$900 Gaming Computer

[brian10jones]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week

BUDGET RANGE: 800-900

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming (oblivion, sc2, WoW) , video encoding

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: If budget permits.



please help me build my PC

Thanks

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

How old is your previous computer?

And is that as new as your games are going to get?

 

[brian10jones]

right now im running on a old dell from 2004 lol... im looking to get into pc gaming and want it to basically be able to run anything i throw at it with the best possible frame rate

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Then you want a AMD Phenom II x4 955 or 965.


If single graphics card only then:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443

if two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128441

RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226092

Then a good enough (at least) PSU: Like some antec earthwatts, corsair, seasonic, rosewill green series. 600 or higher, just to have room to upgrade maybe a little more if 2x 5870's

Cases are larely preference, I link my HAF 922, but you can get acceptable ones for around $50

Like a samsung f3 500 gigs for $55 or so.

some dvd burner for like $20

I don't think I'm forgetting anything... Other than choose graphics based on leftover budget. Preferably a single 5850 or 5870, and even just one of these will run anything you can throw at it today.

I asked you what you have now, so that I could gauge how much of a CPU you'd need/notice the difference. You only really need enough of one to feed the graphics subsystem in a computer where that is the main goal. You could even drop to a athlon II x3 if you wanted.

 

[gonemtbiking123]

955 and burner together:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.494792&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=eg31bvhbm8

Samsung f3 1TB $60:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

 

[collegeguy]

Here what i would get...
CPU/Processor:Intel Core i5-760 2.8GHz LGA1156 95W Quad-Core 210 $
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

Motherboard:ASUS Maximus III GENE LGA 1156 P55 Micro ATX 150 $
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

RAM :G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CAS 9 93$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

Video Card:GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 460 1GB OC Edition 230 $ (with $20 savings with Starcraft2 combo, ends 9/30 )

Hard Drive:Samsung F3 500GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s $52 (its cheaper at amazon.com)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002J65AHQ

Optical Drive:LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner 18 $
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

Power Supply:SeaSonic S12II 520W 80PLUS BRONZE Certified 60$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

Case:Antec Three Hundred Illusion 70 $
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

CPU Cooler:you can stick with the stock cooler ,but in my opinion this one is much better not to mention being quite.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 30 $
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002G1YPH0

Total: 913 $

and if you want a decent monitor to go with this powrefull rig get this one :
ASUS VH226H 21.5″ 2ms Full HD 1080P 1920 x 1080 175 $
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

if you have any questions about my picks just PM and i will be glad to answer
Good Luck

 

[asteldian]

College has a pretty good build, there are a few changes I would make - and don't forget about combos:

i5 760 + Asus P7P55D E Pro - $360
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492249

G Skill 4gb 1600mhz RAM CL7 + 850W Corsair - $188 ($168 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492823

Samsung Spinpoint F3 - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-181-_-Product

Antec 300 case + DVD - $73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492944

GPU - MSI GTX 460 Cyclone (1gb) - $225 ($205 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127510

Total: $901 before rebate ($861 after rebate)

This has everything you need - plenty of PSU power for OCing (though I gather you don't plan on that) and also running a second GTX460 in the future. If I am honest, the PSU is excessive, but it is quality and at a great price with the combo.
The only problem is this does not include Windows 7 which will be another $100, you did not specify whether or not you needed it.

 

[itouchedyou]

955 + MSI 890GXM-G65 USB 3.0/SATA3 $260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&SubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&Page=2

XFX 5850 + OCZ Signature 4GB 1600Mhz RAM $330
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.493543

Samsung F3 1TB + Corsair TX650 650W 80 Plus $135
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492764

Antec 300 Illusion + DVD Burner - $84
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.492944

TOTAL = $809 after rebates

Better PSU, GFX and HDD compared to colleges build for a cheaper price. The 955 is not far behind the i5 760, and in games you won't see any difference. You have $91 to spend on a cpu cooler if you wish to overclock, or you can even reduce HDD size to a 500gb and squeeze in an SSD boot drive that will really make your system run quick. Imo it's better to go with a Phenom x4 build over an i5 at sub $1000 pricepoints since most people on this forum have gaming as their primary use and you won't see a real world difference between these two processors.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

"The 955 is not far behind the i5 760, and in games you won't see any difference. You have $91 to spend on a cpu cooler if you wish to overclock, or you can even reduce HDD size to a 500gb and squeeze in an SSD boot drive that will really make your system run quick. Imo it's better to go with a Phenom x4 build over an i5 at sub $1000 pricepoints since most people on this forum have gaming as their primary use and you won't see a real world difference between these two processors. "

Not only this, but both current intel mobos will be replaced next year. The AMD mobos should continue a bit more than that. I really don't get why people spend the extra money on mobos and CPUs and sacrifice graphics cards when they're building a gaming machine.

 

[collegeguy]

You have some good suggestion ,but I believe you have missed one point ,he said he is interested in video encoding which in my point of view can use the extra power of the i5
Proof:http://www.anandtech.com/show/2832/12

"The 955 is not far behind the i5 760, and in games you won't see any difference. "
If you continue reading Anandtech article you can see that there is difference between the i5 and the 955 in gaming .

 

[itouchedyou]

You have some good suggestion ,but I believe you have missed one point ,he said he is interested in video encoding which in my point of view can use the extra power of the i5
Proof:http://www.anandtech.com/show/2832/12

"The 955 is not far behind the i5 760, and in games you won't see any difference. "
If you continue reading Anandtech article you can see that there is difference between the i5 and the 955 in gaming .

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Core-i5-vs-Phenom-II-X4-CPU-Review/819/10
They 955 is beating the i5 by a frame.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Core-i5-vs-Phenom-II-X4-CPU-Review/819/11
The i5 beating the 955 by 3 frames.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/88?vs=109
Fallout 3, Crysis and Left 4 Dead they are identical. The i5 seems to perform better in one scene of Far Cry 2 though, but its seems to be a weird result to me.
In terms of video creation and image burning the i5 does beat the 955, but is only ~10 seconds over a 2 minute time period. Let's be serious - who buys a quad-core CPU and ONLY does one task? If you're browsing the net, watching youtube etc. while doing other CPU intensive tasks you aren't going to notice these few seconds.

It's worth saving the extra $$$ so you can invest in a GPU a tier higher, or squeeze those SSD's into your budget, THAT is where you will see a larger performance difference.

If your budget permits, I would recommend the i5 over any AMD CPU, but fact is @ $900 you can spend your money in wiser ways. Couple all this along with a better upgrade path with the AM3 socket vs. 1156 and I think thats the gamebreaker. Some people REALLY don't like AMD though so personal preferences could factor in, but objectively speaking I think it makes more sense to go with them here.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Video editing/encoding was last in his list of interests. This is the reason I asked him how old his current computer is. Assuming that he is doing some amount on the computer he has now *no matter what he gets today* it will blow that out of the water, and is therefore irrelevant since gaming is more important. There is still no reason to spend more on a CPU and less on a GPU.

For big batches you would do overnight in the first place, I see no difference today - I certainly wouldn't run a few passes while trying to game, so it would encode in non-real use time anyway.