$1300 gaming pc build

[westerbamos]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Not really sure yet, hopefully in November/December

BUDGET RANGE: 1200-1300 after rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, surfing the web, watching movies, school work

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, speakers at least for now

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com for pretty much everything

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel Core I7 for the CPU, but I can go either way with the GPU

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I hope to purchase this by the holiday season, so I might change some things by then, as new stuff comes out. Not sure if I want to do SLI or Crossfire, but definitely will if it can give me more or equal performance for less money. I am going to OC my Core i7 for sure though, and maybe my GPU and RAM. I had some trouble getting the price down on this build. Any suggestions?

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=core_i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product 279.99 free shipping

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365&cm_re=ocz_gold_ddr3_1600-_-20-227-365-_-Product 129.99 free shipping, 109.99 after rebate

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371015
$84.99

EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434&cm_re=gtx_260_core_216-_-14-130-434-_-Product 184.99, 154.99 after rebate

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&cm_re=antec_900-_-11-129-021-_-Product 99.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284&Tpk=wd%20caviar%20black%201tb 94.99 free shipping

COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055&cm_re=i7_fan-_-35-103-055-_-Product 59.99 free shipping

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) Built in Speakers – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052&cm_re=asus_23.6-_-24-236-052-_-Product 199.99, 189.99 after rebate

Logitech MX518 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical 1800 dpi Gaming-Grade Mouse – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104178 39.99 free shipping

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1PK DSP English Full – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 99.99 free shipping

ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163 169.99

Sony Optiarc Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1678A – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827131061 18.99

I’m at $1603.88 right now without rebates, $1528.88 without. Some help getting this build down to at least $1300 would be greatly appreciated. Any recommendations on a cheaper case or cpu cooler to bring the cost down? It wouldn’t kill me to cut out the Antec 900 or the cooler and go with something cheaper.

EDIT: changed the mobo to the ASRock one and cut it down to $1493.89 including rebates.

 

[manningbowl135]

Maybe go AMD instead of i7? You're $300 overboard. I'd cancel the gaming mouse and just use a regular mouse for now. Antec 300 illusion is $40 less, a bit smaller but a very good case.

Keep the build as is for now though. During the holiday season, especially on black friday, you should get a few good deals to trim your cost a bit, especially on the monitor. If you nix the mouse, change the case and get a few good deals, it's conceivable to get down to $1400 and maybe even $1300, but if not, think about AMD.

Edit: You can get a cheaper mobo that's really good. Look around for it. The system I'm building is AMD, so I don't know much about i7 boards, but my friend recently built one and his mobo was $175 and it was a very good one.

Edit 2: Unless you must go nVidia, think about the 4890. With the 5800s here, the 4890 will likely drop to $150 and it's a much better card than 260.

 

[meatwad53186]

So can I ask you why you pour most of your money in this build on RAM, Mobo, and CPU, and then put such a small amount of money towards the graphics card when this is mainly a gaming computer? I would suggest trying for an HD 5870 or even a 5850 in this build since your not buying it at this very moment.

 

[westerbamos]

Okay sweet thanks for the reply. Yeah i was looking around for a different mobo, and found this one for 169.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163 it is listed as tom's hardware 2009 recommended buy so that might be better.

And for the graphics card, i was originally thinking about getting a 5870, but seeing as it is $280 right now, that won't work well with my budget. I'll probably end up getting a 4890 when the price drops. Will DX11 be that much better than DX10 or will it not really be that much better?

I might look at AMD if the Intel route doesn't work into my budget range by the holiday season. I also didn't look for any combo deals on newegg, which could bring the price down a little more. I kind of wanted to go Intel because of the amazing overclocking potential of the I7, but I'll look into AMD.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

[westerbamos]

So can I ask you why you pour most of your money in this build on RAM, Mobo, and CPU, and then put such a small amount of money towards the graphics card when this is mainly a gaming computer? I would suggest trying for an HD 5870 or even a 5850 in this build since your not buying it at this very moment.

Yeah, for some reason when I was looking at other people's builds it seemed like two gtx 260s would fit into this build, and then when I added everything up it was way over. I am going to try to look for some other cheaper components so I can add some more graphics horsepower.

 

[westerbamos]

Can anyone suggest some RAM that is a bit cheaper than what I currently have listed? An article on Tom's that I read basically said that 1600 vs 1333 vs 1066 speed didn't really matter, but I had trouble finding the slower speed RAM for less. Oh but I want the 7-7-7-24 timings though.

 

[Why_Me]

I didn't include the monitor and vid card seeing how your a good ways away from making a purchase and prices change. But this down below gives you a good idea of what you want. You definently want a 750w psu, and a case large enough for two decent size vid cards for any hopes of SLI/Crossfire later down the road. That leaves out the Antec 900 and the 650w psu (too small in regards to the case, and too under powered in regards to the psu).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $69.99 Free Shipping*
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006382 $99.99 Free Shipping
PC Power and Cooling SILENCER 750W QUAD S75CF Power Supply Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163 $169.99
ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.250768 Combo Discount: -$15.00 Combo Price: $384.98 Free Shipping*
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1333C7 G - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.248853 Combo Discount: -$4.00 Combo Price: $39.98
Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - 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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.259577.22-152-181 Combo Discount: -$10.00 Combo Price: $179.98 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Retail
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM | Includes free Windows 7 upgrade coupon

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236053 $159.99 ($149.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate Card)
ASUS VH222H Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen 16:9 Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor Built in Speakers 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR20000:1) w/ SPDIF out - Retail

Total: $974.90 *not including mail in rebates, shipping, and tax

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=scythe+mugen+2+review&aq=0p&oq=sc&aqi=g-p3g7 <--- Scythe MUGEN 2 cpu cooler reviews

ASRock X58 Extreme Reviews

http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1923_1.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cheap-x58-motherboard,2368-3.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/asrock-x58-extreme.html

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3593