Please critique my $1000(ish) gaming / PC build

traviskane

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Mar 13, 2011
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Approximate Purchase Date: April, 2011

Budget Range: $1000.00(ish), less is better, but I want a decent gaming PC!

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming - MMO's (WoW or Rift), Diablo 3, Borderlands, Bad Company 2

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg. Maybe Frys, if they've got a really good deal.

Country of Origin: California, U.S.A.

Parts Preferences: Nvidia for possible upgrade to 3dvision in the future.

Overclocking: Maybe. Might as well splurge on the 2500k vs the 2500, right?

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not. The board I have chosen is a single slot PCI-E, but I suppose I could upgrade to a board that supports dual 8x

Monitor Resolution: Current 1680x1050, upgrading later this summer to 1920x1050. Possible dual-monitor setup in my future (i.e., I can raid and read strategies at the same time, homework multitasking, etc)

Additional Comments: I really SHOULD be budgeting myself a bit lower then $1000, but I'm not going to do as I did last time and build a mediocre PC. I like Sandy Bridge, and have no interest in AMD's current lineup. I probably won't have the income to support upgrading in the next couple of years, so I need this puppy to last. Overclocking, I'll leave as a possibility (see the non-stock cooler), but I'd just as well play it safe. Also, I'd be willing to consider knocking the system down to 4gb ram to save cash... not sure if 8gigs is ever really going to make a difference for me.

So, the only thing I have so far for the new build is...

CM Storm Scout - love the case. Looks cool. Big enough for every Nvidia card I've considered.

And here's what I've been thinking about using for the rest of the system!

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
and
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler $251.98 combo price

MSI P67A-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard 124.99

MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
and
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model $319.98 combo price

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 59.99

COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply 79.99

Microsoft 64 bit Home Premium OEM software $99.99

and a new clicky
Logitech MX 518 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical 1800 dpi Gaming Mouse 35.99

All told, brings my total to $972.91

Any thoughts? I'm open to suggestions. Thanks TH community! You guys rock.
 

traviskane

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Mar 13, 2011
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Thanks for the reply!

The motherboard upgrade looks like a decent option, but really the only thing I'd gain switching from the c43 to the board you mentioned looks to be a second PCI-E 16x slot- which is awesome, and I'll pay the $20 just to have that option on the board. What I can't seem to figure out however, is whether the board supports dual 8x... I'm assuming yes, but their website doesn't mention anything about it, and neither does newegg... maybe it's there in some other terminology I don't understand?

Video card... I wonder if it would change anything to upgrade to copper, as far as allowing for SLI in the future?
What I mean by that is, according to newegg, the copper (gold edition) has a faster core clock. Six months down the line, might I be more likely to find the regular 560, as apposed to the gold edition if I wanted to pair them. I guess it's hard to speculate.

And, I certainly like the memory recommendation. Seems like it'd be a well spent $20 for an upgrade to better memory.
 
Maybe you can squeeze in one of those combos (plenty to choose from)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.604182
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.604317
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.604318
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.604206
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.604212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.604218

All of them have $20 mail-in rebate. You can unlock that card, either just the shaders or into a HD 6970.


 

traviskane

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I have read something about unlocking the 6970.

Never tried overclocking before, or tampering with hardware to that extent, but I suppose it couldn't be too hard...?

So, with that, I get a much better graphics card, but I loose any hope of 3dvision, which might never happen anyway. Hrmm....

Edit: I'm really not all that apposed to ATI I guess. I wonder if a 2gb ATI card will remain viable longer then the 560 ti.