So in the near future I will have accumulated some personal wealth, and what better way to expend this than on a new PC, right? I've never had the chance to completely build one from scratch, and while I think I've got everything right I'd like your opinion. I believe I have all the proper numbers matching or exceeded where necessary, but please point out if you see anything that needs to be changed.

Case: $29.99
NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811146061

PSU: $79.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139004

Mobo:
BIOSTAR TH55B HD LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX

CPU:
Intel Core i5-655K Clarkdale 3.2GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core

(Mobo + CPU): $274.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... mbo.439695

HDD: $69.99
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136218

GFX: $64.99
XFX PVT95GZAFG GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150322

RAM: $99.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231275

Optical: $22.99
ASUS Black 24X DVD+RW CD+RW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827135204

Kickawesome computer total:
$642.93 + $28.32 shipping
$671.25

My thoughts: Case should be big enough, etc, and has lots of slots for everything.
This isn't meant to be a super gaming machine, just a decent one for this day and age (with room to expand once I re-acquire moneys).
The only problem I can see happening is the PSU might not be beefy enough, though I am on the fence on that one since I don't have a crazy graphics card on there, and no power-hungry cooling systems or anything.

Also, for comparison, my current computer:
Dell Inspiron 1545 Laptop
Intel Core2Duo @2.4GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4300 (unsure of memory, DXDiag says 1529MB)
160 GB HDD 7200 rpm0
3GB DDR2 RAM

Looks pretty solid, although I would advise a bigger HDD. I have that one in 1tb form and it's filling up rather fast.
And I didn't know they made dualcore i5 processors, still those things are great and CC runs perfectly on them.

9500 is good for it's price, although I'd still suggest a newer ATI since you won't be needing the physics core at all. Something along the lines of the 5670 if you would like dx11.

And what kind of screen will you be using?

400W is very little.
You should consider at least 525W.

^What he said.

My PSU is 530W, and the newest graphics cards just aren't an option for me.
Get at least 600, since you said you would like room to expand.

Another thing. I have a GeForce 9600 GT w/ 1Gb GDDR2. Windows Experience Rating is a 6.6, which I guess is ok. I can run GTA IV in super-high-detail, but only after I got my Q9400 and OC'd it to 3.3Ghz. If you can, try to get a better card than that.

Sorry I am new here, but I have worked in a computer business for a while. I think I could help you?

400w is plenty for that build. If you were to get one of the latest $200+ graphic cards, you would probably need 500w or greater.

Whitty, what specific graphic card is out of your league? I really quite highly doubt you'd be unable to supply enough power to many of the most recent mid-high end cards. Unless you're running something like an I9 and 6 HDDs in RAID off a single 12v rail I am pretty sure you'd have enough extra power to supply a decent graphics card. Post your build? Perhaps I could help you.

Point is that GTA requires a okay GPU, but massive memory. Because my new 5850(aka 5th fastest stock card ATM.) can't run it with all bars full because it requires 2gb video memory.
And well, I guess getting corsair stuff never was a bad idea. Rock solid performance for an okay price. 60 something euro for a 600 watt powersupply with enough cables for 2 pc's. Oh and their dominator range of memory, even though extremely expensive, is the best. Startup times get 1/3 faster compared to the OCZ gold editions which were 1gb bigger.

Just my two cents.

Thoughts:

- You should consider getting an i7, this is too much of a high-end machine for an i5.

- 4GB RAM is a bit too little for your build, and it looks a bit overpriced. There are 8GB sets at that same price on some places.

- The 9600GT is much, much better than the 9500, and the price diference is not so high. You might want to consider choosing it.

- If you're going to build it yourself, do a casemod. For the lulz.



Also, $600 for a high-end computer... Curse you developed countries with your low technology taxes!

The i5 is fine and new processor for what Duh has planned.


Well, the price of RAM in general has been higher lately, so almost everything is going to be overpriced...
Where can you get 8GB for $100 though?!

Unless Duh is 64 bit, having more than 3.??GB of ram is a waste.


400W is fine for this computer. Depending on how much Duh wants to expand, she could get more.
That's not what I would be worried about though. The processor is $30 and a Rosewill? It's a cheap power supply, and it's not a name brand; those add up to an unreliable piece of equipment. I'd really recommend not cheaping out on the power supply.

Here's a great link to help you find some good power supplies.


(Happy computer assembling, Duh, and remember, everything needs to be nice an pristine when you put the CPU on, or it won't work. GOGOGO Arctic Silver! )

Links? :3
I looked around, apparently Crucial, while they have a great selection in memory, is very expensive. $400 some for 8GB where it's $200 some on newegg.
I would love to get an i7, but that would bump the price up an additional $200 some, and while I want quality I kinda need to stay around the $500-600 range (otherwise I'll have to wait like three years before I can buy it and then I'd need to redo the whole system, though that would be fun...)


You would think, but it's got a load of 5 reviews on newegg. 73% 5's out of 136 reviews is decent I'd say.

I might go replace that PSU with a 500w, it shouldn't be that much more and you can always use more power. I haven't actually added up the watt usage of all the parts, so I'm just guestimating. I should go do that.

EDIT: If I need more power, this thing should cover it.

EDIT2: Looked at the Graphics more closely, it needs a better amperage on it's 12v rail so I'll have to go with the above PSU.

Oh, heh, not on the internets. But if you ever come to South America, I know of a salesman (read: smuggler) or two who could provide the said parts.

(Fun fact: RAM is the only computer component that's cheap down here. If you were to buy a similar computer with legit parts here, it would cost at least some two thousand dollars.)

EDIT: Wait, that's actually not fun at all. Gee.

Well poo. Newegg ran out of that HDD, so I had to go and get a bigger one. Updated OP with new HDD and PSU.

EDIT: And I'm 64 bit all the way, HOO RA

Also, those 1TB caviar blacks are completely worth it.

get an i5 750. stick a $40 cooler on and overclock to 4ghz. now.

Windows 7 32b and a russian mod take care of that.

Actually, a small edit to the BCD through the cmd does the trick. It takes about 30 seconds.
Look it up.