Computers & Electronics

New to PC components shopping

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  • Dec 16th, 2011 11:26 am
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Newbie
Aug 21, 2011
60 posts
1 upvote

New to PC components shopping

Hi,

First of, this is going to be the first time I'm building a PC and buying all the components online. I gathered some pieces and would like to know if I'm going in the good direction performance wise and prices. I'll use this PC to game alot and studies/work too ( programming, web ). I don't really need the fancy stuff like DELs, fan controller, etc. I won't overclock right now but maybe in the future if I need it. Right now, this is what I got for under 1000$ :

[QUOTE]Old build
ASRock Z68 EXTREME3 GEN3 ATX http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/23709 ... n3/ASRock/ 148.50$
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti Fermi http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/23291 ... /Gigabyte/ 238.88$
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/23256 ... L/G.SKILL/
Intel Core™ i5-2500K Processor, 3.30GHz w/ 6MB Cache http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/23263 ... 00K/Intel/ 232.55$
Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 550W ATX 12V V2.3 Silent Power Supply 20/24PIN 120MM Fan http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/23179 ... LERMASTER/ 49.50$
Zalman Z9 Plus http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/23253 ... H/Z9_Plus/ 52.51$

Sub-Total : $761.94[/QUOTE]

Final build :

G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory 1 $39.99 $39.99
ASRock Z68 EXTREME3 GEN3 ATX LGA1155 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 SLI CrossFireX Motherboard 1 $148.50 $148.50
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti Fermi 900MHZ 1GB 4.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI Mini HDMI DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card 1 $238.88 $238.88
Coolermaster Haf 912 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound 1 $54.45 $54.45
Antec High Current Gamer 620W 48A 24PIN ATX12V V2.3 Active PFC 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply 135mm Fan 1 $87.81 $87.81
Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB 1 $219.79 $219.79
Samsung SH-222AL 22X DVD Writer SATA Lightscribe OEM 1 $17.79 $17.79

For the hard drive, the prices are too high currently ( coudn't find 1TB HD for < 100$ :( ) and I have a 320GB that I can use for now. I would love to get a SSD for my Windows installation but they are pricey and I don't know if there are cheap cases that has a bay for it. Talking about the case, I have no idea which one to take. I only need something that has 2 USB on the front and that has enough space to put all my components inside haha. I would also need a Wifi network card or something to hook my PC to my LAN since my room is pretty far from the router :/

I already have a Windows 7 64bit licence, monitor ( I have a 32inch tv that I don't use ), keyboard and mouse and speaker.

Thanks for the help !

So my maximum budget would be <1000$ with shipping. Also, is it now to good time to buy or should I wait for after Christmas or New Year ?
27 replies
Member
User avatar
Nov 22, 2011
493 posts
256 upvotes
Vancouver
Don't know if SSD prices will even drop during Boxing Day. They were still fairly high up there during NCIX.ca/Newegg.ca/CC/ME for their "Black Friday" deals.

320GB is plenty of room, I have trouble even filling out my current 260 - but I'm also going for a new build with 500GB until the 2TB WDC Blacks get back to their original pricing.

There are also plenty of cases at ME. As I am sure, you love ME, and if you browsed their selections in-store, you will quickly find what you are looking for - maybe even at a sales price.
(i.e. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX26819 ) This is probably something you'll want (if you're living in the Edmonton area).
If not, you can always try http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX31654 - it's a bit pricier but it looks pretty fancy for any computer rig.


Personally, I've only bought the SSD for my new rig (Corsair Force Series GT 60GB @$94.95 - ME) I know that this price will be unbeatable even during Christmas / Boxing Day.

For every other piece, I would definitely hold on until Christmas / Boxing Day / January - the prices will definitely go down.

For example, you will see that the G.Skill Ripjaw X Series 1600 DDR3 8GB went on sale for only $29.99, which is only $5 more than what you're going to pay for at $24.99
The i5 2500k, I am also going to get that, but there's a chance it will hit the 200s in later December.
There are A LOT of good deals on PSUs, do you really want to pay the extra hefty costs for a modular? It's fine just sticking to non-modulars (if your case is not see-through and you don't really care how it looks) PSUs were going on sale everywhere pre-Black Friday/Black Friday/post-Black Friday so definitely wait.

tl;dr Only buy a item if you know the price won't drop to a certain "kill-myself-and-regret" point. (i.e. Buying at $95 and the lowest it goes on Boxing day is $90 is still perfectly acceptable)
You're better off waiting until Christmas / New Years, like me! :)
Deal Fanatic
Oct 1, 2004
5862 posts
268 upvotes
The beauty of an SSD is you don't even have to mount it. You could literally let it hang on the power and sata cable, though it's best to stick it somewhere on the case (with foam tape or something) so it doesn't move around when transporting the case.
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Banned
User avatar
Feb 15, 2008
26318 posts
3242 upvotes
Calgary
r2yneth wrote: Don't know if SSD prices will even drop during Boxing Day. They were still fairly high up there during NCIX.ca/Newegg.ca/CC/ME for their "Black Friday" deals.
The Intel 320 SSDs at ~$1/gb were a fantastic deal recently, and, much to my surprise, most of the retaillers you mention still had pretty decent stock levels towards the end of the sale. Which means -- times are probably fairly tough, and the sales should return for Boxing Day, and even into January.
TodayHello wrote: ...The Banks are smarter than you - they have floors full of people whose job it is to read Mark77 posts...
Newbie
Aug 21, 2011
60 posts
1 upvote
Thanks for the case suggestion ! It looks really nice and for a good price too :D

I can wait to Boxing Day and see if there are any good deals. I just need to be prepared on what to buy and if it will works all together :)

And I only chose MemoryExpress because I like their price matching feature before checkout. I've never bought something from them yet and don't really have a preference on the dealer. All what I want is good price ! :D
r2yneth wrote: Don't know if SSD prices will even drop during Boxing Day. They were still fairly high up there during NCIX.ca/Newegg.ca/CC/ME for their "Black Friday" deals.

320GB is plenty of room, I have trouble even filling out my current 260 - but I'm also going for a new build with 500GB until the 2TB WDC Blacks get back to their original pricing.

There are also plenty of cases at ME. As I am sure, you love ME, and if you browsed their selections in-store, you will quickly find what you are looking for - maybe even at a sales price.
(i.e. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX26819 ) This is probably something you'll want (if you're living in the Edmonton area).
If not, you can always try http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX31654 - it's a bit pricier but it looks pretty fancy for any computer rig.


Personally, I've only bought the SSD for my new rig (Corsair Force Series GT 60GB @$94.95 - ME) I know that this price will be unbeatable even during Christmas / Boxing Day.

For every other piece, I would definitely hold on until Christmas / Boxing Day / January - the prices will definitely go down.

For example, you will see that the G.Skill Ripjaw X Series 1600 DDR3 8GB went on sale for only $29.99, which is only $5 more than what you're going to pay for at $24.99
The i5 2500k, I am also going to get that, but there's a chance it will hit the 200s in later December.
There are A LOT of good deals on PSUs, do you really want to pay the extra hefty costs for a modular? It's fine just sticking to non-modulars (if your case is not see-through and you don't really care how it looks) PSUs were going on sale everywhere pre-Black Friday/Black Friday/post-Black Friday so definitely wait.

tl;dr Only buy a item if you know the price won't drop to a certain "kill-myself-and-regret" point. (i.e. Buying at $95 and the lowest it goes on Boxing day is $90 is still perfectly acceptable)
You're better off waiting until Christmas / New Years, like me! :)
Newbie
Aug 21, 2011
60 posts
1 upvote
Hmm...I heard that ME doesn't PM prices that are on sale. Is that true ? What is the best online store out there that ship to Montreal ?

Also, I might be tempted to look for a motherboard that supports the Ivy Bridge for some more "upgradability" in the future.

For the GPU, how is the one made by Gigabytes compared to the others ?
Deal Fanatic
Oct 1, 2004
5862 posts
268 upvotes
thisismadness wrote: Hmm...I heard that ME doesn't PM prices that are on sale. Is that true ? What is the best online store out there that ship to Montreal ?

Also, I might be tempted to look for a motherboard that supports the Ivy Bridge for some more "upgradability" in the future.

For the GPU, how is the one made by Gigabytes compared to the others ?

Someone RMAed their GTX480 and in return, they got a GTX580 from Gigabyte.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1656406

Don't go out breaking your old cards though, with every RMA, they can give you the same thing or something they think it's comparable...
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Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Aug 16, 2010
7368 posts
4672 upvotes
Between Countries
flyz wrote: The beauty of an SSD is you don't even have to mount it. You could literally let it hang on the power and sata cable, though it's best to stick it somewhere on the case (with foam tape or something) so it doesn't move around when transporting the case.

I agree. I have an SSD and a case with no SSD bays. The drive is so light and small that I just ended up tucking it somewhere out of the way. No problems.
Newbie
Aug 21, 2011
60 posts
1 upvote
I changed a little the build in OP. I replaced the mobo with an ASROCK instead, went for a CM PSU and added another 4gb of RAM. I also took BestDirect.ca instead of MemoryExpress ( apparently, I can get free shipping :O ).
Deal Addict
Sep 10, 2004
2907 posts
924 upvotes
Toronto
thisismadness wrote:... ASRock Z68 EXTREME3 GEN3 ...
Variable quality control.
thisismadness wrote:... Coolermaster Extreme Power Plus 550W ...
Would not recommend.
Burning power supply, never a good thing. :eek:
A review/link,
Newbie
Aug 21, 2011
60 posts
1 upvote
Updated OP with my final build :D

This is the total :

Shipping: 0$

Insurance: 0$

Sub Total: 807.21$

GST(5%): 40.36 :(

No PST - Outside BC residents: 0$

Total: 847.57$
Member
User avatar
Nov 22, 2011
493 posts
256 upvotes
Vancouver
thisismadness wrote: Updated OP with my final build :D

This is the total :

Shipping: 0$

Insurance: 0$

Sub Total: 807.21$

GST(5%): 40.36 :(

No PST - Outside BC residents: 0$

Total: 847.57$

Complaining about 5%, I have 12% buddy.

Anyways, nice build, but why the low PSU? You got a SLI mobo with a good vid card, eventually you'll want to SLI when 560 prices drop after March/April.
Newbie
Aug 21, 2011
60 posts
1 upvote
r2yneth wrote: Complaining about 5%, I have 12% buddy.

Anyways, nice build, but why the low PSU? You got a SLI mobo with a good vid card, eventually you'll want to SLI when 560 prices drop after March/April.
Haha, not complaining but you're never happy to pay taxes xD

And I thought that 620W would be ok for 2 560 Ti O_O
Newbie
Aug 21, 2011
60 posts
1 upvote
Ughh....now that I think about it...Do I have to buy any cables like SATA, Sata-Molex, etc. ?

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