Gaming build, Core i5, $1000

[sheath]

Hello everyone, first time builder here and i could use some help from more experienced people.

See below for updated list of parts


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 2-3 weeks, Christmas time build BUDGET RANGE: $1000 or close to it after rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming and video encoding is its main usage

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: UPDATED TO WHATS BEEN PURCHASED
I have a:
mouse *Own from Before*
keyboard *Own from Before*
monitor(Samsung SyncMaster™ 245BW-glossy black (24" widescreen monitor)) *Own from Before*
Powersupply(Rosewill BRONZE series RBR1000-M 1000W Continuous@40°C, 80Plus Bronze Certified,Modular Cable Design,ATX12V v2.3/ EPS12V,SLI Ready,CrossFire Ready,Active PFC"Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply) $99.99
Case: (COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case) $49.99
HDD: (SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive) $84.99
MOBO: (GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard) $169.99
RAM: (G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBECO) $97.99
Optical: (Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B) $31.99
Thermal Paste: (Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound) $7.99
Win 7 ($32 to get Win 7 home premium student discounted from microsoft store(must call them) then $15 for Win 7 Ultimate upgrade from my university)
GPU: (SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card) $179.99
CPU: (Intel i5 750 from Micro Center for $149)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler $29.98


TOTAL TO BUY: 1019.65

Can yall see any cables or spare parts i will need with this setup so i can order them early?


PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

[strike]PARTS PREFERENCES: I would like to use a Intel Core i5 on either an ASUS or Gigabyte mobo,DDR3 ram, blu-ray with write ability, DvD with re-write ability if blu-ray cant do re-wrights on DvD, Windows 7 64bit(I need the cheapest one since i can buy Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade for $15 through my university, although i can use XP or vista as the upgrade platform, so which ever is the cheapest)(or if getting a normal windows 7 as a base is better then ill do that), and a Radeon card. The rest im not sure what i need so please feel free to suggest away(ex. Heatsinks, thermal paste, extra fans, ect...)

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I am a student at a Big 12 university so if there are any deals for software that require student emailes and such please list them if you know since i can prolly use them.[/strike]

Thanks a lot for any help you guys can provide.

 

[sonic-boom]

Well, You are starting with some pretty junk parts, might as well just scrap them.
The 7200.11 is horrible and has firmware issues, I'm surprised yours works. Rosewill does not make quality PSUs.

 

[sheath]

Ok i scrapped the Harddrive. What would yall recommend

The PSU has good ratings, how are their PSU's bad?

Thanks so far

 

[sheath]

Anyone have any suggestions please?

thanks

 

[EXT64]

You'd have to check sites that test them. If it is 'bad', that probably means means it cannot output to its specifications, which if you stay well below, you should be fine.

 

[sonic-boom]

Ok, I should have mentioned this stuff above. The Seagate 7200.11 had some very bad problems with firmware, if you have used it and its fine, then re use it.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1050374/seagate-barracudas-7200-11-failing

The Rosewill psu....PSU is the single most important part of a computer. A low quality psu can spike and permanently damage your system along with other things. Rosewill has low quality written all over it, I am very surprized that PSU has been certified. That means it wont explode under load but does not mean its good. Newegg reviews are not to best to say the least, any joe schmo can buy that psu and say its great, doesn't mean it is. The only widely accepted PSU that are known as good are Antec, Corsair, PC P & C, Seasonic, and some OCZs. I did a google for reviews on that psu there were ZERO, mainly because rosewill psus have failed every other review. I typed in Corsair 1000w review and all of the first five links were for reputable website reviews. Why are all these psus not the same? Low quality junk used. There IS a reason why the Antec 1k watt is $169 and the Rosewill is $99. If you use that psu, you need to stay well under the 1000w it says it can put out.

As per the Win 7, You can call the MS Store and tell them you want Win 7 Full version with student discount and you can get it shipped to you for $37 total. Check out win741.com but you have to call the MS store to get full version.

 

[dndhatcher]

Any 80plus bronze PSU should be fine. I wouldnt buy it just because of Rosewills bad reputation with prior PSUs, but passing 80plus certification guarantees a level of consistency in the power supply. That Rosewill PSU is a recently released newegg only house brand and says its made with japanese capacitors. I couldnt find any professional reviews, though.

As far as cases go. The Antec 300 illusion, 900, 902 and 1200 are probably the best airflow cases available with just the stock fans. The Coolermaster HAF 932 and 922 both very good well also. Other models like the Antec 300 black and Coolermaster CM 690 need a couple fans added to match up. Those are really the only gaming cases I consider due to their strong price/performance. For a more mobile gaming rig the coolermaster Storm scout and Antec 600 have handles for safer transporting.

 

[redgarl]

With a budget of only 1000$, I would suggest you to go with a PII X4 955 and a Asus M4A78T-E.

Get yourself a 5850 and some OCZ platinum DDR3 1600. You can crossfire later.

A Corair 750 Watts power supply will be enough for your needs, 850 Watts at max.

Get a Cooler Master Cosmos (standard) or a Silverstone R02 case.

A good sound card like an HT Omega or an AUzentech.

A Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB is one of the best hard drive on the market.

 

[sheath]

Wow, thanks for all the info guys.

So far i have in mind:
Video card - Something from these, any suggestions? I have only used SAPPHIRE so i do not know the others very well.
Case- One of these Antec's, which would yall recommend? I would like one that comes with all the fans it will need.


I still need an idea on:
Mobo for i5 750(This is the right Processor isn't it?) and that has PCI express 2.0 for 2 cards(for later upgrade to crossfire) from either ASUS or Gigabyte
A harddrive
DDR3 ram, any suggestions for make and performance please. Ill start with 2x2gb for now.
A good blu-ray drive with write ability and a DvD drive with re-writable capability.
The rest im not sure what i need so please feel free to suggest away(ex. Heatsinks, thermal paste, extra fans, ect...)


The sound card, although im still using stereo speakers and will for a while, so this will be for later upgrades.



Thanks so much for the help so far, everyone has been very informative.

Special note: Thanks a ton Sonic-Boom, calling the MS store for the student version so i can upgrade to Win 7 ultimate is a fantastic idea.

 

[EXT64]

Yes, that is the i5 750.

Good dual Card Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128400&Tpk=P55-UD4P

Good (and Cheap) Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

(Should be able to get Mobo and Ram in combo to save even more)

Out of the cards listed, get a 5770 or 4890. I would probably get the 5770 for DX11 and lower power consumption.

Case, that is more personal preference. The 300's are a great 'budget' case, though the non-illusion version requires front fans.

 

[EXT64]

Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3's are great, if you can find one. After that my preference is WD Blacks, but the price of the Seagate .12's is tempting.

 

[sheath]

Thanks for the info EXT64

Anyone else have any opinions of a Mobo and Ram, Vid card, and HDD?

Im definetly leaning towards SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card as my video card and the G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM as my ram

HDD im leanign towards
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive but it seems to go out of stock quickly, anyone know of a comparable drive?

Also this CPU cooler seems to be getting fantastic reviews, what do yall think of it? Its also has a combo deal with the i5 750
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler


I have picked out and bought a case, what do yall think? $49.99 after rebate
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
It has fantastic reviews all over the place, seemed like a win/win for me.


Thanks

 

[swirlyyy]

I would buy the i5 750 from microcenter
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0317379

and buy that fan separate you'll save yourself $30-40

 

[sheath]

Thanks for the info, but they only offer in store pickup(gotta spend a decent amount to drive there) and its out of stock for my city.

 

[EXT64]

Looks great. I saw that case too, for that price it is amazing. I haven't used my Hyper 212 yet, though I did take it out of the box and look at it. Seems to be very nice and doesn't even look very difficult to install (the #1 complaint on newegg) but I better not speak too soon. That RAM is an excellent value as well.

 

[akula2]

I am planning to build an i5 750 based PC with Gigabyte or Asus MOBO (whichever supports USB3.0 and SATA-III) but am not interested in Vista SP1 or Windows 7 (at least till its SP1 availability). So, could i use Win XP SP3 System builder version for the same configuration?

Thanks,
~akula2

 

[EXT64]

Yes, all the components still support Windows XP SP3. You won't get the ability to run DX10 or 11, but it should work fine otherwise.

 

[akula2]

Thanks for that clarification.

I never did a current generation new system build till date (only partial P-III, Intel Dual core PCs etc). Am not that confident of doing myself due to electrostatic shock or component damage by wrong installation etc. How to overcome this problem?

And, please suggest what specific model of Asus/Gigabyte should i go with to cover the upcoming USB 3.0 support etc?

Thanks again
~akula2

 

[EXT64]

You can use a static wristband (can easily make you own) to protect against that. Though to be honest, I often just discharge my static before starting and often during (and don't move around too much inbetween) and have not had any issues yet.

 

[sheath]

Anyone else have any opinions of a Mobo and Ram, and Vid card

Im definetly leaning towards SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card as my video card and the G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM as my ram


Also this CPU cooler seems to be getting fantastic reviews, what do yall think of it? Its also has a combo deal with the i5 750
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler

Anyone have opinions for the above? Really could use another opinion on the MOBO.

I have purchased a HDD now. How does it look? Seems to have great reviews all over the place.
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Also what do yall think about going to 8GB of ram, so 2x the G.SKILL set. Is there a noticeable difference between 4GB and 8GB?

Thanks

 

[dndhatcher]

For gaming 4GB is all you need. Its possible to make it (insignificantly) slower by adding too much ram.

For P55 motherboards, any Gigabyte, ASUS or EVGA model is fine - choose based on how many graphics cards you want to crossfire.

Get 500GB platter HDDs like the Samsung F3 or Seagate 7200.12.

Hyper 212 is a great cooler, especially for the price.

 

[EXT64]

Only if the application you use actually needs that much. For example, for games it will not help.

 

[EXT64]

If you are contemplating Crossfire later on, the GA-P55-UD4P is the lowest you would want to get. If definitely no CF, then you can get a cheaper one.

 

[sheath]

Thanks for the Info, ill stick with 4GB of ram

I have purchased a HDD now. How does it look? Seems to have great reviews all over the place.
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Can yall toss me some MOBO links for the ASUS or Gigabyte boards. It helps me a lot when i don't have to guess if i have the right ones.

Thanks a lot for the info so far guys

 

[EXT64]

I'm most familiar with the Gigabyte line, so I'll just go through those.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%2050001314%201070549182&name=GIGABYTE

For a nice mid range system, I'd go P55-UD4P if you maight want CF/SLI later on. If that is a definite no, then go UD3 or UD2 and save some money. Several of the boards have an 'A' version, which means USB3.0 and SATA3.0. They are a little more expensive, and because of the limitations of the P55 chipset, to get full SATA3/USB3 you have to give up 8x (of 16x) of GPU bandwidth. In my opinion it isn't worth the price premium, but who knows, maybe it will be a must have in a year or so.

And yeah, that should be an excellent hard drive.