$1100 Gaming PC *Newbie Buyer*

[Imbajoe]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within several days, asap preferably

BUDGET RANGE: $1100 AR

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, video watching, websurfing, eating snails

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Something that ships from within the U.S.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.S.A.

PARTS PREFERENCES: by brand or type: No preference

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe (have never used it before)

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Looking to purchase new monitor that can handle 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: As I said in the thread title, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to computer building. 90% of my knowledge about it has come from lurking this website for several hours. The main reason I'm looking to upgrade my computer is that I want to be able to run FFXIV when it comes out. However, I'd prefer to build a computer that would be able to run any of the more recent system intensive games if I chose to play them. Thanks for your help.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Do you need the monitor's price included in the $1,100? What about an OS? I'll post a build that uses the entire $1,100 for the tower and then suggest some changes to make it cheaper if you do need to fit other stuff in it.

CPU/Mobo: i5-750 and Asus P7P55D-E Pro $360
RAM: G.Skill Eco 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $105
GPU: HD 5870 $385 after rebate (with free game)
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $75
Case/PSU: Antec 902 and TruePower 750W $175 after rebate
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $18

Total: $1,078

To fit in an OS:

CPU/GPU: X4 955 and HD 5870 $520
Mobo/PSU: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 and Corsair 750HX Modular $215 after rebates
RAM: G.Skill Eco 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $105
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $75
Case/Optical: Coolermaster 690 and cheap SATA DVD burner $73
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit OEM $100

Total: $1,088

To fit in an OS and monitor:

CPU/Mobo: X3 440 and Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $183 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Eco 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $105
GPU/PSU: HD 5850 and XFX 650W $335 after rebate
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $75
Case/Optical: Coolermaster 690 and cheap SATA DVD burner $73
Monitor: Asus 23.6" 1080p $180 after rebate
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit OEM $100

Total: $1,051

If you ever do want to get into overclocking, grab the Sychte SCMG-2100 for $35 or the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus for $30 (the typical price, not the insane one Newegg is charging).

 

[ares1214]

heres fitting in an os and monitor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437534.14-125-333

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.445122

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.434563

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.431395

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116442

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136178

give me some more time, ill tweek it a bit, but final price is 1087.90$.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I'll point out that ares' build would perform worse than the one I posted (it competes with the HD 5830, not the 5850) and will not allow for an easy or cheap upgrade through Crossfire (or SLI). So I'm going to have to disagree with the choice of board and GPU.

 

[ares1214]

o god again with this... for one, my video card is a much better value. my cpu is better. im working on getting a bigger psu and mobo, im revising it, but less chiil out a second.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Not when you consider the price of the 5850 in that combo. It'd be $255 vs. the 460 at $225. Considering the 5850 gives around 10% more performance, that's a really good performance gain for only a 13% price increase.

 

[ares1214]

the 5850 gives about 6% increase for performance. and check here for value:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_460_SLI/26.html

also, considering the 460 usually loses by about 1-5 fps:

or beats it by a small margin:

the 460 is a much better value. the 460 also uses less power, makes less heat, runs quiete at stock cooling, and debatedly overclocks higher:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3809/nvidias-geforce-gtx-460-the-200-king/17

at this price range, thats practically the easiest decision. and think, would you pay 13% (actually more) more for a 5% performance increase? that doesnt really make sense, now does it.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That's odd, because Tom's benchmarks show something else. All were taken from 1920x1080 (more common than 1920x1200) and 4x AA.

Crysis: 6.5 FPS average (30%)
AvP: 2 FPS average (8%)
Dirt: 2 FPS (4%)
Battlefield 2: 6 FPS (12%)
MW2: The 460 wins, but both are above 60 FPS, which wouldn't be visible on a regular monitor.

If you average the differences, that's 13.5% performance gain.

Seems to be quite a difference here...

EDIT: I should also add that most games used to benchmark GPUs heavily favor nVidia cards, so the results of benchmarking don't usually follow real world results. Unless of course you actually play those games.

 

[ares1214]

well, im not calling toms out in anyway, but toms seems to be the most generous to the 5850 and 5830, because everywhere else has the 460 at about 93-95% of the 5850s performance. but heres my improved build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437534.14-125-333

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.430449

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.431396

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.435592

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116442

final price is 1067.90$, and sli/xfire ready. lemme check into the 5850vs 460 thing.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I will say it's odd that they don't agree. I will point out that aand's benchmarks don't state what exact settings they used. They could crank the AA way up, which would benefit nVidia's cards over ATI's. I just can't say that for sure. I tend to trust Tom's more since they're very transparent about what the test setup and settings are.

My only issues with the above are the board (not counting the MSI thing). It's micro ATX. I try to avoid them so that you can spread parts out and get better cooling.

Also, the Ripjaws are the same price as the Ecos, but the Ecos use less voltage.

 

[ares1214]

tech power up seems to tell the same story:

im giving into the fact the 460 is about 3-7% less powerful, but its everything else that makes it a better value.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Like I was saying about aand's benchmarks, it looks like they cranked up the settings that help out nVidia. Also, neither say if they counting average or max FPS. Average is a better indicator, and the nVidia cards seem to post exceptionally high max FPS, yet have low averages. Actually, the best indicator is the minimum FPS, which nVidia's high max and low average indicates isn't very good.

But again, I'm just speculating. The 460 is a good card, but not in a build with this kind of budget. If the budget was somewhere between $600 and $750 or so, the 460 would fit right in there and be excellent.

 

[ares1214]

My only issues with the above are the board (not counting the MSI thing). It's micro ATX. I try to avoid them so that you can spread parts out and get better cooling.

Also, the Ripjaws are the same price as the Ecos, but the Ecos use less voltage.

ehhh, micro atx isnt bad necessarily, i prefer ATX, but i suppose. and true, however ive heard of some compatibility issues with the ecos, and most where it reads them at 1.5 volts anyway, so it doesnt matter. to be honest, id likely get these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276&cm_re=ripjaws-_-20-231-276-_-Product

anyway, as amd doesnt do much of anything with ram over 1333 MHz, and they oc like crazy, ive used them a lot. as a final thing, id switch the ram out for what i suggested, and get this combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.430433

unless u dont care about micro atx and sli, then go back to 870.

 

[Imbajoe]

I appreciate the responses. Not sure whether or not I wanted to include a new monitor in the budget. I may go with the hardware MadAdmiral gave for not including the monitor or OS, and then get a new monitor at a later time. I asked /g/, and found my school is apart of the MSDNAA program which allows me to either download the OS win7(64) for free or purchase a copy at a very discounted price, so that's all taken care of.

 

[ares1214]

wait, so you dont need a monitor or os?