Simple media/budget gaming build help.

[Mbcivic]

Hello everyone.

I'm looking for some advice on a few of the components I've selected for my media build or suggestions of new components if the ones I've chosen are way off base for my goals.

My intentions are to use this computer as a media server and a low budget gaming device for older games such as Everquest or Neverwinter Nights.

I'd like to get this build completed for around $500 or under, not including any peripherals, as it'll be going into my girlfriend's house for only the above stated uses.

Case: ZALMAN Z9 Mid Tower $47 www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235026
3 External 5.25" Drive Bays
5 Internal 3.5" Drive Bays
4 Front facing USB 2.0 Ports

Power Supply: CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX $100 www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
650 Watt max
Bronze 80 certified
Xfire ready

Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS $60 www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795
ATX Mini, AM3+ socket
1xPCI-E 2.0, 2xPCI-E
2 slot, 8GB max, 1866 DDR3

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 $100 www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
Quad core
3.4 GHz

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance (2 x 4GB) $47 www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345
DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Timing 9-9-9-24
Cas Latency 9
Voltage 1.5V

Hard Drive: Western Digital WD Black $105 www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
1TB
SATA 6.0
7200 RPM 64MB Cache

DVD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner $20 www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

$479 total

I've got an old 5770 laying around which I'm going to throw in as well and I'm pretty sure it has at least 1 HDMI out for me to use. I chose not to include any Blu-ray hardware or other media readers as I've got all that stuff on my computer at home.

I chose an AMD platform as it's what I'm most comfortable with. I've built/upgraded a few comps before and it's always what I used, so while I prefer AMD recommendations I'm not completely opposed to Intel ideas/builds.

I'm also open to any suggestions for monitors as a separate endeavor since I'll be mating this comp with my current one from home.

I appreciate any advice or help you can offer. Thanks for taking the time to look.

MB

[llDemonll]

should look at the new AMD trinity CPU's

[chazus]

Get a Seasonic 520w Power supply, save $40
Get a cheaper WD 1TB drive, unless the 5yr warranty is worth $20

Use the money saved to get an i5-3450.

I know you're familiar and comfortable with AMD, but sadly unless you're on an EXTREME budget system (Like sub-$200), Intel just is better for gaming in every benchmark and test per dollar.

[Fascinate]

I saw budget gaming rig in the title and the first thing i saw on your list was a 100 dollar power supply and did a /facepalm.

1.First thing you should look into is if you live near a microcenter, they offer free motherboards with AMD CPU's (89.99 for a fx 4100 + motherboard).
2. Power supply is massive overkill dude, this would be plenty for crossfire 5770's if you pick a used one up later http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371030
3. Case. I realize some people value looks over quality but i cannot say enough about the antec 300 illusion. It is an outstanding case for the money and is seriously built well (build quality of this case rivals 200 dollar cases). Its on a sale right now too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066
4. Better + faster ram for only two dollars more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231445
5. Hard drive. You dont buy a black edition WD drive for a budget build, get the blue for version for much cheaper or even a seagate with 16mb of cache.

One more thing i will add for budget builds is subscribe to newegg newsletter. When i built my PC i made sure every part i bought had one of these three things:
1. Promo code (you find these in newsletter)
2. Free shipping (adds up if they all have free shipping)
3. In a combo deal. You can find these by scrolling down on the overview tab, it says "browse more combo's"

[n0cturnal]

3. Case. I realize some people value looks over quality but i cannot say enough about the antec 300 illusion. It is an outstanding case for the money and is seriously built well (build quality of this case rivals 200 dollar cases). Its on a sale right now too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066

Sadly that case is based on a design that is very old and doesn't have any cable management at all.
Even a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146076 is better in that regard.

The Zalman case he originally picked is also vastly superior with the way better 3.5" solution, better ventilation including the dust filtered vent on the bottom for a PSU and proper cable management.

[Fascinate]

Couldn't disagree more nocturnal.

Ive built 3 systems with that case and cable management was never an issue. If you look closely, the hard drive cage is formed so that you hide the cables behind it, i would take a picture of my case to show how clean it is but im lazy : )

I have built with many other mid tower cases and nothing rivals the 300 illusion for build quality, value, and more importantly airflow. The 300 illusion actually cools better than high end corsair cases, due to its hard drive cage design where it runs parallel to the disc drives. Most cases have perpendicular HDD cages which do nothing except restrict air flow.

That case you linked is not even in the same league as a 300 illusion sadly.

[Mbcivic]

Appreciate the responses so far, they've been helpful.

I've made a few changes to components as per suggestions here but with a few differences.

Chazus - I looked at a few Intel chips and decided that they're too expensive for me to get into right now when compared to the deal Fascinate mentioned. The i5-3450 I found was $200 and the comparable ASUS 1155 motherboard is $75. I appreciate the suggestion but I don't think I'll need the power for this build.

Fascinate - I'm not trying to argue against your points, I only want to give a little insight as to why I chose what I did.
#1 I guess there is one about an hour and a half away from me, not such a bad drive I suppose. I noticed the combo deal you mentioned and went for it. Even though I'm not a fan of what I've heard about the FX chips I'm going to get on board. I'm choosing to go with the FX-6100 instead as it benches better than the PhenomII x6 1045T, which benches better than the FX-4100, which benches worse than the PhenomII x4 965. The deal also gets me the motherboard I wanted for only $15 meaning that I can get the combo for $125. What a deal!
#2 I chose that power supply because I believe Corsair makes reliable products and from browsing the forums I see a lot of people complaining when builders skimp on the PS. I didn't mind it being a higher portion of my budget but I've done a little more searching and came across another one which I think will satisfy my wants and keep the budget down. It's even got a 5 year warranty on it with decent reviews. Website below. $70 XFX Core Edition PRO550W
#3 I have to do a bit more research before I decide on a case, appreciate the suggestion.
#4 Found this after looking through the Newegg newsletter. Same price as the G.Skill after promo code. Need to do more research on G.Skill yet. Website below. CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
#5 I chose the hard drive for the same reason as the PS. I've used WD Black before and haven't had one issue yet. I've also heard stories about WD Blue and Seagate not being nearly as reliable and I'd hate to lose data because I didn't want to spend the extra $20 for a Black. 5 year warranty, whoo!

www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170 RAM
www newegg com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013 PS

Demon - New stuff scares me. I hardly know enough to get this build done without messing something up.

I hope I didn't come across as brash, I'm just inexperienced and I'm finding out that as I grow older I have to question everything and everyone for some reason. Drives people nuts.

Thanks again


MB

[Skarsguard]

For what your wanting to do the AMD 965 is more then fine I have posted on other threads that you don't need an Intel 1155 for every build some builds just don't require it. People also think that the 965 is just garbage it really isn't...it's a good cpu that does the job sure you might not be maxing out everything on a high res monitor but not everybody want's/needs to do that.
I'll have to post some screen shots when I get on my other computer that has a amd HD7750 with a 965 running wow at 60 fps with everything maxed but shadows and at 40 fps in raids with no lag on a 20 inch monitor.

Edit Post: Actually the Monitor is a 22 inch and the res is 1680 x 1050.

[Lemmiwink]

For what your wanting to do the AMD 965 is more then fine I have posted on other threads that you don't need an Intel 1155 for every build some builds just don't require it. People also think that the 965 is just garbage it really isn't...it's a good cpu that does the job sure you might not be maxing out everything on a high res monitor but not everybody want's/needs to do that.
I'll have to post some screen shots when I get on my other computer that has a amd HD7750 with a 965 running wow at 60 fps with everything maxed but shadows and at 40 fps in raids with no lag on a 20 inch monitor.

State resolution or your framerate value is not of any use to the OP. As for the 965, yes the CPU is fine it does require you to buy a discrete gpu in addition to it though. My suggestion to you would be something like this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wjOj

Clock the RAM to 2200+, overclock the integrated gpu in catalyst control center and you are able to run WoW smoothly (40-50fps)at 1080p and most settings at max/high if shadows are kept to a low setting. Haven't tested this setup in raids yet, but considering the CPU is alright for performance I wouldn't expect it to drop too much. This solution does not include OS or peripherals but it does include an SSD, a mini-ITX case that your gf won't hate and good OC'able RAM. Win8 can be upgraded to from just about any OS you might have lying about, so it shouldn't be too expensive.

edit: As for intel builds, they cannot offer the same kind of value as the HD4000 (that comes paired with the most expensive i3) just cannot compete against the iGPU in the 5800K, not at stock level and certainly not at OC levels. For this kind of budget, intel is ruled out completely.

[Skarsguard]

State resolution or your framerate value is not of any use to the OP. As for the 965, yes the CPU is fine it does require you to buy a discrete gpu in addition to it though. My suggestion to you would be something like this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wjOj

Clock the RAM to 2200+, overclock the integrated gpu in catalyst control center and you are able to run WoW smoothly (40-50fps)at 1080p and most settings at max/high if shadows are kept to a low setting. Haven't tested this setup in raids yet, but considering the CPU is alright for performance I wouldn't expect it to drop too much. This solution does not include OS or peripherals but it does include an SSD, a mini-ITX case that your gf won't hate and good OC'able RAM. Win8 can be upgraded to from just about any OS you might have lying about, so it shouldn't be too expensive.

edit: As for intel builds, they cannot offer the same kind of value as the HD4000 (that comes paired with the most expensive i3) just cannot compete against the iGPU in the 5800K, not at stock level and certainly not at OC levels. For this kind of budget, intel is ruled out completely.

The monitor is a 22 inch I had a typo but the res is 1680 x 1050 I know it's not 1920X1080 but its not very far off.

[n0cturnal]

The monitor is a 22 inch I had a typo but the res is 1680 x 1050 I know it's not 1920X1080 but its not very far off.

It is a 17.5% increase in pixels, that can make quite the perfomance difference.

[Mbcivic]

I just wanted to get back to everyone who commented/helped with ideas for my build. I've completed my build as of 1/25. Since I had a 5770 I could use, I managed to get it all done for about $380!

Went with the Zalman Z9 case, works well and am glad I chose it. $47.
550W Coolermaster Bronze ready power supply. $45 after $15 promo code.
2x4GB Gskill mem sticks, 1866. $50
Asus dvd burner. $20
Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS motherboard. $60
AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHZ. $85 after $15 promo code.
Seagate Barracuda 1TB. $70 after $10 promo code.

I probably could have stuck it out longer for even better deals or made a trip up to a Microcenter but the cost of driving would have made the cheaper prices negligible. I was able to get it all together in about 3 hours, probably longer than it should have been but oh well. Booted up the first time, WHOO!

Anyways I just thought I would let everyone know how it turned out and say thanks again for all the input.

Really appreciate it. =)

MB