Building new PC advice

[HamaTime™]

I'm building a new Desktop and most likely purchasing from MSY..

Reckon this is a good price?

Intel Core i5 650 - 3.20Ghz $530
includes:

Motherboard: MSI H55M-E21 DDR3
Cooling Fan: Genuine Intel Boxed Cooling Fan
Chipsets: Genuine Intel H55 Chipset
Video Card: 512Mb NVIDIA 8400GS PCI-Express 2D/3D Video Card
Memory: Patriot 1GB DDR3 1333 Memory (Intel Approved)
Hard Disk: 500GB SATA2 Hard Disk
ATX Case: SHAW Ferra Quality USB2.0 Front Medium Tower Case
Monitor: N/A
Keyboard/Mouse: A Power retail Pack
Sound Card: HD Audio CODEC 6 Channel Sound Integrated
Network Card: Fast Network Card (Integrated)
DVD RW: 22X Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer
Speaker: Hyundai S315i USB 2.0 Speaker (inbuilt)
Operating System: N/A
Driver/Testing/Manual: Anti Virus Trial, user manuals, fully performance tested
Warranty: 2 years Parts, 5 years Labour

Parts I'm Adding

+ $110 (Windows 7 Home Premium)
+ $15 (2GB Ram Upgrade)
+ $185 (23" LG HD LCD Monitor)
+ $17 (Wireless Network Card)
- $20 (Remove Speaker)

$837

Sound reasonable?

Thoughts?

Only meant to be a Web browser, movies, music, uni work, etc computer. Not really interested in games or anything.

Budget is $800 so it's blown it a little but don't mind.

Anyone got any cheaper/better ideas? I'm out of touch with buying computers.

[acarmody]

That video card is as old as the hills and running Windows 7 with 1GB of RAM, I wish you luck, will take years to do anything.

Are you able to put the parts together yourself? I can suggest some parts from MSY for you if you can. Its really easy and probably a hell of a lot easier than some of the car work you've done.

[HamaTime™]

I'm upgrading the ram to 2GB.

Don't need an awesome video card, and that is something that I can change later on, I just don't want to put a huge dent in the bank account all at once.

I have never put a computer together, and not really sure what I'm doing but I could probably get some help to do it all.

Go ahead and suggest some parts! I'd appreciate it!

[mattgreen]

get a 755 I5 the quad cores better

[acarmody]

CPU AM3 955 $154
MB Asus M4A88TD-M $90
RAM 4G Kit ddr3 G.Skill-Ripjaws 1600 $78
HDD Western Digital 1TB $64
Video Card 1GB GTS450 $130

Thats 1 option, the CPU is less powerful but I believe its more rounded. Of course add a case and DVD drive, keyboard, mouse.

Also if going a system 4GB is better for Windows 7.

[mattgreen]

p55 ud3r motherboard with the i5 755 4gb ddr3 ram. dual 1tb hdds run in raid sounds good

[Trayner]

watching a im in need for one soon

[CSP]

Get a decent budget. A BRAND NEW, and DECENT, PC should cost a few thousand...

[Grennan]

You just getting one of the pre built MSY packages?

What are you using it for? IMO those packages are pretty rubbish and youd get a far better PC out of sourcings the parts yourself.

Just for reference, im building a new PC soon.

Im an AMD fan, atleast for gaming.

Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H Mobo $ 129
AMD Phenom II *4 965 Black Edition $ 169
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 1GB OCed $ 219
2* 2g Gskill Ripjaw ram $ 105
750 watt Anect TP PSU $ 145

Plus assorted new fans etc.

...and ill be chucking a Windows 7 64 bit in there.

Ive got a HDD and case already.

Its not a super computer, but its under a grand, its going to run most games at the highest settings (its going to be overkill for World of Warcraft)

[acarmody]

Get a decent budget. A BRAND NEW, and DECENT, PC should cost a few thousand...

No it doesn't. A top of the range home PC costs a few thousand. For about $800-$1000 I could build a machine that will play all of the latest games on anything but the extreme highest graphics settings.

[Thomas1]

Get a decent budget. A BRAND NEW, and DECENT, PC should cost a few thousand...

Most people over spend on computers. I am a big believer in spending big on a quality case and power supply, as these you can carry over from build to build (well for a few years anyway). 'Decent' depends on what you want to use it for. There is no point in someone buying a high end graphics card if the majority of their use is just web browsing...

[HamaTime™]

Budget is $800 or thereabouts. Not $900+...Just a web browsing, very occaisional game (not concerned about super duper performance), music, movies etc...

Minus $185 for my 23" monitor, so we have $615 to spend on parts. Anyone suggest a 'FULL' List of parts for this. I know nothing about parts and all that.

[acarmody]

Does that include Windows?

[dijm8]

only stretchs your budget a tad, but you u give and take a few parts off the list like case etc but the most important 1 of all is the psu, its your life of the pc do not get a cheapy cause when it blows it will take everything with it,

if budget is a thing for you, then stick with AMD not intel, you wanna build a system right the first time

need any more help ill be glad to assist, ive spent over 3k on my tower alone not too long ago and is well worth it

Edit: actually looking back at this...if your not gaming, then ill be looking into around the 300-500 watt PSU, more then enough for your need

and id suggest Pc Case Gear to buy, id put MSY way to the bottom of my list hate them with passion!

Build 1:

CPU: AMD x4 965 $165
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 $125
Ram: DDR3 Ram 4GB Kit PC10600 1333MHz Patriot $69
HDD: SATA-300 1.5TB Western Digital WD15EARS $83
GPU: GTX 460 1024MB OC Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI $222
Case: Apache H-21BK $65
PSU: 700w Huntkey $99
ODD: Samsung DVD-SH-S223C 22x $22


Total: $898

Build 2:

CPU: Intel Quad Core i5-760 $215
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 $129
Ram: DDR3 Ram 4GB Kit PC10600 1333MHz Patriot $69
HDD: SATA-300 1.5TB Western Digital WD15EARS $83
GPU: (ATI) PCI-e 5770 SuperOverclock 1GB $189
Case: Apache H-21BK $65
PSU: 700w Huntkey $99
ODD: Samsung DVD-SH-S223C 22x $22

Price $946

[HamaTime™]

Does that include Windows?

Yep that includes Windows.

What power supply comes with the MSY one? Doesn't say?

[Grennan]

That case will probably come with something around the 550-650 mark.

The monitor really takes a big chunk out of that budget which is a real pain in the arse because you can get a decent CPU for what the price you want, 2 gig ram should be enough but your video card is going to limit your system drastically.

If you are going for one of the MSY prebuilts, check out the AMD/Intel Gamer pack 1.

http://www.msy.com.au/SYSTEMS/AMD-INTEL-Gamer1.pdf

AMD x4 Quad Core 965 3.40Ghz (thats the Phenom CPU)
ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3 DDR3
512MB Nvidia 8400GS PCI-Express 2D/3D Video Card
Patriot 1GB DDR3 1333 Memory
500GB SATA2 Hard Disk
22x Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer

Thats $490 I believe.

Add Monitor 160 for a 20"
Windows 7 110
Extra 1 gig of ram is 15 bucks, or you can go to 4 gig for 60.

Thats $820 (for 4 gig). The video card is still lacking

for 80 bucks you can upgrade to 1GB ATI 5670.

Thats 900 bucks for a AMD Phenom II 965 Quad Core CPU, Motherboard, 500 gig HDD, 4 gig of ram, case with PSU, 1 gig video card and a 20 inch monitor with OS.

[HamaTime™]

Is that good or bad?

[soop]

Get a decent budget. A BRAND NEW, and DECENT, PC should cost a few thousand...

LOL
"I SPENT HEAPS OF MONEY SO IT MUST BE GOOD!!?"

Clearly you've been ripped off in the past.

[Grennan]

Well thats pretty dam good for the price. AMD are IMO better CPU's for games etc. Intel is the more rounded CPU, however AMD is cheaper.

For what you want it wont really matter though.

[HamaTime™]

Well the AMD package looks awesome Gren....that should give me a better package for cheaper shouldn't it? Cheaper and better than the Intel and still perfect for what I want it for?

[dijm8]

AMD is for budget yeh they handle games well but nothing like Intel, the above is good m8 id suggest atleast 4gb of ram, otherwise ur gonna be lagging and slowing you down when u have more then 1 app up

[50LTRv8]

LOL
"I SPENT HEAPS OF MONEY SO IT MUST BE GOOD!!?"

Clearly you've been ripped off in the past.

Not at all, he just doesn't care about bang for buck, just ask him about his new computer thread, he ended up just getting the fastest stuff he could while rejecting all the recommendations given.

A PC does NOT need to cost a few thousand at all.

[acarmody]

AMD is for budget yeh they handle games well but nothing like Intel, the above is good m8 id suggest atleast 4gb of ram, otherwise ur gonna be lagging and slowing you down when u have more then 1 app up

I wouldn't say that AMD are for budget at all. GHz to GHz the AMD are proven to be better for games, but the Intels are better for programs like AutoCAD and graphics designing, but the AMDs are cheaper.

[50LTRv8]

I wouldn't say that AMD are for budget at all. GHz to GHz the AMD are proven to be better for games, but the Intels are better for programs like AutoCAD and graphics designing, but the AMDs are cheaper.

So where is this proof?

[CSP]

GHz to GHz the AMD are proven to be better for games

reference please... because I would disagree. Used to run AMD, switched to Intel because at the time, Intel were better in ALL regards.