Gaming build $1000

johnniewaka · Jan 29, 2011

Approximate Purchase Date: Soon as I have shopping list.

Budget Range $800

Parts Not Required:mouse/keyboard, monitor, speakers

Need to upgrade OS for Directx--not sure if i should go vista/or 7?

Preferred Website-cannot order online at the moment, ill be using micro center. my location is the "Mo St.Louis/Brentwood" or use new egg for links and ill check stock myself and reply.

Overclocking-maybe

SLI or Crossfire-maybe

Mainly gaming- 1080 crysis, BC2, cod series,fallout, etc, etc

Have built several pc's but were the single core gen, so im behind pretty behind on the tech.

deathbydoubleG · Jan 29, 2011

well, u won't max crisis on a $600 system but it can serve you well

let us start

CPU- either the i5 2300 (2.8GHz) or the i5 2400 (3.1GHz) [$185-$200 on newegg, cheaper at a micro center]

GPU- radeon HD 6850 or GTX 460 (IMO the 6850 is faster) [$150-$190] the GTX 460 is cheaper

RAM:

4GB- CORSAIR XMS3 4GB
link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260&cm_re=ram_4gb_ddr3-_-20-145-260-_-Product

[$40-$50]

8GB- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB
link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

[$85]

PSU- CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W
link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 [$70]

case- Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

HDD- Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB x2 = 1TB (put them in RAID 0)
link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073&cm_re=500GB-_-22-136-073-_-Product
[$100 total]

remember to get 2 and put them in RAID 0, otherwise get 1 1TB caviar black or blue but the 2 in RAID 0 will be faster and still have 1TB

MOBO- ASRock H67M LGA 1155 Intel H67
link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157220
$90

any $20 optical dvd/cd burner/read drive

this should be very close to your price range and will be very fast for the $

deathbydoubleG · Jan 29, 2011

so that does mean you would have 1TB of data, not 500GB and it would be double speed

deathbydoubleG · Jan 29, 2011

the 4GB ram is faster but with less mem, personally i would go for the 8GB

if this feels to expensive, then downgrade the cpu to the 2300 and the ram to the 4GB

u could also pick out any case that you wanted

i would not recommend an OC for this PC because, with sandy bridge, you would have to get the 2500k or the 2600k

u could downgrade the GPU and go for the 5770, but i do not recommend this if you want to play some of those games with high settings

if you really want to make it even cheaper, you could downgrade the cpu again to an older i5, but i would get a nice PSU like the one i recommend since it can be carried over to a future build of the same price level

deathbydoubleG · Jan 30, 2011

i told you to get the h67 MOBO so you could off load a little on the discreet GPU while using the desktop, the IGU for the SB CPUs is actually great for a built in one

johnniewaka · Jan 30, 2011

I apologize, I thought about editing but got sidetracked-I originally wanted $600, but after reading 15-20 pages back last night of other builds I realized it was gonna cost a little more-800$ is fine.

http://www.microcenter.com/index.html store locater shows everything in stock or use newegg.

Got a few things i gotta do, then im gonna check it all out.

thanks

apache_lives · Jan 30, 2011

dont bother with raid - either get an SSD or dont

motherboard - stick to ASUS or Gigabyte or simply dont bother - ASSrock sucks

ram - 1333mhz is fine, 1600mhz can cause instabilities or boot issues and isnt worth the extra $$$

batuchka · Jan 30, 2011

Aha since Microcenter is an option:

Items off Egg $456

965BE + Biostar A780L3G $160
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html
u want bells/whistles of USB/SATA 3.0 then $40 top up nabs ya the bundle with MSI 870A-G54

$616 in total

zooted · Jan 30, 2011

apache_lives :

Asrock is a subsidiary of Asus, they make great products.

deathbydoubleG · Jan 30, 2011

apache_lives :

if he is on $800, i do not think any type of SSD is an option with more than 64GB of mem. if you bought a 128GB SSD for $150, you bought a crap SSD. with the RAID he gets 1TB of mem, i think he would normaly get that in 1 1TB HDD, the RAID option would just be some of both woulds fast and large FYI.

ASRock is asus; think before you type.

1600mhz ram is better, you must have bought some crappy hard ware if you think 1333mhz ram is better.

Why_Me · Jan 31, 2011

johnniewaka :

Get yourself a debit card, or borrow someones so you can order online. This build includes an o/s (Windows 7 64)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227 $49.99 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030 $59.99 - $44.99 after mail-in rebate 10% off w/ promo code PSUJAN2011, limited offer
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589 $179.99 (walk-in only)
Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157222 $123.99
ASRock P67 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226092 $39.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model 996768

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039 $16.99 FREE SHIPPING
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551 $179.99 - (Before $10.00 Mail-In Rebate) FREE SHIPPING
MSI N460GTX -M2D1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591429 Combo Price: $159.98
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Total: $810.92 *not including shipping, rebates, promo codes, etc..

CraigHarrison · Jan 31, 2011

apache_lives :

what issues does 1600mhz RAM cause ??

Why_Me · Jan 31, 2011

CraigHarrison :

1333 (10666) is the default settings for this DDR3 RAM...which means it's pretty much plug and play. But with decent low voltage RAM...like for example the G.Skill ripjaws...it will work just fine. I haven't heard of anyone yet not getting their rated speed for that RAM.

Also the poster "apache lives" apparently doesn't have a clue in regards to mother boards.

CraigHarrison · Jan 31, 2011

Why_Me :

hmm ..k ..kinda got worried there ..m planning on getting a kit of rip jaws too ..

and does raid really offer a 2x improvement in performance ??

Why_Me · Jan 31, 2011

CraigHarrison :

Raid0 is fast yet it has it's major flaw...if one of those drives goes down you lose everything. One drive is the way to go imo, and if you need any kind of speed..then get an SSD later on.

CraigHarrison · Jan 31, 2011

wait up ..what happens if that single drive goes down ..you still lose everything ..
although I understand that the chance of one of two raid drives going down is greater than that of a single drive ..I don't imagine that its gonna go down easy ..have you had any experiences of raid drives failing ..personally ..I haven't experienced a single drive failure that caused it to get bricked in all my 10 years of computing ..(im 17) ..so I don't see any problems getting raid ..what do you think ??

deathbydoubleG · Jan 31, 2011

Why_Me :

Get yourself a debit card, or borrow someones so you can order online. This build includes an o/s (Windows 7 64)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227 $49.99 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030 $59.99 - $44.99 after mail-in rebate 10% off w/ promo code PSUJAN2011, limited offer
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589 $179.99 (walk-in only)
Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157222 $123.99
ASRock P67 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226092 $39.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model 996768

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039 $16.99 FREE SHIPPING
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551 $179.99 - (Before $10.00 Mail-In Rebate) FREE SHIPPING
MSI N460GTX -M2D1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591429 Combo Price: $159.98
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Total: $810.92 *not including shipping, rebates, promo codes, etc..

that was an excellent build, but he seems to want gaming over CPU power, and most of the games he mentioned were more GPU dependent. I would recommend a cheaper CPU and a more expensive GPU (just my honest opinion); also, games coming out this year and next year may not accept 4GB ram as kindly as older games.

your build is a great build

deathbydoubleG · Jan 31, 2011

and with RAID 0 it would logically double your chances of system failure; backing up data isn't extremely hard though, and drives hardly ever fail

deathbydoubleG · Jan 31, 2011

but knowing that your HDDs are faster than others will make you fell good on the inside :kaola:

CraigHarrison · Jan 31, 2011

yeah ..I agree ..especially with the hardly ever fail part ..
and yeah get a better GPU ..most games don't use that 3rd and 4th core ..so they're less dependant on the CPU than on the GPU ..not to say that a great CPU won't improve ya frame rates ..but an Athlon X4 + Radeon 6950 would outperform (substantially) an i5 2500k + Radeon 6850 ..I'm getting the former. seems better and well priced ..if you must have SB/Intel ..get an i3 seeing as your budget is kinda tight ..

CraigHarrison · Jan 31, 2011

yeah ..I agree ..especially with the hardly ever fail part ..
and yeah get a better GPU ..most games don't use that 3rd and 4th core ..so they're less dependant on the CPU than on the GPU ..not to say that a great CPU won't improve ya frame rates ..but an Athlon X4 + Radeon 6950 would outperform (substantially) an i5 2500k + Radeon 6850 ..I'm getting the former. seems better and well priced ..if you must have SB/Intel ..get an i3 seeing as your budget is kinda tight ..

CraigHarrison · Jan 31, 2011

deathbydoubleG :

so ..you're kinda saying that 32bit operating systems are pretty much obsolete .. ..
most games these days hardly use 3-3.5 gigs of ram ..I don't anticipate it exceeding 4 ..especially not with 1-2 GB GPUs ..

zooted · Jan 31, 2011

Think about this way, if the game is using 3.5 gigs of ram (not very likely except for gta4) Then all of your resources are tied up. Considering how dirt cheap ram is right now, it would not make sense to go with less then 4g. So it would also not be smart to purchase a 32bit os.

deathbydoubleG · Jan 31, 2011

a 32bit os would not be a good gaming purchase; 64bit is the same price.
future games will probably use more RAM than modern ones, so if you get a 32bit os, than you have to upgrade your OS before you can upgrade your RAM. You could get a 4GB kit and then put another kit that was exactly the same in later to make 8GB when you needed it. If you get an athlon x4, than in CPU suspenseful games (GTA4 is one of them), most of which are not FPS, you will be limited by your CPU. yes the 6950 setup would out-preform the i5 w/ the 6870 or 6850, but then your limiting factor will most defiantly be your CPU. A GPU is extremely easy to upgrade, while when upgrading your CPU you usually need a new Motherboard. with the i5, you could upgrade to a better GPU later, while with the 6950 you would have to upgrade your CPU next.

no disadvantages in gaming with 64bit, unless you are playing really, really old games.

i would go for win7 for gaming; i love ubuntu for everything else though.

if you need to run old software, get win7 pro, because it comes with win xp VM

deathbydoubleG · Jan 31, 2011

CraigHarrison :

in some games, i use around 5GBs of RAM... BTW you could have 128GB of VRAM in that GPU and with only 2GB of ram, you would still be RAM limited. It sounds like you are trying to protect your buy :kaola:

4GB is fine for now... why in the world, if you are gaming, would u want 32bit??

i have 3x radeon HD 6970s in trifire and they are great, but if were not using 3 monitors, i would have gone for the 580s in tri SLI. and if i had bought the 580s, i would defend them to my death... its just the way the PC would works..

so since i have the 6970s i will find any bench i can to make mine seem better than the 570 or 580.. though with single monitors the later two of the three would be better in most cases.

Gaming build $1000

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