PC Buying/Building Advice

[Drakaer]

Hi, I'm looking at building a PC following the 'Best Bang for Buck' Build here
http://forum.ragezone.com/f116/new-pc-buying-guides-459259/#post3980443

The PC is mainly going to be used for Audio/Video editing and 3d modeling and animation.

The build is as follows (Prices are in NZD):

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- $219

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- $259

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- $149

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- $449

I am planning on getting one of these bundle deals but am unsure which to pick. From what I have been reading they are pretty much the same and its just personal preference over brand and color.

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- $899

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- $929

Which would you pick and why?

Total - $1974.99 or $2004.99

I have hard drives and DVD drives already so don't need them. In the future I plan on getting another ram kit and maybe an SSD.

Also if there anything that I should change or could change to improve this build please post what and why. I want the best bang for my dollar without spending too much.

Thanks, Drakaer

 

[cycoextreme]

why are you using computer lounge, it looks like they jack up the prices by 100%, use newegg to get better prices its a nice build, but for what your paying for those items you can get something better from newegg for half that

 

[Drakaer]

I live in New Zealand, NewEgg doesn't ship to New Zealand. I also don't know any online stores that do. I'm using computer lounge as it is one of the cheapest I have found in New Zealand and they have free shipping.

 

[cycoextreme]

check out tigerdirect they ship to new zealand, it wouldnt be free but but even the graphics card, same card @ 269.99 with at most $50 shipping for the order would be $319.99 for the card with shipping if its $50 for shipping which is over $100 less than computer lounge.

Yes. TigerDirect.com does ship internationally via UPS World Wide.

For all international orders, export, and distribution please contact our sales force at: 800-800-8300

 

[LightWarrior]

wth, why does your 6950 cost you 450$???....my 6970 cost me 360$!!!

 

[Rishwin]

1. That's all extremely expensive, even for NZ prices. That includes those "bundles".
2. You have absolutely no need for an i7 2600k. None at all.

 

[cycoextreme]

i think that company just jacks the prices up for the "Free Shipping" but they have higher than normal prices, just look more, ive seen some things, but you can find something better and more in the middle for audio/video editing and some 3d modeling

 

[Rishwin]

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Best PC store in Australia, bar none. Their prices even compete or even beat Newegg's prices in some cases.

See if they ship to New Zealand.

 

[cycoextreme]

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Best PC store in Australia, bar none. Their prices even compete or even beat Newegg's prices in some cases.

See if they ship to New Zealand.

Do you ship internationally? At this time we only ship within Australia.

from the help link of thier site

 

[Rishwin]

from the help link of thier site

They do however have an actual store front, so it is possible to organize your own courier to pick your stuff up from the store and deliver it internationally... He would have to contact them first and inquire though, sometimes they allow it and sometimes they don't.

 

[cycoextreme]

Payment for Orders
Payment options include VISA, Mastercard, direct deposit or Australia Post Money Order. We only accept Australian issued credit cards, and a 2% credit card surcharge applies to all credit card transactions. The credit card holder must be either the billing or shipping recipient. For store pick up orders, payment is made in person when picking up, and we accept EFTPOS, credit card or money order (cash is not accepted).

kinda sucks

 

[Drakaer]

1. That's all extremely expensive, even for NZ prices. That includes those "bundles".
2. You have absolutely no need for an i7 2600k. None at all.

Those prices are the norm for most computer places that I looked at. A lot were higher than that. A few parts were cheaper elsewhere but the whole rig was cheaper together at Computer Lounge. I had another thorough look for any places I might have missed but most were more expensive. Anything that was priced lower was excluding GST so adding another 15% pushed the prices well above Computer Lounge.

I was going to get the i7 2600k for the hyperthreading. I don't know how much of a difference it makes but the adobe suite and other programs I use made use of hyperthreading so I thought it might be a good investment. If hyperthreading wont make a noticeable difference then I wont bother with and will get the i5 2500k.

The i5 2500k is available in the same bundles. I think I will get the gigabyte board since its cheaper.

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- $769
That brings the total down to $1,844.99

I looked at Amazon for shipping internationally and they seemed alright. However I spoke with my parents and they aren't too keen on ordering from overseas. Since they are the ones ordering it for me I'm gonna order nationally for now. I'm gonna check out a few more stores before purchasing though and see if they can drop the prices.

With this build I plan on running it at stock clocks for now. If I did decide to overclock it in the future would I need extra cooling?

 

[Rishwin]

Get the i5 and save $100, and i can save you another $150 - You do not need that CPU water cooler unless you're doing some MAD overclocking. The i5 2500k runs very cool and can be overclocked up to 4.8GHz just by using the OEM cooler that comes with it.

Hyperthreading means that each of the CPU's cores are able to "emulate" another core so on paper it looks like you have 8 cores, but realistically the performance gains aren't there. Not for a quad-core being used at home anyway. You don't need it.

Don't get sucked into those "combos" EVERY PC store has. They save you maybe $10 over the normal prices, but they will bundle in the more expensive parts that you don't need but since it's bundled you feel compelled to buy it cos it just sounds like a great deal.

Get a different cheaper mobo, then make your own bundle with the i5 and the RAM. It will knock that same $10 off the price but it's better than nothing.

I would recommend the

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, I combo'd that with the i5 and RAM for $662.81.

That brought the total down to $1,589.80

 

[Drakaer]

Thanks, thats just what I needed.

In terms of casing would I be better to look for a cheaper one and save a few dollars there as well? I'm not to concerned with how the case looks. I'm not sure what to look for in a case.

 

[Rishwin]

If you're not TOO concerned with looks, i'd recommend this one -

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that's another $100 saved right there.

If you want to save even more, this PSU would do you perfectly fine also -

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it's a good and reliable brand and that's yet another $100 saved.

If you get them both, your total comes down to $1,379.70 and you haven't sacrificed ANYTHING from your initial $2004.99 build. People need to realize that higher cost =/= higher performance, which is why i made those buying guides with the best price-to-performance ratios. The builds do get outdated pretty fast though so i do need to update them sometime soon.

 

[Drakaer]

Cool thats a much better price. I also found some where slightly cheaper.

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This card is the same as the other card by Sapphire right? In the pictures though it looks like the XFX has one fan as opposed to two on the sapphire. Is one fan going to be a problem or am I better to spend $36 for the extra fan.

If I were to purchase from here it would be:

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- $179

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- $215

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- $129

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- $295

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- $85

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- $419

Total: $1,322.00

The motherboard + CPU + Ram combo is $26 cheaper at computer lounge so I could further save if I bought from two different stores. Alternatively I could see if either store will match the other.

Either way its still a massive saving from the original price thanks to you guys.

 

[Rishwin]

Ummmm I would stick with the PC Lounge, the 2 fans do help in keeping the temps down especially since you have the 2GB version of the 6950.

The 2GB 6950's are actually 6970 boards with a 6950 BIOS, so people have actually been flashing the cards and putting the 6970 BIOS back on it for a practically free upgrade.