$1000 gaming PC: advice?

[misterscoundrel]

Please tell me what you think of this system I'm considering:

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: now

BUDGET RANGE: around $1000, quite flexible though

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, surfing, movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg

PARTS PREFERENCES: none

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Was thinking of leaving that as an upgrade option for later.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200


My current Newegg cart:

MOBO: ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail [$189.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail [$199.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM - Retail [$114.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail [$179.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.320601

Case/PSU combo: [$214.98]
Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE ... - Retail
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.314790

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive [$79.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283

DVD: SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM [$26.99]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151192

 

[p55ibexpeak]

i5/i7 doesn't mean jack if you're gpu-bottlenecked. You're with this build. Either go with AM3 + 5850 or i5 + cheap P55 + 5850 or nothing. Too many times I've seen a poster asking for how best to upgrade their pc. They cheaped out on gpu. Needed a faster one. On a dead LGA 775 platform. Weren't too big on AMD. Spells RETARD all over their heads. What's more important, a gamer should ask, what's on the screen or what's inside the case?

Discussion closed.

i5 750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425

or

AMD Phenom II X4 925 or better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130249

plus these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227346
HD 5850

 

[MadAdmiral]

Save some money and get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB. It's a good $25 less, and will give better performance.

I agree with everything p55ibexpeak said. Only thing I would change is the i5 board, as that one's second PCIe 2 slot runs at only 4x. You'll want one that runs at 8x.

I would go with the AMD build. It's much better for your budget.

 

[misterscoundrel]

Thanks for the response.

Okay so assume I spring for a 5850. Seems that would put me at more like $1150, but like I said, my budget is pretty flexible. What would you say to that build? Would you still recommend switching to AMD? At what price point is Intel the better choice?

And what is it about that Gigabyte board that prompts you to recommend it over the ASUS I listed?

Also, the HDD. Got a drive with more like 750GB that you'd recommend over the Western Digital?

 

[coldsleep]

Either the 1 TB Samsung F3 Spinpoint or the Seagate 7200.12 1 TB.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The main reason the Gigabyte board was recommended was to make it cheaper to fit an HD 5850.

If you can afford both the i5 and the 5850, get that. If you can only afford one, go for the AMD build with a 5850.

The thing that makes the F3 better than WD right now is the 500 GB platter. So, by definition, they can't come in 750 GB. If you need at least 750 GB, get the 1 TB drive.

 

[mkyan978]

the thing that is making your computer expensive is your case/psu combo. I built a i5-750, evga p55 le, cooler master haf 922, ocz 700w psu, xfx 5850, 4gb g.skill ripjaw 9 latency, 1tb spinpoint f3 for around 911 bucks so if you get the 7 latency ram you should be able to easily get it under 1000.

 

[misterscoundrel]

Okay based on what was said here I think I'll stretch the budget to get both 5850 and i5. Now I just need to find the right case and PSU for not too much money. From what I've seen on Newegg, it seems hard to get quality for less than $100 on each of those. Please tell me if you know otherwise. Even the Cooler Master and OCZ mkyan mentioned add up to $200. I guess I need to find a good combo.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That PSU is $55 after a rebate. Most likely, mkyan got it last week in a combo with the HAF for $110 (maybe even just $100) after rebates. It was a killer deal. I wouldn't worry about spending too much on the case right now. Right now, I believe the HAF 922 is $100. Are you sure you didn't look at the HAF 932?

 

[misterscoundrel]

Ah, a rebate! It's hard for me to think of those as real money because I'm so bad at following up on them.

Too bad I missed that combo. Any thoughts on this one?

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ... - Retail
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.314451

Also, while looking for a 5850 I noticed this combo, and I'm toying with maybe really blowing the budget and getting a SSD too:

OCZ Agility Series OCZSSD2-1AGT120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail
SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.323420

Any thoughts on the OCZ drive? After rebate that would be like getting it for $318.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That first combo is alright. I'm not a big fan of Lian Li cases, but that's mostly because I think they're overpriced. I know they're good cases though.

I'm not that great at picking SSDs. And that combos sold out.

 

[mkyan978]

dell has an 80gb ssd for around 227 shipped. you have to use a 20% off coupon tho