First CHEAP Gaming Build.

[Bronos]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a new Gaming PC Build oriented towards SC2 gaming, and hopefully BF3 and others when they come out. I am looking for a budget PC that can run at least Metro 2033 at 35 FPS on High at 1920 x 1080 and definitely be able to run SC2 at 60 fps+ at MAX settings. Budget should be around 500-800$.

I did previously have a higher budget but got hit with something and no I have to go down.


Approximate Purchase Date: 1-2 Weeks

Budget Range: 500-$800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, gaming, and more gaming. Oh will also use as a Theater System and connect to 60" tv for movies.

Parts Not Required: Mouse, keyboard, monitor.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any place that's cheap and ships to Virginia in the USA.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: Nvidia/Intel but honestly can't care too much. Whatever gives me more BANG fo the BUX.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Not at the moment but I want to be able to add another card in the future.

Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080. Why is everyone using 1920 x 1200? What monitor uses that can someone show me? All I see is 1920 x 1080.

Additional Comments: Some cool lighting that's it.

 

[Bronos]

Is this even possible?

 

[cwu]

You're not going to be able to run Metro 2033 at that resolution on High with that budget.

a gtx 560ti with 1920x1200res can barely squeak by @ 25fps

With that said most other games shouldn't be a problem.

CPU- i5-2500k if you have a microcenter near you. $179 is an absolute steal!
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

MOBO - MSI P67A-G43 $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583&cm_re=p67_motherboard-_-13-130-583-_-Product

GPU - EVGA GTX560 $189.99 other brands too (gtx560ti & ati 6950 will both run you about ~$250 after rebates but are really nice budget cards for current gaming)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660&cm_re=evga_gtx_560-_-14-130-660-_-Product

PSU - Antec 650 green $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044&cm_re=650_watt-_-17-371-044-_-Product

Ram - Gskill 2gb x 2 $47.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx? Item=N82E16820231193&cm_re=4gb_ddr3_1600-_-20-231-193-_-Product

Case - Cooler Master Haf 912 $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&cm_re=Cooler_master_haf-_-11-119-233-_-Product

HD - Samsung Spinpoint f3 1TB $59.99
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-3-5-Inch-Internal-HD103SJ/dp/B002MQC0P8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1306377264&sr=8-2

Fan - Hyper 212+ $39.99 (if you plan to OC)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212-_-35-103-065-_-Product

Total before tax/shipping = ~$765 before deals & rebates add $45 for cpu if you don't have microcenter near you to pick up the 2500k. It's still within your budget & should play most games well at your resolution.

The reason why most benchmarks & a lot of people have 1920x1200 is due to original 24" monitors being 16:10 format. You can thank HD TVs for companies to make it 16:9 resolution - hence the 1920 x 1080 you see now. As far as why people still use 1920x1200? Who doesn't want to have more pixels

 

[Bronos]

For the GPU are you talking about GTX 560?

 

[cwu]

yes was a typo, corrected it now

 

[Bronos]

I can pay a bit more for the GTX 560 Ti/6950 do you have a brand that's best?

 

[cwu]

Friend of mine uses MSI gtx 560ti. Nice heatsink/fan & great/super easy to use OC program (afterburner). He runs BF2 with everything high & 4x AA without framerate drops, not sure about his AF setting. His resolution is 1600x1050 though, so slightly lower than yours.

MSI GTX 560ti 249.99/$239.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127594&cm_re=msi_gtx_560_ti-_-14-127-594-_-Product

MSI HD 6950 (another great card but slightly more) but can unlock to 6970 ~$350 card (requires you to flash though so do so at your discretion)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127588&cm_re=msi_6950-_-14-127-588-_-Product

gl on your build though

 

[Bronos]

What about this GTX 560ti?

Same price as the MSI one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130610&cm_re=gtx_560_ti-_-14-130-610-_-Product

 

[cwu]

Most major brand GTX 560ti are good, so the evga one you linked will work great also.

If you want to OC, the MSI twin frozr heatsink/fan is the best stock cooling that comes out of the box & the afterburner OC software it comes with is super easy to use & probably the best software from graphic card companies.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-n560gtx-ti-twin-frozer-ii-review/20

The review had them clock it @ 974mhz stable with the provided msi software. But if you don't want to OC, the higher clock speed out of the box by EVGA will work better for you.