opinions on parts for a cheap computer

[hoofhearted4]

hi all. im very new to the whole computer technology thing. im going to college for it now, but i only have one semester down and still dont know much, so youll have to excuse any stupidity i have.

 

im just starting to get into computer gaming as a dedicated gaming system. ive played Starcraft and C&C games for years, but recently ive been getting into Fallout NV and Dragon Age on the PC and while i still play bfbc2 on my ps3, i might consider getting Battlefield 3 for both systems. anywho im looking to build a computer, more for the experience then the power, at my price range, i could prolly buy a computer thats roughly as good. but considering this is the forum for all things computer geek, i wanted to come here and ask opinions. the parts listed add up to $1400 i believe, and thats really as high as i wanna go (if not that may be a bit too high, im not 100% sure yet, still got a little while before i get that money anyways) so here are the parts my friend has put together for me:

 

CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115224

 

CARD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130611

 

Board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128456&cm_re=1366_motherboard-_-13-128-456-_-Product

 

Ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424&cm_re=ddr3_ram_8gb_1333-_-20-231-424-_-Product

 

Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121002

 

HD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

 

W7 64 bit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986&cm_re=windows_7_system_builder_64-_-32-116-986-_-Product

 

Monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005130

 

so with this list i would like to make a few comments, as well as ask a few questions. first comment is that i listed W7 but i really dont need it. through my classes i get W7 for free, however i cannot use the product key because i need the disk for class use, therefore i can only use it for what is it 6 months? so i am undecided if i will just use the product key and use the 32 for class or install the 32 bit and save the 64 bit for class and then just upgrade after i know i dont need it for class or not (because the teacher was unsure which one we would need for the future) so that could possibly be $100 saved right there. now for some questions. as i said my friend put this list together, but having never put a computer together idk what i need. do i need a sound card or is that included with one of those products listed? if not how cheap is a sound card? how do i go about adding a floppy drive? it could be useful for my classes as we mess around with floppies for learning purposes? do they cost a lot? if i wanted to add one would i have to change the mother board or the tower?

 

if any of you have any comments or ideas please let me know. if you can beat any of these items for the same price please post. as i said, i think this is roughly $1400 give or take and that is really as high as id like to go within reason (for example if there is an item that is leagues ahead of a listed item and i think the price difference is worth it, then i might consider it)

 

also as something that would be fun to add, i dont have a keyboard, mouse, or speakers, so if any of you gamers of suggestions either on certain items, or just stuff to look for when looking for a gaming keyboard/mouse, please post!

 

thank all of you tech gurus for your help! i am eager to hear back from you and hopefully learn some things!

Edited June 5, 2011 by hoofhearted4

[Quetzlsacatanango]

AMD/ATI will always give you a better price for the clock, no matter what anyone says.

[hoofhearted4]

u mean over clocking? i dont wanna overclock

 

thanks for your input :)

[Quetzlsacatanango]

No, I mean per MHz, per watt, or whatever measure you prefer.

[Vecna6667]

Plus the X58 (LGA1366) chipset is about to be outdated real soon by LGA2011. If you have to go with a cheap Intel build the P67 and Z68 chipsets of LGA1155 are far better performancewise. The i7-2600k alone, at $325, performs at the same levels of the i7-980x and i7-990x(both are $1000 cpu's!) The i5-2500k performs better than most AMD cpu's and is only $15 more than AMD's most expensive cpu (Phenom II X6 1100T BE,) plus it doesn't have hyperthreading which is only recomended if you do a lot of video editing (with any video editor) and encodings with Handbrake.

[hoofhearted4]

now whats the difference between the P67 and the Z68? why would i choose one over the other? and what makes them better then the one i listed? what do i look for in a Motherboard?

 

also did a recalculation, even with W7, my list adds up to $1290 (without S&H of course.) and if i add in the i7-2600k CPU and one of the two boards you choose, the price changes to roughly $1260, which is great!

 

also what about my GFX card? any opinions on that?

 

thanks for your help guys!!!

 

EDIT: accounting for S&H (many said free, hope thats true) and even Extended Warranty, the price is roughly $1380.

i also noticed that the monitor i linked to was out of stock and may not be restocked, so i need an opinion on a new monitor.

Edited June 5, 2011 by hoofhearted4

[Vecna6667]

With the exception of one of Gigabyte's boards (I can't remember which one, it has an nForce 200 chip though,) you can switch between the dedicated graphics and integrated graphics chip(inside the cpu) for activities that don't require a strong graphics and save on power on z68. The real benefit for z68 is that you can take up to a 64 GB(priced around the $150 range) and write cache to it and greatly speed up the read times of a mechanical hard drive (up to 80 percent of the read times of an SSD.)

 

Check this link out for a more detailed description.

[hoofhearted4]

oooo. ok. most of that went over my head but ill just go with z68 is good lol.

 

 

still looking for opinions on graphics cards

 

thanks guys :)

[Erik005]

If you're not going to overclock just get a Intel motherboard or Asrock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627+50001157+600093976+600008069&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=280&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=

 

As for the card, the 460 is end of life. The GTX560 is better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127593

[hoofhearted4]

so with the input you guys have provided so far here is the build so far:

 

CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070&cm_re=i7_2600k-_-19-115-070-_-Product

 

CARD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500197&cm_re=GTX560_ti-_-14-500-197-_-Product

 

BOARD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157252&cm_re=Z68-_-13-157-252-_-Product

 

RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424&cm_re=ddr3_ram_8gb_1333-_-20-231-424-_-Product

 

CASE:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121002

 

HDD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

 

MONITOR:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005130

 

a couple of notes. the monitor is out of stock, so any opinions on a new monitor of the same value or less would be great. also a question from the beginning, how does the sound card fit into all this. do i need one? idc about sound quality so ya. also input on a good/decent keyboard/mouse would be nice as well, as well as speakers, though as i said idc about sound quality really and id have headphone plugged in most of the time, or have it come through a headset.

 

thanks again guys, your really helping. i think the build so far is still under $1400, and thats including S&H and extended warranties and stuff. (think its around $1280 without it.)