First Build Help?

[Lawrencezn]

Hi, I was looking for a new desktop a few weeks ago, when one of my friends recommended building a computer instead. He claimed it would be more powerful for the same price. Well, I started researching, and have been doing this for weeks. Im really interested, and I've pretty much decided im gonna go through with the build even if its not cheaper than just buying a computer. But can someone look through the parts list I currently have, and see if there are ways to reduce price without reducing performance? Id like to stay with intel, and I dont plan on overclocking. Also, can someone recommend a good graphics card? I play games like empire total war, but im not really sure what kind of card I need to play these.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $169.99

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM $17.99

Rosewill RNX-N180PCe PCI Express Revision 1.1 Wireless Adapter $24.99

COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $89.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL $39.99

ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $137.99

Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz $209.99

COOLER MASTER Storm Enforcer $89.99

A few random questions. Is WD any better than Seagate? Ive found Seagate HDD's for much cheaper, but im not sure which one to get. Also, for the wireless, is the adapter the same as a card? Or did I choose the wrong thing?

 

[Sean W.]

what is your budget? what games are you going to be playing the most?

 

[Trotter]

NewEgg DIY Combo

1x COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (Model:RC-922M-KKN1-GP)
$99.99

1x GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard (Model:GA-970A-D3)
$89.99

1x GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (Model:GV-R685OC-1GD)
$139.99

1x COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply (Model:RS-700-AMBA-D3)
$89.99

1x AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6100WMGUSBX (Model:FD6100WMGUSBX)
$159.99

1x CORSAIR XMS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2B2000C9 (Model:CMX4GX3M2B2000C9)
$49.99

1x Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (Model:ST31000524AS)
$139.99

1x LG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model UH12LS28 OEM LightScribe Support (Model:UH12LS28 OEM)
$59.99

Combined Total: $829.92
Combo Discounts: -$54.93
Combo Price: $774.99 (- $55 in rebates)

 

[Mischa]

1. Your friend was right, you get better price/performance.
2. A lot of what you have there looks good to me, the ram, motherboard and CPU are all fine.
3. From what I've seen there isn't much difference between seagate/Wd some say one is better others the other.
4. If you don't plan on two graphic cards and overclocking you dont need 700w, 500-600w will do
5. Do you have a preference of Ati/Nvidia graphics cards. If your playing games like empire total war you don't need a high end graphics card, a gtx 560ti offers good price/performance or a radeon 6850.

Lastly what is your budget before I suggest a build?

 

[tj_extreme]

A few random questions. Is WD any better than Seagate?

Depends who you ask. Personally, I'd recommend a WD, as they've always been very reliable for me. Is there room in your budget for an SSD?

 

[Nukem]

The best bang for your buck GPU is currently the GTX560 or the 560 ti version.
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, gtx 560

Seagate used to have issues, but I have since found that although I gravitate towards WD, just out of habit at this point, as long as you get a 7200RPM drive they are about the same for general day-to-day operations. I have also found from both good and bad experience, that I might suggest to others to have 2 hard drives. a smaller one for just the OS and main programs, and the other whatever size you wish for your media and what-not. This way you won't lose anything essential if you have to reload your system.

I would also recommend the i5 2500K for a little more... another "best bang for the buck"

you might want to look at an after market cooler as well for the CPU. regardless of the games you play, it can get quite warm... I have this one after many good reviews and a lot of people here also recommend it..

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

The wireless is a good choice since it's PCIe, but I have found that the rosewill brand is kind of finicky with Windows 7 during the initial install sometimes. My system took to it just fine, but I had to fight with my wife's system... Just FYI.

 

[Nukem]

Damn, talk about ninja'd while I was typing! LMAO

 

[Mischa]

Damn, talk about ninja'd while I was typing! LMAO

I know what you mean, im on my phone so typing/browsing for a build takes a lot longer.

Trotterand Sean went and beat me to it

 

[Lawrencezn]

Thanks everyone for all the help For those of you who asked for the budget, id like to keep it below 850. If its a bit more, no big deal. Ill change the HDD to this one as its is cheaper. Any comments on that change? Newegg gave it pretty bad reviews, but doe that always signify that the drive is bad?
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Also, I think ill replace the ram with this since its only a bit more money, and its DDR3 1600 instead of 1333.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL