So rather than plug in some new RAM to an aging system, my dad decided it would be a better idea to simply build a new computer. He's budgeted at about $800-$950 Canadian (including all the parts plus an OS), but the less it would cost, the better. I'd like some advice on what parts to get to deliver good performance. It's going to be a multi-use computer (school work, games, movies, music etc.) if that helps at all.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 ~160

4GB DDR3 RAM ~$87

Decent ATX AM3 mobo of your choice ~$90

GTX 460 video card ~$200

high-quality 500+W PSU (OCZ, Corsair, Antec) ~$70

1TB HDD should be good ~$80

case of your choice but I do recommend a good brand like Lian Li, Antec, Corsair, Cooler Master, NZXT. ~$58

CD/DVD burner ~$36

Windows 7 64-bit OEM version ~$105

Total: $886 CAD

You don't have to buy from newegg. There is also directcanada.com.

case

psu

windows

cd/dvd drive

hdd

mobo

gpu

ram

cpu

$932 after rebates

when you get more cash crossfire the hd 5770 which you can do with that mobo it has two pci express 2 x16 slots

Hey thanks for the build. From that this is what I have got:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner

EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Total is around $913 US. Is there anywhere I can get these parts cheaper or any parts you would substitute that will perform just as well only cheaper?

case

psu

windows

cd/dvd drive

hdd

mobo

gpu

ram

cpu

$932 after rebates

when you get more cash crossfire the hd 5770 which you can do with that mobo it has two pci express 2 x16 slots

fatcat13sep

1. AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor
2. ASRock 880G EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
3. Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory
4. SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
5. CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS
6. NZXT M59 - 001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
7. Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Sonic 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Total 893 form newegg.ca shipping all will cost around 950$ :DHave fun

AMD Phenom II X4 955 ~160

4GB DDR3 RAM ~$87

Decent ATX AM3 mobo of your choice ~$90

GTX 460 video card ~$200

high-quality 500+W PSU (OCZ, Corsair, Antec) ~$70

1TB HDD should be good ~$80

case of your choice but I do recommend a good brand like Lian Li, Antec, Corsair, Cooler Master, NZXT. ~$58

CD/DVD burner ~$36

Windows 7 64-bit OEM version ~$105

Total: $886 CAD

You don't have to buy from newegg. There is also directcanada.com.

Tezcatlipoca666

[QUOTE="fatcat13sep"]

case

psu

windows

cd/dvd drive

hdd

mobo

gpu

ram

cpu

$932 after rebates

when you get more cash crossfire the hd 5770 which you can do with that mobo it has two pci express 2 x16 slots

Nekuu

Anything Cooler Master will cut it ;) And yeah, you want to get a GTX 460 for a video card. It's a brand new card as of like last week and it's the best performance for the money DX11 card. Don't get a Palit one though.

It's a high efficiency PSU and had 44A on the +12V rail so it should run just about anything save crossfire. That shouldn't matter though since the mobo I selected only has 1 PCI-E 2.0 slot. I don't like crossfire or sli :lol:

[QUOTE="Tezcatlipoca666"]

AMD Phenom II X4 955 ~160

4GB DDR3 RAM ~$87

Decent ATX AM3 mobo of your choice ~$90

GTX 460 video card ~$200

high-quality 500+W PSU (OCZ, Corsair, Antec) ~$70

1TB HDD should be good ~$80

case of your choice but I do recommend a good brand like Lian Li, Antec, Corsair, Cooler Master, NZXT. ~$58

CD/DVD burner ~$36

Windows 7 64-bit OEM version ~$105

Total: $886 CAD

You don't have to buy from newegg. There is also directcanada.com.

Nekuu

Yep, 460 only needs a 450W power supply. You could probably even run it on less, but I recommend getting at least a 550W Corsair or OCZ brand PSU so you don't need to upgrade for a long time. This one's on sale right now and it's a great PSU http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022&cm_re=ocz_550w-_-17-341-022-_-Product Also, I recommend getting an EVGA brand video card. They have a great warranty service and are just generally a great GPU brand. This one has lifetime warranty http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130564&cm_re=460-_-14-130-564-_-Product and this is the same card but with 2 year warranty http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130563&cm_re=460-_-14-130-563-_-Product That DVD drive is overpriced too. You only need a dirt cheap one, it doesn't really matter. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039

Well, here is what I'm thinking of getting now. Any comments/suggestions?

Case

Graphics Card

PSU

CD/DVD Drive

Motherboard

Ram

CPU

Hard Drive

Windows

Thanks for all the help guys, it's greatly appreciated. :)

Well, here is what I'm thinking of getting now. Any comments/suggestions?

Case

Graphics Card

PSU

CD/DVD Drive

Motherboard

Ram

CPU

Hard Drive

Windows

Thanks for all the help guys, it's greatly appreciated. :)

Nekuu

One last suggestion, Samsung Spinpoints are really reliable hard drives according to a lot of people. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

Enjoy your computer :)

Thanks a lot. :D

Hey thanks for the build. From that this is what I have got:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner

EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Total is around $913 US. Is there anywhere I can get these parts cheaper or any parts you would substitute that will perform just as well only cheaper?

Nekuu

Well, here is what I'm thinking of getting now. Any comments/suggestions?

Case

Graphics Card

PSU

CD/DVD Drive

Motherboard

Ram

CPU

Hard Drive

Windows

Thanks for all the help guys, it's greatly appreciated. :)

Nekuu

Looks good to me. I'd also keep the seagate but the spinpoints are great too so it doesn't really matter.

Last question... I noticed in the reviews for Windows 7, it says you have to call Microsoft every time you change a part in the computer since the OS will become de-activated? What's that about? :S

EDIT: Did some reading on the OEM vs. Retail argument and it seems that you only have to call Microsoft if you are changing the motherboard. That plus OEM comes with no support from Microsoft and you'll have to pay them for support. Can anyone verify this?

Last question... I noticed in the reviews for Windows 7, it says you have to call Microsoft every time you change a part in the computer since the OS will become de-activated? What's that about? :SNekuu

I have no idea, never heard of that. If it's "Windows 7 for system builders" I don't see why that would happen.

Woo I just finished ordering everything and wanna say thanks once again for all the help and suggestions, guys! Can't wait to get everything and get started (hopefully I don't kill anything -_-).

EDIT: Is there any backup tools I can use to transfer my music and photos from this hard drive to the new one when it's set up? If it makes any difference, I'm currently running Windows XP on this computer. Or should I remove this hard drive and install it in the new computer and then copy the files over to the newer hard drive (if that's possible or advisable)?

You can install the new harddrive and the older one together and then transfer music and such to the new one (if you want). That should work.

Thanks for clearing that up. Sadly my old hard drive is an IDE one and I don't think the mobo I ordered has any IDE ports on it.Nekuu

Did you you get the ASUS mobo I linked? It has IDE.

Yeah that's the one I ordered. Really? I didn't notice that on the specs tab. :?

EDIT: Looking through the reviews I now know it has one IDE port. That'll be enough to connect my current HDD right?

Yeah that's the one I ordered. Really? I didn't notice that on the specs tab. :?

EDIT: Looking through the reviews I now know it has one IDE port. That'll be enough to connect my current HDD right?

Nekuu

Yep

Thanks for all the help guys. Just received the PSU and Windows :shock:. Still waiting for everything else to process, though.