Please help $800-$1100 Gaming PC !!!!

[kcosta]

Hi guys, first post ever

Approximate Purchase Date: a week after christmas

Budget Range: cheaper the better for me, below $1100

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (FPS), work/school (Office), surfing the internet, watching movies,

Parts Not Required:keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: never used a site to order parts since its my first build

Country of Origin: Canada

Parts Preferences: going towards AMD and nVidia (evga) but good arguments can change my mind ( ive recently somewhat made up my mind )

Overclocking: For sure

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution:1920x1080

Additional Comments: just want the best parts/performance/reliability for the buck


Case: Antec Six Hundred Black / Silver ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

MoBo: ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Optical Drive: LG Black 22X DVD R 16X DVD R DL 22X DVD-R SATA 22X Super Multi DVD Writer

RAM: OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage

Video Card: EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

PSU: OCZ StealthXstream II OCZ700SXS2 700W ATX12V v2.2

I live in Montreal so i went to microbytes to get a quote on these parts, and it was $1069 before tax.

is this a good deal ?
is there a better deal with SAME or BETTER specs?

thanks guys

 

[Niklas_13]

This build comes out to about 910 Plus tax and shipping ( its from Newegg.ca ) IMO its a better deal the GTX 470 is a nice card but with the AMD mobo most will only let you xfire NOT SLI.




COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119233
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$61.49 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233



SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$74.99 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185



XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #: N82E16814150506
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
$10.00 USD Mail-in Rebate
$254.99 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506



CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Item #: N82E16817139006
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$37.00 Instant $146.99
$109.99 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006



G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
Item #: N82E16820231303
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$76.49 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303



COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ...
Item #: N82E16835103065
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant $59.99
$29.99 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065




ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131631
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
Item #: N82E16819103808
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
-$16.99 Combo $309.98
$282.99 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.564819
Subtotal: $890.93




SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827151188
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)

$20.99
Subtotal: $20.99 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

 

[kcosta]

well i probably wont be using either since i plan to have only a single card
but ive researched around and ive read that the 470 can overclock much more then the ATI

 

[gkay09]

^ I like the niklas's build which allows for HD 6870 Crossfire
(SLI/ Crossfire means running 2 or more cards on a SLI/ Crossfire compatible mobo which gives significant performance gains over a single card config, also with a SLI/ Crossfire board, if you go with a single card now, it opens up the option of future upgrade)

It you want value for money, then AMD/ ATI would have the upper hand, but the current prices of the GTX 470 are pretty good, so for a single card config, I dont see any issues going with Nvidia...

 

[kcosta]

alright thanks alot
if i go with the 470 should i add extra cooling? i mean with all niklas' build from newegg should i add any fans to keep my system cool ? besides the CPU cooler that he added
also would that setup run crysis on high settings?
(btw its my first time building and buying a gaming pc, do i need any extra wires or whatnot other then the ones that come with the parts ?)

 

[gkay09]

^ Have you decided where you to buy from ??
And if buying from Microbytes, then do these changes to your build...

1. CPU - X4 955 which niklas suggested - It is also a Black Edition, is cheaper by CAD 20 @ microbytes, and you can easily overclock it without any issues...

2. Mobo - Same as the one you have linked

3. RAM - Dont get 3 sticks - The board has Dual-Channel so get 2 or 4 sticks
CRUCIAL 1333MHZ DDR3 4GB C9
http://www.microbytes.com/computer/ordinateur/product_info.php?cPath=2031003&products_id=35932

4. CASE - HAF 912
http://www.microbytes.com/computer/ordinateur/product_info.php?cPath=2120001&products_id=35615
And maybe an 120MM fan for top,...

5. PSU - 600W would suffice
http://www.microbytes.com/computer/ordinateur/product_info.php?cPath=2110000_2110200&products_id=35203

 

[kcosta]

why not the 965?
why not the 1600 MHZ for the ram ?

 

[kcosta]

and no i havent decided where to buy from, im leaning towards microbytes since there right here and if i have a problem with my pc i can go to them
im not sure about newegg, if theyre reliable or whatnot

btw for the psu would i have any advantages/disadvantages going with the 700W over the 600W ?

 

[gkay09]

^
CPU - Both the 955 and 965 are Black edition CPUs and based on the same core, just the 200MHz difference in speed, but as the 955 has unlocked multiplier, it is easy to set it to run at 965's speed by just increasing the multiplier.

RAM - That Crucial is one of the best budget overclocking RAMs out there and is recommended many times even here at TOM's
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ddr3-4gb-p55,2462-7.html

PSU - Going with 600W would save money and for a single card setup, you wont need a 700W PSU.

newegg is pretty good, but demands a lot of tax and other charges in Canada, so check out stores like ncix.xom, tigerdirect(These both do price match so you can get parts at the cheapest price) and canadacomputers...

 

[kcosta]

but wouldnt the data transfer rate be slower then a 1600 mhz?

lets say i went with the crucial would you buy 4 sticks ?

 

[gkay09]

^ You will be overclocking right?? So if you overclock the CPU, wont you overclock the RAM too??
Check how that Crucial overclocks in that article, it would be very easy to set it to run at 1600MHz or higher,...
And for a gaming PC, more than 4GB is not at all required...I would rather spend it elsewhere...

 

[kcosta]

yeah i will be, i just never did before thats why i ask (and i didn't know oc the cpu you would have to oc the ram as well)
so crucial is just a better performance/price ratio over OCZ ?

 

[gkay09]

^ For AMD CPUs, you dont have to, but anyways you would have to set the RAM speeds anything above 1333MHz manually...
And as for the RAM, they are not only better in terms of performance/ price, but also have better stability(which off late many OCZ RAMs have trouble with)...

 

[kcosta]

alright so i dont necessarily have to oc the ram, it would just be a better decision for stability ? (if im understanding right)

 

[gkay09]

^ Partly Yes, but if the RAMs are able to run at that speeds, then you wont have any stability issues,...So why not instead of going for high speeds, tighten the timings ? From the article it is clear that the Crucial RAMs can run at CAS 7 or maybe even CAS 6,...

 

[kcosta]

no idea what that is but ok ill figure it out
btw for the gtx 470.... evga vs gigabyte ?

 

[gkay09]

^ If EVGA offers Liftetime limited, then get that else if standard warranty, get the one cheaper...

 

[kcosta]

other then that in terms of performance theyre pretty much the same ( non realizable)

 

[joelmartinez]

That is correct

 

[kcosta]

thanks !