Sirtha
05-30-2011, 11:19 PM
Hey everyone,
This is my first real try at constructing a full PC. I've been touching up my Mom's old PC like Frankenstein's monster for the last seven years and now I think it's time for a fresh start. I'm trying to make this a decent gaming rig since she want's to play things like Dragon Age 2 but her poor GeForce 6800 sputters at the thought. I'm aiming for around $500 if I can. Some of her computers current hardware is new and will be transferred over to this new build, including the keyboard, mouse, and speakers. I'm also planning on ordering everything from a local computer store so I can easily pick things up and return them if needed, since the prices seem to match online deals.
Case: $65 - Spartan 102E Mid Tower ATX Gaming Case
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358279
[My Mom wants a plastic siding so she can see inside the case.]
PSU: $55 - OCZ Technology ModXStream Pro 600W Modular ATX Power Supply
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301547
[They ran out of the other PSU so I switched to this one. It's an improvement in my opinion since it is new and modular.]
REMOVED
$52 - OCZ Technology 600W StealthXStream Power Supply Recertified
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315750
[The online PSU calc I used suggested 424W of power for these components, so I figured to go a little beyond for future additions. Microcenter has a good return policy for "Recertified" items if this PSU is bad.]
Motherboard: $60 - M4A87TD/USB3 Socket AM3 870 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334890
[It says $109 on the page but is lowered to $60 in the checkout.]
CPU: $98 - PHENOM II X4 840 Boxed Processor
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0357031
[Don't know if this matches well with the GPU, or if it even matters.]
RAM: $48 - Crucial Ballistix Sport Series 4GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit (Two 2GB Memory Modules)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364397
[I've heard 4 GB's is enough ram for most PC gaming nowadays, but this also leaves room to expand to 8 GB's.]
GPU: $190 - GeForce GTX 460 Sonic 1024B GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x16 Video Card
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0341977
[This was a hard choice since I was originally looking at the GTS 450 line but the promised high FPS for the GTX 460 seemed so inviting.]
Sound card:[I think it's on the MB. Will it be good enough?]
Hard drive: (Transferred from old computer)
2x 500GB Sata drives.
[I decided to transfer only one drive and install an old 70 Gig 2.5" HD as the backup.]
DvD/RW: $15 - Sony 24X SATA Internal DVD Burner
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0342674
[Was offered this drive at a discount after I purchased the other components from Microcenter. Took it since I was able to take out the ugly ribbon cable.]
REMOVED
(Transferred from old computer)
[Not really worried about this part since the old one should work fine, and the're inexpensive anyway.]
Monitor: (Transferred from old computer)
[No worries here, this high-res beast is a couple months old and has HDMI, VGA, and DVI connections. Wasn't put to much use on the old computer, but man was that minesweeper intense.]
OS: $30 - Windows 7 Professional - 64 bit
[Got a nice deal from my school on this one.]
I hope I'm not making any rookie mistakes on this build, I want my Mom to be pleased with her new comp. Thanks for the help.
Everything has been bought and put together. Here are some pictures.
This is my first real try at constructing a full PC. I've been touching up my Mom's old PC like Frankenstein's monster for the last seven years and now I think it's time for a fresh start. I'm trying to make this a decent gaming rig since she want's to play things like Dragon Age 2 but her poor GeForce 6800 sputters at the thought. I'm aiming for around $500 if I can. Some of her computers current hardware is new and will be transferred over to this new build, including the keyboard, mouse, and speakers. I'm also planning on ordering everything from a local computer store so I can easily pick things up and return them if needed, since the prices seem to match online deals.
Case: $65 - Spartan 102E Mid Tower ATX Gaming Case
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358279
[My Mom wants a plastic siding so she can see inside the case.]
PSU: $55 - OCZ Technology ModXStream Pro 600W Modular ATX Power Supply
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301547
[They ran out of the other PSU so I switched to this one. It's an improvement in my opinion since it is new and modular.]
REMOVED
$52 - OCZ Technology 600W StealthXStream Power Supply Recertified
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315750
[The online PSU calc I used suggested 424W of power for these components, so I figured to go a little beyond for future additions. Microcenter has a good return policy for "Recertified" items if this PSU is bad.]
Motherboard: $60 - M4A87TD/USB3 Socket AM3 870 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334890
[It says $109 on the page but is lowered to $60 in the checkout.]
CPU: $98 - PHENOM II X4 840 Boxed Processor
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0357031
[Don't know if this matches well with the GPU, or if it even matters.]
RAM: $48 - Crucial Ballistix Sport Series 4GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit (Two 2GB Memory Modules)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364397
[I've heard 4 GB's is enough ram for most PC gaming nowadays, but this also leaves room to expand to 8 GB's.]
GPU: $190 - GeForce GTX 460 Sonic 1024B GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x16 Video Card
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0341977
[This was a hard choice since I was originally looking at the GTS 450 line but the promised high FPS for the GTX 460 seemed so inviting.]
Sound card:[I think it's on the MB. Will it be good enough?]
Hard drive: (Transferred from old computer)
2x 500GB Sata drives.
[I decided to transfer only one drive and install an old 70 Gig 2.5" HD as the backup.]
DvD/RW: $15 - Sony 24X SATA Internal DVD Burner
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0342674
[Was offered this drive at a discount after I purchased the other components from Microcenter. Took it since I was able to take out the ugly ribbon cable.]
REMOVED
(Transferred from old computer)
[Not really worried about this part since the old one should work fine, and the're inexpensive anyway.]
Monitor: (Transferred from old computer)
[No worries here, this high-res beast is a couple months old and has HDMI, VGA, and DVI connections. Wasn't put to much use on the old computer, but man was that minesweeper intense.]
OS: $30 - Windows 7 Professional - 64 bit
[Got a nice deal from my school on this one.]
I hope I'm not making any rookie mistakes on this build, I want my Mom to be pleased with her new comp. Thanks for the help.
Everything has been bought and put together. Here are some pictures.