Need some advice on building my 1st Computer

Messing around on newegg and reading reviews I came upon this build:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core... - Retail

MSI COMPUTER 790FX-GD70

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDC... - Retail

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Chann... - Retail

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" In... - OEM

SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support - OEM

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLU... - Retail


Minus the tower, what else would I need? is this all compatible? Is any of it underpower/over-kill? Thanks guys

Also, have numerous keyboards/mice/ monitors...might upgrade to a lcd, but not sure yet, also, I'm dropping the MSI for the Asus Deluxe you suggested Rit.

Did you see that someone provided a Corsair 450 link with the 4870 above?
The 450 is enough power, you don't need such an expensive power supply.

On the other hand, yum ^^.

More expensive than you need, but you might as well keep it unless your budget gets tight. I'm not exactly sure but what you mentioned above seems to go to at least $800.
Personally, I would cut $20 from that RAM and throw in a $180 4890 1gb instead. Maybe even a vapor-X at $190.

Thanks for the advice

Thanks again all of you. I think I will take your later suggestion using an Asus Deluxe motherboard and an AMD 955 processor. Along with the Sapphire video card, the G. Skill Ram, this power supply:

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail

The Cooler Master Tower, 1 TB HD @7200, and an OS, I think I'm good to go. I have plenty of mice/keyboards/monitors/ etc. (I might upgrade to a bigger LCD monitor) but I think everything should be good. Just to check, will all of this work well, and is any of it under-powered/over-kill?

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

OR

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100279-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM

Any thoughts?

@ ir0nli0nzi0n - The build you mentioned above (with the ASUS board) exceeds $860 without a case. I thought you were keeping it below the $800 price point. At around the $900+ price point you would be better off building a Core i5 system instead.

The Corsair 750TX is overkill for you. Like I said before, if you're a casual gamer you won't need anything better than what I recommended. Even a 790FX chipset is not required if you don't plan on very high OCing. The 790X should OC decently anyway. I have the ASUS M4A78T-E based on the 790GX chipset and I can OC my X3 720 to 3.6GHz on it.

What games do you intend to play on your PC and at what resolutions? And what is your final budget for the build?

woah, sorry, I guess I went way to high with the power supply, no need for a 750 when a 450 will suffice I guess...just used to our graphics engine @ work which has a bank of 120 128MB video cards....

Rit, I keep seeing better things that are only 30-40 dollars higher each time I look at something...When everything I look at is $40 more it ends up driving up the price to 200 more. I'll just take your advice and build it the way you said. You seem to know youre stuff. Thanks

I have no issues with you building a more expensive system. Just tell me your final max budget and what you intend to do with your PC...

I don't really know that much. I've learnt everything from the wonderful guys here at TS. And I'm still learning.

Hey Rit, how much more would the final build be if I went with the AMD Phenom II 955 and needed parts? I talked it over with the misses and she said that if it is only a little more, why not build a faster system...again thatnks for your help...and as to your not knowing that much, you don't need to be modest for me, I've been looking at other posts and you seem to be pretty helpful to those of us who know very little....

One more thing, how does that Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 stack up against the GeForce GTX 280? Is it worth the extra 100 bucks?

Hey there ir0nli0nzi0n!

If you're willing to go above $900, this would be the way to go:

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz - $199.99
GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P - 169.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 - $94.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W - $99.99
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB - $74.99
XFX GeForce GTX 275 896MB - $219.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690 - $69.99

Total - $929.93 (without optical drive)

You can select a cheaper mobo and RAM to bring the price down a little. But IMO this would be a great gaming rig. (Only if you're looking for some serious high res gaming)

The GTX 280 most definitely outperforms the HD 4870. However, like I mentioned in the last build, the GTX 275 is a better choice than the GTX 280. And if you're willing to wait a while before building your rig and can spare $260 on the video card, the HD5850 will be all yours!

Ritwik, Kitty, and others...I am also looking at laptops, I'm am going to start a new thread for that...can you also build laptops? I know they sell barebones kits for that, but I also know that laptops are incredibly harder to build and upgrade...any of you know any solutions for that? Are there any towers out there that would enable it to be a little more portable than your normal desktop? Thanks guys

Hey Rit, just refreshed the screen and saw the new build...thanks! Looks great and only a hundred and fifty more! Thanks alot!

Well to keep the build that Rit suggested you could go with this Thermaltake case its only $49.99 and has a great big handle on top. But for ultimate portability you cannot beat the Lan Box its more expensive at $124.99 and you would need to go with a micro ATX mother board like this one my by Gigabyte at $149.99 which is a little cheaper than the one Rit suggested and has all the same features. If I was building something geared towards portability thats the route I would take.

Hi Adhmuz. I personally like the looks of the CM 690 better than the Thermaltake.

Not really. Then you'll have to get yourself a micro-ATX case and a different smaller mobo. Even that wouldn't be really portable.
I have seen some portable desktops recently which are really small and easy to carry. But you'll never get a high end (or even moderate) gaming build.

i would go with these instead
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $85.99 Free Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R LGA 1156 Intel P55 $139.99 Free Shipping

will save you some money and they are just as good also i would wait and buy the ati 5850 over the gtx 275 since it will only cost around $35 more than the gtx 275 and will be dx 11 and faster at the same time

Some manufactures supply laptop barebones, but building laptops is much more expensive and tricky. Not only that but they perform a lot worse.

That's what I said in #32 klepto. I'm with you!

@ ir0nli0nzi0n - Here's an interesting thing I found : http://www.techspot.com/news/36429-asus-unveils-eeebox-with-ion-graphics-and-windows-7.html

That's a pretty portable desktop.