Gaming/School PC, ~$1,000

[RedBalloon]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: As soon as possible. I'm shooting for tomorrow so that I can get the parts and build it this week, my spring break.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies, word processing.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, DVD-RW drive (my current build has an IDE DVD-RW drive that I bought about five years back - would it be best to just grab a new one?).

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.S.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel i5 processor, either Asus or Gigabyte motherboards as I've heard good things and have had a pretty good experience with my current Asus mobo.

OVERCLOCKING: No. SLI or Crossfire: No.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Looking to spend about $1,000 after taxes and shipping, so any suggestions on cheaper parts or combo deals I might have missed would be appreciated. I'm pretty flexible and open to suggestions, I was researching a build last summer and am going off of the advice I got then. Finally getting around to ordering some parts now.

This is what I've got so far:

Antec Case/Power Supply Combo Deal - $124.98

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified ... - Retail

Intel i5 750 Processor/ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Combo Deal - $349.98

[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215]Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail [/url]
ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Memory - $125.99

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KHX1333C7D3K2/4GX - Retail

GPU - $169.99

XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail

Hard Drive - $74.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

OS - $99.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Grand Total: $1,023.00 after tax (and free shipping!)

Thanks all!

 

[whitefang]

Nope your going to want at least a 5850 for 1920x1080 so the I-5 is out and the AMD 955 is in.

There will be hardly any difference between the two processors in gaming, and the 5850 will crush the 5770 by atleast 25+ fps.

This PC will kill an I-5 + 5770.

$984 after shipping (add $20 if you want a new DVD rom)

 

[RedBalloon]

Thanks for the advice, whitefang! How future-proof is the AM3 socket compared to the P55? That issue (and the performance review from the March Tom's Hardware article on the best gaming CPUs) led me to believe the i5 was a better choice for my price range.

Any second/third/etc. opinions before I take the plunge tomorrow?

 

[whitefang]

The AM3 socket will be around for the hexacore (6 core processor) and the 1156 is at the end of it's life. Usually when intel releases a new processor they release a new socket to go with it, kinda sucks but that's the way intel does things.

 

[Proximon]

It depends on what kind of gaming you are doing and what kind of comfort level you have with reduced graphics settings.

If you primarily play RTS or strategy games such as the upcoming Civ V, your build might be best. Otherwise, for general gaming and graphics intense titles you are better off with the stronger GPU of Whitefang's build.

 

[RedBalloon]

I'm not a big fan of strategy and RTS games, though I do play them from time to time (will probably want to grab Starcraft 2, for instance). I'm mostly in it for FPS games like Bioshock 2 and the Steam titles (TF2, L4D 1+2, Half-Life 2 etc.), RPGs, and some high-def movie viewing.

I'm really liking the build whitefang suggested - I was leaning toward an AMD 955 when I was considering parts at the end of last summer, but the hype over the then just-released i5 made it seem worth considering. The ability to upgrade to a 6-core processor in the future without swapping out the motherboard is appealing as well. I've also been pretty happy with my AMD 64 3200, but it's just time for an upgrade

 

[whitefang]

Yeah the 955 + 5850 is great. It's what I have and whenever I get a new game I don't have to worry about any lag. All settings maxed with the maximum resolution too. With the setup I had before (CF 4830's) I always had to worry about turning some settings down in games like crysis.

It's just good to know that your PC won't have any problems playing any games. Gives you a good solid feeling.

 

[RedBalloon]

Just put this build together in my shopping cart - it's $1,066.18 after tax (I live in CA - a fortunate thing aside from the whole tax on Newegg thing). Is there any way I could get the price closer to $1,000 without sacrificing too much performance?

 

[whitefang]

The only two things I can think of are.

1. Change case + psu to this save $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345218

And you could do one other thing, which isn't a very good idea. But you won't lose any performance.

Change Mobo + cpu to this. save $40 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.353083

If you change the mobo, you lose the support of the new hexacores. You also won't be able to add a second video card down the road.

 

[RedBalloon]

What about swapping to this deal for the CPU and mobo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345249

There's a $15 MIR, plus I'd get a free copy of CoD:MW2. Worth swapping the higher end mobo out?

 

[whitefang]

Yeah that's a great motherboard, you lose USB 3.0 + sata 6GB's but you keep crossfire and the hexacore processor support.

If your not really into USB 3.0 + sata 6gb's then there's no reason to go for the 890GX over that mobo. Great choice.

 

[RedBalloon]

Best answer selected by RedBalloon.

 

[RedBalloon]

I switched out the higher-end mobo for the one in the combo deal with Modern Warfare 2, added a 120mm case fan for the side panel, and grabbed some Arctic Silver thermal paste. Came out to $1,115.60 total with a $15.00 MIR for the mobo. I noticed that the stickied How To Build a Computer guide has the same case (the Antec 300) so I'm feeling pretty good about putting together my new computer! Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[whitefang]

sounds good =) let us know how it goes!

 

[RedBalloon]

My parts finally arrived last Friday, and I put them together with no problems except for a faulty SATA cable going to my DVD burner that was easily replaced. It's been running great for a week now, and I'm really happy with it! Runs L4D2 at max settings without a hiccup, and I can finally play Gothic 3 without it being a choppy mess. The case looks great and I can't believe how fast my system starts up now.

Thanks again for your suggestions and help!