Building for a friend, $1200 budget

[smitty6123]

Hello i am helping out a friend and i am building a gaming pc for him with a $1200 budget. He already has a monitor, speakers, and a dvd drive so dont need those.

Here are the parts:

CPU Cooler:
-Xigmatek Dark Knight
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
RAM
-OCZ Reaper 4 gigs 1066
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289
Case
-Cooler Master HAF 932
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
Motherboard (Changed)
-EVGA 750i SLI
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188026
Graphics
-MSI gtx 260 core 216
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127409
Power Supply
-Corsair 750w
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
CPU
-Q9550
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041
Harddrive
-Western Digital Caviar Black 640 gig
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
OS
-Vista home premium 64 bit
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
Thermal Paste
-MX-2
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

So a couple things he wants is to add another gtx 260 down the road so 750w should be enough. He will be overclocking so the cpu cooler is perfect. His monitor is a 37" vizio, i do not know the rez but the 260 should perform fine. I tried to convince him to have a e8400 instead of the quad but he wants to futureproof so its fine.

It comes down to $1194 and with the mail in rebates $1120

How do the parts look?

 

[Why_Me]

Hello i am helping out a friend and i am building a gaming pc for him with a $1200 budget. He already has a monitor, speakers, and a dvd drive so dont need those.

Here are the parts:

CPU Cooler:
-Xigmatek Dark Knight
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
RAM
-OCZ Reaper 4 gigs 1066
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289
Case
-Cooler Master HAF 932
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
Motherboard
-Gigabyte EP45 UD3P
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
Graphics
-MSI gtx 260 core 216
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127409
Power Supply
-Corsair 750w
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
CPU
-Q9550
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041
Harddrive
-Western Digital Caviar Black 640 gig
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
OS
-Vista home premium 64 bit
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
Thermal Paste
-MX-2
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

So a couple things he wants is to add another gtx 260 down the road so 750w should be enough. He will be overclocking so the cpu cooler is perfect. His monitor is a 37" vizio, i do not know the rez but the 260 should perform fine. I tried to convince him to have a e8400 instead of the quad but he wants to futureproof so its fine.

It comes down to $1170 and with the mail in rebates $1100

How do the parts look?

It's going to be pretty difficult for your friend to add another Nvidea card later on down the road. P45 boards only work for Crossfire, not SLI. If your friend wants to run SLI I would recommend him building a i7 rig as the X58 boards run SLI.

 

[smitty6123]

Really? i was looking at reviews on that board and i see people having gtx 260's on it. He really does not need an i7 as i really dont think its worth it right now since ill have to downgrade on things if ill do an i7.

 

[megamanx00]

THAT'S A CROSSFIRE BOARD NOT AN SLI BOARD!!!!!! So no, you can't add another 260 for SLi. For that board go with a Radeon 4870 1GB instead. That PSU is certainly enough for two 4870s. You could also just go with two Radeon 4850s and get a smaller PSU. The MSI Radeon 4850 512MB is like $110 right now after the mail in rebate.

 

[smitty6123]

Well i didnt pay attention to that and now i feel pretty stupid. He wants nvidia/intel so how about this board?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188026

 

[Why_Me]

Well i didnt pay attention to that and now i feel pretty stupid. He wants nvidia/intel so how about this board?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188026

Those Nvidea boards are buggy at best. Try this build out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $79.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-750w-tx-series-80-plus-certified-power-supply-corsair-tx-cmpsu/q/loc/101/206178325.html $104.99 Price After Rebate(s): $79.99 Shipping: FREE
Corsair TX CMPSU-750TX ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128386 $209.99
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-920 $265.99 Free Ground Shipping
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370 $189.99 ($169.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Free Call of Duty: World at War w/ purchase, limited offer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247 $99.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $79.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $24.99 Free Shipping*
LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $99.99 Free Shipping*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

Total: $1,202.89 *(not including shipping) $1,157.89 w/rebates

 

[MykC]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 LGA 1366 i7 920 $290
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374 Giga UD4P x58 $270 - $20MIR (SLI/xfire)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381 3x2G OCZ DDR3 1600 $110 - $20MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A45378 2GB 4850x2 $280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 LG DVD Burner $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 WD 640GB AALS $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 CORSAIR 850TX $140 - $25MIR 4x8pin
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 CM 690 case $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 Xigma Dark Knight $40 (Intel)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 Artic MX-2 Thermal Compound $7

~1400 - $65MIR = $1267 + $100 for the os.

I really only think platform with good SLI boards is the i7 x58s. If you want to go crossfire you can stay with an LGA 775 system and save some some money on the budget.

$1000 Intel Gaming Box

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041 LGA 775 Q9550 $275
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 Giga P45 $135 - $20MIR (xfire)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 2x2GB G.Skill PI Black DDR2 800 $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A45378 2GB 4850x2 $280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 LG DVD Burner $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 WD 640GB AALS $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 CORSAIR 850TX PSU $140 - 25MIR 4x8pin
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 CM 690 case $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 Xigma Dark Knight $40 (Intel)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 Artic MX-2 Thermal Compound $7

$1107 - 45MIR = $1072 + $100 for the OS. Pretty much the same setup with a difference motherboard, GPU, PSU, CASE and RAM.

 

[MykC]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128386 $209.99
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Didn't see that board. Must be new.

 

[smitty6123]

Thank you for the replys. Ill give the i7 a shot and play around with the parts you guys posted. Ill figure out whats good for him and ill post later on what we chose.

 

[geofelt]

You are correct that for current gaming, a E8400 would be good. If your friend wants a quad, for whatever reason, then you have to consider the i7-920. First of all, it is actually cheaper than the Q9550. The mobo will be about $100 more. You could use 4gb of ram, for not much more, but You could get a 6gb kit of corsair for $69. If you want some future capability, then I think it is the only way to go. Save some elsewhere to pay for it. Would he trade the haf case for an Antec 300? That would do it.

 

[Why_Me]

You are correct that for current gaming, a E8400 would be good. If your friend wants a quad, for whatever reason, then you have to consider the i7-920. First of all, it is actually cheaper than the Q9550. The mobo will be about $100 more. You could use 4gb of ram, for not much more, but You could get a 6gb kit of corsair for $69. If you want some future capability, then I think it is the only way to go. Save some elsewhere to pay for it. Would he trade the haf case for an Antec 300? That would do it.

You wouldn't want the Antec 300 for a SLI/Crossfire set up with those cards. The CM 690 has a lot more space,and much better cooling than the Antec 300.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128386 $209.99
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Didn't see that board. Must be new.

Ya it hasn't been out long. I just found out today from another poster that board runs SLI and Crossfire. For some reason I thought it was limited to SLI only. I think that board is going to be a hot item for people wanting to have an i7 rig, but not have to spend their life savings in order to have one. These i7 rigs have really dropped in price the past month. MSI has a decent X58 board that retails for $190, and with the rebate it comes out to $170. It's a Crossfire only board but it's helped bring the prices down on these builds.

 

[smitty6123]

Alrighty thank you everyone for your insight.

I followed Why_Me's i7 but i am still thinking about it

 

[geofelt]

You wouldn't want the Antec 300 for a SLI/Crossfire set up with those cards. The CM 690 has a lot more space,and much better cooling than the Antec 300.

The case is big enough to hold 8800GTX class cards, don't know about the 4870X2 though.

How much space do you need for one dvd burner, and one hard drive?
Each case can hold 5 hard drives(300=6)
Each can hold 3 external dvd burners(690=5)

Each case has similar fan configurations. Cooling should be similar.
I do like the washable filters on the 300.

I would agree that the 690 is a good looking capable case, but it also costs twice as much.

 

[smitty6123]

The reason i picked out the HAF 932 was he wanted a red or green theme and so i instantly thought the 932 since its a full tower, good cable management and great looking imo.

Ill convince him to get the RC-690 instead.

 

[Why_Me]

Alrighty thank you everyone for your insight.

I followed Why_Me's i7 but i downgraded the RAM to this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227375

You would want that G.Skill over that OCZ.

G.Skill = DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

OCZ = DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

 

[smitty6123]

You would want that G.Skill over that OCZ.

G.Skill = DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

OCZ = DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

Yeah i downgraded to the ocz since he wont be overclocking much and has tigher timings.

It really does not matter though

 

[Why_Me]

The reason i picked out the HAF 932 was he wanted a red or green theme and so i instantly thought the 932 since its a full tower, good cable management and great looking imo.

Ill convince him to get the RC-690 instead.

Personally I would save the money and stick with the basic CM 690, but this case is the Nvidea version of the CM 690 and it has a green side window, pin striping, Nvidea logo, and some green fans in the front...or something like that. Anyways check out the pics of that case in the link.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119157 $109.99
COOLER MASTER NV 690 NV-690C-KWN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

 

[smitty6123]

Personally I would save the money and stick with the basic CM 690, but this case is the Nvidea version of the CM 690 and it has a green side window.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119157 $109.99
COOLER MASTER NV 690 NV-690C-KWN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

oh great find, i dont know how you got that, i think the green will be perfect(although i prefer the HAF 932)

Thank you for your help and everyone else also, i will make him go with an i7 system instead.

 

[Why_Me]

Yeah i downgraded to the ocz since he wont be overclocking much and has tigher timings.

It really does not matter though

.

Here I will show you once more.


G.Skill =DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

OCZ = DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

 

[geofelt]

The reason i picked out the HAF 932 was he wanted a red or green theme and so i instantly thought the 932 since its a full tower, good cable management and great looking imo.

Ill convince him to get the RC-690 instead.

Looks matter in cases. As long as it has 120mm input and output fans, almost any case will do. Let your friend pick one.

The integrated memory controller on the i7 is very good, and seems to have no problem feeding memory to the cpu. As an early adopter, I got 1600 ram, but I really think slower ram would have worked just as well in real world applications(vs. synthetic benchmarks)

 

[smitty6123]

???? Does he want a gaming rig or an office rig? If he wants an office rig then stick with that OCZ.

Here I will show you once more. Make sure you look at the print down below that's in BOLD LETTERING.



G.Skill =DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

OCZ = DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

Im sorry, i know the difference and ill go with the 1600, i only said that as i am under the impression that since he wont be overclocking much, he does not need the 1600 speed RAM. Ill go with the g skill as the price is very minor in the difference and yours is faster.