<$1000 Gaming PC. Need advice

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: Trying to stay around $800, but flexible if it means getting the right components.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Primarily WOW on a 27" monitor under Max settings with 50+ FPS (with a second monitor for browser, skype, iTunes, etc.) Occasional Final Cut Pro and Photoshop.

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

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, Amazon.com, anywhere that I can get cheaper and free shipping!

Country of Origin: U.S.A.

Parts Preferences: Looking for the best combination of parts that will let me play with zero fps issues while giving me a measure of future proofing. Newer tech so that upgrading is easy with minimal part replacement for several years. This is why I am leaning to the Z68 Motherboard

Overclocking: Maybe. I haven't in the past, but it seems that having the option is a good thing. Sounds like the combo of motherboard and chip that I have chosen so far will allow massive overclocking for huge performance gains at this price range.

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not right now, but want a system capable of it so that if I need more gpu power, dropping in a second card is easy and done.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: Let me know what you think. I need to be sure that all these are compatible, a good fit, and that I didn't screw up my logic somewhere. I was/am considering a SSD as my system drive with wow to increase performance, but I read a ton of reviews that make them sound horribly unreliable. Seems like they have a bad habit of completely failing within months.

This is what I have so far:

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157229
$159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157229

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Item #: N82E16819115072
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231314
Combo deal $296.98 (promo code for memory -$19) =$278
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.644254

XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler bracket included I7 i5 775 1155 AMD and dual fan push pull compatible
Item #: N82E16835233082
$29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233082

GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N560SO-1GI-950 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI
$259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible
Item #: N82E16817139005
$89.99 - $10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card = $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005

LG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS70 OEM - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136238
$19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136238

Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ
$59.99
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spin [...] 913&sr=8-2

Total in Baskets- around $906.00

This post has been edited to show the build of what I ended up choosing after all the help and suggestions.

Message edited by xtrmerik on 06-13-2011 at 02:16:31 AM

Reply to xtrmerik

Very good build for the money, but i would definably pick the Asrock p67 because you can save $40 and i would also pick a 6950 instead, for gaming that would make a huge difference. those changes would bring you around $900 but IMO it would be worth it, if not what you have its just fine.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Asrock Z68 Gen.3
Intel i5 2500k 4.6@1.36V
Antec Khuler 620
8GB Crucial sport DDR3 1600 @9.9.9.24.2t 1.5v
Reply to Snakej

Snakej wrote :

Very good build for the money, but i would definably pick the Asrock p67 because you can save $40 and i would also pick a 6950 instead, for gaming that would make a huge difference. those changes would bring you around $900 but IMO it would be worth it, if not what you have its just fine.

The z68 motherboard is supposed to give you a larger overclocking multiplier (review says up to 5.7GHz) giving increased performance over the p67, it also has technology to speed up cacheing as well as some other stuff that I don't really remember. I have a lot of info rolling around in my head after all the reading I did, but the z68 seems to have more future proof technology so for the $40 it seemed like the way to go. Check Tom's review for all the info: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2938.html

I thought about jumping up to a more expensive GPU, but most of the posts I read say that wow, even on the highest settings doesn't require that powerful of a card. I read people talking about the 5770 actually being overkill. By that info, the 6950 seemed like nuke overkill and just throwing away money. Tom's review of GPUs said that the 460 was more powerful than the new 6850 but that they recommended the 6850 because it was cheaper. I found this 460 for cheaper than I could any 6850 so I figured it was the way to go. Please let me know if my logic is flawed or if I missed something. If the recent expansion has made a more powerful GPU a truly good idea for wow, I will get whatever I need.

Thank you for the feedback. Keep it coming people!

Reply to xtrmerik

if all you gonna play is WOW the by all means what you have its okay, yes the z68 has some advantage over the p67 but not all 2500k are getting to 5.7 on air, have that in mind, most chips are doing pass 4.5, some can get well over 4.7 on air, very rare ones hit pass 5.0 on air, so that unlocked multilplayer will be a feature for the cpu to decide. just some thoughts to have in mind

------------------------------ Asrock Z68 Gen.3
Intel i5 2500k 4.6@1.36V
Antec Khuler 620
8GB Crucial sport DDR3 1600 @9.9.9.24.2t 1.5v
Reply to Snakej

4.5GHz still seems like a sizable increase over what the p67 board can offer me. Purchasing a processor that could pull that speed on a p67 board would certainly cost me a lot more than $40.

Right now all I play is wow, but I certainly don't want to handicap my setup if I decide that a game that comes out interests me. Spending an extra $100 on a GPU that I don't need right now seems like a lot. That's why I was building a system capeable of SLI/Crossfire. I could probably buy a second GTX 460 in a couple months for $100 if some other game catches my eye.

So the question is, will 2x GTX 460 in SLI outperform the 6950? Or is the 6950 still better and I should get that and then have longer "future proofness", with the capaility of adding a second 6950 down the road?

Reply to xtrmerik

That 460 you have is an SE model. This means it has disabled shaders/bandwidth. Something like this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121390 ) will give you substantially more performance for around the same price. Also grab a Samsung Spinpoint 1TB from amazon for $60. Faster hard drive.
Looks good other than snakej's suggestions.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to striker410

^ Not true. The overclock is only as good as the grade of the CPU. All the P67 boards can overclock a 2500K to 4.5ghz, and although Z68 offers up to 5.7ghz, it's useless if the CPU can't be stable that high. P67 boards can overclock close to that anyway, why does it matter.

Z68 also is pretty stupid since the chips aren't going to be cheap. X58 was 280$+ how high can the Z68 get? Probably $400-$500. So It's smarter for you to save and put it towards the graphics rather than getting a more expensive motherboard.

In regards to SLI/CF, the Extreme4 P67 can do all of that. And has 3 PCI slots. The 6950 is a smarter choice. WoW is a game favoring single gpu cards as apposed to dual gpu or SLI/CF setups. Better card now, CF/SLI later.

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to aznshinobi

^ +1
couldn't have state it in a better way
^.^

------------------------------ Asrock Z68 Gen.3
Intel i5 2500k 4.6@1.36V
Antec Khuler 620
8GB Crucial sport DDR3 1600 @9.9.9.24.2t 1.5v
Reply to Snakej

striker410 wrote :

That 460 you have is an SE model. This means it has disabled shaders/bandwidth. Something like this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121390 ) will give you substantially more performance for around the same price. Also grab a Samsung Spinpoint 1TB from amazon for $60. Faster hard drive.
Looks good other than snakej's suggestions.

Ahh, I didn't realize the SE was less powerful. So this one is better even thought it's the 768MB instead of the 1GB?

Reply to xtrmerik

Ssd caching on z68 is only useful if you can only afford a small ssd which if you're at this budget, would go for a bigger sdd without caching for much better performance. Z68 is really just for people who need both the, igpu for quicksync and overclocking.

Message edited by k1114 on 05-16-2011 at 05:50:49 AM

Reply to k1114

460 SE=450 GTS<460 768mb<460 1GB<6850 1GB<5850

The 460 SE is better than the 450 GTS, but not by much, making basically on the same tier. The 460 1GB from the 768mb version only has a deviation of 2-4% in performance. But the 460 1GB costs $170 while the 768mb is only $150. Honestly I don't suggest getting a 460 at all. The 6850 is better than the 460 1GB but costs the same.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121419

Reply to aznshinobi

aznshinobi wrote :

^ Not true. The overclock is only as good as the grade of the CPU. All the P67 boards can overclock a 2500K to 4.5ghz, and although Z68 offers up to 5.7ghz, it's useless if the CPU can't be stable that high. P67 boards can overclock close to that anyway, why does it matter.

Z68 also is pretty stupid since the chips aren't going to be cheap. X58 was 280$+ how high can the Z68 get? Probably $400-$500. So It's smarter for you to save and put it towards the graphics rather than getting a more expensive motherboard.

In regards to SLI/CF, the Extreme4 P67 can do all of that. And has 3 PCI slots. The 6950 is a smarter choice. WoW is a game favoring single gpu cards as apposed to dual gpu or SLI/CF setups. Better card now, CF/SLI later.

Thank you so much for the clarification. I thought I was getting more performance out of my chip because of the motherboard. The motherboard might be a little more futureproof, but what do I care if the chips that really take advantage of it are going to be stupid expensive. I guess I need to scour the internet and find a good deal on a 6950. Based on you saying that it's a smarter choice I'm also assuming that the price difference between it and the 5850 isn't so much to justify it as a good choice. Is that correct? I no experience with current GPUs. Been a while since I built a system.

Reply to xtrmerik

Wait I'm a bit confused by your question. If you're referring to the value. The 5850 cannot be beat at the current price of $150 for the Sapphire 5850. However the 6950 would be a better choice at your resolution.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to aznshinobi

aznshinobi wrote :

Wait I'm a bit confused by your question. If you're referring to the value. The 5850 cannot be beat at the current price of $150 for the Sapphire 5850. However the 6950 would be a better choice at your resolution.

I was asking about both, value for what I want to accomplish. Basically is the 6950 worth paying $250? Would I see a noticeable difference in wow? I want Max settings in Max resolution, and I don't want the frame rates ever dropping below 30 at any time. Can the 5850 do that comfortably. If so, how would the 6950 perform any differently for what I am currently doing?

I didn't see a 5850 for $150 on Newegg. The cheapest I see is $185 but it seems like they are all out of stock. Where did you find it for $150?

Reply to xtrmerik

Is the Samsung drive a better choice because the physical drive itself is faster? Does the 6GB/s interface vs the 3GB/s interface really not matter because both drives don't even run fast enough to max out the 3 GB/s?

Reply to xtrmerik

The sapphire 5850 is not stocked at newegg anymore. Check Amazon and Tiger Direct. As for the HDD question, a mechanical HDD will NEVER (lets hope I didn't jinx it lol) make use of the 6GB/s lane. 3GB/s is PLENTY for a mechanical. It's a different story entirely for SSD's though.

Message edited by striker410 on 05-16-2011 at 06:35:17 AM

Reply to striker410

I found the 5850 at Amazon for $150! Downside is I have to wait 1-4 weeks for it to ship.

So now I have to decide if I get that and stay on budget, or if I get the 6950 for an extra $110.

Newegg has the HIS for $260. I "assume" this is the one I would want to get if I am jumping up to this price range for a card? I know there is a 1GB version, but doesn't really seem cheaper. I think this is one that I have read that you can flash the FW to make it perform like the 6970.

HIS H695FN2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Message edited by xtrmerik on 05-16-2011 at 07:02:10 AM

Reply to xtrmerik

Check out the one that's $279, it's a reference design and can be flashed to a 6970, a $330 card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
If you arent worried about flashing, get any ole 6950.

Reply to striker410

aznshinobi wrote :

Z68 also is pretty stupid since the chips aren't going to be cheap. X58 was 280$+ how high can the Z68 get? Probably $400-$500. So It's smarter for you to save and put it towards the graphics rather than getting a more expensive motherboard.

$400-$500!!!! Yo! z68 is only $10 more expensive than their p67 brothers.

Reply to Anonymous

If you're going to play wow, you're better off with an nvidia card. Blizzard games favor nvidia cards. I play sc2 myself.
Instead of the 6950 2gb i recommend this card instead.
here;s a review.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/giga [...] -review/21

560ti are slower than 6950's but this oc version is faster than 6950 even on 1920x1080

Reply to Anonymous

Spending an extra $130 to get to the next tier seems like a bit much for wow, so I am leaning toward the 5850.

Also, I was reading some reviews and someone was recommending a lower cas latency memory. Is the memory that I have at a Cas Latency of 9 good, or is it worth $20 to get the 8 or $35 to get down to 7? Anyone have some technical insight on this?

Reply to xtrmerik

9 is good enough for you. You won't see the performance difference.

Reply to Anonymous

for the graphics card, I recommend getting at least a 6870 which is $30 more. instead of spending $20-$40 on better ram, you will see better performance by getting this graphics card.

Reply to Anonymous

5850 performs almost as good as the 6870. If he's gonna upgrade, he should go 6950.

Reply to striker410

im learning a lot here .. just 1 Quick Question ..

is 5850 better than 6850 .. im getting confused .. coz im gonna buy my PC this month too ..

Reply to -jB

Yes, the 5850 is better than the 6850. However, 2 6850's in crossfire perform better than 2 5850's. Hopefully I didnt make it more confusing

Reply to striker410

^ Not true.
5850 CF vs 6850 CF
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=302
Practically the same. The 5850 is a good choice if your going with that cheap $150 5850. Otherwise just go with a single 6950. Though 6850/5850 CF > 6950/560 Ti/570

Bear, you're referring to the motherboard. I'm referring to the CPUs, the Z68 8-Core was reported to cost upwards 1K on an Ebay auction. Though that isn't the standard MSRP, we can expect it to cost upwards 300$ as did the i7's when they started off.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to aznshinobi

Hmm. I thought it was motherboard. my bad.

Reply to Anonymous

aznshinobi wrote :

^ Not true.
5850 CF vs 6850 CF
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=302
Practically the same. The 5850 is a good choice if your going with that cheap $150 5850. Otherwise just go with a single 6950. Though 6850/5850 CF > 6950/560 Ti/570

Bear, you're referring to the motherboard. I'm referring to the CPUs, the Z68 8-Core was reported to cost upwards 1K on an Ebay auction. Though that isn't the standard MSRP, we can expect it to cost upwards 300$ as did the i7's when they started off.

My bad, I've always heard for CF go 6850 because of superior scaling. I'm pretty sure i've seen them outperform 5850's in CF....
Aww well, good tip.

Reply to striker410

^ They did. Before. Currently AMD has stepped their game on drivers. Certainly not as great as it could be. But defiantly much better.

Reply to aznshinobi

So is this the right 5850 to get? There are so many variations of cards that it's hard for me to be sure what is what.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] hange_info

I'd really like to get the faster cards, but when this one can be had for $163 shipped, it's almost double the price just to get to the next level of card. I just can't justify it to myself when I read a review that Tom did showing the 5850 getting 80 fps avg in cataclysm with a slower cpu, and they say that it would do even better with a faster cpu. I was going to order from Amazon since it's only $149, but their estimated delivery was June 2 - June 13. I just don't have that kind of patience once I'm excited about a project.

Reply to xtrmerik

Yep That's the cheapest one. Yeah Amazon is a sweet deal if you can wait. I'll just leave the link here.

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Rad [...] B004W75ATI

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to aznshinobi

aznshinobi wrote :

Yep That's the cheapest one. Yeah Amazon is a sweet deal if you can wait. I'll just leave the link here.

Ok, thanks. Just wanted to make sure that someone wasn't going to say, "well if you are getting a 5850, this other model is better and faster and only cost $15 more." I want to get the absolute best I can, while still staying in the $160 price range. I'm starting to order the components today.

Reply to xtrmerik

Haha, good luck!

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to aznshinobi

aznshinobi wrote :

Haha, good luck!

SO, every time I try to get one of the cheap 5850's, I am denied. Amazon is delayed 2-4 weeks, so I ordered the one from TigerDirect. The next day they email me and tell me that it's now on backorder and they don't know when it's going to be in. I am getting the feeling that maybe life is telling me to suck it up and get a better card. So I have 3 choices that I am currently looking at based on recommendations.

I have had multiple people tell me that WOW likes Nvidia better so I have included the overclocked 560 ti that was recommended, as well as a 1GB and a 2GB 6950. After rebates, the 1 and 2 GB are only $10 apart so the 1 GB is on the verge of falling off the list. I read a lot of reviews about the reference design because I was considering doing the firmware flash, but many people complain about it running hot, even with good ventilation, and becoming unstable. If it's hot out of the box, is it gonna cook when flashed? I don't want something unstable that is going to be a headache as well as be the most expensive. Therefore, that one is not currently on the list, unless people here have 1st hand experience and tell me otherwise.

For your consideration and comments:
SAPPHIRE 100312-1GSR Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Model #:100312-1GSR
Item #:N82E16814102921
$242.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102921

SAPPHIRE 100312-2SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Model #:100312-2SR
Item #:N82E16814102928
$262.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102928

GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N560SO-1GI-950 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready ...
Model #:GV-N560SO-1GI-950
Item #:N82E16814125369
$259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125369

Reply to xtrmerik

Get the 560 Ti, you won't be able to OC much but where it is at it reaches the 570. So that'll be solid. If you plan to flash, that 6950 2GB won't work. It has to be reference, but it'll be overclockable. Though I strongly suggest the 560.

Reply to aznshinobi

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