[Homebuilt] AUS Gaming PC around AU$1000

[Signore]

Approximate Purchase Date: about 2 weeks time

Budget Range: approx $1000 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming (L4D2/TF2, Fallout 3), surfing the internet, watching movies

Parts Not Required: mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://arc.com.au, http://msy.com.au

Country of Origin: Australia

Parts Preferences: by brand or type Intel CPU, NVIDA Graphics, Full size tower

Overclocking: Maybe at a later date

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe at a later date

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024, I have an old Dell 17" monitor that i am going to use for the time being unless it is possible to get the build price down to include a new widescreen monitor for around $1000-$1200 but I doubt it.

Additional Comments: Quiet would be good but my 7.2 is more then loud enough to overcome some loud fans if it will make the build cheaper. I would really like to play L4D2 at full settings with playable fram rates.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Build So Far* - All purchased from http://arc.com.au


ASRock Z68 Extreme4 4xDDR3 3*PCIex16 GBL RAID DVI HDMI DSP VGA 1394a USB3.0 SATA3 15/6
$204.93

Intel CORE i5 2500K/3.30GHz/6MB CACHE/LGA1155
$218.59

G.SKILL Ripjaws-X 8GB (4GB x 2) F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL PC3 10666 (DDR3-1333) XL 9-9-9-24 1.5v
$94.16

MSI N570GTX-M2D12D5 Video Card. GPU: GeForce GTX 570. Memory Type: GDDR5. Memory Size: 1280MB. Memory Interface: 320-bit.
$396.55

Western Digital WD1002FAEX SATA3 1000GB 1TB 3.5" CAVIAR BLACK
$88.09

Antec Nine Hundred Two 900II 902 V3 Gaming Case
$138.00

620W "Antec" ATX NEO ECO PSU
$87.91

Total
$1,228.23

As you can see I have gone over budget a bit but I would rather spend more now to get something that will last. Feedback will be greatly appreciated Also any suggestions for a 22"+ Monitor for around AU$250 would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rohangupta]

the 570 you listed is a waste.go for the hd 6950 1gb and it is gud enough to keep up with all the games even at 1080p with max settings.it is for 250 AU so u save 150 bucks there.
for ur budget get a cheap but good case like nzxt gamma for 50 bucks and save 90 there..total reduced is around 240 then.

now go for samsung spinpoint 1tb drives for around 60 bucks and save 30 there..

total savings 270 AU now..
get a bigger psu like 750W.my recomm.-->corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W for 130 AUD..so savings still at 230 after getting a MUCH BETTER PSU.
get a good screen from the remaining cash.

Enjoy!

 

[Signore]

Ok Changed Supliers to http://msy.com.au as they seem cheaper then arc here is what I have got. It looks like they don't have the asrock Extreme 4 Mother Board I am hoping the Asus below is just as good and will still allow me to SLI/Crossifre down the track if I choose to.

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3Ghz 1155pin Boxed CPU $219.0 1 $219.0

Asus P8Z68-V Pro Z68 USB3 DDR3 Intel 1155pin Motherboard $255.0 1 $255.0

Patriot Gamer2 PGD38G1333ELK 8G Kit(4Gx2) DDR3 1333 $90.0 1 $90.0

WD 3.5" Green 2TB WD20EARX SATA3 HDD $90.0 1 $90.0

Corsair TX-750 ATX Power Supply Unit $145.0 1 $145.0

Antec 200V2 Two-Hundred-V2 Gaming Tower Case without PSU $57.0 1 $57.0

1GB ATI Radeon Chipset 6950 $262 1 $262

TOTAL $1118.0

Saving from original build $110.23


Please Comment

 

[rohangupta]

get nzxt gamma its the best case at the sub-60 dollar(us and aus)price bracket.well I know u r going for 2tb but will u be able 2 use 2048gbs of space.the sammy spinpoint are great for about 50 AU 1tb but it depends on you.I will be getting a Very SIMILAR rig in about a month i5 2500k 200$,p8p67 (base variant) 200$,4gb ddr3 40$,BENQ G2220HD 150$,Wd CAVIAR GREEN 30$,Radeon 6950 1gb 260$,FsP espilon 80plus 700w 100$...

Comes to 1000$..
AND BTW I live in India n d prices are higher as they are in AUS.The prices I listed are in USD but about same as AUD(5~6%)higher.

AND IF YOU CAN GET THE PARTS FROM A LOCAL VENDOR THEY WILL BE BIT CHEAPER

AND,PLEASE I WANT YOU TO BE MY FRIEND ON FACEBOOK

 

[Silvune]

People shouldn't be getting the old Corsair 750TX these days. Get this instead:
Antec Truepower New TPN-750 80Plus Bronze Modular $140
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4935
It is more efficient and modular.

 

[rohangupta]

People shouldn't be getting the old Corsair 750TX these days. Get this instead:
Antec Truepower New TPN-750 80Plus Bronze Modular $140
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4935
It is more efficient and modular.

this is a gr8 psu..I was thinking of this but couldn't find it...well thanks a lot man

 

[Signore]

*Ok Build so far*

Intel CORE i5 2500K/3.30GHz/6MB CACHE/LGA1155
218.59

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 4xDDR3 3*PCIex16 GBL RAID DVI HDMI DSP VGA 1394a USB3.0 SATA3 15/6
204.93

G.SKILL Ripjaws-X 8GB (4GB x 2) F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL PC3 10666 (DDR3-1333) XL 9-9-9-24 1.5v
88.28

Samsung 3.5" SATA2 1TB 7200RPM 32MB SPINPOINT (HD103SJ/UJ) 52.50
57.75

Antec 750W TruePower ATX
137.71

Gigabyte ATI HD 6850 OC OverClock PCI-E 2.0 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 , 820 / 4200MHz 8/6
177.61

Gigabyte GZ-X2 Black, ATX Mid Tower Case, No PSU, 120mm Fan, USB 2.0, Audio
43.56

Total Inc: 928.43 (Under $1000 ^.^)
Saving from original build: $ 299.80


Main changes are going back to the ASrock Mother Board as I feel it is a better board (please correct if I am mistaken).

I have gone for the 6850 over the 6950 as it is way cheaper and if I don't get the performance I want I will get a second one and crossfire them, and wont end up paying that much more then a single 6950.

Please comment as I might go buy this on Wednesday if the community feels this is a good build. Only concern is will the card fit in the mid ATX case? I do plan on getting a better case down the track when I have some more cash and go down the Over Clocking Path.

Also anyone know what kind of frame rates I should expect on L4d2 on this system at 1920*1080?

 

[Silvune]

6850s don't need as much power as 6950s, so you could get a 650W PSU, which will be enough even for crossfire.
The 650W version of the PSU I linked earlier is a good option:
Antec Truepower New TPN-650 80Plus Bronze Modular $125
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4934

Another one I would go for would be the Antec High Current Gamer HCG-620 80Plus Bronze $110
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4950
It is not modular, which probably means you will have quite a few unused cables to have to tidy away in a small case like that Gigabyte.

I don't think that more than 4GB is necessary for gaming builds. So that is one possible way to save money. If you find that 4GB is not enough for you then it's usually quite easy to install another 4GB to make the total 8.

I don't know what size of graphics card that Gigabyte case can take, but 6850s are not usually that long, maybe about as long as an ATX motherboard is wide, so I would be reasonably confident that if the case can take an ATX motherboard then it will be able to accommodate a 6850.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68 Extreme4&cat=Specifications
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3630#sp
According to these two links the Asrock board is 30x24 (WxH, cm) and the Gigabyte graphics card is 23cm long. Also according to the Gigabyte website, the case you chose can accept ATX motherboards. The power connector is on the end of the card, so it will need a bit more space to allow for the connector, but I don't think that will be a problem.

The Asrock Z68 Extreme4 probably is the better choice due to the $50 price difference.

Here's a benchmark showing the performance of a 6850 (and other cards) in L4D2, to me it looks like you could really crank up the quality settings and still get above 60fps minimum.
http://hothardware.com/Reviews/AMD-Radeon-HD-6870--6850-GPUs-Debut/?page=10

 

[hellzERk]

you should really put up those $100 back and get at least a 6950 for ur GPU, u wont need any more gpu power for any game the next 2 years... and by that time ur second 6950 would be about the same price as a 6850 nowadays..

 

[Signore]

OK with revisions on RAM, PSU and back to a Full Tower this is what I have.

Supplier: http://www.arc.com.au

Intel CORE i5 2500K/3.30GHz/6MB CACHE/LGA1155
$218.59

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 4xDDR3 3*PCIex16 GBL RAID DVI HDMI DSP VGA 1394a USB3.0 SATA3 15/6
$204.93

G.SKILL Ripjaws-X 4GB (2GB x 2) PC3 10666 (DDR3-1333) XL 9-9-9-24 1.5v tba
$59.40

Samsung 3.5" SATA2 1TB 7200RPM 32MB SPINPOINT (HD103SJ/UJ)
$57.75

Gigabyte ATI HD 6850 OC OverClock PCI-E 2.0 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 , 820 / 4200MHz 8/6
$177.61

620W "Antec" High Current Gaming power surply
$105.73

Antec Three Hundred 300 Tower
$59.00

Total Inc: $883.01

Saving from original build: $395.22

I am pretty happy with the specs for this any more comments before I take the plunge???

Also can anyone recommend a monitor that will be good for gaming looking around the AU$200 mark everything I look at seems to have bad reviews with ghosting. I am looking for something around 23-24" but happy to go smaller for quality I am use to a 14.1" at the moment on my HP pavilion dv4.

 

[rohangupta]

my suggestion is to add 80 dollars for the 6950 it is a wonderful card and what hellzerk said is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT..my vote to 6950 from sapphire which is very small like their toxic or vapour editions and yield gud overclocks too.so build up to 960$ and get benq g2220hd for 170$(approx)full hd and you have a gr8 system for 1120 dollars.
.....................................................
HOPE IT HELPS
..........................
REGARDS
............
Enjoy!!!!