Build comes to $1308 if my numbers are correct. That includes LCD/Keyboard/Mouse.

This is replacing my last build 5 years ago: AMD 2ghz 2600+ on a Asus A7N8X with a ATI AIW 9600 and 512MB of RAM. Needless to say, I've been waiting for this for a long time. Intended uses: Programming, playing the latest games, and everyday tasks without any slowness. Upgradibility is important so I'm taking advantage of latest technologies: SATA 6, USB 3, Sandy Bridge & LGA 1155.

So, please critique the build. All advice welcome. I'm curious what you guys think about the video card for gaming. It would nice to do 1920x1080 on modern games but I'm not sure if this is possible.

LCD U2211H 21.5 inch Flat Panel Display
Case OOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
CPU Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.1GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52300
Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Keyboard Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Mouse Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 - Graphite
SSD OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Motherboard ASUS P8H67-M LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9
Video Card GIGABYTE GV-R577UD-1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
DVD Burner LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Writer - Bulk - LightScribe Support - OEM
Power Supply COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
SATA Cables OKGEAR 18" SATA 6 Gbps Cable, Straight to Straight W/ Metal Latch, Black, Backward Compatible 3 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps
Give me your advice folks!!!

Looks fine. The SSD seems a bit small but you get up over $200 for a 120GB one.

I would get a WD of a smaller size if possible, as larger size Seagates have had notable stability issues.

Also, from appearance, that mouse you chose looks like a portable mouse, which means it's going to be smaller. I would pick something larger and more comfortable to use for long periods.

Finally, I'd consider a larger SSD. I know they're expensive, but you're only barely going to fit Windows on there, and oftentimes you will want to install applications on it as well. You want room to do that.

And I would get at least a 7500 RPM hdd

Oh good eye, I didn't even notice it wasn't 7200RPM. Yeah, definitely don't get that crap.

Looks decent. I have some concerns running 1920x1080 on a 21.5" monitor, just seems a little small for that high resolution but personally never tried it- maybe someone else can comment with their experience.

I would guess the 5770 would handle 1920x1080 fine in most games, although you probably wont want to be running at >2xAA.

Whoops yeah I mean 7200 ha

Get a WD Caviar Black if you can spare the capacity: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-533-_-Product
And a Crucial 128 GB SSD if you can spare the cash: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148348&cm_re=cricual_c300-_-20-148-348-_-Product

Is this one for your mom too?

Good point. The PC I build recently for my folks had the same SSD and it's been a pain in the butt working with Win7 and less than 5-10GB of free space. I will either omit the SSD or invest in at least a 100GB SSD.


Thanks for the info. I considering switching that drive to a 1TB Caviar Black. However I like that the HD I chose has SATA 3 6Gbps but maybe it dosen't matter at only 5900RPM. If I go with a 1TB 7200RPM drive I will consider getting two for a RAID setup. I am considering a larger SSD, too. Thanks for pointing out the mouse too. A small mouse will suck. I'm going to take a look at Microsoft's other mouse offerings...


Yeah will definitely do this.



I have a few of this same Dell U2211H 21.5" LCD at work and I love them. 21.5" is suprisingly large. My current home CRT is 19" so this is definitely an upgrade. However, *good news*. Just spotted this on DealNews.com:

Dell Home Coupon
Code: N1?0TJMCF7$2VJ
25% off select Dell UltraSharp monitors
Note: Limited to 500 redemptions. Expires: 3/16/2011

http://dealnews.com/25-off-Dell-Ultra-Sharp-LCD-Displays-22-for-209-free-shipping-more/443144.html

So I might get the 23" version for $239 which would be sweeet.


Agreed. Thanks for the tip.


No. This one is for me.

Thanks for all the input guys. Keep it coming. Will update this parts list soon with my build total. I'm also considering a less fancy case to save some cash. Hmm.

I like this idea, I would go for a $50 case and sink some more into GPU.

I don't think there's a single hard drive on the market that can even max out SATA 2, much less 3. SATA 3 is only useful for the highest end SSDs, not hard drives.

Also, I would not recommend RAID, especially not for RAID 0 (the speed one). The performance improvement is minimal, and it increases the risk of losing data. An SSD will run circles around even a great RAID setup of 15000 RPM drives.

My thoughts as well. I should have clarified - If I did RAID, I would do RAID 1 for data safety, not RAID 0. Now, if I had the money - 2 SSD's in RAID 0 would be sweeeeet.

I think this is still true, but not positive - If you enable RAID on SSD's you lose TRIM support. Some SSD's have their own internal garbage collection so depending on which manufacturer you choose it might not be a big issue.