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03-28-2011, 06:59 AM
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Potential PC build--need advice...
I spent the past two days looking HARD at what it might cost me to purchase parts on my own, and then have a friend help me put it together.
Please feel free to look over the following information, and if you detect any systemic bottlenecks, or where I could get the listed part for less, or if there's a part that's likely to be defective, don't hesitate to let me know. Most of the following prices expire on Mar. 31. Also, if someone could help me figure out with greater accuracy how large a Power Supply Unit I would need for this system. I think that I would need to go with a 600 W unit. If that seems a little high, it's because I've been told to "add 100 W" to whatever the initial estimate is, because it's far better to go with a larger figure than a smaller one. MOTHERBOARD ------------------- ASRock Socket AM3/AMD 870/Hybrid CrossFireX/SATA3&USB 3.0/A&GbE/ATX Motherboard 870 Extreme3 $89.99 ------$13.99 for 3 yr. warranty http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-870-Cro...1251187&sr=1-1 ============================ PROCESSOR --------- AMD Phenom II X4 840 Edition Deneb 3.2 GHz 4x512 KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail HDX840WFGMBOX (Black) $109.99 -------no warranty desired ---Buy with Corsair RAM & save $25 (see below) http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Phenom-Soc...1251822&sr=1-1 ============================ RAM --- Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 $99.99 -------no warranty desired ---Buy with AMD Phenom II X4 480 and save $25 (see above) http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengea...WB9Y9WSYMG8RG0 ============================ GRAPHICS CARD ------------- EVGA 01G-P3-1467-AR GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) Superclocked 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $179.99 after mail-in rebate card -------no warranty desired as it has a LIFETIME warranty by default ---Size & power concerns: Width: 9.5" Height: 4.376" Minimum of a 550 Watt power supply. (Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 38 Amps.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-557-_-Product ============================ HEATSINK (unnecessary?) -------- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1 $29.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B002G1YPH0 ============================ HARD DRIVE ---------- OCZ Technology Vertex 2 Series 90 GB SATA II 3.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSD3-2VTX90G $169.99 NOTE: Drives should be shipped with the latest firmware but make sure you double check. Upgrading the firmware of the drive is not supposed to cause any data loss however it is possible. The best thing to do if your planning to upgrade would be to install the drive as a secondary drive, use the OCZ utility to upgrade the firmware, and then (re)install the operating system and move everything over to the new drive. http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology...5&sr=1-1-fkmr1 QUESTIONS: Why isn't there an option to purchase the 3 year warranty through Amazon.com? If purchased through Newegg.com, then... $169.99 -------$19.99 one year extended warranty. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...1#SnetMark_120 *****ALTERNATE HARD DRIVE***** - - - - - - - - - - - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $39.99 ------$11.99 with 2 year extended warrranty ---do NOT buy from Amazon.com as they're having SERIOUS issues with how they ship their hard drives! NOTE: It not only has no instructions or software, it also does not have a connector cable, an IDE four-pin to SATA power adapter, or mounting screws. A jumper has to be setup when utilizing this hard drive with Windows XP. * The jumper must be installed prior to drive installation and partitioning. * After partitioning the jumper must not be removed. See here for more information! http://www.wdc.com/global/products/f...d=7&language=1 ============================ CD/DVD DRIVE ------------- Asus 24x DVD±RW Drive DVD-RAM/±R/±RW 24x 8x 16x (DVD) 48x 32x 48x (CD) Serial ATA Internal OEM DRW-24B1ST (Black) $19.99 ------$7.99 warranty for two year including accidents http://www.amazon.com/Asus-DVD%C2%B1...1272510&sr=1-1 ============================ SOUND CARD ----------- ASUS XONAR_DG 5.1 Channels PCI Interface Xonar DG Sound Card $19.99 after mail-in rebate card 2.99 shipping and handling http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3067296&SID= ============================ SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $74.99 9.65 shipping and handling http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3067296&SID= Need 600 W supply? OCZ ModXStream Pro Power Supply (600 W) $68.94 6.95 shipping and handling http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-ModXStream...p_ob_e_title_1 I'm debating if even the heatsink is necessary, but it's important that I build a system that's going to LAST for five years or more. Few things are harder on a computer than heat, so... Some might wonder why I'm going with a Solid State Drive rather than a typical hard drive. The reason for that is pretty simple: our computer is centrally located in our home, out in the open. It's important to my wife and I that our two little children see that "computer time" is "public time." What we do can be scrutinized by all. That said, these two little kids are bumping into things all of the time, including our desktop's tower. Having a SSD will make it far less likely that a bump will ruin it. Plus, I want my programs to load up super-fast. I'm in the process of getting a (hopefully very low) estimate on purchasing Windows 7, and it's my understanding that SSD's work very well with the new OS. Again, any timely input on this would be highly valued. I had wanted to not exceed $500, but I'm over that amount by about $240. Roughly $40 of that could be eliminated by getting rid of the warranties that I would like to have to cover my butt. Yet, if there are any warranties that I've listed that you feel would be highly unnecessary to have on an item, let me know about that as well. Thank you! Kyle Mar. 28, 2011 
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