$600-$800 gaming?

[fragmentedpsychology]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: A few weeks to a month from now

BUDGET RANGE: $600-$800 CAD ($550-$750 USD)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Medium level games like Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Battlefield 2142, (nothing really intensive, but I'd like to be able to max the settings), web surfing, simple 3D design

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.ca or a site with canadian shipping please

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD please. >20' monitor, size of the computer makes no difference to me, and neither does the fan noise

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: If possible include a mobo with the option for a future upgrade, but not a necessity

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050 or higher


ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Size doesn't matter, noise doesn't matter.

 

[DarkMantle]

ASUS VH222H Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen 16:9 Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236053

COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119106

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
&
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - Combo
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.233580

AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

Total is $821.41 Canadian with a 25 US dollars Mail in rebate

newegg.ca doesn't really have many free shipping items, i'm thinking you will have to pay around 60+ Canadian dollars for shipping with this build.

Good luck.

 

[hunter315]

Darkmantle listed a good build there, just check direct canada and tiger direct and then use NCIX for its price match feature you can save quite a bit that way.

 

[neonmonkey]

ya but i would maybe recommend a HD 4890 for a 1080p monitor, thats just my 2 cents

 

[DarkMantle]

^+1, a HD 4890 would be great, i just tryed to stay inside the budget but if you can find better prices for some of the parts and change that 4870 for a 4890 you will be good with games for a while.

 

[fragmentedpsychology]

^+1, a HD 4890 would be great, i just tryed to stay inside the budget but if you can find better prices for some of the parts and change that 4870 for a 4890 you will be good with games for a while.

Thanks a lot for all the help, guys =)

From what I've seen, it's not a significant enough boost to justify using the 4890 over the 4870, especially in a budget build: every benchmark I've seen puts it at about a 10% improvement for an additional $50-$80. The 4870 looks to be exactly what I want, so that part's pretty much a done deal.

I may go with a smaller monitor, or just spend more, and I'll get a tri-core, though- I like the convenience of leaving my music and firefox running while I play a game.

I'm woefully underexperienced and under-knowledged about PSUs. Is 600W enough to upgrade to crossfire with a second 4870? Would it be enough to overclock?

 

[lebaneseguy]

For the PSU you would need 750 watts to be safe i would reccomend this psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

it might be a little more then ure budget but its always a great idea to have a good psu so u can do future upgrades and not have to buy a new one which will end up costing you more

 

[hunter315]

If you decide to do crossfire then yes you will need to upgrade your PSU however for now the modxstream 600 watt will handle the single 4890 fine.