cognosco33
Solid State Member
- Messages
- 10
I'm building a new PC in a week or two. The primary use will be office and mulitmedia (i.e. watching and recording movies and TV), but since I'm building it, I'd also like the option of playing games without them looking like crap.
My budget is around $1000 up to $1400, but cheaper is always better (I'm a graduate student -- times are tough).
I've been on newegg, and it seems that the price/benefit of buying an i7 instead of a dual core set-up just isn't worth it for me. Is there any reason why I can't accomplish my goals with a dual core around 3.0 Ghz, 8 GB RAM, and a $160 video card? I already have Vista x64 prepared for the install, so I might as well buy the 8 GB RAM since it's cheap as **** right now.
Second question: what advice do you have as far as monitors go? I want HD resolution at a minimum, so I'm considering 1900x1200 native resolution. Also, the rig will be housed in my bedroom, so I don't need a 30 inch screen. However, 22-24 inches would be ideal. Is there any reason to spend $300-$400 on a Samsung when there are comparable monitors for cheaper?
Finally: My proposed build is below. Do you have any advice on how I can save money without sacrificing quality here? If not, how would you rate the build overall? Any concerns or areas for improvement? Thanks for your help!!
Be brutally honest!
Monitor -- Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support - Retail
Price: $340 after $20 savings
Case -- XCLIO A380BK Fully Black High Gloss Finish SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Price $109 (After $20 savings)
Power Supply -- CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Price -- $100 after $60 savings
Motherboard -- GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Price: $137
CPU -- Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
Price: $188
Memory (x 2) -- G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail
Price: $100 for 8 GB
Video Card -- EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Price: $160
Hard Drive -- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Price: $75
DVD/CD-ROM -- LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L - Retail
Price: $120 after $15.00 savings
Speakers -- Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 2-way Speakers - Retail
Price: $46
Keyboard and Mouse -- Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black USB Ergonomics Keyboard and Mouse - OEM
Price: $22
Mousepad -- XTRAC Ripper Optical Mouse pad - Retail
Price: $14
OS -- Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
Price: $0 (Already own)
Total Price $1412
My budget is around $1000 up to $1400, but cheaper is always better (I'm a graduate student -- times are tough).
I've been on newegg, and it seems that the price/benefit of buying an i7 instead of a dual core set-up just isn't worth it for me. Is there any reason why I can't accomplish my goals with a dual core around 3.0 Ghz, 8 GB RAM, and a $160 video card? I already have Vista x64 prepared for the install, so I might as well buy the 8 GB RAM since it's cheap as **** right now.
Second question: what advice do you have as far as monitors go? I want HD resolution at a minimum, so I'm considering 1900x1200 native resolution. Also, the rig will be housed in my bedroom, so I don't need a 30 inch screen. However, 22-24 inches would be ideal. Is there any reason to spend $300-$400 on a Samsung when there are comparable monitors for cheaper?
Finally: My proposed build is below. Do you have any advice on how I can save money without sacrificing quality here? If not, how would you rate the build overall? Any concerns or areas for improvement? Thanks for your help!!
Be brutally honest!
Monitor -- Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support - Retail
Price: $340 after $20 savings
Case -- XCLIO A380BK Fully Black High Gloss Finish SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Price $109 (After $20 savings)
Power Supply -- CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Price -- $100 after $60 savings
Motherboard -- GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Price: $137
CPU -- Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
Price: $188
Memory (x 2) -- G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail
Price: $100 for 8 GB
Video Card -- EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Price: $160
Hard Drive -- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Price: $75
DVD/CD-ROM -- LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L - Retail
Price: $120 after $15.00 savings
Speakers -- Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 2-way Speakers - Retail
Price: $46
Keyboard and Mouse -- Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black USB Ergonomics Keyboard and Mouse - OEM
Price: $22
Mousepad -- XTRAC Ripper Optical Mouse pad - Retail
Price: $14
OS -- Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
Price: $0 (Already own)
Total Price $1412