Modest Gaming Comp w/ Video and Photo Edit

[splints]

Hi all. I searched the threads briefly, but couldn't find a suggested rig for gaming as well as video/photo edit. I have a laptop I travel with, and my work gives me another laptop for bus trips. I haven't had a desktop in about 4 yrs now, and don't know what parts to get (my last video card was geforce 5600). Any help would be appreciated.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This weekend (canada labour day weekend)

BUDGET RANGE: $900-1100 (cdn)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Starcraft 2, Football Manager, Movie maker, photoshop

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: ncix.com, newegg.ca

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: If budget permits.


I am not factoring in a monitor in my budget, but need windows 7 and keyboard (have mouse).

 

[gordon_81]

for the cpu im thinking i7 930 or x6 1090T or i5 760 or x6 1055T, for the gpu im thinking gtx 4601gb or hd5850

 

[splints]

I've been reading it would be best to go with amd for future compatibility... I was looking at:


Patriot Extreme Performance Gamer Series 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit $134.99

Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio $89.99

Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM $89.33

Diamond Radeon HD 5850 725MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.0GHZ 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card $349.99

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Quad Core Processor AM3 3.4GHZ 8MB Cache 125W 45NM Retail Box $193.87

Seasonic S12II 620W EPS12V 20/24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80+ Bronze 6+8PIN PCI-E W/ 120MM Fan $67.56

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM $99.99

Logitech K120 Keyboard USB $15.99

Total : $1,041.71


But I also need to add in a mobo with possibility of using crossfire in the future. Any suggestions/improvements would be appreciated. Thinking of buying it tomorrow. Thanks,

 

[gordon_81]

no it wont have future compatibility people are mistaken, socket am3 does not support the upcoming amd cpus, only socket am3+ will and that hasnt come out yet, i would go for a samsung spinpoint f3 1tb hdd, the x6 1055T would be better for photoshop as you will benefit with the extra 2 cores however the 965 is better at gaming, i prefer the antec earthwatt psus or corsair psus over seasonic 1s, the antec 900 is a nice case the coolermaster haf 922 is also

 

[obsidian86]

the seasonic psu is top notch and socket am3 cpu's will be compatible with am3+ boards so when that comes out grab a new board drop your 1055 in and maybe get a bulldozer sometime after

 

[gordon_81]

true, the am3+ boards will be backwards compatible, and the only reason i dont like seasonic psus is because i have had 2 and they both failed on me, maybe i just had bad luck

 

[obsidian86]

funnily enough the antec tpn 550,650 and 750 are seasonic built the neo eco 620 is almost the exact same as the seasonic 620

 

[splints]

managed to price match it down to $1,110.93 cdn from NCIX, including:

ASUS M4A78T-E ATX 790GX Socket AM3 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard $111.28

LG 16X DVD-ROM Optical Drive SATA Black OEM $14.88

I am now over my budget, as I still need to tack on 12% tax and a monitor...

But is the motherboard a good bang for the buck? And suggestions on a monitor would be appreciated as well. Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[obsidian86]

are you ever gonna use dual video cards?

 

[splints]

are you ever gonna use dual video cards?

Not sure yet... to be honest, I don't play a lot of pc games except for starcraft and football manager (maybe diablo 3).

 

[obsidian86]

you could scale the board to a 770 or 870 model and a 500-550 psu if not ,keep the 620 if you might upgrade to 5970 or gtx 480 class

 

[batuchka]

My head tells me a GTS 250 could serve one who games little and just SC2 so if AA +Ultra is not a must, that card will do but with your budget one might as well nab a GTX 460 hehe Off Egg USA but perhaps some ideas - went with entry level 800 series mobo (no need BIOS update for Thuban) with no fancy CF/SLI based on needs

 

[splints]

ah, but I have to use cdn websites. Prefer ncix as they have a store 10 mins from my house (no shipping required).

 

[splints]

Going to place my order within the next hour... Hope everything is compatible! Haven't built a computer since high school :S