Desktop build hardware questions.

[diabloben68]

I haven't built a computer for about 6 years and I do not profess to be a computer wiz. Recently I have wanted to build an affordable gaming comp that will be upgrade-able for the next few years. My goal in building this was to stay close to 500 (not including a monitor).

I was hoping that some of you could look over the hardware I am going to get and critique me (especially the GPU, CPU and motherboard. Let me know of some things I should consider, and also if there is better valued hardware, or better priced hardware than what I have posted.

Your help is greatly appreciated

Here is the list of parts I found on newegg totaling $615.00

1. Case - $50.00
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129066

2. Hard Drive - $100
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

3. CD/DVD Burner - $25
MSI 22X Internal Burner Black IDE Model DH-22AP
Item #: N82E16827100057

4. Motherboard - $90
ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157280

5. GPU/Video Card - $120
HIS H677FN1GD Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #: N82E16814161387

6. Power Supply - $45
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power ...
Item #: N82E16817371033

7. RAM - $45
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231314

8. CPU/Processor $140
AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ970FBGMBOX
Item #: N82E16819103894

Grand total of $615

[emosun]

The motherboard is crap and so is the power supply. Your also spending far to much on the cpu and hdd for this type of build.

We have right at the top of this forum section a sticky with builds already in place.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/foru...ly-448272.html

[gcavan]

The only issue I see is your power supply. The Delta made Earthwatts may carry the system for a while but you really should be looking at a 550 or better.

To refute Emosun:
I've never had trouble with AsRock boards and I would definitely not call them 'crap'. To be honest, I've had much more trouble with Asus boards and their CS than with any other brand.

$140 for a quad CPU is not outlandish. the 955 and 965 are end-of-life and no longer available from many merchants. I'm not sure where you would find a hard drive for under $100 (especially a 1 TB drive) unless you look at re-certs. Compare that to WD black at $200+.

[Tyree]

I would prefer an Asus or Gigabyte Mobo for quality/support.
I would strongly suggest replacing the PSU with a good quality unit with sufficient power to help insure a longer life for your other components.

Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

[emosun]

Originally Posted by gcavan

To refute Emosun:
I've never had trouble with AsRock boards and I would definitely not call them 'crap'. To be honest, I've had much more trouble with Asus boards and their CS than with any other brand.

Well I have , and apparently most other people do as well. Asrock without a doubt wins the "constantly needs bios updates" award and are usually plagued with compatibility and reliability problems.

We cannot recommend cheap hardware just because we got lucky , stick with brands that are more reliable across their entire range.

[diabloben68]

Originally Posted by emosun

The motherboard is crap and so is the power supply. Your also spending far to much on the cpu and hdd for this type of build.

Emosun, I guess there was some kind of natural disaster in thailand and it greatly reduced the supply of HDD's in the market, consequentially the price for HDD's seems to have almost doubled.

As far as spending too much for the CPU, I would rather not do that, but I like the 3.5ghz quad core and I didn't see better options for the same or a similar CPU for cheaper. Any advice on what CPU I should go with?

[diabloben68]

Originally Posted by Tyree

I would prefer an Asus or Gigabyte Mobo for quality/support.
I would strongly suggest replacing the PSU with a good quality unit with sufficient power to help insure a longer life for your other components.

Thanx for the suggestions for PSU's. What is the minimum wattage i should be using for this system? The suggestions you gave me were no less than 620w. Also, do I need to consider anything different with the video card I will be using?

[diabloben68]

I have also decided to go with this video card instead. It is pretty much the same except appears to be clocked a little faster than the other.

HIS IceQ Turbo H677QNT1GD Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Newegg.com - HIS IceQ Turbo H677QNT1GD Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

[Tyree]

Originally Posted by diabloben68

Thanx for the suggestions for PSU's. What is the minimum wattage i should be using for this system? The suggestions you gave me were no less than 620w. Also, do I need to consider anything different with the video card I will be using?

The PSU's I listed are the minimum wattage we suggest for a 6770 GPU.

[emosun]

Originally Posted by diabloben68

Emosun, I guess there was some kind of natural disaster in thailand and it greatly reduced the supply of HDD's in the market, consequentially the price for HDD's seems to have almost doubled.

This I know which is why your spending too much on a hdd , that hdd is actually worth maybe 40$ because of this. I would either buy a cheap drive to hold you over or reused a drive you already have. No reason to spend so much on a drive just to get it a little sooner.

Originally Posted by diabloben68

As far as spending too much for the CPU, I would rather not do that, but I like the 3.5ghz quad core and I didn't see better options for the same or a similar CPU for cheaper. Any advice on what CPU I should go with?

The thing is that phenom 970 isn't much faster then the other phenom x4's in actual practice.

PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End

Now provided you cheapen up the hdd and go with a decent motherboard from a good company and change the power supply to one of the units recommended , then you'll have a decent build.