Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Help with building a computer

Aug 20, 2011 1:27PM PDT

I'm thinking of building my first computer. Over several weeks I've come down to this list. My computer knowledge is lacking so I was hoping that someone could look at the list and let me know if these components will work together or point out any issues. If more specs are needed, let me know and I'll find them. I understand there are better but these components are in my budget. This is minus an O/S.

The titles are copied and pasted from Amazon:

EVGA nVidia GeForce 9800GT 1 GB DDR3 VGA/DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Video Card 01G-P3-N988-TR

Thermaltake TR2 W0388RU 600W Power Supply ATX12V W0388RU

Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98

Corsair
Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3
Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM
CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX

ASUS P8P67 LGA 1155 SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0 Supported Intel P67 DDR3 2400 ATX Motherboard

Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155

AZZA Solano 1000 CSAZ-1000 Full Tower Case


This falls in at about $800, which compared to the $500-$600 pc bundles I've been dealing with for years, seems a great bargain to have what appears to me to be a good for a couple hundred more. I know the O/S will take it a good amount higher but I can live with that.
Thank you for your time.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
looking good changed a few things
Aug 22, 2011 6:47AM PDT

***Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack $91.98

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314032400&sr=8-2

***Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 $219.99

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-2500K-Processor-3-3GHz-LGA1155/dp/B004EBUXHQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314032753&sr=1-1

MSI ATI Radeon HD6790 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/2x Mini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card R6790-2PM2D1GD5 $149.99

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-R6790-2PM2D1GD5/dp/B004XVMAKK/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&
qid=1314033218&sr=1-4

or

***EVGA GeForce® GTX 550 Ti FPB 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Video Card, 01G-P3-1556-KR $139.99

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce%C2%AE-GDDR5-PCI-Express-01G-P3-1556-KR/dp/B004R9OVE6/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314037322&sr=1-3


***ASUS P8P67 LE $124.99

http://www.amazon.com/P8P67-REV-3-0-Supported-Motherboard/dp/B004QF0VE0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314033984&sr=1-2

or

Asus ASUS P8H67-M LX $92.81


***Corsair
Vengeance Blu 8 GB (2X4GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin SDRAM Dual
Channel Memory Kit for Intel and AMD Platforms CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B $57.99

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC3-12800-Platforms-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B/dp/B004QBUL1C/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314034193&sr=1-1

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom $87.69

http://

or

***Antec EA-650 Green ATX Energy Star Certified Power Supply, Green
$52.66

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-EA-650-Green-Energy-Certified/dp/B004NBZAES/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314036433&sr=1-1

***Asus 24x DVD

- Collapse -
thank you
Aug 22, 2011 12:52PM PDT

Thank you for the reply and taking the time to look at parts for me. I will go with the 550 video card. I thought the 9800 was enough but now I know better and I do gaming, though I enjoy older games. I'm not sure what you meant on a 2nd, boot up drive. Is that something that I need? What is the benefit of the second drive?
A day after posting here I came across an intel motherboard which seemed to me a good price at 109, what's your take on it?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q7JRNO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A2NG4HB43UEDVL


Would it be better to go with asus? If not would the changes you made still be compatible with the intel motherboard, mainly the graphics card?

I was pretty set on the case I picked but do like the Rosewill case. I plan on having this computer a long time, the case the longest as I can replace components within the case. If I went with the rosewill, would the 3 fans be enough of a cooling system for all the components you added or would I need to add the 2 optional fans?

I checked into the power supplies you listed, the antec 650 has no power cord included and the OCZ looks good but found a review stating the power cord was short compared to what others use. If I stay with my case I picked, I read I'll need an extra long cord because of the size of the case and the bottom mounted(upside down) recommended psu setup. Do you know of a better psu with a lengthy cord or do I need to also look to purchase seperate power cord?

Again, thank you for the reply and time. I appreciate it.

- Collapse -
thanks
Aug 26, 2011 1:08PM PDT
- Collapse -
better mother board
Aug 28, 2011 6:53AM PDT
- Collapse -
What an interesting place
Aug 28, 2011 2:07PM PDT

What an interesting place and Fantastic question i appreciate on this and looking for