First Computer Build. $1000 budget.

[apsoul]

if your looking for future upgrade ability then a 1366 socket mobo/cpu (for intel) or socket am3 mobo/cpu (for amd) would be the best bet. I don't know if you could get a decent 1366 build with $1000 but you could definitely get a good am3 build for $1000. The build posted by farinha looks like a decent build, but maybe an i7 920, 650tx, Asus p6t (lower end) mobo and a less expensive GPU (CactusLoser stated games aren't priority) would be a better bet.
If going the AMD route, maybe a phenom II x4 955 or phenom x3 720 (i'm not familiar with athlon series) would easily work within a $1000 budget.

Just some food for thought

 

[farinha]

Well, I tried to make a i7 920 build first but I passed the $1000, unless e didn't include the monitor or hdd.
I opted for the i5 build because it gives you more power than the amd and the price isn't that different. If he plans to upgrade in four years probably there will be a different socket than am3. It depends when he's planning to upgrade. I build a i5 for myself because I'm not an intense gamer and I will only upgrade it in four years from now, best chance, and probably there will be a different socket than 1336 in that time.

 

[Hefemeister]

The i5 build is definitely the way to go with the current budget. would need to bump it to around $1200 to go 1366.

i5's are performing great and are overtaking the PII in the midrange price builds.

 

[CactusLoser]

I'm pretty happy with the current i5 build.
I do enjoy gaming, I was just noting that I am not really trying to run crysis.
(Although, being able to do so would be nice.)
I play Everquest, which..if you are familiar with it..you know it is not graphically intense.
But as the expansions progress, it is becoming harder on my computer.
I currently have to play with all of the textures turned down.

The RAM I picked out in my last post does not fit the main 2200 socket, but it does support the 1600 socket.
Is that fine, or would a 2200 be better?
I'm not very familiar with RAM.

Also, would it be better to just stick with my 160GB hard drive and get a TB external?
I would like the portability of it.
Most of my friends have Western Digital External Hard Drives.

Hate to be repetitive, but thoughts/comments on new disc drives would be helpful.
The one in my eMachine gets stuck a lot, and is quite annoying.

Something else I wanted to bring up while I had attention here...
External Video Cards.
Can you turn any video card into an external one?
Just been curious about it.

Thanks again.

 

[Hefemeister]

Those ripjaws you chose are nice and ddr3 1600 is plenty fast.

For the price the WD black 640gb drive is real nice for a OS drive.

Never heard of turning a gpu (graphics processing unit = video card) into an external one.

 

[farinha]

The difference between the ones you've chosen and ones I've chosen are the timings. But you won't notice much of a difference so the one you've chosen is fine.

Regarding the HDD you can get this one
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $70
and buy an external HDD later on. You're call.

 

[Hefemeister]

Yeah but for $5 more you can get the 640gb.

 

[CactusLoser]

Ah.
I had read something about External Graphics Cards and thought it was a pretty sweet idea.
I can't really see myself using it though.

If I were going to buy a HDD, it would be the 640GB.
I just know that somewhere down the road I will want an external Hard Drive as well.
Oh well.
It fits in the budget.

Thanks for all the help guys.
Any tips as far as actually building the computer goes?
I need to look at my tower and see how many fans it comes with and stuff like that.
I do not want the computer to be too loud.

 

[farinha]

Agreed. I've looked at the wrong price. WD Black 640GB it is

 

[CactusLoser]

Okay. Going to recap.

Tower: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
- $59.99
- Comes with 3 fans.

Power Source: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
- $109.99

Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
- $169.99
- Comes with on board Audio. Good enough for me.

Processor: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
- $199.99

Graphics Card: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
- $179.99

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
- $93.99

Grand Total: $929.63

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Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
- $74.99

Monitor: LG W1943TB-PF Black 18.5" 5ms GTG 16:9 Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 30000:1 w/ HDCP Support
- $129.99

Grand Total: $1,153.57

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Prices include shipping (because there is none) and tax.
Separated by optional parts, which send me over my budget.

Still need CD/DVD-RW drives to add to the optional section.

I guess I can always make the computer and upgrade the monitor / hard drive later.