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Discussion Need some help with my first build

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Mr Jesus

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Hello all,

Im building my first computer, and frankly have no idea what I'm doing. I put something together, but I was just kinda winging it.

Anyway, the most complex thing I will probably be doing on this computer is gaming, and I already have the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

What I need help on is:
1) Lowering the price
2) Making sure the components I picked aren't complete crap.
Any and all suggestions welcome.

Here are the specs: (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8LyX)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99)

CPU Cooler: Logisys IC207 40.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($16.74)

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LE ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($132.99)

Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($40.99)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB Video Card ($124.99)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99)

Power Supply: CoolMax 600W ATX12V Power Supply ($48.49)

Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($96.48)

Total as predicted by the above website: $791.64 (after mail-in rebates)
I was hoping on getting the price closer to the $650-750 range. (If someone can come up with a way to make it lower than that price range without sacrificing too much performance, that would be cool too.)

Also, I noticed in some of the reviews for some products that there seems to be an issue with getting the mail in rebates. Can anyone elaborate more on that?


Many thanks.
 
InfectHead

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Remove the CPU cooler. It's pretty poor, and you won't need it for an i5-2400 which can only be overclocked by around 100Mhz.

Change the motherboard to this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-p8z77vlk. It's only $5 more than your current one, but is newer with much better features.

The PSU you have is pretty bad. Not only does the amperage on the 12V rails suck, CoolMax is not a reputable brand. I recommend this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu600cxv2. It's a higher price, but it's better to get a good PS rather than some cheap crap.

Change the CPU from an i5-2400 to an i3-2100. Since you said you're going to be doing mainly gaming, you don't need the extra 2 real cores. Not only that, but the two have similar overall gaming performance (barely noticeable). The i3-2100 will also beat most AMD CPU's in gaming, which makes it the obvious choice. It'll also save you at least $60. Check out these benchmarks listed by Tomshardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-10.html

The rest looks good, the above will bring your total to around $735. I recommend spending an extra $40 and picking up an HD 6870. It will dramatically improve performance for such a low price increase. The GTX 460 is fine though if you don't want to go higher than $750 (but I recommend it :tongue:).
 
Mr Jesus

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Thank you. Ive made the adjustments and brought the post rebate price down to $733.52.

I have another question however. For the Radeon HD 6870 video card, is there any significant difference among the manufactures of the card (Asus, Gigabyte, sapphire, etc)? And if so, which manufacturer would you suggest?
 
Mr Jesus

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How good of a gaming computer do you think it will and up being, after your suggestions put in? I know its not gonna be a great gaming computer, but on a scale of 1-10, 1 being crap, 10 being good.
 
V

ViBe VeNoM

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Drop the Windows 7. You could easily find it "elsewhere" for a "cheaper" price. -wink wink- :wink:
 
InfectHead

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It'll definitely be a solid system for gaming. You will get > 30fps on BF3 @ Ultra 1920x1200 which is great. Plus you can always add another 6870 for CrossfireX, and upgrade the CPU to a newer Ivy Bridge model if need be.
 
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