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Building a Windows PC?

F

FubsyGamr

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 20, 2010
116
0
Hey guys, I realize that this is a Mac forum, and I am an avid Mac user, but I will be building a gaming PC with my government refund. I wanted to post it here because I really like these forums, and I respect the opinions of *most* of those who frequent these boards, so please, no flaming for using Windows haha.

I'd love your input, to see if there's anything that you'd change.

(Prices are in USD, purchasing from NewEgg.com)

Mobo - ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX - $149.99
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition - $159.99
HSF - CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus - $29.99
RAM - Patriot G series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $104.99
HDD - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM - $69.99
GPU - ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB - $249.99
PSU - Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W - $69.99
Case - CoolerMaster HAF X - $179.99
DVD - Sony Generic One - $19.99
Monitor - Asus 24" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight - $209.99

Total - $1239.90 (budget was ~$1200, so I'm good)

Haha please don't judge me on my case decision. I realize that it is big, and probably too much for what I am building, but I saw one at a local LAN a few months ago, and no case can quite compare with that one, for me, so I'm getting it. :-D

I already have a keyboard and mouse (that I won in a local SC2 tournament), and I am a Computer Major, which means I get Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit, as well. The computer will be used for gaming, as well as some light-weight programming (just for classes).

I chose that monitor because I am also getting an X-Box 360, so this way I can put the computer into DVI, the 360 into HDMI, and my MacBook Pro into the VGA, toggling between them using "input", like a TV.

Thanks for any/all help!
 
Machine looks good. I like how you have front mounted e-sata, usb, firewire, and a reset button (classic). I think with such a huge case, you may need long cables from the mobo to front ports.

1. About the monitor, you might want to get one that is height adjustable. I know HP and Dell make a bunch that are. Also I would opt for one that has picture-in-picture with all the inputs you have. Hmm the droid X also has HDMI ;)

2. For the dvd drive, You may want to consider blu ray reader with dvd-r is only about 60 bucks. Are you using you computer as a media center? Get a remote too.

3. Good thing your going 2 x 4 GB instead of 4 x 2 GB so you can expand ram later.

4. How about keyboard, mouse, and speakers ( I guess you have it already?).

Cheers
 
vistadude said:
Machine looks good. I like how you have front mounted e-sata, usb, firewire, and a reset button (classic). I think with such a huge case, you may need long cables from the mobo to front ports.

1. About the monitor, you might want to get one that is height adjustable. I know HP and Dell make a bunch that are. Also I would opt for one that has picture-in-picture with all the inputs you have. Hmm the droid X also has HDMI ;)

2. For the dvd drive, You may want to consider blu ray reader with dvd-r is only about 60 bucks. Are you using you computer as a media center? Get a remote too.

3. Good thing your going 2 x 4 GB instead of 4 x 2 GB so you can expand ram later.

4. How about keyboard, mouse, and speakers ( I guess you have it already?).

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick response! Ok so:
1- What do you mean, "picture-in-picture"? Like I could be main-screen my DVI, but have my HDMI 'screen' showing as well, in it's own window? Something like that?

2- Yea I hadn't really thought of getting a blue-ray drive, as I never use DVDs (Netflix/Hulu/Youtube FTW), and the dvd drive is basically to load programs/video games, as well as burn the occasional DVD disc of information. Also, where would I get a remote that would control my computer, as a media center? (I'm a windows Nub, didn't know you could do that)

3- Yea I like the 2x 4 GB better as well

4- Yea I have a keyboard and mouse that I won in an SC2 tournament here locally (it's the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate, and the MadCatz R.A.T. 7), and I have some $40 Logitech 2.1 speakers that I'm using (I game with my headphones on)
 
Another Question:

I really don't like using windows, but I understand that it is optimal for gaming (I play SC2).

Would it be feasable to get myself an SSD, then install windows on that, and then put something like Ubuntu 10.10 on my normal HDD? All of my important documents/files/school stuff is backed up on DropBox, so file transferring wouldn't be an issue, and all of my music/movies are backed up on my portable 2 TB HDD, so that shouldn't be an issue either. Just curious if that would work? Install SC2 + any other necessary programs on the SSD, but use a different OS on the HDD?
 
get a 5970 AMD has the best GPU's I have two in my alienware

Despite owning an Alienware I do have a Mac also
 
1. Yeah, picture in picture lets you use two sources at the same time. For example, you could have a window for your xbox 360 while you're playing a game, but still be able to take instant messages on the windows desktop. Here's a poor quality video of someone doing that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA_3OLuIsXo There's also something called picture by picture which seems to be similar.

2. You can get media center remotes from amazon. They sometimes come with tv tuners. The nice things about these remotes is that they can also control your xbox 360, even if don't want to use it for your pc. My hp computer came with one, but it's easy to buy them online.





FubsyGamr said:
Thanks for the quick response! Ok so:
1- What do you mean, "picture-in-picture"? Like I could be main-screen my DVI, but have my HDMI 'screen' showing as well, in it's own window? Something like that?

2- Yea I hadn't really thought of getting a blue-ray drive, as I never use DVDs (Netflix/Hulu/Youtube FTW), and the dvd drive is basically to load programs/video games, as well as burn the occasional DVD disc of information. Also, where would I get a remote that would control my computer, as a media center? (I'm a windows Nub, didn't know you could do that)

3- Yea I like the 2x 4 GB better as well

4- Yea I have a keyboard and mouse that I won in an SC2 tournament here locally (it's the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate, and the MadCatz R.A.T. 7), and I have some $40 Logitech 2.1 speakers that I'm using (I game with my headphones on)
Click to expand...
 
You could... but games these days take up so much space that the SSD would fill up too quickly.

FubsyGamr said:
Another Question:

I really don't like using windows, but I understand that it is optimal for gaming (I play SC2).

Would it be feasable to get myself an SSD, then install windows on that, and then put something like Ubuntu 10.10 on my normal HDD? All of my important documents/files/school stuff is backed up on DropBox, so file transferring wouldn't be an issue, and all of my music/movies are backed up on my portable 2 TB HDD, so that shouldn't be an issue either. Just curious if that would work? Install SC2 + any other necessary programs on the SSD, but use a different OS on the HDD?
Click to expand...
 
brandone said:
Actually the Sandy Bridge chips are really inexpensive. He absolutely should wait while they sort out the chip set problem. AMD is going to bottleneck the **** out of that video card.
Click to expand...

Uh oh you have me a bit worried...what do you mean by that? Why would my AMD CPU bottleneck the GPU?

Also, I'd heard that the Sandy Bridge fiasco only affects computers with more than two HDD's, or something like that?

So, if I were to go with Sandy Bridge, which would I go with? The i5 2500?
 
FubsyGamr said:
Uh oh you have me a bit worried...what do you mean by that? Why would my AMD CPU bottleneck the GPU?

Also, I'd heard that the Sandy Bridge fiasco only affects computers with more than two HDD's, or something like that?

So, if I were to go with Sandy Bridge, which would I go with? The i5 2500?
Click to expand...

Take a look at this:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Intels-Sandy-Bridge-Vs-AMD-Bulldozer-CPUs-No-Contest
and this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-efficienct-32-nm,2831-6.html

You be the judge. Do your research, don't let someone in the forums tell you AMD is better than Intel w/o providing evidence.
 
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