2 Choices, Budget=less than $1300

Hey guys, I made 2 choices that would fit for my budget. Please dont make any PSU comments, I'm getting a larger one if i need it. I checked new egg so it said this wattage would be fine for now. please notice that on both options have some of the same parts. budget must be less than $1300 and dont talk me into getting a lower VGA.

OS and yes I'm going to use this on multible PCs. The OS is only added on Option 1 so putting it on option 2 is not possible.

Option 1:

DVDRW

Case

CPU

Motherboard

HD

2X memory

VGA

PSU

Fan for CPU cooler

Fan

2X fan

Cooler

Extra cable

Extra cable 2

Subtotal: $1289.43

With OS

Option 2:

Case

Controller panel

Extra Cable

CPU

Motherboard

VGA

2X ram

HD

DVDRW

PSU

2X Fan

Fan for cooler

Cooler

Subtotal: 1293.15

Without OS

With OS: N/A

I think I have all my parts on there.

The extra cables are for the fans if the pins are too short or there are not enough power pins on the PSU. The cable for the CPU cooler is because I'm using 2 fans with 4 pin connecters. Which one do you think ths the better one? I'm getting a 5870 alter in a few months or a year or two. The options are less than $1300 WITHOUT shipping. I dont mind if the shipping gets over $1300 but the sutotal has to be lower than $1300.

there the same build witht diffrent cooling options, but I don't think you should spend that much on a case (cut costs elsewhere get a 470, 480)

there the same build witht diffrent cooling options, but I don't think you should spend that much on a case (cut costs elsewhere get a 470, 480)

davidkamayor

I absolutely disagree. A case is the only component in your PC that is going to last indefinitely (PSU lasts a long time too, but eventually they get to a point where they need to be replaced). They also have a direct influence on how hot your components get. It's important to pick a good case so that you can keep using it build after build, and considering how much use you're going to get out of it splurging a little bit isn't a bad idea at all.

OP, I see you picked out two mid-ATX cases (Antec 1200 claims to be a full ATX case but in reality it's more like a mid-ATX). I would recommend against that since GPUs are getting bigger and bigger these days. Going for a full ATX case will give you comfortable headroom should you ever need to upgrade to a large GPU, mobo, or heatsink. I'd recommend looking into the HAF-932, ATCS 840, Cosmos S, TJ09, and TJ10.

edit: I'd also stay away from the NZXT fan controllers. They look great and get great reviews, but if you do some searching through hardware forums you'll hear nothing but very, very bad things about them. They've got some serious reliability issues and low wattage per channel. I actually just bought the NZXT sentry LX with my new build but after reading what people had to say about it I'm going to return it to newegg once it arrives.

[QUOTE="davidkamayor"]

there the same build witht diffrent cooling options, but I don't think you should spend that much on a case (cut costs elsewhere get a 470, 480)

gameguy6700

I absolutely disagree. A case is the only component in your PC that is going to last indefinitely (PSU lasts a long time too, but eventually they get to a point where they need to be replaced). They also have a direct influence on how hot your components get. It's important to pick a good case so that you can keep using it build after build, and considering how much use you're going to get out of it splurging a little bit isn't a bad idea at all.

OP, I see you picked out two mid-ATX cases (Antec 1200 claims to be a full ATX case but in reality it's more like a mid-ATX). I would recommend against that since GPUs are getting bigger and bigger these days. Going for a full ATX case will give you comfortable headroom should you ever need to upgrade to a large GPU, mobo, or heatsink. I'd recommend looking into the HAF-932, ATCS 840, Cosmos S, TJ09, and TJ10.

edit: I'd also stay away from the NZXT fan controllers. They look great and get great reviews, but if you do some searching through hardware forums you'll hear nothing but very, very bad things about them. They've got some serious reliability issues and low wattage per channel. I actually just bought the NZXT sentry LX with my new build but after reading what people had to say about it I'm going to return it to newegg once it arrives.

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

[QUOTE="davidkamayor"]

there the same build witht diffrent cooling options, but I don't think you should spend that much on a case (cut costs elsewhere get a 470, 480)

redframe01

I absolutely disagree. A case is the only component in your PC that is going to last indefinitely (PSU lasts a long time too, but eventually they get to a point where they need to be replaced). They also have a direct influence on how hot your components get. It's important to pick a good case so that you can keep using it build after build, and considering how much use you're going to get out of it splurging a little bit isn't a bad idea at all.

OP, I see you picked out two mid-ATX cases (Antec 1200 claims to be a full ATX case but in reality it's more like a mid-ATX). I would recommend against that since GPUs are getting bigger and bigger these days. Going for a full ATX case will give you comfortable headroom should you ever need to upgrade to a large GPU, mobo, or heatsink. I'd recommend looking into the HAF-932, ATCS 840, Cosmos S, TJ09, and TJ10.

edit: I'd also stay away from the NZXT fan controllers. They look great and get great reviews, but if you do some searching through hardware forums you'll hear nothing but very, very bad things about them. They've got some serious reliability issues and low wattage per channel. I actually just bought the NZXT sentry LX with my new build but after reading what people had to say about it I'm going to return it to newegg once it arrives.

Well the Antec 1200 and the HAF-932 are definitely the two most common cases out there. However, you're going to find that most cases worth buying are going to have large install bases with the exception of the really expensive ones ("really expensive" as in $400+). If you really want your case to be original you're going to have to mod it which may or may not be an option for you depending on how good of a craftsman you are.

Anyway, the cases I listed are good places to start. They all have good airflow, are good quality, and are all within you price range from a case judging by the two cases you had picked out already so you shouldn't have to sacrifice anything you already picked out to buy one of them.

May I ask why you have 8GB of DDR3 memory? If you are building this rig for gaming, then I would not be the only one to recommend you just stick with 4gb. On the other hand, if you're looking into going into video editing and such, then you should look into getting Intel's lineup of processors, as they are more efficient in those areas.

also go with 4 gigs of, not 8 and if you want to go AMD get a 955 because its basically a 965 and you can do some overclocking to get it to 965 speeds with barely any effort.

otherwise pretty good. if you get 4 gigs of ram you could get a 5870 which is ridiculously good

edit: also that case is excellent, i have the older 690 and it is amazing, great airflow and suprisingly a lot of room and if you want you can mod it easily. the newer one can only be better. the old one can fit a 5970 without modding, however it depends on the mobo and where the pci-e is placed.

edit2: k didnt know that about the psu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&cm_re=corsair-_-17-139-006-_-Product

get that PSU instead, i dont know that brand you picked, however when picking a psu you must pick a well respected brand and corsair is one of those brands. also go with 4 gigs of, not 8 and if you want to go AMD get a 955 because its basically a 965 and you can do some overclocking to get it to 965 speeds with barely any effort.

otherwise pretty good. if you get 4 gigs of ram you could get a 5870 which is ridiculously good

edit: also that case is excellent, i have the older 690 and it is amazing, great airflow and suprisingly a lot of room and if you want you can mod it easily. the newer one can only be better

ironman388

FYI, Silverstone is up there with Antec, Corsair, and Seasonic. You can look for reviews if you like; they are in the same tier in price and quality.

also go with 4 gigs of, not 8 and if you want to go AMD get a 955 because its basically a 965 and you can do some overclocking to get it to 965 speeds with barely any effort.

otherwise pretty good. if you get 4 gigs of ram you could get a 5870 which is ridiculously good

edit: also that case is excellent, i have the older 690 and it is amazing, great airflow and suprisingly a lot of room and if you want you can mod it easily. the newer one can only be better. the old one can fit a 5970 without modding, however it depends on the mobo and where the pci-e is placed.

edit2: k didnt know that about the psu

ironman388

Actually I tried it and it would not work the price would me +$1300 cant do itredframe01

I wouldn't worry too much about it. The 5870 is an awesome card but the 5850 gives you the best bang for your buck. It can also be overclocked to 5870 speeds so it's not like you're going to be missing out on too much.

Also, I just looked at the CPU cooler you're getting. I'd recommend going for the megahalems or corsair H50 instead. Megahalems because it's one of the top 3 heatsinks out there and comes with the huge benefit of not needing you to lap it or the CPU (saves you a lot of time and keeps you from having to void warranties). H50 because it cools more or less on par with the top high-end air cooling solutions yet is much, much smaller such that you don't get any issues with RAM clearance.

how's this?:[spoiler] . [/spoiler] smc91352

Okay, so I know it doesn't have a CPU cooler, nor does it have a fan controller, but I just thought this build should at least be considered:

Samsung F3 1TB HDD
Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Edition
Antec 300 w/ Lite-ON DVD Drive
Gigabyte 5850 w/ Corsair 650TX 650w Power Supply
ASUS M4A78T-E Motherboard w/ G.Skill DDR3-1600 4GB Memory
Gigabyte 5850 w/ AMD Phenom II X4 955 Processor

Grand total of 1301.28. I think it's a fair trade-off for the cooler and fan controller :D

But if you're really heart-set on the missing parts, then you could go with the build below. Granted, it does include the HAF 932 which you don't like due to its common characteristic in the PC gaming community, but there is a reason why it is :P:

Gelid PWM Y-Cable
Zalman Fan Controller
Samsung F3 1TB HDD
Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Edition
Coolermaster R4 90CFM 120mm Fan
Coolermaster HAF 932 Case w/ Lite-ON DVD Drive
XFX 5870 Video Card w/ Corsair 650TX 650w Power Supply
ASUS M4A78T-E Motherboard w/ G.Skill DDR3-1600 4GB Memory
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Processor w/ Coolermaster Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler

Grand total of 1291.20. The reason why I picked the HAF 932 is 1) it doesn't run into clearance issues with tall tower heatsinks like the Antec 1200, 2) it has the same level, or maybe better, airflow than it, and 3) It fits in the budget :D

Not really. It's only if you're upgrading an old computer to Win7 from an older OS. And after I read up on it, it still seems the Upgrade version is still only usable on one computer. So if you want to install Windows 7 on multiple computers, then you'll have to buy the Retail version, which is $80 more than the OEM version.

I vote for, Option 2. The Case has way more room and better airflow. I know alot of people recommend the corsair psu's but have you looked into the coolermaster silent pros/ GX series?

Pretty much any of them, really. When it comes to full towers, the 5970 is the one to be worried about, not the 5870.

ok, sure, ans once the rumored HD 6000 series will start comin along. what happens them? XD

Edit: what brand or model of the 5870 should I get? I'm thinking about the gigabyte 5870 $399.99 version. any thing past $400 is past my budget, although i I can try to squeeze it in by removing something.

Well... That's anyone's guess, really :P But I highly doubt ATI and nVidia will make anything much longer than the 5970. A lot of people are complaining about how their cases can't fit the card, which potentially hurts their sales. It wouldn't be logical to keep shrinking their customer base :P Since the Antec 1200, being one of the more popular full tower cases, just barely fits the 5970, compatibility would become an even larger issue for both graphics cards companies if they so decide to keep playing the "My card is longer than yours" game.

ok, sure, ans once the rumored HD 6000 series will start comin along. what happens them? XD

Edit: what brand or model of the 5870 should I get? I'm thinking about the gigabyte 5870 $399.99 version. any thing past $400 is past my budget, although i I can try to squeeze it in by removing something.

redframe01

If you can cough up the extra $30 I'd go with the Sapphire VaporX version. Comes overclocked and with a very nice custom cooler that will allow you to get much higher overclocks as well.

Well... That's anyone's guess, really :P But I highly doubt ATI and nVidia will make anything much longer than the 5970. A lot of people are complaining about how their cases can't fit the card, which potentially hurts their sales. It wouldn't be logical to keep shrinking their customer base :P Since the Antec 1200, being one of the more popular full tower cases, just barely fits the 5970, compatibility would become an even larger issue for both graphics cards companies if they so decide to keep playing the "My card is longer than yours" game.

ravenguard90

But..but...everyone knows that what determines how manly your rig is is the length of it's GPU! :o