video card suggestions

[ScipioCaesar]

Well that's a relief at least; I'm assuming i have to buy windows from somewhere then? I know how to use device manager to upload my drivers and such at least; how long will it take to actually construct the thing? and what kind of tools and such will i need? That build you gave me Khalus looks beautiful, btw, ill probably try to match exactly that with just a few price cuts in whatever areas i can get the best bang for my buck. i wish their was something i could do to return the favors you guys have offered me!

[Coldfire]

You need a cross screwdriver and an antistatic wrist strap. For windows I recommend you get a systembuilder(SB/OEM) version at the same shop where you buy the parts. It's cheaper and only misses some support features that really nobody ever uses(one free phone call to customer support... wtf M$ xD). Make sure that it's 64bit though. The drivers are usually just installers that need to be executed once. No need for complicated interaction with the device manager anymore nowadays.
This link should also help: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_To_...op_PC/Assembly
It's a pretty old guide but most stuff is still done the same way.

[ScipioCaesar]

Alright sounds good thanks again; i thre a bunch of the items on the list from last page into a newegg shopping cart except for the PSU/GPU. The PSU is out of stock and there's no way I'm spending $479 on the video card. Otherwise i think the other stuff looks good, only having 6 months no interest is a worry but i make all my extra money in december so i should be able to pull it off. I guess i'll look around the PSU/Gpu stuff on newegg to see what's best and most affordable, i'm sure i can find a good video card for $200 or so, at least i'm hoping that to be the case!

[Khalus]

i wish their was something i could do to return the favors you guys have offered me!

Just get rid of that thing you bought, and build a real PC. You'll thank yourself in the end as well.

To build a PC, depending on your level of skill can take an hr or all day. Whenever I build a new PC, I take a great deal of time on wire management, making sure its all tucked away so I get the maximum airflow which does help in keeping temps down a few c, plus in the end it looks really nice too. I'd say my latest build took me about 2-3hrs, including installing Win7, and my drivers/programs. For you being new to this, just remember to take your time, ask a friend to help if they know a little, ask plenty of questions if you're not sure, and follow the guide provided with the MB. {usually a huge, colored poster, in great detail...}

[ScipioCaesar]

Just get rid of that thing you bought, and build a real PC. You'll thank yourself in the end as well.

To build a PC, depending on your level of skill can take an hr or all day. Whenever I build a new PC, I take a great deal of time on wire management, making sure its all tucked away so I get the maximum airflow which does help in keeping temps down a few c, plus in the end it looks really nice too. I'd say my latest build took me about 2-3hrs, including installing Win7, and my drivers/programs. For you being new to this, just remember to take your time, ask a friend to help if they know a little, ask plenty of questions if you're not sure, and follow the guide provided with the MB. {usually a huge, colored poster, in great detail...}

Alright that doesn't sound too bad then...do you have any other suggestions for the PSU/GPU? I just can't see myself floating that kind of money for the graphics card and the PCU was out of stock =P Unless you think those two are musts and i should be cutting costs from elsewhere? Also the CPU seems really high but i'm under the impression that's the most important part right?

Oh, and also, I still need a monitor, mouse, and keyboard don't I? I guess I'm looking at $1500ish when all is said and done

[Khalus]

I guess i'll look around the CPU/Gpu stuff on newegg to see what's best and most affordable, i'm sure i can find a good video card for $200 or so, at least i'm hoping that to be the case!

I'd suggest you wait for that PSU to come into stock again. Its a really good one for the price, plus its modular, meaning most the cables are separate, and you add what you need, meaning less cables in your case taking up valuable airflow.

As far as a cheaper CPU & GPU. Check these out:

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz
EVGA GTX 570

~or a little cheaper~

EVGA GTX 560Ti



Honestly though, I suggest you don't go lower than the 570. Mainly due to the design and the most excellent Vapor Chamber Cooler that only the 570 & 580 have. Anything lower and you get a standard fan over the Proc of the GPU,{see the 560Ti} where 60-70% of the heat generated is kicked back into your case, causing temps to be much higher. With the 570 & 580, 100% of the heat generated is vented out the back of the case.

These new choices will save you about $300, $350 if you go with the 560Ti...

[Khalus]

You could also cut the Audio card entirely, cause the MB has on-board thats good enough. And choose a slightly smaller case, with the Antec 902, about $60 cheaper w/ rebate.

As for a monitor, depends on what size you want, and Acer makes some good ones, for example, same size as what you have now.

[ScipioCaesar]

This is some awesome stuff, thanks again. With shipping, I'm at about $1450 right now on newegg, but i think i may go from that i7 to the i5, and cut out the audio entirely as i didn't realize i could get away with that, check out the smaller case, and see what i come up with. they have some new customer 12 month no interest plan that would be ideal as well. oh; what about the warranties? should i purchase all the warranties on every item or leave them be?

EDIT: After cutting out the audio card, switching to the i5 and the smaller case, it brought everything down to $1200, and i get $70 rebate on top of that...does it matter which windows system i buy? the cheapest is about $120 ugh. and that's with the lowest GPU, the next highest one would bump it up considerably more

[Khalus]

EVGA already have excellent warranties for both the GPU and MB with purchase,{just remember to register them} I never had a CPU go out on me, so I never bought one for that. As for the windows, I use Ultimate just because I got it free, never really looked at the options to compare, so I really don't know. Someone else may.

Does that $1200 include the Monitor? And are you getting the 560Ti?

[Coldfire]

Pro and Ultimate have absolutely no advantage for normal users. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...oducts/compare
Also the memory limit is different http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...mits_windows_7
And about the soundcard: If you like good sound and don't have a soundsystem with digital input you should buy something like a Asus Xonar D1. Onboard sound always has issues since the raw audio outputs are being hit with interferences by the surrounding mass of chips and lanes.