First Build Shopping List

murple_ponkey

Hi all,

I'm hoping to order my first build in the next month, and since I'm a bit of a noob, I would appreciate any and all advice.



1. What is your budget? [€800]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/Photoshop/3D Modelling/Rendering/Game Engine - UDK and Unity/Media Portal or XMBC/Internet] (GTA, NFS, Dota 2, Civ V, Tomb Raider etc.)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [DVD Drive/Case] (TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653A SCSI/Dell Dimension E521)

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [Dell 197FP Monitor - Resolution 1280 x 1024] [Yes - As soon as I can afford to]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [No]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Not ruling it out...]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Paypal]

9. When are you purchasing? [In the next month]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [Dublin City, but I should manage ok]




With the small knowledge I have I've put together a shopping list, which I'm sure someone could help me pick apart please? Any insight, bearing in mind my needs, is greatly appreciated! Total - €715 (excluding OS).

-ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX - 2.0 - motherboard - ATX - Socket AM3+ - AMD 990FX - €142
-Seagate Desktop HDD ST2000DM001 - hard drive - 2 TB - SATA-600 - €80
-AMD Black Edition AMD FX 8350 / 4 GHz processor - €160
-EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti graphics card - GF GTX 750 Ti - 2 GB - €145
-Corsair Vengeance - DDR3 - 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - DIMM 240-pin - €76
-Corsair RM550 - power supply - 550 Watt - €88
-Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition - case fan - €25

hardweir

Well the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that you will be spending the same ammount of money on a motherboard as you are on your graphics card.

Why not get something like this-
http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-78lmt-usb3-am3--amd-760g-ddr3-matx-8DLX.html?refs=473460000&src=3
instead of the asus and use the money left to get this-
http://www.dabs.ie/products/msi-geforce-gtx-760-1085mhz-2gb-pci-e-3-0-hdmi-gaming-twinfrozr-oc-8SWV.html?q=gtx%20760&src=16

That would give you far better performance in games for much the same price and would make better use of the power supply you have listed.

TerrorFirmer

Don't bother re-using that case. Better off buying a new one with better airflow and options.

You are spending far too much on the board/cpu I think, not to mention that for that price you could easily afford an i5 setup which is preferable I think. In fact, given what you were about to spend on the 8350 + 990FX, you could afford a Xeon 1230 setup with a decent board for the same money, and that would be an excellent choice for all of your intended uses (i7 level performance for far lower cost).

I think you are spending too much on the power supply also, you could get a quality 500w one for 30 euro less.

I would also boost the card as suggested, at a minimum, I would look at something like this. The 750Ti isn't great value at €145, there are cheaper models though which make it more economical.

Also think about adding an SSD, makes a huge difference.

murple_ponkey

Thanks guys, that's given me something to go on

@ Hardweir - The board is probably the thing I have the least amount of clues about... I was given advice from someone who's done a few builds to spend a third of my budget on a good board. Which even to me seems impossible! So I will definitely revisit this to save a few quid! Really like the look of that card too.

@TerrorFirmer - Just checking the Xeon 1230 on benchmarks there, it looks great! I was originally looking at an i7, but decided to opt for the AMD set up to meet costs. As for the SSD, I thought this was something that would be way out of my price range for the original build. However, I was shopping a little further last night and came across some 120GB ones for in around €60, so this is something I may well consider.

seraphimvc

defo get a SSD, the price of that samsung evo 120gb is incredible

murple_ponkey

Ok, so after an afternoons chopping and changing per the suggestions above.

Keeping the RAM, fans and HDD from the original post above for now, here's what I'm looking at:

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 - €230
Asus P8Z77-V LX S1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ATX - €90
Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB GDDR5 - €211(new)/€190
Corsair 600 Watt Builder Series CX600 Modular Power Supply - €65

This brings my total to €783, which I am pretty happy with considering the improved performance and graphics. However, adding a copy of Windows and an SSD will bring me up to the €900/950 mark, which is a little over budget.

I will of course be shopping around for deals and sales etc when it comes time to buy, but if there is any other room there to cut costs without greatly affecting performance and graphics I would grateful for suggestions

SterlingArcher

Use Geizhals.de run alm your parts through it.

Get crucial ballistic ram 8 gig 56 euro. Using above that saves 20

Crucial ssd 120 gb 57

If you are sourcing your parts from dabs. Scratch above.

murple_ponkey

Cool thanks, I'll check out Geizhals for the smaller stuff. I ran some of the more expensive pieces through earlier but have gotten cheaper prices on Amazon, plus free delivery! At the moment the HDD and PSU are cheaper on Dabs, everything else above is priced from Amazon.

Unfortunately I have to take a break from scouring the web and daydreaming about machine parts and get back to some actual work, so I will report back shortly on savings etc