Sub $1000 Gaming Machine - My First Build in Years!!

[caliban007]

Hey all, I finally got some cash and newegg giftcards for Xmas so I'm getting ready to do a build. My last build was an Athlon 2400+ T-Bred which crapped out on my a good 4 or so years ago and I haven't kept up with the scene too much since.

I'm looking to build a decent gaming system with which I can OC in the near future and start with one GPU card and add another Crossfired to it also in the near future. I just bought an Asus 23.6" 1080p monitor, everything else will be bought and pieced together.

Here's what I've picked out and looking for opinions on currently:

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail 89.99

Mobo:
ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Open Box 128.99

CPU:
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail 194.99

PSU:
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-630SS 630W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply - Retail - 64.98

Mem:
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail 94.99

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $64.99

GPU:
ATI 5770 - $150 (give or take a few bucks). Will check out brand names and reviews and take opinions!!!



I would like to know what a good HSF combo would be to throw in here to do some decent OC'ing to this, and of course any suggestions on stuff to swtich. I assume the PSU should be enough to power that and just a DVD burner as well, with the plans of adding a second 5770 to Crossfire in a couple months!!

Thanks all!!


EDIT:

Sorry, I forgot. All this comes to about $800 which when you add the $200 monitor I already bought is pretty much my limit!!

 

[Niklas_13]

I will have to say no to that PSU and the HDD and the open box mobo

quantity of item 1


SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152181
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181



$54.99

select item 2 quantity of item 2


GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128404
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128404

-$10.00 Instant


$149.99
$139.99

select item 3 quantity of item 3

CORSAIR CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

*

CORSAIR CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139012
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

*

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129021
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.309421

 

[caliban007]

Well I've always had good luck with Open Box from newegg so I'm not too worried about that. I didn't realize I had picked the "green" HDD so I switched it to the black version which I assume would be more adequete

 

[Niklas_13]

If you go WD get the 640 or 1t the samsung F3 500 is a good HDD and a tad faster then the WD

If you have good luck with opened boxs go ahead that is a good mobo

for the PSU a good 650 will be fine for 2 HD 5770s in xfire

Some of the PSU i would go with are http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021

 

[Niklas_13]

I would just buy that combo with the 650 and antec 900 its a grate PSU and will help for cable management

 

[dpaul8]

That is a good build. But definitely replace the power supply.

The two PSUs that Niklas recommended, Corsair 650HX or Antec TP650, are top of the line units. If you do not want to spend that much, the Antec EA650 is still a very good PSU for only $75:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Your plan to crossfire two 5770s is OK. However, if you could afford to get a single 5850 ($300) now, this one card will perform nearly as well as two 5770s:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3658&p=5
This would give you the option to add a second 5850 in the future if you are still not satisfied with the performance of one card. But if your budget is tight, your original plan is a good.

For a HSF, you can't beat the price / performance ratio offered by the either the Hyper 212 or the Xigmatek Dark Knight. Either of these will perform within a few degrees of the coolers costing nearly twice as much.

 

[caliban007]

Unfortunately I cannot afford the single 5850 right now, I wish I could because I'd love to be able to have one of those and Crossfire it with another later down the road. I'm stretching my budget as it is, but looking forward to doing the build.

I like Gigabyte products as well, but do you think there's enough room on a Micro-ATX board for a decent HSF combo, eventually 6gb of RAM and to GPUs, maybe a wireless card, and so forth?!?!

 

[dpaul8]

I would not recommend going with a micro-ATX board since you are putting everything inside a very nice mid-tower case you might as well make use of the room. The ASUS P7P55D PRO that you had in your original build is excellent, and would allow you to easily crossfire two 5770s in the future.

I assume that you meant you would go from 4 GB RAM to 8 GB RAM since the P55 motherboards typically have four memory slots.

Best of luck with your build.

 

[caliban007]

Yeah, 8GB eventually so I can utilize Win 7 64-bit which I'll probably get anyways. Thanks for the help and suggestions!!