~$850 gaming PC

[Tobinator]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: About Oct 30?...Maybe.. BUDGET RANGE: >$800 After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, surfing the internet, word processing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, CD Drive, Hard Drive

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Utah, US

PARTS PREFERENCES: An AMD CPU, at least 4MB of ram, Mobo needs to have fire wire, and an NVidia graphics card

OVERCLOCKING: No SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024 if my parents let me use the one that I have been using

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

My current ideas are:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail
MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv3 GeForce GTX 260 896MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply - Retail
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM



I was thinking of going with the AMD processor because it is slightly cheaper than the i5, but slightly lacking in performance.

That mobo has a a lot of SATA ports, as well as fire wire, which I had trouble finding on other boards. It also has both the mouse, and keyboard ps/2 ports, so my extremely cheap mouse and keyboard will work with it.

That ram is super cheap, but I am wondering if there is any reason that I should not get it. It seems too good to be true.

I might end up needing a hard drive, in which case i was thinking Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive would be a good choice.

Do I really need a 750W psu? someone told me that I should, but I'm not sure if I believe them.

That antec 300 was chosen just because it looks cool. If there is a better case out there that does not put me over budget please let me know

The combos that I am looking at on new egg are:
Mobo, and CPU
OS, and PSU

That puts me at $800.89

Will all of that work together?
Can I get anything cheaper, or better?

 

[jbakerlent]

That RAM is ok, but this set has lower latencies
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279

Since you're not crossfiring, you can get a 770 board and a 550W PSU
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004&Tpk=550%20vx

Also, I'd recommend against the 260 in favor of a 5850/5770/4870 (probably just a 5770 at your res)
ASUS EAH5770/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121350

 

[Tobinator]

Thanks for the feed back. I didn't see the timing on that RAM and I think I will be going with the
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996657 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146871

 

[dndhatcher]

A 750W PSU would be to allow you to run two high powered graphics cards in the future if you want. If you are going with the 5770 (which is a more power efficient card) you could drop to a 650 and still run two. If you only want to run one you could drop to a 550W.

 

[sonic-boom]

Yeah what above said about psu for sure 750w is huge for one graphics card.

 

[Tobinator]

I'm now thinking that I may want to crossfire in the future sometime so I'll go with either a 650W or 750W psu.

I also am having trouble finding specs/ benchmarks for any of the Radeon 5000 series cards. Have any idea where some are posted?

 

[dndhatcher]

Go to the articles- graphics section here. They are all written during the past two months so they are at the top of the list. Maybe try anandtech also.

 

[Tobinator]

Wow........I swear I looked and it wasn't there.........mmkay that really makes me feel observant.