Scratch

Surely you could find cheaper comparable versions for some pieces?

You've got the same RAM as my $700 dollar laptop, but I've heard that building your own system is generally much cheaper.

Servine wrote:

I wish I had the tenacity to build my own computer! But I dare not do it, as:

1) I don't actually know how to put together a computer

2) Long, lengthly names such as 'AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4170FRGUBOX' confuse me.

3) I'm not good with fiddly stuff and I fear it may blow up!

Anyway, don't listen to me as I may be completely wrong but, I see that you're processor is AMD. Normally, I'd complain but 4.3GHz is double of my Intel i3 Processor (2.13GHz).

One other thing I find is that you don't seem to want to scrimp on costs. $822 seems like a great price for all that (I paid pretty much the same as you for a really annoyingly slow laptop)

Ubuntu seems like a good OS choice, but seeing as you have 8GB RAM, I think you could upgrade to Windows or iOS if you wanted, but then again, Ubuntu is free and it isn't even bad!

Good luck in making this, try and get some help though!

This is my original design has alot more stuff:

--------------------------


Source: Newegg.com
Tower: (nessesity)

processor:
AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4170FRGUBOX
$120

Motherboard:
ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and UEFI BIOS
$230

Storage:
Western Digital RE4-GP WD2003FYPS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$100

dvd/cd player
MSI 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-18DP
$20

blue ray player:
LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Reader Model iHOS104-06 - OEM
$30

video card:
ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$180

Power suply:
SILVERSTONE Strider Gold ST1000-G 1000W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified 100% Modular, Active PFC Power Supply
$210

Case:
Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Steel structure with black brushed aluminum faceplate ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$185

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10
$82

wifi card:
TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter Network adapter - PCI Express x1
$40

operating system:
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit - OEM
$180

also thank you for your feed back

I can tell this isn't for major gaming, Mine is to be custom built and suited for major gaming.

RAM
Corsair 16G (4x4GB) Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 DDR3
$99

DVD Drive
LiteON SATA DVD-RW 24X Black
$19

Case
CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer Black Case With USB3
$88.50

PSU
Antec VP-650P 650W Strictly PSU
$84.50

CPU Cooler
Prolimatech Genesis CPU Cooler
$79

HDD
Seagate SATA3 1TB 7200RPM 64mb Cache
$73

Graphics Card
Gigabyte ATI HD7870 OC Ed PCI-E 3.0 2GB GDDR5
$249

Heatsink Fans
CoolerMaster 12CM Rifle Blue Led Case Fan x 2
$22

Motherboard
Asus P8H77-M PRO P8H77-M PRO.H77 4xDDR3 2xPCI-E16 GBL SATA3 USB3.0
$109

CPU
Intel Core i5 3570K LGA1155 CPU 3.4Ghz 6Mb Cache Ivy Bridge
$232

Total: 1055

I'd like to build my own computer at some point (not ridiculous, but better than my current one from like 2004) because I think it'd be fun. I don't really have the time presently, though.

veggieman001 wrote:

I'd like to build my own computer at some point (not ridiculous, but better than my current one from like 2004) because I think it'd be fun. I don't really have the time presently, though.

I think it would be a great project too sometime in the future. I've done quite a bit of research on it as well.

As for you build, programmerpro, I agree with fire219, the AMD CPUs are rubbish in relative to the Intel Core range. If it's purely for gaming, get a high clock speed i3, (CPU isn't very important for gaming according to PCMag, they used a i3 in their gamer build), or get a i5 3770k for real cpu performance.

You should also get more RAM, something like 12GB-16GB is good. RAMs not too expensive but affects performance greatly.

I wonder how many games you're gonna be able to play on Ubuntu though... 

PS. AMD makes good GPUs so stick with them for your graphics card 

nathanprocks wrote:

jji7skyline wrote:

I wonder how many games you're gonna be able to play on Ubuntu though... 

Steam is being ported to Linux, so there is going to be more games for Linux available than there was before. 

Steam is on Mac, and people don't seem to think there's much games for Mac is there? (And it's been a while since Steam came to Mac as well  )

Will you need a special cooling system? Water cooling is really cool (pun not intended), and quiet 

Why'd you spend so much on a motherboard for that build? Not to be critical but you probably could have gotten a suitable board for half what you paid. You really don't need a Crosshair V unless you're an enthusiast. 

Servine wrote:

1) I don't actually know how to put together a computer

2) Long, lengthly names such as 'AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4170FRGUBOX' confuse me.

3) I'm not good with fiddly stuff and I fear it may blow up!

1) Well sure, that's why you have to do your research. If you don't want to go to that effort, that's understandable though.

2) No need to be intimidated by long names. Just break it down. 
AMD: Manufacturer
FX-4170: CPU series and model
Zambezi: Series name. Yay marketing!
4.2 GHz (4.3 turbo) clock speed
Socket AM3+: the CPU socket. Basically the interface through which it interacts with the board.
125W: The TDP (thermal design power). It's roughly how many watts of heat dissipation are required to cool the chip.
Quad-core: I think you know what that means. 

3) It's actually easier than it seems.

Harakou wrote:

Why'd you spend so much on a motherboard for that build? Not to be critical but you probably could have gotten a suitable board for half what you paid. You really don't need a Crosshair V unless you're an enthusiast. 

Servine wrote:

1) I don't actually know how to put together a computer

2) Long, lengthly names such as 'AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4170FRGUBOX' confuse me.

3) I'm not good with fiddly stuff and I fear it may blow up!

1) Well sure, that's why you have to do your research. If you don't want to go to that effort, that's understandable though.

2) No need to be intimidated by long names. Just break it down. 
AMD: Manufacturer
FX-4170: CPU series and model
Zambezi: Series name. Yay marketing!
4.2 GHz (4.3 turbo) clock speed
Socket AM3+: the CPU socket. Basically the interface through which it interacts with the board.
125W: The TDP (thermal design power). It's roughly how many watts of heat dissipation are required to cool the chip.
Quad-core: I think you know what that means. 

3) It's actually easier than it seems.

Thanks Harakou!

Firedrake969 wrote:

For the HDD, I say bleh.  64MB isn't enough.

What do you mean? You're not going to get any more than 64MB cache on your average drive. I believe there are some with 128MB but they're pretty expensive.

Firedrake969 wrote:

For the HDD, I say bleh.  64MB isn't enough.

64MB isn't the storage size, it is the cache size. It's the short-term storage for the drive (like the RAM is for the whole computer). Only there for small files that get accessed frequently.

The actual storage of that drive is 500GB. (Which is on the small side by today's standards, but perfectly fine.)

Firedrake969 wrote:

Harakou wrote:

Firedrake969 wrote:

For the HDD, I say bleh.  64MB isn't enough.

What do you mean? You're not going to get any more than 64MB cache on your average drive. I believe there are some with 128MB but they're pretty expensive.

Oh, I thought he meant actual storage.      No way you can even have an internet browser in 64MB.

The first few versions of Chrome would have :3