Summer Goal: Build my first PC. Thoughts?

[splittrain]

I pulled this off another post and it looked nice (Better than my '08 MacBook Pro). My budget is $1,000
I will be using it for Gaming, so basically StarCraft 2, Battlefield 3 and Portal etc. Maybe some word processing lol.

Please let me know what you think in terms of substituting parts for others etc.

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T BE 3.2GHz $179.99
Motherboard: ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ $129.99
RAM: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB 1600MHz $74.99
Graphics Card: 2 X SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 $339.98
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4EG 1.5TB $64.99
Case: COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310 $39.99
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650TX $89.99
Cooling: XIGMATEK Loki SD963 $24.99
BD-ROM: SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM $64.99

 

[mjmjpfaff]

for 1000$ you can get yourself a much more powerful i5 2500k rig

 

[striker410]

blah, with $1,000 AMD is NOT the way to go. Not to toot my own horn, but this is my idea of a pretty damn awesome 1k build (after rebates)


Striker's "1337 l0ad0ut" rig

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor $449

Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $115

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory $38

Graphics Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1560-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $229

Second Graphics Card: Bundled with processor

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB $50

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $60

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $90

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler $30

DVD Burner: Combo'd above

My total cost comes to $1075, but drops to $999 with rebates.

Here's some comparisons for you: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/146?vs=288 (pay attention to higher/lower is better)

And I can't find one on anandtech for 560 Ti SLI vs 6850 Xfire, but it's a HUGE gap. Especially since these 560's can overclock VERY VERY high, they will blow away anything the 6850's have to offer.

Let me know what you think?

 

[splittrain]

blah, with $1,000 AMD is NOT the way to go. Not to toot my own horn, but this is my idea of a pretty damn awesome 1k build (after rebates)


Striker's "1337 l0ad0ut" rig

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor $449

Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $115

RAM: G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory $34

Graphics Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1560-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $229

Second Graphics Card: Bundled with processor

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB $50

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $60

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $90

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler $30

DVD Burner: Combo'd above

My total cost comes to $1075, but drops to $995 with rebates.

Here's some comparisons for you: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/146?vs=288 (pay attention to higher/lower is better)

And I can't find one on anandtech for 560 Ti SLI vs 6850 Xfire, but it's a HUGE gap. Especially since these 560's can overclock VERY VERY high, they will blow away anything the 6850's have to offer.

Let me know what you think?

wow thanks for the advice should I shoot for 8GB ram? or is 4 the standard way to go for this type of build? and any advice on 64bit vs 32 bit Windows7 for this build?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

now ill pull out my 1000$ build

i5 2500k 220$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&cm_re=i5_2500k-_-19-115-072-_-Product

Rosewill CHALLENGER 50$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153&Tpk=rosewill%20challenger

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 130$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502&cm_re=gigabyte_z68-_-13-128-502-_-Product

CORSAIR XMS 4GB 33$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145339&cm_re=4gb_1600-_-20-145-339-_-Product

Antec High Current Gamer Series 750W 85$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049&cm_re=750w_power_supply-_-17-371-049-_-Product

Galaxy 56NGH6HS4IXZ GeForce GTX 560 Ti x2=390$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162074&cm_re=gtx_560_ti-_-14-162-074-_-Product

HDD and DVD 51$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.667921&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=1iypapn7ftjj9

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 30$- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307656109&sr=8-1

Total=991$

 

[striker410]

4GB is plenty. If you can stretch the budget a little, then maybe 8GB would be worth it. And you want 64 bit, no doubt about it. Just get 64 bit, you NEED it if you ever want to upgrade ram. no downsides at all.

I edited my build with a little better ram.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

wow thanks for the advice should I shoot for 8GB ram? or is 4 the standard way to go for this type of build? and any advice on 64bit vs 32 bit Windows7 for this build?

4gb is all that is needed for gaming and you need the 64 bit- http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premum-System-Builder-Version/dp/B002NGJO4M/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IE2SPDW40G9NE&colid=NKXTPS8044HJ

 

[striker410]

haha, nice. We have very similar builds. You can steal my HDD+DVD combo if I can steal your ram and PSU?

 

[deadlockedworld]

Hey Splittrain,

The i5 2500k is a good option.

However you dont want to get two graphics cards in a new build--particularly if this is your first time. Buy one more powerful card, and only get the second if you need it later. (Also, an AMD 6950 is better value than that 560ti at the moment)

A better low-CAS ram option: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445&cm_re=gskill-_-20-231-445-_-Product
(no you don't really need 8 gb, but memory is cheap right now and this leaves more room to expand)

I agree with the above statement about Anandtech and Toms -- both do occasional "best build for $1000" articles. They are good for inspiration.

 

[splittrain]

4GB is plenty. If you can stretch the budget a little, then maybe 8GB would be worth it. And you want 64 bit, no doubt about it. Just get 64 bit, you NEED it if you ever want to upgrade ram. no downsides at all.

I edited my build with a little better ram.

4gb is all that is needed for gaming and you need the 64 bit- http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premum-System-Builder-Version/dp/B002NGJO4M/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IE2SPDW40G9NE&colid=NKXTPS8044HJ

thanks guys I didnt know 64 Bit was a big difference.. yea your builds are similar. do these allow for decent expansion in years to come? and heres the N00B13 question of the day: do all these parts fit together? xP

 

[mjmjpfaff]

haha, nice. We have very similar builds. You can steal my HDD+DVD combo if I can steal your ram and PSU?

go for it

 

[splittrain]

Hey Splittrain,

The i5 2500k is a good option.

However you dont want to get two graphics cards in a new build--particularly if this is your first time. Buy one more powerful card, and only get the second if you need it later. (Also, an AMD 6950 is better value than that 560ti at the moment)

A better low-CAS ram option: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445&cm_re=gskill-_-20-231-445-_-Product
(no you don't really need 8 gb, but memory is cheap right now and this leaves more room to expand)

I agree with the above statement about Anandtech and Toms -- both do occasional "best build for $1000" articles. They are good for inspiration.

thanks for the help and the other RAM option. its funny cuz the build I had got totally trashed in my mind now :lol:

 

[splittrain]

thread closed. thanks for the help. this site is BALLER. expect a new thread on here in a moment. making a budget PC for my parents

 

[splittrain]

Best answer selected by splittrain.

 

[striker410]

thread closed. thanks for the help. this site is BALLER. expect a new thread on here in a moment. making a budget PC for my parents

heh, shoot me a PM with the link.

 

[deadlockedworld]

heh, shoot me a PM with the link.

How many best answers are you trying to get out of him lol?

 

[striker410]

None. Just trying to help. If I wanted best answers, I'd be in the graphics section right now xD