$1,500 Gaming PC

[Guest]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week.

BUDGET RANGE: $1,250 - $1,500 (I prefer instant rebates but lets say before mail in rebates)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (MMO, FPS, RTS)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Sound Card. I currently own an Antec 900 and a 22" 1680x1050 monitor. If the machine can easily handle 1950x1200 recommendations on a good monitor would be nice and can be in addition to the $1,500 budget. I also have a SeaSonic M12 SS-600HM 600W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified which I'd gladly re-use but it is 3 years old and am more than happy to get a new one if I need it.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel Processor

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Not right now

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050 to 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Include in the budget Windows 7 64 bit (which version is ideal for gaming?) I would like this build to last at least 3 years and then will likely build a completely new computer. I've been toying with the idea of dual monitors but dont know if that would affect the system build itself. I appreciate any feedback you guys can provide, thanks!

 

[Somebody_007]

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225&cm_re=i7_930-_-19-115-225-_-Product

hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-533-_-Product X2

gpu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125320&cm_re=470_gtx-_-14-125-320-_-Product

ram:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121&Tpk=mushkin%20998805

mobo:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614R&cm_re=asus_p6x58d_premium-_-13-131-614R-_-Product

optical drive: no clue

cpu cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&Tpk=nh%20d14 if it fits

That totals to 1435 dollars. Most people don't want to spend so much on a cooler, I did since its the best one out there. If you don't want to go for a scythe mugen or something likewise. The hdd is a little big if you don't need the space save some money. The vaviar blacks are very fast but hot and noise if you don't like it go for a samsung orso.

 

[Somebody_007]

ohhh and the 600w is enough unless you want to do sli

 

[Silvune]

i5-750 & Asus P7P55D-E Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.369221 $375

Gigabyte GV-R5870UD-1GB & G.Skill Ripjaw 1600Mhz CAS 7 1.65V http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.361559 $495

Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181 $55

Optical Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289 $22

Win 7 64bit Home Premium http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 $99

Total: $1046

You can reuse your current PSU with one 5870 until you decide to get another one/replace it or you can just buy this one now which will be plenty for two 5870s: Antec TruePower New Blue TP-750 $110

A good budget heatsink if you decide you will overclock: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus $35 ($7.56 shipping)

This one is very good as well and a bit cheaper than the Noctua: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B $65 ($7.56 shipping)

Which leaves plenty within the budget to get a higher resolution display, and this system will be better in games than the one somebody_007 suggested, as the video card is stronger, it also uses less power than a GTX 470. Same story with the i5-750 over the i7-930.

The downside is that upgrade options for the CPU are limited.

You could also get a 5970 instead of the 5870 if you really want to use up all the $1500 before buying a monitor.

 

[Somebody_007]

for pure gaming the second suggestion is indeed better. but if you want to keep room for future upgrades and do some encoding and stuff I think my suggestion is better

 

[Guest]

What do you mean when you say future upgrades? Is that due to the fact that you chose the I7 processor?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

$230 Antec 1200 w/ CP-850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.359977

$520 ASUS P6X58D-E w/ Intel i7-930 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.378938

$200 3 x 2GB Corsair DDR3-1600 CAS 7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286

$85 Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

$50 CPU Cooler, fans, and doodads.

$25 Any DVD writer

$350 Asus ENGTX470/2DI/1280MD5 GTX 470 (Fermi) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121372
.....or
$320 ASUS EAH5850 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 HD 5850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121375

$100 Windows 7 64 Home Premium

$1530-$1560

Alternate 1156 system (saves $265)

$145 ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131620
$200 Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
$105 OCZ 2 x 2GB DDR3-1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297

 

[fastx21]

What he means is when that intel i7 980x goes down (hopefully way down) you'd want the option to upgrade to it without changing out everything. Thats why he recommends the i7 930.

But in my opinion if you spend the cash for an i7930 or anything then you're not going to upgrade in the next 2-3 years. And if you did you would swap out for a faster proc-mobo-mem anyway.

Oh and if you really wanted this rig to last 3 years without any upgrades throw in the 5970 now. And REALLY when games start to not max out then throw in a 2nd one in the 3rd year.

 

[Somebody_007]

well I meant for one thing that one could upgrade to the 980x but I don't see the price of that coming down soon since it's super fast. I for the most part meant that you have more cpu power. Since as fastx said the 930 is very powerfull. So then you cpu won't be a bottleneck if you add more gpu's. And the x58 platform allows you to xfire and trifire(or sli) without losing too much performance. It has hyperthreading and tripple channel memory. You will see a performance difference between the i7 platform and the i5 platform in all ectivities exept gaming. Because the i7 system is all round faster. And in gaming they'll be similar because both gpus can handle whatever you throw at them in the next few years regardless of the fact that the 5970 is twice as good. You just don't need that much power on that resolution.

 

[Somebody_007]

and obviously if you need more power in a few years add a gpu

 

[Guest]

Thanks a lot I appreciate all the feedback!