Ok... so my current machine is like 7 years old and dying. I'm expecting a tax return soon of about $1000 which I want to pour straight into a new computer. Since this is 7 years old, that means I haven't done the building thing in that long, so I'd like input from the knowledgeable members here

Lazlo Falconi : I'm looking at you here.

I'm pretty sure I remember how to competently make parts compatible... but I can't say I know what the best types of products to get or who are the manufacturers to go-to/avoid. I'm taking a real stab in the dark with my RAM especially since it's a brand I've never used before... but I wanted to save $10. If that's a mistake, please let me know.

Anyway, these are the parts I'm thinking of going with which puts me RIGHT at the limit of my price range:

Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5727278&Sku=I69-2253

Power Supply: 700W (already have)

CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1884773&Sku=I69-3820

CPU Fan: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6046364&Sku=T925-3046

Hard Drive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6280178&Sku=TMD-500AS4

Optical Drive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1140079&Sku=L12-1374%20OEM *OPTIONAL*

RAM: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2424473&Sku=P33-2003

Video Card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4368604&Sku=Z700-0652

Monitor: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1971006&Sku=S205-2002

I also currently am using a 750 MB SATA Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive in this computer that I will reformat and use as a secondary drive on the new one.

I saw this last night and wanted to post, but couldn't because of maintenance. So I sent an you an email with my thoughts and suggestions. If you want I could copy the message and paste it here

metal572 : Okay, read your email and here are my thoughts...

The main selling point for that motherboard were is EIGHT RAM slots... it was hard to pass that up. It maxes out at 64GB of RAM which is likely more than I'll ever need before the machine becomes totally obsolete. But if you think a newer socket type is better... hopefully I can find another motherboard that looks as appealing for that socket type. Any suggestions without jacking up the price?

If I can do with an i5, I guess I can downgrade and save some money. No idea what an ivy bridge is though. What do you mean no CPU cooler though...? Overclocked or not, the CPU WILL fry if there's no fan on it o.o

Thanks for the heads-up about blu-ray. I'll look into it. I may not even get the drive since my DVD burner is still working... but I'm not sure how much life it has left in it.

When getting RAM, I like to get the maximum capacity for that slot so that I can potentially get the most out of a motherboard. Then again, I'm used to only having 2-4 slots to play with, so getting 2 4GB sticks in that case would make me feel I wasted slots. I know the stick I selected at least works for the motherboard I originally selected, but if change the mb, I'll hafta hope I can find the right RAM for it.

As for sound cards... I've never used one in my life. Never seen the point.

I usually go for Western Digital for my HDDs... but Seagate is currently (to my knowledge) the ONLY company that makes a hybrid SSD. So that's kinda my only option if I use that type of drive.

Thanks for the suggestions and I look forward to hearing any other advise you may have. I'll more than likely change the build again for additional feedback before actually buying since I haven't gotten my money yet and by the time I do, I'm sure 2-3 items will be sold out.

Crazy Li : Well honestly, unless you are doing high level video editing, I don't see why you would need more than 8gb of ram, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. I suggested the newer socket type because it will give you a bigger range of possible upgrades if you decide to do so in the future. I'll sit down tonight and try and find a few I think are good choices in your price range. Ivy bridge is just the type of i5, it will say i5 in the name on the store page (at least it does on new egg, i assume it will everywhere). Sandy Bridge is also excellent, but it is the older type and I assumed since even the most expensive ivy bridge i5 (again, using newegg for this statement) is less than the one you listed you would want to just go ahead and get the newer standard. The cpu will come with a stock cooler though, which will be fine unless you overclock it. And yeah, unless you're doing advanced video editing or 3d rendering, you wont see a major difference between the i5 and i7. The reason I suggested two smaller sticks of ram, is because that would give you dual channel support and also, if one stick was to go bad you could still use your computer until it was replaced. I've never heard of SSD Hybrids, they sound interesting, I'll have to look into them a bit. And yeah, most times theres not a huge need for a sound card, I just suggested it cus I know (first hand and from posts online) that realtek onboad can be a pain, but chances are you wont need it so no loss there. I'll post later with some specific hardware suggestions, I hope I've helped a little and if you need any info just ask (And as always feel free to disagree with me on any of it, in the end this is your computer not mine or anyone elses )

I agree that you will never need more than 8 Gbs of RAM. With RAM, more is not always better, it's just is pointless after a while.

As for CPU, I don't agree with metal that you would only notice the difference rendering and the like; unlike RAM, your CPU may feel outdated in time, and faster does make a difference (even if it's only slight). If you have some money to spare, you could actually UPgrade for an extra $30 and get the i7-3770K (Ivy). I have the i5 2500k (Sandy), and I love it... but I recently built a computer for my folks and gave them the i7-2600K, and I'm really wishing I did the same. What will you be using your computer for, lots of gaming?

As mentioned, you don't need a special fan unless you want to overclock (but, may as well if you have the money). The stock fan works ok for very slight OC if you happen to get a good CPU.

I like the RAM you have now, but I love this one. I've used it for a couple builds, and that is the best bang for buck.

If you switch to a 1155 CPU, let us know, and I'm sure you'll get lots of good MoBo suggestions.

Light Knight :

I won't need more than 8GB of RAM now but what about 5 years from now? I want a computer that will last a good while. 5 years ago, people were satisfied with 2GB of RAM and now, that's pathetic... so as you can see, technology can grow quickly and the requirements change. Why not have a motherboard that's so spacious I'll never have to worry about not being able to install more RAM?

No, I'm not intending to use my PC for gaming much... though I do want to play some PC games here and there. I actually don't use my computer for anything complicated that often. I play a game here and there... use Photoshop or Flash... sometimes try working on game development... I've even dabbled a little in 3D rendering. But this is all stuff I've been able to do with my current computer which is very weak by today's standards.

I got a fan with the build I threw together because the CPU was listed as fanless. Also, Intel stock fans are crap anyway so even if that was a mistake and it DOES come with a fan after all, it probably wouldn't be any good.

As said before, I prefer to max out the slot if I can. In the past I've been haunted by doing 2x this or that and then needing to just throw it away instead of being able to add onto it. Yeah, with 8 slots that'll probably never happen to me... but after previous experience, I'd like to play it safe anyway. Dual channel RAM might be nice... but honestly, I've never even noticed the difference before.

Crazy Li : Well, if you are worried about adding more ram in the future, just get a motherboard that supports a lot of ram. Just cus a motherboard hs fewer slots doesn't mean it cant support a lot of ram. Here is an example (I'm not reccomending this motherboard, just using it to show what I mean) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330 That mobo has 4 slots and supports 32 gb of ram max. Plenty of room for future growth. But as I said before, in the end it is your computer, if you feel more slots would be better then do that.

Ok... so I finally decided to be reasonable. 64GB of RAM potential IS overkill. And with that board's socket type, I realize it'll be obsolete way before I get close to hitting 64GB. So I switched over to a socket 1155 board with a Z77 chipset that should allow me to go up to 32GB of RAM which is plenty.

I'm looking at this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2406888&Sku=A455-2042

I trust Asus as a motherboard manufacturer.

I'm gonna be a bit of a cheapy on the RAM and change to this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2063219&Sku=C19-7030

since the old stick is sold out. This has the industry standard timings and not very expensive. It should get the job done. The only validity I can see in 2 sticks over one is the off chance that one does die and not the other... but I've never had a RAM stick die on me ever. I'll take the chance.

I won't downgrade to an i5. The point of this build is to be future-proof and an i5 is anything but. At least with an i7, I can get some time out of it. $300 for a CPU isn't too excessive either in my view. I'm going with this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2372992&Sku=I69-3770

I have no idea what bridge it is, but it looks like a good enough CPU anyway.

This one does have a stock fan, so I'll drop the fan out of my configuration. I'm at the edge of my budget, so trimming some money there isn't a bad idea as much as I hate Intel fans (I've had one flat-out fall off the processor and cause it to fry my entire motherboard before). I'll get a nice Thermaltake ASAP once I have a bit more money to play with.

So are you asking for speculation recommendations? I would recommend: 
Processor: LGA1366 Intel Core i7 965.
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage Extreme Intel X58
Case: I recommend LanBoy Cases because they are pretty good for cooling.
RAM: Corsier Dominator DDR3 PC3- 16000C8
GFX: 3X MSI GTX285 HydroGen OC.


Those are my PC Specs, but not all of them. These should be the most up to date and best speculations.

Make sure your motherboard has same cpu socket as the cpu you buy the rest is up to you like graphics card, ram and memery....when getting the RAM make sure the pin count is the same as the RAM inut on your mother board......anything else you need to know PM me i made a comuter by myself i know what im doing

BluemageKyle : I'm looking for people who know a lot about building PCs to give feedback and catch any errors I may have made in my build... possibly suggesting better parts in some cases if what I picked is not so great.

I also need to not go over $1000 for all the parts combined.

mister sandman : Did you actually check any of things I posted...? Because if you did, you would know I have a LGA1155 board and LGA1155 CPU selected. Telling me to make sure I did something that I already did isn't very helpful.

I admit to not knowing anything about the Z77, but from what I see it looks like a very good choice in motherboards. I don't have any experience with that brand of ram (or friends who i know have used it) so I can't comment on that. That processor is Ivy Bridge. Yes you are right though, it doesn't make a huge difference. Overall it looks like a great build! I really think you are going to be very happy with it when it is finished.

metal572 : I was hoping I got it right and picked Ivy but wasn't 100% sure. Thanks for the help!

I guess I'll close this now since I've pretty much settled on what I'm doing.