Build Suggestions for Gaming Desktop

rcheung

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Jul 19, 2010
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I'm looking to build a gaming desktop for around $850. I would like to have the following: Intel i5 750 processor and nVidia GeForce GTX 460 video card. I know that an AMD processor with an ATI video card may be cheaper, but I prefer Intel and nVidia. However, I can be convinced to go with an ATI GPU if a lot of folks have really positive feedback on a particular one. As for the other components, I'm not too picky about them.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Will purchase by Friday, 7/23/2010

BUDGET RANGE: $850 (either before or after rebates)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (hoping to go for ultra settings for World of Warcraft and high settings for more graphically intense games)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers, Cables

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel and nVidia

OVERCLOCKING: Any

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: at least SLI

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I need a build that won't break the bank yet has very reliable components - something that balances budget with power/quality. Thanks in advance for the advice and feedback.
 

Somebody_007

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Feb 28, 2010
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I'm to tired to comment on anything really exept that the 460 is amazing and will write graphics history. It's beaten ati in bang for buck, has lot's of features ati doesn't. If ati doesn't do something quick nvidia will dominate the graphics world. They are bigger better and now they've proven they can also be cheaper.
 

fharper

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Jun 23, 2010
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All right then, for what you want, here's my crack at it.

CPU/Mobo: i5 750 and ASUS P7P55D-E PRO

Case/PSU: Antec Two Hundred S and Antec earthwatts 500w

RAM: G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB

HDD: Spinpoint F3 500GB

CD/DVD: Sony Optiarc


Total comes out to $856.93 before shipping and there are no rebates so right around budget. In the future if you want to SLI you're going to have to buy a bigger power supply. Other than that it should be fine for now and give you some pretty nice performance for your money. However, and I'm sure someone else can come and make a build for it, with that budget you might be better off going AMD.
 

nickc07

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Aug 23, 2007
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rcheung-

I know you said $850 before or after rebates, but before I start are you sure after rebates is ok?

Honestly if you have done much with rebates you know the odds are you will not ever receive these funds. I just dont want to leave you out to dry.
 

Somebody_007

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I'd get fharper's build upgrade the ram to 1600, upgrade the case to antec 300 and the psu to a 650w or 750w not sure how much 460 sli needs. And lastly upgrade the HDD to a 1tb if this is neccesary. It will put you over budget, but get a very decent system like this and then skimping out on some components is something I really don't reccomend. If this is too much then I'd downgrade to amd 955 and get a 555w psu as sli isn't possible with any decent amd chipset. I strongly reccomend the fromer option though.
 

fharper

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Jun 23, 2010
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Yeah, what somebody said. That would actually save you money as I believe 650 or 750 should be fine for a 460 sli so in the future you wouldn't have to buy another PSU in the future.
 

rcheung

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Jul 19, 2010
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Another question for you guys, is there a big difference between the 1 GB and the 768 MB versions of the GTX 460? Thanks for all of the feedback so far. I'm going to wait and see if more folks post builds then I'll put something together for a final review.
 

fharper

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At your resolution I would say probably. On some benchmarks there were some dropouts on the 768mb version that I didn't like so to be safe the 1GB would probably be a better bet for you.
 

rcheung

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Can you guys advise on the selection below? There are links to the products in a more recent posting that I made.


Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower OR Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard (This has the hardest for me to figure out - I'm not even sure that I'm happy with either of these selections): GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel OR BIOSTAR T5 XE CFX-SLI LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC OR RAIDMAX Blackstone series RX-700AC 700W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
CD/DVD Drive: ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
Video Card: GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

So that's the list of components that I've selected after four days of research, but I can definitely use any reassurance and advice from all you experts out there! Thanks!
 

mrhoshos96

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Jan 16, 2010
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here is an amd with gtx 460 build for $832.92(before rebates) but is sli capable
i know you want intel but did you know that lga1156 is going to be replaced by 1155 in Q1 2011 or so. but amd will still have an upgrade path as amd has the x6's and they will release bulldozer (new cpu) next year

cpu&mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.444798

psu&case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.440193
(top notch quality)

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321

gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261075
(only one availabel now)

hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

odd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289