Building college rig, need parts suggestions

bassmasta · **Joined:** Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:57 pm **Posts:** 305

Hey MR, I'm looking to build a computer for college and I was looking for some parts suggestions. I'm probably going to be playing all types of games.

CPU: i5 2500k. Not going to overclock. $220.
Motherboard: MSI P67A-G45. $110 with mail-in rebate.
Graphics: ATI HD6950. I plan to have dual cards in the future. $240.
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB, with free game. $50.
PSU: Corsair 750W. $120.
Hard Drive: WD Black 750GB. $65.
CD/DVD: Liteon CD/DVD burner. $20.
OS: Windows 7. $100.
Case: Getting one locally to save on shipping.
Monitor: Decently sized 1080p LCD (any recommendations?) Probably this one. $150
Total: $

Also getting got this mouse.

Any suggestion for alternatives, or does it look good?

XCVG · **Posted:** Sat Aug 06, 2011 1:33 pm

You want dual x16 slots, you'll need a mobo with an NF200 chip. Sandy Bridge only gives you sixteen lanes, total. Good motherboards will split that two ways x8/x8 for dual videocards, crappy ones will give the second card four lanes from the southbridge. The motherboard you're looking at falls into the latter category. Actually, I'm not sure if it even supports dual videocards. Get a P67 or Z68 board, full ATX and proper lane splitting. I would also recommend against a Caviar Green- go for a Black, preferably, or a different brand if your budget can't afford it. I've heard bad things about OCZ power supplies and Rosewill is probably worse. I'm rolling with a 650W XFX supply made by Seasonic. That being said, I don't know much about PSUs. The Antec 300 is a nice case, definitely recommended. A Crossfire rig might be too much for it, though, it is a fairly small case by today's standards (though massive by yesterday's). Lastly, if you have no plans to overclock and don't intend to use the integrated video, a vanilla i5-2500 will do just fine.

bassmasta · **Joined:** Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:57 pm **Posts:** 305

XCVG wrote:

You want dual x16 slots, you'll need a mobo with an NF200 chip. Sandy Bridge only gives you sixteen lanes, total. Good motherboards will split that two ways x8/x8 for dual videocards, crappy ones will give the second card four lanes from the southbridge. The motherboard you're looking at falls into the latter category. Actually, I'm not sure if it even supports dual videocards. Get a P67 or Z68 board, full ATX and proper lane splitting.

Noted, I'll look for that.

XCVG wrote:

I would also recommend against a Caviar Green- go for a Black, preferably, or a different brand if your budget can't afford it.

Noted, I found a nice 7200rpm Black for only $15 more.

XCVG wrote:

The Antec 300 is a nice case, definitely recommended. A Crossfire rig might be too much for it, though, it is a fairly small case by today's standards (though massive by yesterday's).

Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. This Cooler Master looks nice, and free shipping.

XCVG wrote:

Lastly, if you have no plans to overclock and don't intend to use the integrated video, a vanilla i5-2500 will do just fine.

The 2500k is $5-$10 more expensive than the other version. Plus, it allows me the ability to overclock in the future, if I decide to.

XCVG · **Posted:** Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:58 pm

If you ever intend to overclock, an H61 or H67 motherboard is useless to you. You'll need a P67 or Z68 board.

Building college rig, need parts suggestions

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