p55 storebought

[mrsemi]

Ok, I've been unsuccessful talking a friend into building his own system. Here's the link to the system he's going to buy.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Mega_Special_III

Here are the changes I told him to make.

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-760 2.80 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1156
• HDD: * 30 GB Kingston 2.5 inch SATA Gaming MLC Solid State Disk [-16] (Single Hard Drive)
• MOTHERBOARD: [CrossFireX/SLI] EVGA P55 TR Intel P55V Chipset DDR3 Socket 1156 mATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB2.0, SATA-II RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, & 2 PCIe X1 [-60]
• VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+130] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
• HDD2: 640GB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+69] (Single Hard Drive)
  
• FAN: Intel LGA1156 Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink [-20]
• POWERSUPPLY: * 850 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-850TX 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+83]
  

He's not going to overclock, I recommended the gtx 480 for the higher ram even though it's a xfire board. He's still running a p4 so I wanted to have him get something as future proof as possible. 1.5 g ram

The 640 g storage drive was only recommended because I think it might be a caviar black which is well rated and could take over if the ssd died. The reseller would not guarantee the manufacturer, only the specs.

He's going to pull the trigger soon, thought I'd see if any of you had recommendations. He wants a prebuilt for the warranty fyi there's no talking him out of it.

 

[trickson]

WOW you go the extra mile for this guy whom doesn't seem to want any advice ! I would tell him get what you want and leave it at that as it would seem he is going to do that any way .

 

[JATownes]

Just at a glance I would recommend at LEAST the 64GB SSD, but probably the 128GB...That 30GB is going to run out of space pretty quick with the OS and a couple of games installed. Otherwise it looks nice. Not a bad system...for a prebuilt. :shadedshu LOL

 

[mrsemi]

WOW you go the extra mile for this guy whom doesn't seem to want any advice ! I would tell him get what you want and leave it at that as it would seem he is going to do that any way .

No he does want advice he's just scared to put the machine together himself. This is a gaming buddy in another state so he wants the security blanket of the warranty.

Just at a glance I would recommend at LEAST the 64GB SSD,

Yeah I agree, but heck when you run out of space 32 more gig isn't really that much in the long haul, the 32 gig one is free after rebate.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

No he does want advice he's just scared to put the machine together himself. This is a gaming buddy in another state so he wants the security blanket of the warranty.

then have him wait a bit research how to build it himself then he might feel a bit better about it. and tell him each seperate part has a warrenty by the manufacture so its better then having to ship off the entire system for one fix. Also he can get a better system for cheaper i would think. also the GTX570 is easily better then the 480 so.

 

[trickson]

then have him wait a bit research how to build it himself then he might feel a bit better about it. and tell him each seperate part has a warrenty by the manufacture so its better then having to ship off the entire system for one fix. Also he can get a better system for cheaper i would think. also the GTX570 is easily better then the 480 so.

I would have to agree with you on every thing you said .
I haven't bought a prebuild since my 486DX4 system LOL .

 

[mrsemi]

then have him wait a bit research how to build it himself then he might feel a bit better about it. and tell him each seperate part has a warrenty by the manufacture so its better then having to ship off the entire system for one fix. Also he can get a better system for cheaper i would think. also the GTX570 is easily better then the 480 so.

Obviously the 570 is better but for the money on that site it's not worth it imo. I have tried to talk him into a build, there's a guy selling an i7 940, motherboard and two gig of top end ram here locally for $400.00 that'd primer a much better system but that security blanket is something he wants. Thanks for the feedback

 

[Kreij]

Does the mobo support SATA 3? If not, why suggest the SATA 3 HDD?

 

[mrsemi]

Does the mobo support SATA 3? If not, why suggest the SATA 3 HDD?

Didn't even look to be honest, I'm assuming it's backwards compatible and it's free after mir.

 

[Kreij]

Free is always good.
What's he going to do with the system? Would he need USB 3?
Everything looks good to me but I was wondering why you didn't just leave the default mobo with it's features.

 

[mrsemi]

Free is always good.
What's he going to do with the system? Would he need USB 3?
Everything looks good to me but I was wondering why you didn't just leave the default mobo

He'll be gaming with it, it seemed he was trying to stay around the $1000.00 marker so the evga board is $60.00 less and if he's not going to overclock I think it'll be fine.

As far as sata III goes I don't have it, I don't know how much if any improvement it'd make.

I thought if it were me I'd get the haf 912 or thermaltake v3, not sure of the sound or airflow on either though so if anyone has feedback lets hear it.

 

[PaulieG]

For a prebuilt, it's not horrible or incredibly overpriced, if it's really $805 as configured. So, if he is really scared to build his own, then so be it. It would be different if he had someone local who could help him. I do question that power supply though.

 

[cdawall]

if he wants a warranty why not buy the parts and get ones with lifetime warranties

cyberpower only offers 3yrs labor and 1 yrs parts

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/company/warranty.aspx

thats worse than ordering the parts yourself. also by ordering thru cyberpower they only offer a 1 yr parts because when they order the parts OEM they dont come with a 3yr or even the lifetime available through other manufacturers

visiontek lifetime: http://www.visiontek.com/support/warranty.html
XFX lifetime: http://xfxforce.com/en-us/features/doublelifetimewarranty.aspx
Zotac 3yrs mainstream and lifetime enthusiast: http://www.zotacusa.com/warranty
asus 3yr mobo: http://support.asus.com/repair/repair.aspx?no=201&SLanguage=en-us

those are just a few

 

[mrsemi]

For a prebuilt, it's not horrible or incredibly overpriced, if it's really $805 as configured. So, if he is really scared to build his own, then so be it. It would be different if he had someone local who could help him. I do question that power supply though.

Thanks for catching that. I did mean to tell him to get this instead.
POWERSUPPLY: * 850 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-850TX 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+83]

if he wants a warranty why not buy the parts and get ones with lifetime warranties

Makes perfect sense to me but he's not like most on this forum, he'd be scared to install ram or a video card.

 

[PaulieG]

Thanks for catching that. I did mean to tell him to get this instead.
POWERSUPPLY: * 850 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-850TX 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+83]

Much better choice. That brings it to $888, correct? He would certainly be better off building his own, but if it really has him scared, then it's not the worst option. I've charged more for custom built rigs with similar specs locally.

 

[cdawall]

Thanks for catching that. I did mean to tell him to get this instead.
POWERSUPPLY: * 850 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-850TX 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+83]



Makes perfect sense to me but he's not like most on this forum, he'd be scared to install ram or a video card.

ahh ok well the cyberpower isn't the worst...lol hell you could build it and ship it to him cheaper than their building

 

[PaulieG]

ahh ok well the cyberpower isn't the worst...lol hell you could build it and ship it to him cheaper than their building

Certainly, but long distance liability is a bitch, if he runs into problems. I did this a few times, and never again. It doesn't take much to lose money as the builder in this situation.

 

[mrsemi]

Much better choice. That brings it to $888, correct? He would certainly be better off building his own, but if it really has him scared, then it's not the worst option. I've charged more for custom built rigs with similar specs locally.

Actually, my changes come to 1097.00 total.

Changed to evga sli/xfire board, ssd 32 gig with 640 gig storage. 850 watt psu. gtx 480. downgraded to stock cooling as he won't overclock.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Obviously the 570 is better but for the money on that site it's not worth it imo. I have tried to talk him into a build, there's a guy selling an i7 940 motherboard and two gig of top end ram here locally for $400.00 that'd primer a much better system but that security blanket is something he wants. Thanks for the feedback

show him this thread then. i built my first rig when i was about 13 and it was only after about 1 or 2 months of researching that i felt good about building. Its really not hard. just tell him he should wait and research how to do it then he could do it himself. Or tell him to check out digitalstormonline.com for a prebuilt. i like theirs more the cyberpowerpcs

 

[PaulieG]

Actually, my changes come to 1097.00 total.

Changed to evga sli/xfire board, ssd 32 gig with 640 gig storage. 850 watt psu. gtx 480. downgraded to stock cooling as he won't overclock.

OK. Now that is a little high for what he will be getting. Maybe knowing that he may save himself $200-300 if he builds will give him enough incentive to overcome his anxiety.

 

[mrsemi]

OK. Now that is a little high for what he will be getting. Maybe knowing that he may save himself $200-300 if he builds will give him enough incentive to overcome his anxiety.

Well, I forgot to mention that's with win 7 and he will get (theoretically) the money from the ssd back.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, the default board was 3.0 compliant and since we're talking about a guy who is still on a p4 I decided to steer him back to default on the mobo for whatever speed boost that will gain him. If he wants to go with two cards in the future he'll just have to swap to ati.

Just got off the phone with him he's ordering now. Only thing left to do is find him a monitor worthy of the video card.