Gaming Rig Budget is $1200

[FUNK1911]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within a week.

BUDGET RANGE: $1200

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming. Warhammer Online, Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age, etc..

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, DVD Drive

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Don't matter

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Depends on monitor purchase. Probably 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: None.


CASE
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

HARD DRIVE
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD322HJ 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152096

MONITOR
Hanns·G Hi-221DPB Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254035

VIDEO CARD
POWERCOLOR AX5770 1GBD5-MDHV2 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131321

PSU
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

RAM
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

MOTHERBOARD
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128405

CPU
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

With tax and shipping is $1,189.00. I live in TN so I have to pay tax due to a warehouse in Memphis, TN :/

Whatcha think?

 

[sonic-boom]

If you are not planning to crossfire in the future you can drop down to a 450w PSU. IF you do want to leave the option open drop to a 650w. Get the spinpoint f3 500gb its $5 for more gb and its faster.
Why a mATX board?

 

[FUNK1911]

Was going to get the ASRock for $139.99 but it went over $1200. My wife is firm at $1200 punishable by death.

Dropping to the 650 might save me enough to step up a little in motherboard.

 

[thacondor]

i think its pointless to spend that much on a tower when on a "budget build". i personally have the Thermaltake WingRS 201 which i paid 30$ for after a MIR, and I have no problems with it... just my 2 pennies... oh and if you dont plan on running xfire/sli then im pretty sure that psu is way overkill (i have 2 9800gt superclocked ed. and im only on 550w with no problems and those run anything i throw at em in dx10 on mostly maxed settings... note: im running at 1280x1024 currently but at my friends who has a 1920x1080 i never experience any lag...

 

[sonic-boom]

Yeah unless your are way hyped up on case looks get this case. It is about the best case for a budget build...great airflow
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137&cm_re=cm_690-_-11-119-137-_-Product

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Don't forget about combo deals at Newegg. Here's one for your CPU and OS:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.282347

Here's a combo deal for some nice CAS 7 RAM and an inexpensive full ATX motherboar:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.287807 (G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB ddr3 1333 CAS 7 RAM + Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3L motherboard)

The 750W PSU is major overkill for a single GPU system. Here's a combo deal for a nice 550W PSU and a SATA DVD burner:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.291422

I agree with the comment above about getting the new Samsung F3 500GB drive. You can get it here:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011016&prodlist=celebros

I would get a 5770 that vents its hot air out the back of the case. Here's one for the same price as the one you picked:

SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $169.99

 

[linaaslt]

I need to agree with Sonic-Boom about the case. I got it for my i7 build, grate airflow, keeps my CPU cool, also looks nice, would recommend to anyone

 

[dndhatcher]

Another case to look at is the Antec 300 illusion.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

XFXs double lifetime warranty makes them the top choice for graphics cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447

 

[thacondor]

ive also never had the physx problems other ati people have reported but a dedicated physx card might be worthwhile. i would really get someone else advice on that though...

think that mainly depends on what games your playing too...

 

[atomicdumpling]

I would suggest buying a cheaper case and a smaller power supply. Then apply the savings to a larger monitor to get the most out of your excellent video card.

 

[FUNK1911]

If I don't plan on doing SLI/Xfire what is the smallest PSU I can go with?

Also, if I step up to like a 1920x1080 monitor (doubt I can afford to get a x1200) will that single video card be enough for that res?

 

[thacondor]

Newegg has a psu calc tool... I would think a 550 Would be sufficient but I would x2 check that...
Deadset on i5? Amd is true budget builder IMO... And my regor seems to handle all games without a hitch.. Fc2 on mostly maxed settings at 40+fps.
55$ well spent... OC's easy too
and Im pretty sure the amd boards are a bit cheapr than those 1156...

 

[FUNK1911]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.291789

Hmm there is a 500 PSU combo with the case everyone mentioned. Some people are saying that 5770 requires a huge 12v rail.

 

[dndhatcher]

The 5770 requires less power than almost any other good graphics card. Anyone who says it needs a huge 12V rail doesnt know what they are talking about. It needs a single PCIE power cable where most graphics cards with anywhere near its speed need two PCIE power cables. That 500W OCZ PZU will easily handle a 5770 and probably would be fine for two of them in crossfire.


If you look at the benchmarks on the 5770 at 1920x1080 it will play Left 4 Dead at 1920x1200 at very high with 4xAA at over 60FPS. Crysis on the other hand at high with no AA its down to 35. Crysis defaults a 5770 to medium settings. Its a great card at 1680x1050 and a pretty good card at 1920x1080.

 

[FUNK1911]

Well by dropping the case and power supply down a notch it saved me some. Few of them had combos (mb/ram, case/psu, cpu/windows7) to save more money.

Upgraded to the 500GB Samsung for another $5.

I was able to upgrade from the mATX GIGABYTE to ASROCK P55 Extreme and the monitor from a 1680x1050 to this 1920x1080:

Acer X233Hbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Sitting at $1120. So still have about $80 to spare on upgrades (maybe another drive for RAID, don't need to worry about data loss. I have another 320GB at home I would use for important data).

I wouldn't think I would need a CPU cooler since I don't plan on overclocking.

 

[sonic-boom]

Put that $80 into a nicer mobo, a Gigabyte or Asus.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

$1200, $1500 and $2,000 are the most commonly listed budgets....take agander at some of these:

http://www.tomshardware.com/search.php?s=%241200

 

[thacondor]

thought you werent doing xfire?? future maybe now or??
maybe step down to the p55 pro and save even more $$$ for something else..? link is just for the motherboard but you should check out the combos with that as well...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157171