New Guy Building New System on a Budget

[Dysturbed]

Hey guys loving this forum so far been lurking a few days now and I'm glad to be here finally.

My old lappy ABS Mayhem Z2 isnt' working anymore! I just can't stand the laptop anymore. So I'll be getting a nice big fat refund check this year and decided to go ahead and get a new desktop for school and my web design business I will be starting soon.

I can do 400-500 price range.
I want a nice modable case.
Has to be powerful enough to run photoshop/dreamweaver/FlexiSign/Illustrator
Only game I really play is World of Warcraft (I raid i have alot of mods) & some FPS games
Would love it to be upgradeable to say 16 gig if i wanted to go that far when I more money.
Need a decent Graphics card but Im limited to having a old style connector on my LG W2252TQ Monitor.

[Luke122]

Welcome to TBCS!

Your VGA connector on the monitor is not really an issue, there are DVI to VGA adaptors, so you can use pretty much any GPU you want (budget allowing of course).

I'll leave the actual build up to some of the more "up to date" members around here, but I dont think that you'll have much trouble building sometihng decent for that budget. :)

[Dysturbed]

Thanks for the heads up on the adapter.
Yeah that's the issue I am having is not being up to date.
the last computer i built myself was a 1gig athlon....

-Dysturbed-

[TheMainMan]

I'm not too up to date on AMD hardware, which based on your budget would likely be better suited. I'm an ASUS fan and I did find this mobo and cpu combo that looked alright IMHO.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.334818

[Dysturbed]

What do you think of this list?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/DysturbedCRX/system.jpg

I still need a powersupply what do you guys recommend if im going to mod it eventually?
Thanks,
Dysturbed

[x88x]

Well, I can't get it under $500, but with what you have there I'm guessing you already figured that out. ;)

My recommendation would be this:
MBB/CPU combo mentioned: $134 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.334818)
Samsung F3 1TB: $90 (out of stock atm, but it's worth waiting for or finding elsewhere.) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185) (If you haven't heard me rant about why it's better yet, I'll ablige :P )
Lian-LiPC-K58 you picked out: $70 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112237&Tpk=PC-K58)
If you can afford the extra $20 (same price after rebate), then:
OCZ Platinum 2x2GB DDR3-1333: $105 ($85 after MIR) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227478) (definitely worth the performance boost, imo)
otherwise:
OCZ Gold 2x2GB DDR3-1066: $85 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227346)
Asus DVD-/+RW (it's cheap and good; that's all): $25 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204)
OCZ ModXStream 600W: $80 ($55 after MIR) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017)
Sapphire Radeon HD 5670: $85 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870) (This should very nicely outperform that 9600GT..plus it's cheaper and DX11 compatible)
Total before rebates of $578 ($558 with the 1066 RAM)
So, not quite $500, but without dropping to onboard graphics (or an old CPU), I don't think you're gonna get much cheaper.

[TheMainMan]

I second that system, especially the power supply. I'm running the 500W version in my media PC and it has been rock solid for 8 months now. The system may be a little over your budget now but in my experience that often pays off in the long run.

[Dysturbed]

I think I have decided on pretty much exactly x88x's list with one change

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112220

All metal case = better in my book. And it looks better to me to mod.
Otherwise ill throw in a card reader. Any suggestions on what to stay away from on those or companies that are better than others?
Thanks for everything guys,
Dysturbed

[x88x]

I like the new case. For a card reader, just look around on NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010010069&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=69&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=) for one that you like (ex, there's one with an eSATA port in addition to the card readers); I think most of them have pretty good reviews. I've had a couple Bytecc's and been happy with them. They're pretty cheap to make, so I guess maybe it's not worth it to make a crap one when you can get a good one for under $10.

[Dysturbed]

How do you guys feel about Hitachi hard drives. From what ive read they have good reviews and I know the samsung is quality but they have some the hatachi ones in stock.

[x88x]

Hitachi's are ok, but in my experience, Samsung and WD drives tend to be made to a higher quality standard. The reason I recommended the 1TB F3 is because it is the highest performing sub-2TB HDD on the market at the moment.

ZipZoomFly has it in stock:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011440&prodlist=froogle

[Dysturbed]

I'll be ordering this system probbly tuesday so If im making a big mistake let me know soon hehe.

I decided to back down a bit on the video card and get a onboard in the end. It does have the PCI-e 2.0 slot for a video card later if im not happy with the performance of this card. But this setup brought me in at under $500 and I'll still be able to get my card reader in the budget.

I also backed out on the samsung HDD to stay in budget. I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the @$$.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/DysturbedCRX/SystemRevamped.jpg

[Dysturbed]

LOL if you don't see it first i made a big mistake on that last post... micro atx lol
hmm i could get the lian li cube.... na too cramped.

Here is the good one lol.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/DysturbedCRX/SystemRevamped-1.jpg

[x88x]

Nothing wrong with using a mATX MBB; really the only reason not to is if you really need more PCI/PCIe slots. I generally tend to stay away from Open Box stuff, just in case.. though you do still have the manufacturer's warranty, so it might not be an issue.

If you're just worries about the cost, the Samsung F3 that I linked at ZipZoomFly has a $15 MIR that brings it down to the same price as that Hitachi after MIR.

[Dysturbed]

I went with your orignal list x88x exactly except i ened up getting the hatachi and I am using a old atx case I have instead of spending 79 bucks on a new one when im building a new case from scratch anyhow.

I may get the samsung when they are back in stock i plan on having 3 1tb hdd's anyhow. I have alot of software tutorial videos I would like to keep on hdd so i can refer back to them as well as clip art and the likes that would be best kept on the storage hdd's.
So I need lots of space.

Probably order that 2nd tb when i get my next 4 gig of ram.

[x88x]

I have alot of software tutorial videos

eheh, riiight "software tutorial videos" ;)

Be sure and post how the build works out for you. :D

[Dysturbed]

Well everything should be here tomorrow so I will post the unboxing pix as soon as I get home hehehe. Woot. Now just waiting for my modem to get here from verizon will be the worst part im sure.

[Dysturbed]

Tax Clause arrived at my house today!
As for my last post i ened up backing out to a 500gb cause of money but Ill get the bigger ones later:)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/DysturbedCRX/System-1.jpg
Athlon II X3 2.7Ghz
Asus M4A77TD
Sapphire Radeon HD5670
Hatachi 500gb 7200rpm HDD
OCZ ModXstream-Pro 600W
4GB OCZ 1333 Platinum Ram
Samsung DVD/CD Burner