than Diamond or Visiontek.

I don't understand why you want to get the Antec Twelve Hundred with your build?
Any particular reason you want a filing cabinet for a case?
Your parts could fit in a small mid tower, why go for a full tower, when you can get a large mid tower for much cheaper.
Also the 750w Antec Truepower New is overkill for a single graphics card.
I'd only get that if you were planning on crossfire in the future.

Also the Samsung Spinpoint F3's offer an alternative to the Caviar Blacks right now, if you're someone who moves larger files around a lot, I'd get the Spinpoint F3's, if you just access a random file here or there though, stick with the Caviar Black.

(The Spinpoints have faster sequential read/write speeds which give them better performance for larger file transfers(Files greater than 300Mb), while the Caviar Blacks have faster random access times making them ideal for accessing smaller files faster.)

 

[aliasaid]

You can't go wrong with either the i5 or phenom II; they're both great chips.

The Antec case and powersupply are great, but they cost a lot compared to the rest of the components. It would make sense to get those parts if your budget was over $1500; but for a $1000 build $240 is too much for case/PSU (nearly a quarter of the cost!) If you bring down the cost of the case/PSU, you could get an i7 860 CPU or a 5870.

for example:
same combo for mobo +ram.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! PSU + HD
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - HIS H585F1GDG Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

and any case that isn't too expensive, like this: Newegg.com - Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan,1x Top 120mm Fan,1x Bottom Fan - Computer Cases

And with any optical drive, you'll still come out around $20 cheaper than your original build, but in this case you have an i7.