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I'm Going to Build a PC. Suggestions?

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MilesOhToole:
Thanks to both of you.  OK, check out the attachment.

Of course, I don't have a case in my shopping cart because Global doesn't have Antec cases, so I'll buy the one Carol provided the link for.  Thank you!

A few questions, though.  I want 8GB RAM.  I picked the bundled PSU with the Corsair 4GB RAM--this RAM.  Then, I have Corsair 4GB RAM--this one.  So, I'll have 3 sticks of RAM, one 4GB and 2 2GB.  I can't find the exact RAM that comes bundled with the PSU, to buy separately at the site.  I might be completely wrong, but isn't it better to have RAM that matches exactly?  Seems like I read somewhere that I should have 2 sticks of 4GB RAM, but I might be mistaken.  Maybe it's all in looking forward, to upgrading to 16GB and beyond and the available slots or something or maybe it's consistency and the PC's efficiency to manage the memory.  I honestly don't remember now.

Another thing to talk about is a sound card.  I had Global build a PC for my brother a couple of years ago, like mine, and the IT guy at work told me he didn't think sound cards were as crucial as they were a few years ago.  Keep in mind, though, that he's not a gamer.  So, I ordered my brother's computer without a sound card.  Sure enough, his computer is able to run some pretty new games.  He's not that big of a gamer either but he has Flight Sim X and Silent Hunter IV and some other fairly dated games and they run with no problem.  Is that the case, now?  Do I need to bother with a sound card or is integrated sound good enough now?

(Also, as a side-note, the price is not calculating correctly.  The PSU/RAM bundle is actually $54.99, if you look at the link, which is why I chose it (yeah, with a rebate).  If push comes to shove, I'll just order the PSU and 2 4GB sticks all separately at whatever website will give me the best price.)

Or basically whatever you guys tell me to do because I'm willing to practically give you my bank account information and let you paint the town red unless a previously unknown uncle from some obscure village in Africa dies and leaves me his diamond mine in his will or something.

Too, I'm going to need a big fat monitor and an OS and keyboard and mouse and probably a card reader and some other minor stuff, so the price will go up an estimated $250-300.  Of course, that's all not calculating the discount I'll get at Global, which won't be known until I place the order.  I think I saved about an additional $116 or so on the PC I have now.

And, remember, I don't have a HDD listed because I'll RMA my failed 500GB Seagate back for a replacement to use on this new one, plus I have a 1TB and 2TB external drive and an additional 500GB drive in the PC I'm still using, so I have plenty of storage space.

Wow.  Thanks again.  You people have made me ponder and compare/contrast and brought my IQ up more than any college education can buy.  On that thought, you should all be eligible for federal funding, IMHO.  :D

If anyone might be interested, I'll leave you with the excitement my brother and I experienced, in the pristine forest of West Virginia, making fire by rubbing two sticks together.  That's the only worthy contribution I can think of.  There's no better feeling than being able to make fire like our ancestors did (though I cheated a little, it really makes you appreciate the hardship that civilization had to endure).

4wd:
You could save some money by not investing in the Hyper 212+ from the start, as I said above, the stock Intel HSF is more than adequate for that CPU up to around 4.3GHz.  If further down the track you want to push the CPU a little more or just want something quieter, (you'll probably find that the GPU HSF will make more noise than the CPU HSF), then you could invest in the Noctua/CM/etc.

Unless you're a real audiophile, the onboard sound will be more than adequate.

Also, I don't think you can plug that CPU into that motherboard - the CPU is a LGA1155 and the motherboard is for LGA2011 i7, (just looked and you can't).

For the i5-2500K you need something like: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 - $224.96

So dropping the HSF and changing the motherboard will save you ~$100

If you then use:
Corsair 600W Builder Series™ CX600 - $49.99
and
2 x Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB - $99.98

You end up with 16GB of faster RAM, (PSU bundle only came with DDR3-1333), and you save $5.00 :)

Carol Haynes:
Why go for 4gB + 2x2Gb ?? Just go for a matched pair of 4Gb sticks from Crucial - any DDR3 RAM will do so go for the fastest you can find.

Alternative Crucial Vengeance is very good and comes with heat sinks (and when I looks wasn't appreciably different in price to Crucial).

If you go for 2 x 4Gb it is easy to add another matched pair later if you need to. I can't really see any rational for 4+2+2 other than it won't use the memory to its full potential as you won't have dual channel (except perhaps on the 2Gb sticks depending on how you arrange the memory).

Edit- see below: Personally I think the PSU/RAM bundle you mentioned is too cheap - you need a good quality PSU (poor/cheap PSU's are a major cause of intermittent headaches) and the best RAM you can find. Never had any problems with Corsair or Crucial memory.

Re. sound card: Most motherboards come with reasonably decent sound built in (usually 5.1 or 7.1 surround if you want that). With a system with bit of power it should be more than adequate for most purposes. It is easy to add a sound card at a later date if you feel you need to but I would certainly see what the onboard sound is like first.

If you do what a sound card I have found the Creative XFi range to be pretty decent for the price. The only issue is that they drivers can be annoying to install (once installed they have been fine but it took me a while to figure out why they weren't installing correctly - but then Windows was new then and I suspect the software will be more stable now).

4wd:
Personally I think the PSU/RAM bundle you mentioned is too cheap - you need a good quality PSU (poor/cheap PSU's are a major cause of intermittent headaches) and the best RAM you can find. Never had any problems with Corsair or Crucial memory.-Carol Haynes (March 29, 2012, 04:00 AM)
--- End quote ---

Um, the PSU/RAM bundle he mentioned is Corsair.  It's the kind of deal you'd go for if you were building your generic business desktop.

Carol Haynes:
[Edit from above...] I was just about to edit my post when the annoying backup kicked in!

Sorry I didn't look at the attachment.

I'm still not sure I would go for 4+2+2 though. Buy the package and then flog the memory on eBay or Amazon and go for 4+4 Vengeance paired memory.

If you must go for that package you would be better with 2+2+2+2 or 4+4+2+2 - with two matched pairs appropriately installed.

When I built my system I went for 4+4+4+4 and really haven't regretted it.

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