Gaming desktop ~$1000 w/ monitor

ricardofurriel · May 14, 2010

Heya all. I'm seeking advice for a new gaming desktop. My laptop blew up on me last night after 3 years playing LOTRO... No I need a new machine and seek the experts opinion here

Price: around $1000 after rebates, monitor and everything else included

DX11, crossfire, overclock capable

Is this a good deal btw?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.382671

2x 4870 or 1x gtx 470? How hard/easy is to install 2 video cards? risks?

Monitor: 23' and up

Basically I want something where I can play LOTRO in very high settings without lagging in 80+ raids etc.

Thank you so much for your help.

Ric

MadAdmiral · May 14, 2010

The link is broken.

What exactly do you mean by everything? Do you need an OS or keyboard and mouse in the $1,000?

If you need a monitor, you cannot afford the GTX 470 or two of any decent GPU. It's just not going to happen with this budget. Monitors aren't that cheap. You'll also likely need an OS ($100), which really puts a dent in the budget.

Here's a great $1,000 build, with the OS and a little room for a mouse and keyboard:

CPU: X3 440 and Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $97
Mobo/GPU: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 and HD 5770 $250 after rebates
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $110
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
Case/PSU: Antec 300 Illusion and Earthwatts 650W $120
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $19
Monitor: Asus 23" 1080p $180 after rebate
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit OEM $100

Total: $931

ricardofurriel · May 14, 2010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&ItemList=Combo.382671

yes, I need everything from monitor to keyboard to OS...

Let's stretch this to ~$1200

Thank you all for your help

MadAdmiral · May 14, 2010

That's not a good combo. Thermaltake PSUs are low quality. Also, the new GTX cards are mostly considered a waste of money as they perform too close to the cheaper ATI cards (the 5850 and 5870) but are priced too close the card above them. The 470 only offers a slight performance bump over the 5850, but is only $30-40 cheaper (less with great combos) thant he superior 5870. They just aren't good buys at their current prices. If they were $20-30 cheaper, they'd be perfectly placed.

Alright, here's the $1,200 budget build:

CPU/GPU: X4 955 and HD 5850 $470
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $110 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $110
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
Case/PSU: Antec 300 Illusion and Earthwatts 650W $120
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $19
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $27
Monitor: Asus 23" 1080p $180 after rebate
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit OEM $100

Total: $1,191

Doesn't leave much room for a keyboard/mouse, so if you can't find anything or don't want to stretch it a little more make these changes:

CPU/HSF: X3 440 and Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $97
Mobo/GPU: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 and HD 5850 $400 after rebate

Total: $1,081

I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that MMORPGs aren't very intensive. If that's all you play, the very first build (the X3/5770) would be more than sufficient. The X4/5850 and X3/5850 builds ares more towards the beginings of hardcore FPS gaming builds.

ricardofurriel · May 14, 2010

Any more suggestions? (maybe Intel based?)

Thank you in advance

MadAdmiral · May 14, 2010

You're budget won't allow for a good Intel based build. The cheapest decent Intel CPU is the i5-750, which is already $40 more than the X4 955. The Intel boards are a good $50-75 more than AMD boards (possibly more, depending on the deals). The Asus P7P55D-E Pro is the i5 equivalent to the board above, and costs $190. That means you'd be stuck with the 5770 and wouldn't have much to show for it.

Frankly, unless you've got $1,500 or more for the tower alone (no OS, no monitor), you'd get a better gaming build by sticking with AMD. The only exception is the $300 hole between the price of the HD 5870 and HD 5970, which allows for the i5 to sneak into a build below that budget. However, that's still a $1,200 tower.

Besides, you mentioned that you want something that has the potential to be upgraded. Intel has already announced that they plan on moving to two new sockets in the next year (LGA1155 and LGA1365). That means there won't be any more powerful CPUs for the current sockets.

ricardofurriel · May 14, 2010

MadAdmiral · May 14, 2010

You won't need SATA cables unless you buy an open box motherboard. Retail motherboards come with several cables.

And none of those links work.

ricardofurriel · May 15, 2010

Just got home and the links above were fail... Gonna try again

MadAdmiral · May 15, 2010

The X3/5850 would be massively better.

ricardofurriel · May 15, 2010

Thx Mad, I think I made my decision. I posted another thread and my only final doubt is on the mobo. I wanted the Asus crosshair (so f awsome) for possible future cf with a 2nd 5850 but I'm not sure what to do...

MadAdmiral · May 16, 2010

The Crosshairs are overrated. The higher price doesn't get you any additional features, so there isn't really reason to pay more than you need to.

The board I recommend also allows for adding a second 5850 later. If it's the 8x/8x speeds you're worried, about it's a non-issue. Tom's did a review a while ago comparing 16x/16x Crossfire to 8x/8x and found that 16x/16x only gave a 4% performance boost and would only be noticeable when you use 5970s. Given the huge price increase to get 16x/16x, it's not recommended to spend that much to only get 4% performance.

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