<$700 Gaming Rig Build Advice

[then1z]

Alright, I had originally planned an i5 build, but after some thinking, I thought a drop in budget was needed.

Budget: up to $700 before MIR (trying to keep cost down though)

Purchase Date: Friday September 25, 2009

Computer Usage: Gaming (Starcraft 2 when released is a must, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty), movies (will be displaying through a 720p projector), web surfing

Parts preference: Looking for bang for the buck here guys...

Supplier preference: newegg or any other reputable seller

Crossfire: Not a necessity but maybe a possibility in the future

Overclocking: Maybe mild, not enough knowledge to go forward with this at the moment

Upgrades: Would like to upgrade to 5000 series eventually (probably not for at least a year)

Resolution: 1280x1024 (monitor) 1200x720 (projector)

Parts not needed: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, think I have a copy of XP laying around somewhere.

Side notes:
Monitor is VGA only
Projector has VGA. S-Video, 1 HDMI input, and component video (being used for xbox360)


Basic Idea as of now:

DVD: Samsung Black 22x DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Combo:
Case: Antec 300
PSU: Antec Earthwatts EA650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.245593

Combo:
CPU: AMD Phenom II x3 720
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.259850

Combo:
GPU: Sapphire Vapor-X 4890 1GB
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.256454

All this is in my shopping cart on newegg for $669.11 shipped to my door (includes combo deals)

Let me know what you think, any suggestions for better performance or cheaper price would be appreciated.

*edit, fixed the link to the cpu/mobo combo

 

[hunter315]

You only need a 4850 to be able to play games on high at that resolution, it will save you quite a bit.

You also linked the mobo/cpu combo to the F3. For under 700 an i5 is a tight fit, but i would swap the ram for this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279
its slightly more but if you are not doing the combo and drop down to a 4850 or 4870 it still comes out to less, the tighter timings will help

 

[Why_Me]

This psu down below will allow you to upgrade to one of those ATI 58xx cards later on...which would be a nice match with this i5 down below. For now that factory o/c gts 250 will play your games just fine on the resolution you use.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.245596 Combo Discount: -$20.00 Combo Price: $124.94 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply - Retail | $7.99 off w/ promo code EMCLXNN42, ends 9/28

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-P55M-D2 $299.99 | $284.99 $15 off w/ code FUN15, ends 9/30 Free Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 Socket 1156/ Intel P55/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ MATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5 Processor i5-750 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1156 CPU, Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.256302 Combo Discount: -$15.00 Combo Price: $184.98 $10.00 Mail-In Rebate Price After Mail-In Rebate(s): $174.98 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
MSI N250GTS-2D512-OCv2 GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181 $49.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=SHS223B_BE $29.99 Free Ground Shipping
Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22X SATA DVD+/-RW Internal Drive (Black), Bulk w/o Software

Total: $666.90 | $656.90 w/mail in rebate

 

[then1z]

Update: Purchased Why_Me's build. New thread when parts arrive (w/ photos!)

 

[Why_Me]

Update: Purchased Why_Me's build. New thread when parts arrive (w/ photos!)

Good luck and have fun with that build. and keep us updated.