another "critique my build" thread

Comments

• jdnewell Member UncommonPosts: 2,237

  July 2013

  I might drop the HDD or go down to a 7870 on the video card for a bigger better SSD. A 64g SSD will work to put an OS on with a little room left over.

  I would try to squeeze in a 120g SSD instead.

  You really dont need 1866 RAM. 1600 would do just fine as you are not using integrated graphics. If the price is the same then might as well get the 1866, but you should be able to save a little money going with 1600.

  And dont forget to add on OS in the price. Which will add around $100 bucks. Do your buddy a solid and get him a legit OS and not a pirated one. He will thank you later for that $100 will be well spent.

  If he can go a tad over $1k then you can bump him up to a 120g SSD and should be good to go. You did not add an after market cpu cooler either. May  not matter if he does  not plan on overclocking.

   

  Edit:

  If your going to spend $90 on a power supply get something alot better than what you linked.

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182071

  I would take a gold rated 650w over a bronze rated 750w any day of the week. especially for the same price. Bigger numbers on the side do not equal a better psu.

  Here is a link for a good cpu cooler that is cheap

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065   $24

  Here is a 120g SSD for $110

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188

   

  Getting a better PSU, a bigger SSD, CPU cooler and an OS will bring you to just over $1k , around $1020 roughly.

   
• 77lolmac77 Member UncommonPosts: 492

  July 2013

  I am going with a 7950 because it is far better for mining then the 7870. I didnt really think abojt the cpu cooler, I will probably do what you said about thd memory and allocate that to an aftermarket cooler.
  
  Note, just because I said I could build one for under 1k dollars doesnt mean he is trying to spend that much, that is just the MAXIMUM I have to spend

  also, after using modular power supplies I will never buy a non-modular one again short of for an office PC

   
• Ridelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

  July 2013

  Unless your absolutely wed to AMD, you may want to consider downgrading the video card a tier, and bumping up to a Intel motherboard/processor.

  A i5 4670k (with a Z87 motherboard)or i5 3570k (with a Z77 motherboard) would cost about $120ish more than the AMD CPU/Motherboard, but cut down from the 7950 (~$300 card) to a tier down ($250ish card - nV 760 or such), that recoups some of the cost, and still be able to stay inside your budget. You won't notice the loss of GPU power on single monitor setups, and you'll get a good bit bit better CPU performance.

  And I agree with the 120G SSD - 64G will work, but you won't have much space after Windows. Going up to 120G won't be double that price, you can probably find a suitable one for around $100-$120 total.
• Quizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

  July 2013

  Save money with a combo deal on two exact parts that you already picked out:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1384441

  Since you're not feeding integrated graphics, you really don't need 1866 MHz memory, and could save a lot by going with 1600 MHz memory instead.  For you, the performance difference will basically be a rounding error:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313345

  You can get a typically faster video card for a lot cheaper:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130938

  Or even if you're dead set on AMD, which isn't as good of a value for gaming in your price range, you can still get a cheaper 7950--and clocked higher, too:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026

  If you're going to use it for heavy bitcoin mining (which I'm guessing is what you meant by "mining"), then that's one reason to go stick with AMD, though that's a niche that most people shouldn't care about.

  A sensible wattage version of a higher end power supply will be better in every way that matters than a high wattage version of a budget power supply:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182068

  And then with all the money you've saved, you can get a bigger SSD.

  Also, I'd be wary of putting a Radeon HD 7950 into a $45 case.  It might be fine, it might cause overheating problems, or it might not even physically fit.  New Egg is suddenly being slow for me, so I can't investigate more.
• Quizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

  July 2013

  Doubling your SSD capacity doesn't have to add much to the price tag:

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171740
• 77lolmac77 Member UncommonPosts: 492

  July 2013

  thanks for the responses guys, and Quizzical I was looking at some different cases and I think im going to go with an Antec 300 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042)

   

  as far as the PSU goes, I will probably just go with the HX650 instead

   

  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012