$600 budget-ish gaming rig

[steven13344]

Approximate Purchase Date: some time in june

Budget Range: $0-$700 ($700 is pushing it though) Before Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, web surfing, work

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com.... though open to other reputable sites

Country of Origin: i live in the U.S.

Parts Preferences: whatever has the most for the least amount of $ and I'm going to uses windows 7

Overclocking: Maybe (but not necessary)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: at least 1080

Additional Comments: the quieter the better, at least 1tb hdd (nice to have 2), at least 3 gb memory... i would like to make it for as little as possible and yet still play games like:civ and total war series, bf2 +bfbc2 (and eventually bf3), mine craft, crysis, and others but that should give a good idea.
and i would like to have an easily upgradeable setup so it will be a long time before i need to start anew, basically i would like to upgrade parts as i get more "scratch."
....of course the budget dominates all.

also what are some hidden cost in building a pc

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
these are the parts i have already looked up-

cpu-
Phenom II X4 840
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103921
or
Core i5-2300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115076
or
Core i3-2100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078&Tpk=BX80623I32100

motherboard-
ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM (REV 3.0)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131711

3 memory slots preferred

Memory-
G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

HDD-
SAMSUNG HD103SJ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
or
Seagate ST31000528AS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

PSU-
SeaSonic USA M12II 520 Bronze
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093
or
Antec EA-380D Green
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

case-
Rosewill CHALLENGER
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
or
Antec Three Hundred Illusion
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052011&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052011-_-EMC-052011-T-_-ComputerCases-_-11129066-L0A

 

[brpeden82]

the I5 is much stronger than the phenom. the I3 beats a quad core phenom.

i would go with i5-2300
this board is alot cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236

SAPPHIRE 100314-2SR Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102913

 

[steven13344]

thanks... do you know of a less expensive graphics card that would still work

 

[brpeden82]

either a HD 6850 1GB or GTX 460 1GB

 

[brpeden82]

try this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571

 

[steven13344]

thanks... i suppose that with the g-card being the most important part in a gaming rig i should allow for as much as possible.

 

[brpeden82]

yep it imporatant to buy the best card you can buy if it means stepping down to less inspensive processor like the i3

 

[k1114]

Since you are buying in june, it's kind of useless to look for parts, mainly because amd releases there new stuff june 6 and they always dominate the low budget builds. You have a good idea of what you can get;wait closer to your buy date to look for specific parts.

 

[steven13344]

@k1114... true true... though right now I'm reaching out to the community so i will have a better idea of what to get when the time comes...right now I'm somewhat lost in the vast sea of computer parts.
also nice avatar.

 

[dalauder]

These parts can all be found on Newegg:
CPU: $225 i5-2500K
Mobo: $130 Gigabyte Z68 8x/8x on PCI-e lanes
Graphics: $190 Galaxy GTX 560Ti
PSU: $74 Corsair TX750 V2
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=1260993&t=2945011
RAM: $48 Geil 4GB (2x2GB) 1600CL8 DDR3
Case: $40 Thermaltake V4
HDD: $55 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB (wait for Newegg deal)
DVD: Use old one

TOTAL: $762

This build makes no compromises and is totally awesome. In order to get this down in your budget, you can use the same coupons to get the Corsair TX650 V2 for $65 (might handle two GTX 560Ti's...maybe), Find 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 on sale w/rebate for $25, Find a decent case with free shipping for $30, Get the $125 mATX version of the Gigabyte Z68 motherboard, or use an old HDD until you can afford a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB.

If you do most of those, you'll get this under $700. If you just switch to a cheap H61 mobo and i3-2100 (or better, i5-2300) with the same other parts (although you'll only need a 500W PSU), you'll get it down to $600. Keep in mind that if you get a single PCI-e slot motherboard you'll need a high end graphics card to go with it because there will be no SLI/CF down the line.

PSU: Stick to Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or XFX unless you've got a stellar review (see jonnyguru.com for examples) for something else. Check here to see how much power you need:http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Use 15% capacitor aging.

 

[brpeden82]

the only thing i would consider is bulldozer and it gonna start at $190 for a quad core. LLano start at $70 for Dual Core up to Quad Core for 110,130,150,170 the 150 and 170 has 400 stream processor the other has 320 stream porcessors and dual core only have 160 stream processors

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.donanimhaber.com%2Fislemci%2Fhaberleri%2FAMDnin-Bulldozer-ve-Fusion-Liano-islemcileri-icin-ilk-fiyat-bilgileri.htm

 

[dalauder]

I would personally wait 1 month for Bulldozer. One guarantee about it is that it will really drive prices down, regardless of its performance.

 

[steven13344]

good stuff only thing is i still need to reserve about a $100 for os

 

[steven13344]

i hate being a broke a** college student

 

[steven13344]

maybe to cut costs i should go with this cpu
Core i3-540
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115221

because as long as it's dual core i don't think i should be too worried about the processor... then again i could be wrong.

 

[dalauder]

If you're a "broke a** college student", how do those Windows 7 discounts for students work? A lot of colleges (especially engineering kinda stuff) have free copies of Windows. Ask your friends if they know of anything your school offers.

DO NOT get the i3-540. You want a 2nd generation i3/i5 socket 1155, not first generation socket 1156.

If you want to cut costs, take some of the suggestions I made above like getting an i5-2300/i3-2100.

If you're not getting a "K" series CPU, then you may as well just get a cheap H61 motherboard (versus Z68 or P67). If you can only afford $600, I highly recommend you wait one month and you'll probably be able to get all this stuff for under $700.

I do think the PSU is a very good deal and I'd get the TX750 V2 now IF you're planning on getting an SLI capable motherboard (the Gigabyte Z68 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502&cm_re=gigabyte_z68-_-13-128-502-_-Product ).

 

[steven13344]

yeah my college offers super cheap upgrades for windows but thats it.

yeah, i wasnt paying attention to that, thanks

 

[steven13344]

i'd like to bite the bullet and get an up to date motherboard (latest cpu socket, and usb 3.0 and so on) so i can upgrade stuff in the future with out buying a new mobo.

 

[z_4]

Go for sandy bridge. Here's a recommendation
DVD Burner 19.99 $

Case 49.99 $

HDD 64.99 $

Graphic Card 197.99 $ with 20 $ mail-in-rebate

Power Supply 39.99 $ with 10$ mail-rebate

RAM 49.99 $ . 1.5 volts perfect for sandy bridge

MOBO 88.89 $

CPU: for it you have two choice i3 2100 or if you can stretch higher i5-2400

About PSU : This power supply is decent with the above config. Here's a proof 6870 power consumption. However if you want higher wattage, here's another Antec

Here's a screenshot with base config:


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[steven13344]

thanks, yeah I'm thinking that with that Antec costing only a little more i might go with it just to be on the safe side (because i plan on upgrading stuff and adding more HDD as time goes on)

 

[steven13344]

this is my current list

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2509/listj.jpg

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/1135/list2c.jpg

 

[gametstr]

Graphics: $190 Galaxy GTX 560Ti

Where can I find a 560 Ti @ 190? or do u mean the 560?

this is my current list

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2509/listj.jpg

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/1135/list2c.jpg

why the windows 7 again? Get the upgrade from the school. There are ways to legally do a clean install with it. Good luck

 

[steven13344]

i need to buy windows 7 because my school only offers upgrades, not the os itself.

 

[steven13344]

well i take that back because i found this...

http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/windows/buynow/default.aspx

 

[dalauder]

$190 GTX 560Ti (after $40 rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162074&Tpk=galaxy%20gtx%20560%20ti

Good choice not to go with the Cooler Master PSU.