Build for a Friend

S

Steve-O-

New member
Hey guys need a bit of advice from ya. I'm building a rig for a friend and want some feedback. His budget is $1400 at the high end but would like to save him some money if possible. Right now with a full build we are at $1359.91. Please take a look at my list and let me know if there are equivalent hardware for cheaper. Thanks!

Motherboard: EVGA P55 SLi (I think we could go cheaper and better than this) $199 (It has a rebate but it's mail in which makes it $169.99 so something cheaper would be preferable)

CPU: Intel 15 760 (I will OC this) $199

GPU: 2x NV 460's (I haven't decided which brand. The new MSI Hawks are attractive but I might want some that blow out the back instead. Suggs welcome) $479.98

RAM: 4GB Mushkin Blackline @1600 $89.99

PSU: Corsair 850HX $189.99 without rebate (Do you think we could go to a 750w? Or is there a cheaper almost as good alt?)

Case: CM 690 II $79.99 with $10 instant rebate

HS: NH-D14 of course
tongue.gif
$89.99

HDD is a WD Caviar Black 1TB. It's kinda redundant on the speed and efficiency factor. All he does is play games basically on this computer. I have one and can't complain on loading times.

Thanks everyone for your help. If we can figure out how to save him a little extra money that will be awesome!
 
I know if we go with the 768 cards instead of 1GB it will make things cheaper. But how much would that hurt performance?
 
the 1gb cards have a bigger mem bus so it is faster in gameing

i would get the xigmatek utgard over the advance 2,evga mobos suck so that needs a rethink

asus make some noice ones for the i5 range

also the sammy f3 is faster than the WD drive

PSU is fine (that the modualer one right)

also i dont no about the hawk i have used the gainward brand and i am now using the asus one,the asus kicks ass and it would be my top choice
 
as above f3 is faster then wd and i would suggest a gigabyte or asus board maybe one that has usb 3 and sata 3?
 
Why would you go for the UTGard over the CM case? I have the first version of the CM690 and I always have great temps. Does the UT have more behind-the-mobo space for wires?

Like I said before the HDD is not that important.

Yes the PSU is the modular one.

Would it better to save some money and get the non-OC'ed Asus GPU and OC it or get the factory OC'ed GPU?

EDIT: Asus seems to make you choose between Sata 6gbps and 1 PCI-e 16x or 2x 16x PCI-e (8x x 8x with two cards) with SATA 3gbps. WTF.
 
i have the first gen dominator aswell and i hate it,awful temps,the utgard is the best case for £100,awsome airflow awsome build quality and is a overall awsome case fella

the asus 1gb is not overclocked anyway but check my sig so you can see what its capable of and its at stock volts

8x/8x shouldent cause a massive issue wheng gaming it will not be noticable

this one has full x16 and usb3 sata6 but i think its over dudget

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus...(x16)-DDR3-1333-1600-2200-SATA-6Gb-s-RAID-ATX
 
Steve-O- said:
Motherboard: EVGA P55 SLi (I think we could go cheaper and better than this) $199 (It has a rebate but it's mail in which makes it $169.99 so something cheaper would be preferable)
Click to expand...

No. No no no no no. I know Americans like EVGA but they aren't good boards. Not only that but EVGA themselves absolutely and utterly suck as a company. I have ended up with a turkey of a board (rev A 680i that didn't go on to support 45nm quads) and my mate with his 790i.

I would also be VERY worried about their future given recent events. You don't want to end up with a turkey, go Asus.

Steve-O- said:
CPU: Intel 15 760 (I will OC this) $199
Click to expand...

If you're dead set against the 1055t then yeah, would be fine
smile.gif


Steve-O- said:
GPU: 2x NV 460's (I haven't decided which brand. The new MSI Hawks are attractive but I might want some that blow out the back instead. Suggs welcome) $479.98
Click to expand...

Just again, stay away from EVGA. There's a reason why they have dropped that board in price. They probably know something you don't. Also whilst people are saying that the 1gb are faster in games (and are right) SLI 460 is SO FAST even on 768mb that you would never notice the difference. So, if you're SLI-ing them purely for gaming reasons go with the cheapest half decent ones you can get your hands on.

If you or your friend don't care about money then by all means get a pair of 1gb. However personally I feel he would be better off getting two of

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127519

And a small SSD.

Steve-O- said:
RAM: 4GB Mushkin Blackline @1600 $89.99

PSU: Corsair 850HX $189.99 without rebate (Do you think we could go to a 750w? Or is there a cheaper almost as good alt?)

Case: CM 690 II $79.99 with $10 instant rebate

HS: NH-D14 of course
tongue.gif
$89.99
Click to expand...

Ram seems good. Case is down to personal choice really. I don't do this whole anal "wow this case offers another few CFM over that one". It's all BS. Just get something he can be happy sitting next to with some fans in. It's not like this PC is going to be screaming top end. PSU? get the best one you can afford. I cannot emphasise just how important THAT part is. Brand doesn't mean squat. Yes Corsair make fantastic PSUs but it's what is on the inside that counts, because if it goes wrong you are risking all of your money. It's always made me laugh how people spend loads of money on a PC and then get a crappy psu to power it all. And then, quelle surprise it goes bang taking half of the PC with it.

Not much argument over cooler really. The NH14 is the best air cooler on the market
smile.gif


Steve-O- said:
HDD is a WD Caviar Black 1TB. It's kinda redundant on the speed and efficiency factor. All he does is play games basically on this computer. I have one and can't complain on loading times.

Thanks everyone for your help. If we can figure out how to save him a little extra money that will be awesome!
Click to expand...

The F3 may well be faster but you wouldn't notice the difference in use. In benchmarks? sure, but you would be a right pleb to base a system around benchmarks. Dual 1gb 460s for example in gaming would seem no different AT ALL to dual 768mb. I absolutely assure you of that. And by the time those 768mb cards start to slow they will be woefully out of date. Gaming 'jumps' are not small. When game engines change there is absolutely no chance of say, the 768mb being no good but the 1gb ones cutting it.
 
What resolution is he planning on running? If it's less than 1920x1200/1080, I would just go with the 768MB if it'll save sufficient money.

In regards to power, I'm not quite up to date on current graphics cards in that respect, but I do remember a year or two ago everyone vastly overestimated what was needed. I personally think you'd be fine dropping down to 750W or even possibly lower (though of course make sure it's a quality unit), but if someone else more knowledgeable says otherwise I'd probably take their word over mine.

Motherboard, I have the MSI P55-GD65 and I'm pretty happy with it. It does, however, lack a BIOS beep speaker (has the pin out for one though), which threw me off for a bit when I first did my build.
 
my crossfire 5770 eat games. Any games, even at 1920x1080. And, I am running them @ 8x PCIE with 3gb of DDR2 800.

PC snobbery may well be fun but it's expensive. I have no plans now or any time within the next two years to replace anything I have. I am going to pool it to make it even better (16x crossfire for example with a 240 for physx) but that's it. The 460 in SLI even with the 768mb will still come close to a 480, and a 480 is complete overkill
laugh.gif


It's like I said, by the time the 768mb cards are out of date so will the 1gb cards.
 
For the most part I agree. If it saved me $20 or more I'd likely go with the 768MB regardless, unless it seriously made a difference (which with SLI, I don't think it really does). All about the value for me. I'm still sitting on a pair of 9600GT's that I got 2 years ago cheap. I was just putting out the generally accepted suggestion <shrugs>
 
I absolutely agree dude
smile.gif


I suppose it's easier to spend some one elses money and I'm a bit of a tight ass
biggrin.gif


I mean Steve has allocated $479.98 for the cards, but you can get those twin frozrs (and they are the bees knees) for $360, leaving just about enough for a 40gb Intel ssd
biggrin.gif
 
On another note, if you're ordering tonight and are a Newegg email subscriber, use code EMCYTZT162 to get $29 off the i5 760, ends tonight at midnight.

And yes, if you can fit an SSD into the budget, they are sexy
biggrin.gif
 
Okay so if we got the AMD route how am I going to get SLi to work? I've never messed with it personally. 2x5850's are going to be more expensive so I would like to keep him with the 460s.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I know he told me $1400 but I wanted to save him a little bit of money. He was going to buy a pre-made system from a company I won't name and just knew I could do better. Plus I will OC the hell out of the system for more bang for the buck plus some super spiffy wire management.
smile.gif
 
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