$900 Gaming/Work PC

[pmckay]

Approximate Purchase Date: Withing a week or two(waiting for exams to end)

Budget Range: Around $850-$950 before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Internet browsing, entertainment, gaming, work station.

Parts Not Required: Monitor, mouse, keyboard, headset. Any peripherals really.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.ca, TigerDirect.ca, NCIX.com.

Country of Origin: Canada.

Parts Preferences: No real preference, friends have been saying to with with nVidia over AMD, but I really don't care, just no crappy components eg Seagate.

Overclocking: Maybe.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe, most likely not, though.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: I've already made a shopping cart/wish list on Newegg.ca with what I was planning on getting. At the moment it's a little expensive for what I actually need, so any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Why_Me]

Nice build, but wrong RAM. You have 3x2 gigs of triple channel RAM, you need DDR3 dual channel.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231425 $42.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBXL

 

[pmckay]

Oh didn't notice, thought I got rid of the triple channel..

K I changed the RAM to dual channel.

Anywhere I can cut costs? I was gonna go with the Phenom II 955 because it's all I need, but I think 2500k has better PP now.

 

[sandybridge]

Swap the hdd out for the new F4 which is faster:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152244

While the 520W is quality, it may not last another gpu upgrade. The HD 6850 needs:

"500 Watt or greater power supply recommended"

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6850/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6850-overview.aspx#3

What games do you play? If it's mainly RTS, yes, a fast cpu will help calculate hundreds of units on screen. Otherwise, the 2500k can be downgraded to save some money. Like the 2500 vanilla for $20 less. Or even a Phenom II X4 + a AMD 8x0 mobo. Same everything else. You can save about $100 with a AMD build. However, 2500 & 955 by no means are equal. Also, AM3 should last much longer than LGA1155 which may be outdated yet again soon. I'm looking to upgrade to Ivy Bridge this time next year.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130275

 

[pmckay]

Thanks for the HDD advice, didn't see that.

As for the PSU/GPU thing, I probably won't change my system for awhile, but I know what you mean.

As for gaming, I haven't had a lot of time for it as of late, but most like FPS like BC2 and maybe MMOs like WoW or GW2 (when it's out). And I know the 955 and 2500k are not equal, but my understanding was that AMD offers the best price/performance, but with the 2500k, on benchmarks at least, Intel seems to have the better PP at the moment.

I was looking at the Phenom IIs again, and saw this combo. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.573824

Also, replaced my PSU with http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

Saw http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333, it's about $30 cheaper than the 6850 with rebates, but performs a little lower on benchmarks. I changed the 6850 to the 460 anyway, because of the reviews and the fact they look pretty comparable either way.

Changelog;
changed psu to Antec 550w
changed gpu to Gigabyte gtx 460
changed HDD to F4 Spinpoint
changed cpu to Phenom II 965 w/ MSI 870a
removed DVD drive

new total cost $820 with $20 rebate

 

[sandybridge]

The specs look good to me. The Phenom II X4 965/GTX 460 SuperCombo's weakest link is the psu.

 

[pmckay]

Best answer selected by pmckay.