WillC

Hey, so I have been looking around for computer parts for a while now as my room mate has asked me to help him build a computer. Basically he wanted it under $1000 CAD for pretty much everything (including monitor). I think he wants an intel based rig.
This is what i have found so far, most of the stuff that I could skimp on, I have... Like case, and the drives (PSU is pretty cheap but I think it's still fine) There isn't a monitor included but that is probably going to be around $200.
Case: Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio - DirectCanada
Mobo: Gigabyte P55-USB3 ATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN USB3.0 CrossFireX Motherboard - DirectCanada
CPU: Intel Core i5 750 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.66GHZ 8MB Cache Retail Box - DirectCanada
RAM: Patriot Viper Extreme Performance 4GB DDR3 2X2GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 CL 7-7-7-20 Memory Kit - DirectCanada
Video Card: ASUS Formula Radeon HD 5750 700MHZ 1GB 4.6GHZ GDDR5 VGA DVI HDMI DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card - DirectCanada
PSU: OCZ Z-SERIES 650W 80+ Silver Certified 24PIN ATX 12V Afc Power Supply W/ 120MM Fan - DirectCanada
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA2 3.5IN 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive Oem *3YR Mfr Warranty* - DirectCanada
DVD D: ASUS DVD-E818A6T 16X DVD-ROM Drive Black Internal SATA OEM - DirectCanada

He will not be overclocking, and it is mostly for games like sc2, and wc3. Maybe some other games like assassin's creed or something but for the most part that should be it.
I was unsure if the graphics card needed to be a 5750. I am pretty sure that this stuff will work together, but does anyone think that a part should be swapped out for a better deal? I usually use "newegg" to search and then price check "directcanada" as it's usually better for me (shipping).

Judas

imo i'd go for the WD Caviar Black 32mb 640 gb drive.. they are relatively similare in price and my tests show it performance far better

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BlueMak

I wouldn't get any of the new 3 year warranty drives. Down from the usual 5...no thanks.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

iPlayer

I tried the SC2 beta in a few different configs, and I think you should be able to run it at 1920x1080 at, or close to, maxed graphics settings with that system. At least while playing regular melee maps, some custom maps can be much heavier (the map editor isn't available to the average beta tester yet).

On the other hand, I agree with Judas on the HDD.

BlueMak

It's a pity he wants an Intel only system. He could save money by going the AMD route.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

WillC

Yeah that's what I thought Blue, but does AMD have the quad core HT CPUs yet? I think the idea was to get the 1156 slot for future expansions to an i7.

Liqourice

The 6 core Thuban's will be released before the end of this month. Do you really need more than 6 threads?

WillC

uh it is for future expansion as I said.. computers started with 1 core right, I bet they never thought that 4 cores would be needed at the time.

BlueMak

By the time you need 6 cores the rest of the system will need upgrade too.
But I guess if you must buy it now, Intel is the only solution.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Grace

It looks like a very well balanced gaming system to me. Good CPU/motherboard/RAM combination, good choice of a GFX card and the PSU is actually much larger and better than what this system would ever need. You should replace the disk with a 640GB WD black if possible though, since it will be notably faster for a gaming system.

comp_ali

I think it is good overall , agree about the WD HDD .
Also , why DVD Rom instead of DVD-RW , they are dirty cheap now. something like LG/Sony DVD-RW Sata would be nice. I have one since two years and burned tons of DVDs since then.

Edit : Found this on the site, and the customer reviews so far are promising.
http://www.directcanada.com/products...acture=Samsung

Neshi

Don't think there is anything like future-proofing in buying computers. If you do a year with this system and want to upgrade, there is a very good chance you won't just upgrade the CPU. And you don't know what lies on the horizon of CPU world.. maybe the sockets will change again or a new mobo is needed for some added features with the cpu..

If you plan on doing one or 2 years with that computer, you can't future-proof it.

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If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

Life is just too damn short for if's and maybe's

Optix

Future proofing as it relates to computers is an oxymoron.

Good looking system but I'll give a 3rd vote for the WD Caviar Black 640GB.

DirectCanada is the shizzle, yo. That's where I buy all of my stuff. Don't need to worry about price matching because all of their stuff is usually $5-$10 lower than anywhere else and orders of $300 get free shipping.

It's ground shipping but I'll save $40+ and wait an extra 5 days.

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crowTrobot

7200.12 Seagate is slower than Caviar Greens. It doesn't even come close to sub 10ms seek times in benchmarks even though it says 8.5ms seek time (only in full thoroughput because it has a single 500GB platter)

Unless you are only using it for storage or getting it hugely discounted then you should go for the WD caviar drives.

Judas

that's a lie..

i've several 7200.12.... the seek times are between 6 and 9ms

and Greens are not only considerably slower but just a terrible drive overall.

The Black drives are much faster, the nice thing about the 7200.12 is the fact that they generally have a nice sustain throughput, keep a damn good speed.

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