My First Build

[n-ster]

lol... if I find any cheaper good PSUs I'll tell you

 

[Fleck]

*sigh* I knew someone would step in and Brand-whore the PSUs at some point.

Aaanyway, Ultras and CoolerMasters, they are good too.

 

[n-ster]

Coolermasters are good... ultras I have no idea, but corsair and PPC&C is GREAT... brand-whoring PSUs is a good thing... you get better stuff that way

 

[McFlips]

Any good suggestions on cases? Brand whoring is encouraged as long as it's truth, not just whoring for the sake of whoring.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Well have you bought anything yet?

 

[lilkiduno]

i would suggest the antec three hundred, microcenter has em for $44 bucks, great case for a low budget gaming system. but if you do decided to buy it buy two more 120mm fans for the front.

 

[McFlips]

Well have you bought anything yet?

Nope, I'm really trying to get as many opinions as possible. I realize it may be dragging the thread out a bit, but I want to get as much help as possible. I do really apreciate everyones help

 

[TheMailMan78]

Nope, I'm really trying to get as many opinions as possible. I realize it may be dragging the thread out a bit, but I want to get as much help as possible. I do really apreciate everyones help

Well the system you want to build is a minor one. Counter Strike is an old game and wont require much of a system. With that being said you'll want to upgrade later.

I personally would go with an AMD/ATI system currently. An Intel i7 system is faster. No doubt. However it will cost you more and currently it isn't worth it unless your a hard core enthusiast like a lot of us are on TPU.

Here is what I would recommend and shop around.

Mobo: 790GX chipset. Asus, MSI, Giga any top brand. Stay away from ECS.
CPU: AMD Phenom II would be nice but not necessary. A Phenom I will be fine for now.
RAM: 2gigs minimum. I recommend 4 since they are so cheap right now. Corsair, Patriot are good brands.
PSU: Corsair 750 would be over kill but future proof. Enermax 535 would do you fine.
GPU: This is where you will have the most debate but if you go with a 790GX I would recommend a HD4850. HOWEVER the on board GPU on the 790GX will push Counter Strike great until you make up your mind. Its not necessary to buy a GPU right away. Just keep in mind the performance increase you will get from a dedicated GPU will blow you away compared to the on-board.

Some may gasp at some of my advice but your really not looking for much currently. The most important two components of a system are the PSU and the Mobo. So dont be cheap on those two parts in particular and remember you get what you pay for. Post if you want to know anything more.

 

[J-Man]

I don't see the need in a monitor bigger then a 24". I have a 24" and I don't think I'd get a bigger one since a 24" is big enough since you sit close to a monitor. A 22" or 24" would be fine.

 

[kysg]

really depends on what you want to do, and heck mailman by the looks of it sounds he should buy rig because I'm parting mine out....

anyways on a side I'll make the argument it doesn't really matter where you go, Intel/AMD doesn't really matter though Intel would cost you more unless you went to a P45,

everyone says 4gb ram is overkill well I dunno when 4gb kits are 60 bucks you start to think might as well.

GPU: GPU's are coming and going like candy. They just are there are plenty of routes you can go. 4850 is a solid route, but I wouldn't bet money on next gen though, would have to be 1gb or higher.

be carefull on the nvidia end since they are rebranding everything sigh...outbeside that your looking at a 9800GT.

CPU: not debating.

Mobo: really depends if your getting a card you can sub down to 780G land and still be good to go. or even 780V if necessary. Unless you really want crossfire potential then it would be the 790GX or 790FX.

also if you buy a high end monitor do note your gonna need more vid card memory maybe not for games like CS, but for next gen titles yea you want that extra memory.

 

[lilkiduno]

I've actually got a microcenter thats really close to where I live and work.

Hey today microcenter has the western digital 1TB harddrive for $80. i would suggest you pick one up

 

[DaveK]

The Antec 900 isn't a bad case, cable management isn't the best and it can be a bit small to work with if you have big hands like me, but for parts there's a good amount of room. I would have got the Antec 300 but I wanted the side window lol. You can also get the Antec 900 II if you like the different design, or the Antec 1200 if you want more room and drive space.

 

[lilkiduno]

yeah, the antec 900 is a great case, i currently have one, but with this being a $500 PC i believe the 900 is a bit overkill, plus if you wanted a window that much buy one of these FUN FUN LINK

 

[McFlips]

Hey today microcenter has the western digital 1TB harddrive for $80. i would suggest you pick one up

I may actually go do that, thanks

The Antec 900 isn't a bad case, cable management isn't the best and it can be a bit small to work with if you have big hands like me, but for parts there's a good amount of room. I would have got the Antec 300 but I wanted the side window lol. You can also get the Antec 900 II if you like the different design, or the Antec 1200 if you want more room and drive space.

Yea I do have unusually large hands actually lol.

 

[TheMailMan78]

really depends on what you want to do, and heck mailman by the looks of it sounds he should buy rig because I'm parting mine out....

anyways on a side I'll make the argument it doesn't really matter where you go, Intel/AMD doesn't really matter though Intel would cost you more unless you went to a P45,

everyone says 4gb ram is overkill well I dunno when 4gb kits are 60 bucks you start to think might as well.

GPU: GPU's are coming and going like candy. They just are there are plenty of routes you can go. 4850 is a solid route, but I wouldn't bet money on next gen though, would have to be 1gb or higher.

be carefull on the nvidia end since they are rebranding everything sigh...outbeside that your looking at a 9800GT.

CPU: not debating.

Mobo: really depends if your getting a card you can sub down to 780G land and still be good to go. or even 780V if necessary. Unless you really want crossfire potential then it would be the 790GX or 790FX.

also if you buy a high end monitor do note your gonna need more vid card memory maybe not for games like CS, but for next gen titles yea you want that extra memory.

Well man I'm not parting my system out. However the advice I gave is solid and stated for a reason. I'm willing to debate you on any point but all I did was give him a different view on things. After all there are a few things you stated that are a bad idea for the long run. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.:shadedshu

 

[RevengE]

4850 will be fine..I agree with mailman on the 790gx. 4gb is overkill like I said before I never use 4gb but they are cheap right now. All you need is a 9600 phenom which are about 110.00 right now an they are good CPUs my friend uses one and it does everything you would need it to do. As for a PSU I say get a 650w unless your going to upgrade fast than head towards the 700-750w range, as for the case it's all you there are so many cases to choose from..some of my personal favorites are Coolermaster, Thermaltake, And Antec.

 

[Davidnumeral]

are those the parts you have aready have or are they the pars you were loooking at buying

 

[RevengE]

The parts he is looking to buy.

 

[n-ster]

why not 4830 instead of 4850? 4830 is 75$, is comparable to the 4850 and OCs better than the 4850, making the gap between 4830 and 4850 smaller

 

[Davidnumeral]

personally if you are not going to be gaming you dont need a 4000 series card i would go for a mainstream 3000 series card but if you are going to be gaming i would spend that little bit more money and get yourself a 4870 because it will last you for a very long time.

 

[kysg]

Well man I'm not parting my system out. However the advice I gave is solid and stated for a reason. I'm willing to debate you on any point but all I did was give him a different view on things. After all there are a few things you stated that are a bad idea for the long run. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.:shadedshu

What did I state that was bad in long run, ah heck man lets put it out there.

790GX what do you really need this for really, what can this thing do that a 780G can't do, 780G already has the same bios update for phenomII...the only major diff is crossfire outbeside that you got no reason not unless your totally anal and don't want a matx board. Matter of fact heck we can even toss in DDR3 which at this point really isn't really much of a deal breaker.

here's another view for ya RAM is only getting lower, 4gb heck it's already that low just let it go, unless your totally a picky dude and insist on 2gb's. even if it is gaming...

and vid card end not much else to really talk about.

PSU: 650w, even a 500w should do you justice as long as you get enough amps on the +12 rail, hmm and like I said if we really think about it not much diff unless he want's to spend the extra dough on an intel rig.

and yea for a 1080p monitor, 1gb is a definate if you do next gen I could see if you weren't doing next gen but if your packing in a 24in monitor and then happen to find yourself picking up a copy of I dunno lets just say Alan Wake for kicks, would be kinda reasonable to have a 1gb card or crossfire especially since catalyst will not upscale the image for you...

 

[n-ster]

RAM

 

[RevengE]

personally if you are not going to be gaming you dont need a 4000 series card i would go for a mainstream 3000 series card but if you are going to be gaming i would spend that little bit more money and get yourself a 4870 because it will last you for a very long time.

You could game on a 3 series card as well. A 3870 would be fine and so would a 3870x2. As for the whole you need at least 4Gb's it's B.S..I have never
Used 4Gb's in gaming I don't care what anyone says you don't need it for casual gaming.if you don't have the money 2gb's is fine!

 

[n-ster]

agree... 2gb is fine... 4gb is... umm futureproof for games that will use more memory later on? games rarely use over 1gb or so of RAM.... another 500mb for background stuff... 4gb is useful only if you play at the 2560xsomething or watever at max settings

 

[TheMailMan78]

What did I state that was bad in long run, ah heck man lets put it out there.

790GX what do you really need this for really, what can this thing do that a 780G can't do, 780G already has the same bios update for phenomII...the only major diff is crossfire outbeside that you got no reason not unless your totally anal and don't want a matx board. Matter of fact heck we can even toss in DDR3 which at this point really isn't really much of a deal breaker.

Exactly. Crossfire. Once this guy does his first build he WILL want to expand. Even if it's not necessary. A 790GX board is a great enthusiast board that can also be used as a good entry level board. You don't want to pigeonhole someone just getting started. Not only will it cost him more money in the long run but might turn him off of TPU for advice