$1000-$1500 Gaming System

[shphunk]

This will be a gaming comp, budget 1000-1500. I would like to keep it on the cheaper side, my main questions have to do with the GPU, CPU, and RAM. I want to be able to run my games at the highest settings. My monitor is 1900x1080. I am willing to OC.

Do not need - HD, Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse, Speakers

For reference, my HD is HDD 640G|WD WD6402AAEX SATAIII 64M

GPU - XFX 5850 or 5870 (is the 5870 enough of an upgrade to justify the price difference?)
CPU - i5 750 (I dont think I need the i7-930, but would welcome advice)
RAM - g.skill 1600 Ram (4 or 8, is 4gb enough?)
Case - Cooler Master HAF 922
MB - N82E16813128409 (Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s ) (Is this a good board, or would an ASUS be better?)
PSU - N82E16817341018 (I know that this si an iffy PSU, but the price combined with the case is insane)
LG Blu-ray Player
Heatsink - Coolermaster Hyper 212 N82E16835103065

 

[MadAdmiral]

Here's what I'd do:

CPU/Mobo: i7-930 and Asus P6X58D Premium $575
RAM: G.Skill Pi 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $190
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 750W $85 after rebate
Case: HAF 922 $80 after rebate
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $22
GPU: HD 5870 $400
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $35

Total: $1,387

You certainly don't need the i7-930, but it's in the budget, so you might as well get the best you can buy.

4 GB of RAM would have been enough, but the i7 needs triple channel RAM, so 6 GB is good.

That motherboard isn't a good choice. The Asus P7P55D-E Pro would've been better because it doesn't disable USB 3/SATA III speeds when you Crossfire.

BluRay is completely worthless to gamers right now. Leave it out until it's cheap or useful.

 

[shphunk]

Thanks, the blu-ray isnt for the gaming aspect, I just own a lot and its easy to let my wife have the TV for her lame TV shows that she recorded and I can watch my stuff on the comp...project runway, americas next top model, glee...this woman like some crappy TV.

I am trying to be a little cheap here, but how much of an upgrade is the 5870 over the 5850. Will I really notice a difference if I am just running one monitor and one game +a couple of background programs (i.e. Firefox/Team Speak)

 

[MadAdmiral]

The difference between the 5850 and the 5870 is that the 5870 can play every game currently out with max details at 1080p resolutions while the 5850 struggles with a few. Whether or not that's worth it is really up to you...

 

[JackNaylorPE]

To allow for OC'ing (4.0 Ghz +) and twin GFX cards, going full tower....drop to mid tower if dropping one of those.

Full Tower Antec 1200 w/ CP-850 PSU $230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345233

Alternate Full Tower HAF 932 w/ Corsair HX850 $330
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

Alternate Mid Tower Antec 900 w/ EA-650 $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129064

Alternate Mid Tower HAF 922 w/ TX650 $160 (180 - $20 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Hard Drives - Check out the performance charts and pick whatever 500 GB per platter drive performs best under your usage patterns. The 2 TB WD Black and XT from Seagate are good choice but at smaller capacities, you are limited to the Seagate 7200.12 or the Spinpoint F3. The 7200.12 excels in gaming, multimedia and pictures whereas the F3 wins at music and movie maker. See the comparisons here (copy past link in manually, link won't work in forum):

(http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/compare,1006.html?prod[2371]=on&prod[2770]=on)

Look at the tests that reflect your usage and choose accordingly.
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

Heat Sink - For top notch performance and ease of installation
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=492&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4
Prolimatech Megahalems ($100) ($65 for the HS, $7 for TIM, $11 each for two PWM fans and $7 for a Y cable splitter).

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8807/cpu-pro-01/Prolimatech_Megahalems_Rev_B_Intel_CPU_Heatsink_LGA_775_1156_1366_AM2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7038/thr-41/Innovation_Cooling_Diamond_7_Carat_Thermal_Compound_-_15_Grams.html?id=BZWnrfIC
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/10026/fan-639/Scythe_Slip_Stream_120mm_x_25mm_PWM_Fan_-_SY1225SL12LM-P.html?tl=g36c365s936
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8418/cab-150/FrozenCPU_PMW_Y_Splitter_Cable.html

If that's a budget breaker, look at the Xigmnatec S1283 or one of the others here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm#INTELHEATSINK
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=432&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=23
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=492&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4

pick a TIM from the top few here:
http://www.hwreviewlabs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64%3Amega-44-thermal-paste-round-up&catid=32%3Around-ups&Itemid=47&limitstart=3
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermal-interface-roundup_10.html#sect1
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=3

GFX Card - ASUS ENGTX470/2DI/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) $350
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121372

or

ASUS EAH5850 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5850 $320
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121375

Optical - Wanna watch movies ?
Plextor Blue Ray Combo Model PX-B320SA LightScribe Support and 50 LS disks $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827249055

Alternate Optical
Any $25 burner

The i7-930 build ($100 over your budget)

ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 w/ Intel i7-930 $515
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.378938

RAM - (avoid tall heat spreaders which may interfere w/ heat sink)
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600CAS 7 Model CMX6GX3M3C1600C7 $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286

Totals $1600w/ nVidia card; $20 cheaper w/ ATI


The i5-750 build

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro L ATX Intel Motherboard Xtreme Design, SLI/ CrossfireX , USB 3.0 + SATA 6Gb/s $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

CORSAIR XMS3 (2 x 2GB) DDR3 - 1600 Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C7 $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145285

Total $1405