Building my first Tower

Got Problems or Advice post here. Want to show off your PC bling?
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IM A COMPUTAH
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by IM A COMPUTAH »

Too bad you didn't post this a week earlier. There were some awesome PSU deals on some Seasonic & OCZ Power supplies to be had. I'm in the market for another PSU myself, although I'm only looking for about 600W so I'll be posting some good deals if I see them. Also someone mentioned you should jump on deals if you see them. You can purchase your case, PSU, RAM, Optical Drives, & hard drives if you see some good deals going on for them now.
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Mullet
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Mullet »

under $1,000
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Armisael
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Armisael »

One thing to be aware of when building your own machine is that it doesn't have any software on it. At all.

That means no windows (nothing for an upgrade to work with either). No antivirus. No Microsoft office. You'll have to buy all those programs that you take for granted. And they're expensive.

That's somethin you really ought to factor into your budget. It's easy to forget the you need an OS and then suddenly you're a hundred dollars in the hole.
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Mullet
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Mullet »

But he is a student and can get most all of software for dirt cheap. Not to mention free AV.
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Marcus »

Software is expensive, Endnote, a reference citation software that is Extremely useful while writing a thesis 100$ Student price. I think they forgot that students don't have that much money to spend on a very important tool

On a side note: You guys know what would be a good idea, since there is a lot of people that have built their own computers, I think someone should put together a list of stuff to consider when someone is going to build their own system. For myself, I've never built my own computer so a thread with the basic considerations would be a very useful thing if I ever plan to make my own box, which is very soon
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Magus »

That's a pretty nice looking intel build mullet.

I just found this combo on newegg and fell in love with it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... mbo.743046
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Magus »

Also, I have my Windows 7 64-bit Home Edition from my Laptop still. I can prob use that, right?
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by IM A COMPUTAH »

You should be able to transfer your license from your laptop to a desktop, but it will render your laptop's license unusable. I posted in the student thread on these forums a link to get Win7 64bit Professional for $30.

Mullet, my suggestions for your build:
For the price you are suggesting for the i5-2500k + mobo ($390 together) I can purchase an i7-2600k($280), a mobo($40-80 combo price with processor), 3.5% sales tax, shipping to Wisconsin, and a 4 pack of Samuel Smith for my trouble. The same PSU you listed is also 20-30 cheaper at Microcenter, can't remember off the top of my head.
Decent deal on the RAM, I was eyeing it the other week when it was 35%. Newegg has coupons for RAM almost every other week for 15-20%. Wait until they do that again, then buy. This RAM is ideal if you are looking to overclock.
I absolutely do not recommend that mobo you are suggesting though. Being a current owner of the Rev3.0 version of this board, it has been plagued with a high % of problems and they still haven't perfected it after two revisions. Go Gigabyte or MSI.

If you want a SSD I suggest getting in on this deal now: Crucial M4 64GB $85: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread ... &t=3427170
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Mullet »

Magus - what ever you dude go with a GOOD PSU not a cheap one trust me. and you will not be able to use the WIN 7 off your laptop, you will have to purchase it from school or a OEM version from like newwegg or some where. BTW that case even though it looks nice will be a huge dust magnet.

IM A COMPUTAH - I have been building PC's sense 1995 and I am not saying ASUS is bullet proof but out of the tons of ASUS boards I have used personally and for many other people I have never RMAed one. The ASUS board I have now has been flawless. I almost put that SSD in there for the price but I didn't know how much space Magus needed so the WD black drive with 5 year warranty is a badass HDD.

bottom line you never want to go cheap on a PSU or a MOBO. spend the money and get a good board.
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Molimo »

I have to say Mullet's Build is pretty decent. I personally don't like the case but that's me. Otherwise it looks solid.

And Also, same thing for me, I've used Asus Mobo for over 20 Builds, never had to RMA one Yet. I currently Own the P8P67 3.0 Rev with the 2500K and Not one single issue. I know some have had issues in the past, but that's with every company, you can't make them perfect.


All in All, Mullet's Build looks similar to what I would have listed for you, Maybe a change in PSU(I Love Antec), Case (Like Antec or Coolermaster) or Video Card (I'm more of an ATI Fan).
But that being said, that's just personal preference and I think what Mullet linked should work great for you.
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Stephen »

if you use your laptops liecenes you will have to call microsoft for activation.

i do it all the time, but theres the slight chance you will get denied.

as ur key is bound to one motherboard installtion
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by IM A COMPUTAH »

I think the deal I posted is better for processor + mobo then what mullet posted. If you want an Asus mobo you can also get one with the deal I posted from MicroCenter. The deal from MC is $280 for the i7-2600k + $80 off any compatible motherboard. They have a few ASUS ones to choose from including Z68 boards.

Also NCIX.com (reputable dealer from Canada, just starting in USA) is price matching MicroCenter's price for an i5-2500k for $180. Wait until MC runs another deal for $150 for the processor, and have NCIX price match it then.
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by PRETENDICA »

IM A COMPUTAH wrote:I think the deal I posted is better for processor + mobo then what mullet posted. If you want an Asus mobo you can also get one with the deal I posted from MicroCenter. The deal from MC is $280 for the i7-2600k + $80 off any compatible motherboard. They have a few ASUS ones to choose from including Z68 boards.

Also NCIX.com (reputable dealer from Canada, just starting in USA) is price matching MicroCenter's price for an i5-2500k for $180. Wait until MC runs another deal for $150 for the processor, and have NCIX price match it then.
Good call, COMPUTAH. That's half the fun of doing this shopping, getting the best deal. No one here is saying that you have to buy it all at newegg. those 2 that computah mentioned are great, frys.com is great. One thing, I though microcenter didn't deliver, you have to have a store in town(to lazy to look that up right now).HERE IS A THREAD on slickdeals about that pricematching i5-2500k.
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by Das Forscher »

Armisael wrote:One thing to be aware of when building your own machine is that it doesn't have any software on it. At all.

That means no windows (nothing for an upgrade to work with either). No antivirus. No Microsoft office. You'll have to buy all those programs that you take for granted. And they're expensive.

That's somethin you really ought to factor into your budget. It's easy to forget the you need an OS and then suddenly you're a hundred dollars in the hole.
OS is a good point, although you should be able to get Win7 OEM for pretty cheap. I think I snagged my copy of win7 64bit on amazon for under 50 dollars at the time.

As for the rest of the basic shit like office and antivirus, you don't need to pay for that stuff. Get openoffice and AVGFree or MS security essentials. Same goes for most of the basic programs that you would have installed on a ready-made PC or laptop, you can almost always find alternatives that are free and often better (esp. in the case of antivirus software, where the programs that come prepackaged on pcs fuck with you by hogging a ton of resources and having intrusive interfaces/update processes. Especially norton. Fuck norton)

Magus, you mentioned physically building the box as being a major project, don't worry about it even if it''s your first time. It's easy and it only takes 30 minutes to an hour to get the box put together and have your OS loaded up ready to go. You're schooling to become an engineer for fucks sake, this is child's play in comparison to splicing electrons or whatever they have you doing all day.

rest of this thread goes way over my head, just dropping my 2 cents. good luck
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Re: Building my first Tower

Post by PRETENDICA »

You can always get shit for free.99


torrents. Fuck Wall Street.
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