19 replies to this topic

[Zatren6]

I know this is tech-help...but I figured this would still fit If any of the mods feel this should go under the comp specs thread, please do merge them!

Anyway, I am in the process of building my first computer, and I was wondering who else has built or builds theirs? Perhaps this can be a thread for building tips and advice as well!

Here is my computer, which I am currently building:

Case
DVD Burner
CPU
Motherboard
Graphics Card
Memory
PSU
HDD
Monitor

Sharing is caring!

[Cloud]

Dohohooho... nice computer parts.

I built my own like 3-4 years ago, which is currently sitting downstairs obsolete and collecting dust. Did you buy a copy of Windows?

And dude, seriously. How much did it cost total? That computer case looks sweet.

[BlackLightning]

I Second Cloud on it, can't find anything faulty on it. Well... I'm still skeptical about ASUS motherboard but I heard they are getting better now so I won't judge it there (I still prefer Gigabyte though)

[Zatren6]

Thinking about going for a EVGA motherboard instead though, specifically this one. What do you guys think? I've heard good things about both of them, and Gigabyte is a bit too pricey for me.

ZJ, I'm getting a copy of Win 7 Ultimate x64 through connections

The whole rig is shaping up to be $1,250-1,350.

Edited by Zatren6, 01 August 2010 - 04:33 PM.

[Cloud]

Thinking about going for a EVGA motherboard instead though, specifically this one. What do you guys think? I've heard good things about both of them, and Gigabyte is a bit too pricey for me.

ZJ, I'm getting a copy of Win 7 Ultimate x64 through connections

The whole rig is shaping up to be $1,250-1,350.

My old motherboard is a Gigabyte, but yeah... quite pricey. The ASUS is still my preferred choice for motherboards, and if there any problems... I check the ASUS forums for the latest troubleshooting. Or even some other ASUS sites.

The USB 3.0 would be a nice feature, doesn't look like the EVGA has that though.

Connections, eh, Zatren? And I wish I had that money right now. I'd definitely sink it into some computer parts. Ah well, when I start working. (Mine will be watercooled though)

Get some pictures when you build the whole thing. I want to see how this beast turns out!

[roninmedia]

I bought the 5770 last week for the same price after rebate as it is now before rebate. Good card from Sapphire but the MSI is definitely a quieter one. Both will idle around 40 degrees celsius with the MSI about 10 decibels lower. A 750 watt power supply is a little overkill for the system but allows room for future upgrades. I'm running a Core 2 Quad + 5770 on a 350 watt power supply.

Core i7 Test System
Specs
- Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition (Overclocked @ 3.70GHz)
- x3 2GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 9-9-9-24)
- Asus P6T Deluxe (Intel X58)
- OCZ GameXStream (700 watt)
- Seagate 500GB 7200-RPM (Serial ATA300)
- HIS Radeon HD 5770 (1GB)

This system idles at around 171 watts with a maximum power consumption under Furmark of 284 watts. The DVD drive should add on 20 watts max.



Too bad you don't live near a Microcenter store. The i7-930 is on sale there for $200 but its store pick-up only. Just a heads-up if you can wait that long, but the i7-950 is dropping down to $294 on August 29th, which will knock the i7-930 down everywhere.

Edited by roninmedia, 01 August 2010 - 07:52 PM.

[Zatren6]

My old motherboard is a Gigabyte, but yeah... quite pricey. The ASUS is still my preferred choice for motherboards, and if there any problems... I check the ASUS forums for the latest troubleshooting. Or even some other ASUS sites.

The USB 3.0 would be a nice feature, doesn't look like the EVGA has that though.

Connections, eh, Zatren? And I wish I had that money right now. I'd definitely sink it into some computer parts. Ah well, when I start working. (Mine will be watercooled though)

Get some pictures when you build the whole thing. I want to see how this beast turns out!

Definitely will

And Ronin, that's extremely tempting...Since I'm in FL as well and I'll be heading up north, maybe I can find a Microcenter around...

EDIT: Dammit I assumed there was one near you! Bugger. Well...now I have to make another decision, wait three weeks or just go for it. It's tough! ;_;

Edited by Zatren6, 01 August 2010 - 08:05 PM.

[Paradox Jast]

I had contemplated building the new computer I just got, since I built my last two (kinda two and a half) computers. But I didn't really feel like putting up with the hassle of making sure I got everything with the correct PCI-E slots, correct CPU + mobo configuration, etc...

So I just got mine from the website Ibuypower. Had my new computer for a month now and it runs like a dream. Spent close to $1700 on it, and it should last me for at least the next 5 years, I'm thinking. I did some shopping around, and compared the price of the individual parts on places like newegg and tigerdirect to those I was getting from ibuypower. Turns out that if I had bought the parts and put it all together myself, I would only have saved around fifty bucks. To me, that was worth it to be able to use something right out of the box.

Of course, I bought my computer during a holiday sale and saved about $300, so a word of advice... wait for a big holiday if you can. I got mine during fathers day, which isn't really a BIG holiday, but it helped.


I edited to add, that when building my previous computers, I've experimented around a bit with different parts.

ASUS - great all around products, especially motherboards. My newest computer has a 27" ASUS monitor.
Western Digital - HD's. I have 2 WD HD's, a 1TB 7200 RPM with 64 MB cache, and a 60GB 10000RPM Velociraptor. The 'raptor is about 3 or 4 years old now.
Corsair - I always use them for memory if I can get them.
EVGA, XFX - I'd say XFX makes the best quality graphics cards out there, and EVGA has been very reliable for me in the past as well.

Edited by Paradox Jast, 01 August 2010 - 08:25 PM.

[GoNeKr@zY]

*whistles*
Thats a pretty sweet rig you're building.
While i'm still using a pretty ancient Core2duo (i'm waiting for octacores to become standard before my next upgrade :3) If i were in yer place i might have grabbed a 5850 for myself. Then again the 5770 is pretty much still more powerful than my current 4850 so its all kewl

Gigabyte being expensive. wow. sure is a topsy turvy world sometimes @_@ Its like the cheap goto brand here when you can't afford anythign else.... Asus is ridiculously expensive here in India D=
I myself pretty much buy gigabyte boards coz they're not expensive in comparison to Asus and pretty reliable from personal experience.... :/ my current rigs been running 24/7 for 4 years now without a breakdown.

[Zatren6]

Well I was looking around and I found this...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

Now I'm considering that one too, and its looking good. Also, thanks for the brand tips Paradox!

It seems that the ASUS I had originally picked is better but I'm trying to save a bit of money (I am going into college after all), so I might go with that Gigabyte.

[Cloud]

Mmmmm. That Gigabyte has some sleek sexiness to it.

If you're trying to save money, go with that. Seems to get the job done anyways.

[BlackLightning]

Well I was looking around and I found this...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

Now I'm considering that one too, and its looking good. Also, thanks for the brand tips Paradox!

It seems that the ASUS I had originally picked is better but I'm trying to save a bit of money (I am going into college after all), so I might go with that Gigabyte.

30 Dollars difference, huh? Well, they both are pretty much equal (Though the triple channel DDR3 memory in the Gigabyte does makes me drool for some reason) though if the reviewers to be taken into consideration, the Gigabyte seem quite a hassle (to quote 1 of the reviewer? this 1 isn't for noobs). Though if you're used to making/building your own PC (Or at least have experience tweaking around the inside of your CPU) doesn't look like you gonna have trouble with it.

[roninmedia]

Well I was looking around and I found this...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

Now I'm considering that one too, and its looking good. Also, thanks for the brand tips Paradox!

It seems that the ASUS I had originally picked is better but I'm trying to save a bit of money (I am going into college after all), so I might go with that Gigabyte.

I know builders typically choose cases by type and then looks more than anything else, and I know you love the look of the AZZA case, but have you considered dropping down to a midtower case? Gamers will go for the full towers because of their ventilation because they will have many more components than the average person with multiple hard drives, GPUs, overclocked processors and GPUs.

[Black Rose]

Well, I have helped my cousin build her computer. The only thing that I would change is your motherboard. I think that an ECS or GigaByte is better. =)

[BlackLightning]

I know builders typically choose cases by type and then looks more than anything else, and I know you love the look of the AZZA case, but have you considered dropping down to a midtower case? Gamers will go for the full towers because of their ventilation because they will have many more components than the average person with multiple hard drives, GPUs, overclocked processors and GPUs.

Well, seeing from the components that Zat chose, he was planning to make a Gaming PC as it is. so its not exactly a bad thing to get a full tower for the case, besides, the full tower case does give future improvement and upgrade plan much easier. Midtower is a bit on the difficult side for gamers as we tend to change around the inside quite a lot.

[Zatren6]

Yep, I love the size of the case (it's already arrived). Got it with the increased air flow in mind, and it gives me a lot of room to expand.

[roninmedia]

Mid-tower case was only a option. I've seen Tom's Hardware and others build $2000 gaming rigs equipped with multiple GPUs and the i7-930 in a mid-tower case. Of course they often go with liquid cooling in addition to adding more fans and heatsinks and a GPU cooler.

You've have fun filling all those available expansion bays (Then again, I've seen fellas on tech forums proclaiming about their desktops with 2 optical drives and 6 hard drives).
I've never used the AZZA cases but hopefully no sharp edges.

[Zatren6]

Finally bought the rest of my parts at the expense of my poor wallet. The Sapphire GPU that I was gonna get sold out, so I got the MSI R5770 Hawk instead, which according to one of my very tech savvy friends and many others on various forums was the best brand model of the 5770. Also chose the Asus PX6 and the processor I was planning to get Now I'm broke

[roninmedia]

Good choice on the MSI Hawk. It runs about 10 decibels quieter than the Sapphire and the cooling is better as well. I can hear my Sapphire above my normal case fans.


I wish us poor saps in Florida actually had a Fry's or Microcenter to save money on parts for building. For example, I saw the Intel® Core i7 Processor 930 + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R for $370 at Fry's and the i7-930 by itself for $200.


Take pictures and benchmark it for us.

[Zatren6]

All the parts should be here by Friday. I'll def post pics when its all said and done, and maybe I'll snap some pics of the building process too