Building a new PC

[OccamR]

So having entered college with just a netbook last year, I've been itching to get a computer after seeing everyone but me playing starcraft 2. This summer I've finally scrounged up the money and the time to build mine!

This gaming/general use PC should cost around 1500, as I don't have any peripherals included. I live in Illinois and have a Fry's nearby. I don't have any preferences, except toward future-proofing, and I'll only OC when my system isn't getting the job done performance-wise.

Case: Antec P183
MB: GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3
CPU: i5 750
Ram: 4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2311H (1920*1080)
Video: ATI 5830
HDD : Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite
Mouse: Already Own
Disk Reader: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA
Power: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 700W
Headphones:Sennheiser HD555

Reasoning:
This build was influenced heavily by Anandtech's 1700 build two weeks ago.
Case: My case choice was based on how the P183 looked, and not on any airflow/noise determinants. I just like PC doors. ^_^
MB: The motherboard was one of the cheapest 1156 boards I could find that also supported USB 3.0, and it is rated fairly well. The fact that there is no SLI or Crossfire support is moot, as I don't plan on it anytime soon.
CPU: Almost everything I've read tells me to go i5 at this time, and I don't see any reason not to.
RAM: Taken directly out of AT's system buyer's guide article, I've read that there no reason currently to go past 4 GB for gaming and that different timings, in the end, don't have much effect on performance.
Monitor: Dell's got some great deals floating around, and I thought this would be a great time to pick up my first IPS for a decent $240. Don't have much to say here, it's dell and apparently they're known for good monitors.
Video card: Originally I planned on getting a 5770, but after seeing Tom's charts I realized I wanted a bit more performance at 1080p. I also plan on buying another, smaller monitor over the summer so that extra performance can help me read AT's forums while I pwn in TF2.
HDD : I wanted the harddrive with the best dollar per GB ratio, and this one was it. I probably will never use the entire thing, but damn what a great value!
Power Supply: A modular supply is important to me, but after wanting the Corsair TX/HX series, my thinking is that I can shave off a couple dollars by buying this one at the $90 price point.

The particular questions I have are:
1. I have no clue whether or not I should be getting a 5830 or sticking with the 5770. I want the extra performance, but is it too little for $~80? I am going to be getting another monitor later this summer.
2. Dell's got the 23' U2311 for 240 and the 24' ST2410 for 190. I know it's because the U2311 is an e-IPS, so my question is whether or not it's worth it when I'm downgrading by an inch. Keep in mind I'm only going to be gaming/interneting.
3. SSD? I don't really care about load times and all that jazz but I've read so many good things about them. Have they matured enough?

Thanks for responding, I'm planning on biting the bullet this week!

Edit: Oh I already have windows 7, university engineering program ftw!

[Darkpriest667]

This is something ive noticed.. not just with you but many people.


People will buy amds. (like me) and then buy an nvidia card... or buy an intel (like you) and buy an ATI card.


look we all have our preferences no doubts... but the next time i buy an AMD im buying an ATI because duh AMD owns them.. I dont know how big of a difference it makes but it should be interesting to see.


I priced out an AMD 6 core cpu with a similar ati graphics card that you are looking at and it priced out at about 1200 on new egg. i like the G skill ram ... its really good stuff.. I think most other things are preference GPU CPU HD optical drive.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Case: My case choice was based on how the P183 looked, and not on any airflow/noise determinants. I just like PC doors. ^_^

That is only a mid-tower case. For $150 that isn't the greatest use of your money. If you only want a mid-tower case there are lots of options that cost less allowing you to put more money into your GPU. You're saving $100 total and still getting the same size case and a window. My friend has it, looks great. There are plenty of other great choices that cost under $100.

I have a full tower Antec 1200 on my gaming PC.

MB: The motherboard was one of the cheapest 1156 boards I could find that also supported USB 3.0, and it is rated fairly well. The fact that there is no SLI or Crossfire support is moot, as I don't plan on it anytime soon.

Good choice.

CPU: Almost everything I've read tells me to go i5 at this time, and I don't see any reason not to.

Great CPU.

RAM: Taken directly out of AT's system buyer's guide article, I've read that there no reason currently to go past 4 GB for gaming and that different timings, in the end, don't have much effect on performance.

I have 6GB of RAM and I've never had more then 3.5 GB in use at any one time so 4GB is a good choice. G.SKILL rocks, can't go wrong with their RAM.

Monitor: Dell's got some great deals floating around, and I thought this would be a great time to pick up my first IPS for a decent $240. Don't have much to say here, it's dell and apparently they're known for good monitors.

I don't use Dell monitors but they are high-quality so that's a good choice.

Video card: Originally I planned on getting a 5770, but after seeing Tom's charts I realized I wanted a bit more performance at 1080p. I also plan on buying another, smaller monitor over the summer so that extra performance can help me read AT's forums while I pwn in TF2.

Either get a 5770 or a 5850, the 5830 is a joke. I'd highly recommend just spending $300 on a 5850 and be done with it. You would have no need to upgrade your GPU for a long time then.

HDD : I wanted the harddrive with the best dollar per GB ratio, and this one was it. I probably will never use the entire thing, but damn what a great value!

If you really need that much storage the ya, great drive.

Power Supply: A modular supply is important to me, but after wanting the Corsair TX/HX series, my thinking is that I can shave off a couple dollars by buying this one at the $90 price point.

You definitely don't want to get that PSU for several reasons. It has only two PCI-E plugs so it won't work for crossfire, for a single GPU system you only need 550watts, a 700 watt PSU gains you nothing.

With your i5 750 you can get a Newegg combo deal on an OCZ 600 watt modular power supply which will save you a lot of money and still give you a modular PSU. $75 for the PSU - $20 combo discount - $20 MIR = $35 for a high-quality modular PSU. Can't go wrong with that.


1. I have no clue whether or not I should be getting a 5830 or sticking with the 5770. I want the extra performance, but is it too little for $~80? I am going to be getting another monitor later this summer.

As I addressed above you should really just get a 5850 and with the money you'd save on the PSU that I recommended you would be able to get it without increasing your total build price.

On my "Internet computer" (I have 5 different computers so I name them ) I have a 28" and 25.5" monitors running off a 4770. It doesn't take a better GPU to run multiple monitors. It's not like you can play a game on two monitors (eyefinity requires 3)

2. Dell's got the 23' U2311 for 240 and the 24' ST2410 for 190. I know it's because the U2311 is an e-IPS, so my question is whether or not it's worth it when I'm downgrading by an inch. Keep in mind I'm only going to be gaming/interneting.

With screens it's pretty much just get the biggest screen you can afford, totally up to you.

My first screen was a 22", then I upgraded to a 25.5", then I got a 28"... I just bought a 40" a few weeks ago now I think I'm done upgrading screens now

3. SSD? I don't really care about load times and all that jazz but I've read so many good things about them. Have they matured enough?

They work great... I'd wait till the prices come down though, $120 for a 60GB drive is asking a lot.



With a quad core CPU and a 5850 your build should last you 3-4 years before you'd have any reason to upgrade IMO.

[Wheelchair]

Yeah... Don't get the 5830 lol it's a terribly priced card that should be around $280 not $240...

5850 or 5770.

[OccamR]

Yeah... Don't get the 5830 lol it's a terribly priced card that should be around $280 not $240...

5850 or 5770.

The problem is that both cards are outside my price range. I want a card with more performance to get more than 50 FPS at 1920*1080, yet I don't want it to be more than ~200 dollars. Looking at Tom's charts, I saw Dragon Age wasn't up where I wanted to be, so naturally I settled on the 5830.

Also, what about this 5830 card? It's 215 dollars with rebate.

Thanks for the feedback Chaob. Definitely appreciated, especially the part on getting a cheaper/less wattage power supply. Now just to figure out which one.

[Big Boss]

IPS is great, but for gaming and internet use, the larger screen + TN would probably work better. TN panels, when made well, are absolutely fine for gaming, its only when you do graphic design that you would really need an IPS.

[OccamR]

IPS is great, but for gaming and internet use, the larger screen + TN would probably work better. TN panels, when made well, are absolutely fine for gaming, its only when you do graphic design that you would really need an IPS.

If I could ask, what kind of monitor do you have?

[mrmouth]

I have the 22" version of that monitor, that kind of started the whole affordable IPS craze. While PQ and color accuracy is outstanding, it is lacking a bit in gaming performance. You can easily live with it, and I'm a huge fan of Dell monitors, but if I were buying right now, this is what I would buy--Samsung

In terms of ergonomic features, it lacks big time, where as the Dell does just about everything in that respect. And the base with the Dell is the best Ive ever seen, solid as can be. Before you pop the panel on, you could demo your house with the thing. It has every ergonomic feature imaginable. But for me, it is overkill. I mean it really is a monitor with graphics design in mind.

Cnet apprently has some issues with it's "lower maximum brightness level", which I cannot even begin to understand. Anyone who calibrates their displays is wishing that you could set brightness lower than is ever allowed. Most times, you are going to be looking to set brightness at very low levels, under 20. Or even 0 sometimes. I have my Dell calibrated using a Spyder3, and brightness is at 12. So I just cannot understand why brightness is an issue, unless they are simply assuming that most people think bright is good, and wont be calibrating their monitor, i dont know. But dont worry about that. The Samsung is a great monitor.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Cnet apprently has some issues with it's "lower maximum brightness level", which I cannot even begin to understand. Anyone who calibrates their displays is wishing that you could set brightness lower than is ever allowed. But dont worry about that. The Samsung is a great monitor.

No, Cnet is right. I have a Samsung T260 and I have to crank it up to 100% brightness just to match my Hanns G monitor at 10% brightness. It's sad. The picture itself looks great though.

I'd recommend this monitor though. ASUS 22" LED backlit LCD monitor with an amazing 2ms response time (perfect for gaming) Extremely thin, uses less than 30watts to power it and the image quality is on par with Samsung. Can't beat it for the price considering it's LED. I have a 23.6" similar model.

[mrmouth]

That is surprising. But from what I have read in calibrations threads, it isn't as issue if you are going to calibrate it. Of course, most people are not, and I dont blame them. People who go down the road of calibration, and blow $300 on tools to do so, can never find a monitor with a low enough brightness level. I haven't come across one yet.

With my Dell, if I go to 0, I cannot get the accuracy I can at 12. And that is the issue with monitors today. They dont get dark enough. It is just a matter of accuracy. And there is always an issue with a touch of inaccuracy due to the high brightness levels in most monitors. It is just like TV's sold in stores, where they have demo modes that will scorch your retina's, or the staff crank up the brightness on their own, because people dont know better.

Most times it is better to be blissfully unaware, otherwise you spend more time tinkering, then enjoying your purchase.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Most times it is better to be blissfully unaware, otherwise you spend more time tinkering, then enjoying your purchase.

I find it interesting, I bought a DLP HDTV a couple years ago and that thing has excellent color accuracy out of the box, bought a 40" Sharp LCD this year and after a few weeks I still havn't got the colors looking quite right (mostly due to the limitless setting adjustments) sigh

[luciferleigh]

have to agree with chaob on the case argument, dropping to a lower costing case like a antec 300 should free enough money to get you a 5850, now that the regular 300 is at $50 and the illusion costs $60 and both get a free shipping promo code

and about the video cards, based on the toms charts you linked, the 5830 is about 10 fps (+/-) above the 5770, while in turn the 5850 is almost 20 fps better than the 5830, so if youd have to move up from the 5770, id personally say that the 5850 would be the better choice, and a step up that youd actually "feel"

[OccamR]

UPDATE!!

So I've decided to change my build up

Case: Antec P183
MB: EVGA P55 FTW
CPU: i5 750
Ram: 4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws / Whatever good deals are available
Monitor: ???
Video: ATI 5770
HDD : Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB
Keyboard: Logitech Wave
Disk Reader: LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS50
Power: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W

I went to Fry's to check out their combo deals, and I see this i5/EVGA deal. What does TW Basement think? Good bang for buck?

I know everyone wants me to change to a cheaper case, but I really am in love with the P183. I got a chance to play with it, and it really felt like a case would want for my PC.

Also, thinking about Big Boss's comment, I may not want an IPS monitor. While color accuracy and is great and all, while perusing around at Fry's monitor section, I realized that I really didn't care whether or not the reds or greens I was looking at were 'true' colors.
What I want is a monitor that has great picture quality and really allows the visuals to POP (even if it is oversaturated). Any suggestions for a guy that wants one for only gaming/movies/internet?

Thanks for everyone who's answered so far, this discussion is really helping!

[mrmouth]

Just mentioned Fry's in another thread...

Monitors are the only thing that I would almost as a rule, buy in store. From experience, Dell is the only chance I will take. A place like Fry's, or even Best Buy, are great because prices are always competitive on monitors, and you can keep returning them until you get a monitor that is free of defects. Which these days, is like finding a needle in a hay stack.

I still have to go with the Samsung above, or even it's younger brother which has 'better' brightness: http://www.frys.com/product/6041548?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Both of the Samsung's are on par with monitors that are $500+, and are $290 and $320 respectively. I think it is a no-brainer.

http://reviews.cnet.com/monitors/?tag=hdr;snav