New Student/Gaming PC Under 1200

June 8, 2011 4:57:42 PM

Approximate Purchase Date: Anytime between now and the start of the fall semester, I have the money now

Budget Range: Under $1200 before rebates including a new monitor

System Usage from Most to Least Important: surfing the net, Microsoft Office, gaming

Parts Not Required: OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, tiger direct, microcenter is nearby

Country of Origin: United States

Parts Preferences: I prefer Intel processors and AMD/ATI for the graphics card

Overclocking: Maybe but more than likely not

SLI or Crossfire: Again, I would like the option, but most likely won't ever do it

Monitor Resolution: I'm thinking 1920 x 1080 but I need a new monitor

Additional Comments: I don't get a chance to game very often but I would like to be able to play Skyrim when it comes out instead of getting it on the 360 or PS3. I have been upgrading the same computer since 2002 (no longer has any original parts) so I would like to be able to do the same with this.

More about : student gaming 1200

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mgf derp

June 8, 2011 5:04:45 PM

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/312822-31-bestconfigs.... Look at that thread for great gaming builds. I of course recommend my own but others are good to look at too. and Since you have a Micro Center nearby you can get the 2500k for $180 instead of $215. Money saved on processor should let you buy Windows 7 Pro 64bit OEM edition and a 23" 1080p monitor. http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

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julzfromsa

June 8, 2011 5:57:06 PM

AMD 6950 - and later you can crossfire for double the performance.
core i2500k - its all u really need
Evga P67 SLI for some bling

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boiler1990

June 8, 2011 6:28:31 PM

^+1 to all except the EVGA board. EVGA's motherboard team left and went to Sapphire, and their new boards are very expensive compared to the rest of the market.

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mgf derp

June 8, 2011 6:35:56 PM

Derp's "All Thats Necessary" Build
Cpu
Intel Core i5 2400 $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-19115074
Motherboard
MSI P67A-G43 $125/Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128495
Ram
GSkill Ripjaw X 4Gb (2x2Gb) 1333Mhz $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231438
Psu
Silverstone Strider Essential 600w $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817256071
Gpu
Zotac GTX 460 1Gb $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814500202
HDD
Samsung Spinpoint F3 $50.09
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SATA [...] 696&sr=8-3
DvD
LG DvD+RW $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136216
Case
Zalman Z9 Plus $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811235027

Total
$722.09
Thats my build but assuming I am going to need an overclockable cpu and a better gpu to be competitive in this build off, my revised parts for that case are below.
Cpu
Intel Core i5 2500k $225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-19115072
Cooler
CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ $30
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/a [...] B002G1YPH0
Gpu
Gigabyte Windforce GTX 570 $345
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125365
PSU
Silverstone Strider Essential 700w $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817256072

Revised Total
$997
Copied my build over as the thread link wasnt working. I know the links above wont work but you should have sufficient information to look at all items on Newegg without confusion. If you need working links let me know.

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