$1,200 Gaming PC---A few questions before I take the plunge

[athomas61]

Approximate Purchase Date: As Soon as January 15th as late as June.


Budget Range: ~$1,200-$1,300 after rebates


System Usage from Most to Least Important: 80% of use is WoWarcraft, SC2, FPS, other is productivity in multiple Office Windows and Web pages on Dual Monitors.


Parts Not Required: Do not need Monitors, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, or Storage Drive (Harvesting 400GB 7200rpm from old comp)


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Prefer Newegg/Amazon, but a deals a deal.


Country of Origin: USA


Parts Preferences:

CPU-Intel 2500k $224.99
Mobo-Asus P8P67 Pro $197.86
RAM-G-Skill RipJaws 2x4GB DDR3-1600 CL:7 $159.99
GPU-Asus EAH6850 790Mhz $187.55(-$20MIR)
PSU-XFX Black Edition 850w $155.98(-$40MIR)
Case-Cooler Master HAF-922 $99.98
Cooler Master Hyper N520 $30.79
SSD-OCZ Vertex2 120GB $218.99 (-$20MIR)
DVD-Samsung 22x DVD+R $22.98

**Prices include Shipping
Total Cost $1,299.11
Less MIR $80
Final Cost: $1,219.11


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Yes(12-18 Months in future to give a performance boost)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200


Additional Comments:

I have a few questions sorry for the long post.

1) I am currently running a Q6600@3.0Ghz with 6GB of RAM and a GeForce 8800GTS 640GB. Is this upgrade drastic enough to warrant the cost? My timeline allows me to upgrade this weekend, but there is no dire need if there is a significant shift in value that makes waiting 1-4 months worthwhile I can do that.

2) I know the Vertex 3 and other SSDs will be released soon is that reason enough to delay buying a PC or will I be so impressed with the difference from the mechanical I have now it doesn't much matter?

3) I don't really have much money left in my budget, but is the extra money for the 2600k worth it? I've seen several posts here saying the $100 difference is not worth it AT ALL, but then I've seen several benchmarks putting the 2600k like +15-35% faster than the 2500k.

4) Lastly, is the RAM a good choice? It seems like it's too much of my budget for RAM but my current machine has 6GB so going back to 4GB seems like a step back. I could get PC1333 RAM much cheaper if the difference in speed is negligible.

Please critique me I haven't built anything in 3+ years so I'm a little rusty. Thanks!

 

[mdd1963]

The SSD does allow Windows to boot quicker, and, game levels load quicker, but, aside from a few seconds here and there (10-20% less waiting), really does not affect your game experience nearly as much as a quality gpu/mb/cpu/ram, in my opinion....

In my opinion, that money saved from not buying the SSD would be better spent on a GTX580 instead...

 

[joelmartinez]

This looks preety solid couple changes to make

1. RAM- I can understand wanting 8gb but this is an expensive kit get something a little cheaper and manually overclock it by adding voltage up to 1.7v and tightening the timings http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314&cm_re=g_skill_ddr3_1600_8gb-_-20-231-314-_-Product (-$50)
2. GPU- ati 6950 since you overclock already unlock the bios to a 6970 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102914&cm_re=ati_6950-_-14-102-914-_-Product (+$110)
3. buy case from amazon for free shipping
4. Get hyper 212+ from amazon free shipping instead unless that cooler is in a combo deal
5. no ssd wait for vertex 3s (-200)
6. Hunt for combo deals

a. CPU+Mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.575884

 

[dalauder]

A couple changes:

i7-2600K
I don't know the matching mobo

Buy a 6950 and unlock it to a 6970. If this is a $1,200 build, it should have a top of the line graphics card, not something on par with a Radeon 5830.

No SSD--wait a year and let the technology mature. Instead, get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB. There is a big difference between that and your 400GB drive (look up reviews) and you can find them online for $50 or $55 new. Also, you can grab a second or third for RAID as storage when you upgrade to an SSD in a year. Aside from access time, these things match or beat many SSD's anyways. I have 3 in RAID0/RAID5 combo (RAID 0 gets 425MB/s on HDTach).

RAM--get 2000MHz RAM and run it with tight timings. I have 2000MHz OCZ Reapers running at 1910MHz 6-8-6-24 1T Memtest86+ stable. Corsair charges a premium for its name, not performance (when compared to other top brands). And if you're not getting premium RAM, you can find 8GB on slickdeals.net regularly for under $1000. Premium RAM isn't nearly as important with an unlocked processor.

Make sure you unlock your 6950 to a 6970.

 

[dalauder]

I think my suggestions still get your rig in for around $1,200 and it's significantly beastier.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.587645 Combo Discount: -$30.00 Combo Price: $364.98 $10.00 Mail-In Rebate Card Price After Mail-In Rebate(s): $354.98 FREE DELIVERY
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

 

[joelmartinez]

and then get this combo for mobo+GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.583004
The 470s are good cards just run a bit hot and are power hungry the 850HX can handle two in SLI

 

[joelmartinez]

210 AR is a great deal on the gtx 470