First Gaming Rig, $1300

[Guest]

Hey TH, long time reader, first time poster. After days of poring over reviews and forum posts, I believe I've come up with a good, future-proof gaming rig without breaking the bank.

My requirements were:
-Sub-$1300
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat DX11 Ultra NoAA or 2xAA > 40fps @ 1920x1200(my favorite pc game)
-NOT a full tower (I live in a dorm, and moving this thing home and back on a monthly basis is a must)
-As future-proof as possible (newest mobo, best video card to crossfire)
-Crossfire in the future (when I need it/price drops for same card I already have)
-Overclocking - I ordered a CPU cooler in the event I have my mobo do it's OC Genie magic on it. We'll see how it goes. I'm not a true enthusiast as I don't think I'll be OCing my video card though...

I ordered everything from Newegg as I live in NYC, so shipping from NJ is like 20 bucks.

Here's whats on the list. Let me know how well I did =D

-Thermaltake Element G VL18501W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ 850W W0319RU Modular Power Supply
Item #: N82E16811133175 $179.99

-MSI 890FXA-GD70 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813130274 $199.99

-XFX HD-587X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814150490 $389.99

-AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ965FBGMBOX
Item #: N82E16819103727 $179.99

-CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMP4GX3M2A1600C8
Item #: N82E16820145297 $139.99

-Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Item #: N82E16822136533 $99.99

-CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835181010 $79.99


Subtotal (including combo deals) $1,244.93

 

[banthracis]

Well technically if you want the best possible performance for your money phenom II x4 955 + 5970 is your best bet.

Case
HAF 922 $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

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

GPU
5970 $700
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125303

RAM
G Skill Ripjaw 1600 cas 7 $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

CPU/MOBO
PHenom II x4 + GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 + you get another copy of the game free too i guess lol. $258 w/ $15 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.405957

PSU/optical
OCZ 700W 80+ and Lite- on $91 w/ $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.418929

$1304 before $35 MIR and Shipping $20 to NYC.

If you're willing to deal with MIR, you can add a a CM hyper 212 Plus for $30 at amazon. Total after MIR and this HSF would be $1299 (before shipping).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0SEP274NMHTQVM1039E8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470939031&pf_rd_i=507846


Alternatively to save $200ish you can just go with this xfire GA MOBO $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128435&cm_re=gagbyte_usb_3.0-_-13-128-435-_-Product

a 5870 and Phenom II x4.

Can also upgrade to a Corsair 750TX PSU.


The HAF 922 is labeled midtower, but ti's closer to full tower size. However it does fit a 5970.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

At $1250ish, I'd do an 1156 based system
At $1450ish, I'd do an 1366 based system

If my focus was DX11, before I'd spend $700 on a 5970, I'd buy twin 470's .....

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/30999-nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-sli-review-9.html

Game
Card (Avg/Min)

1920 x 1200 res, highest settings tested

BFBC2 (DX11)
470 SLI (76/57)
5970 (77/54)
5850 Xfire (85/61)

Dirt2 (DX11)
470 SLI (128/116)
5970 (93/83)
5850 Xfire (11/97)

Dragon Age Origins (DX9)
470 SLI (102/65)
5970 (102/55)
5850 XFire (95/49)

Far Cry 2 (DX9)
470 SLI (131/86)
5970 (119/76)
5850 XFire (121/79)

Far Cry 2 (DX10)
470 SLI (139/86)
5970 (111/76)
5850 XFire (123/84)

Metro 2033 (DX11)
470 SLI (44/35)
5970 (37/26)
5850 XFire (40/28)

Heaven (DX11)
470 SLI (55/33)
5970 (40/18)
5850 Xfire (42/20)


Totals:

470 SLI (675/478) wins by 9% / 19% over twin 5850's ..... 17% / 23 % over 5970
5850 XFire (617/418) wins by 7 % / 8% over 5970
5970 (579/388)

1156 Based System Build w/ one 470

$90 CM HAF 922 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

$1200 Corsair TX850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

$370 ASUS P7P55D-E Pro w/ Intel i5-750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.369221

$105 2 x 2GB Corsair DDR3-1600 CAS 7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145285

$80 Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

$34 Scythe 2100 cpu COOLER http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

$6 OCZ Freeze http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835202006

$25 Any DVD Burner

Total $1270 ..... get the 2nd 470 for XMas.

 

[banthracis]

Unfortunately, getting the SLI mobo, plus bigger PSU pushes price above $1300.

You can give it a try, but I don't think it's doable for under $1300.

edit: It being a sli 470 full build.

 

[Guest]

I remember I chose the MSI 890FXA-GD70 Mobo because it supported 2 pcie cards at full 16x speed for both, and I will probably get a second 5870 and cpu for xmas that can support that kind of power.

The least expensive 6GB/s HD that newegg has in stock is the 1TB WD black, which is getting pretty good reviews iirc. If I'm gonna get a board that supports 6gbps, might as well get an HD that can perform that fast I figure.

 

[banthracis]

x8 if fine for 5870. You'll need to use a dual GPU card before there's any real performance loss.

Phenom II x4 runs dual 5870's fine. Gaming is mostly GPU bound not CPU.

the WD black doesn't even use up SATA 3 bandwidth, never mind SATA 6 speeds. In fact, no mechanical hard driver can, Period. You need an SSD to saturate SATA II, and even the newest drives barely do.

 

[deslicks]

I totaly agree that gamins is totaly GPU bound. No matter what, keep your GPU last to buy wile everything else waiting, for the GPU to arrive. Then Boot.