Building a gaming pc

[celtic34]

I used to piece pc's together for years. Buying all the parts. I've gotten lazy though. prebuilts are pretty inexpensive these days where i figure i can just go to best buy, get one cheap and just swap out the powersupply and video card.

I'm looking at these two pc's.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Desktop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/2632043.p?id=1218341072045&skuId=2632043

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Desktop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1.5TB+Hard+Drive/2882997.p?id=1218361285671&skuId=2882997

The first one seems more logical. Cheaper. Then I can swap in a radeon 6850 and a 500 watt powersupply

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/VisionTek+-+Radeon+HD+6850+1GB+GDDR5+PCI+Express+Graphics+Card/1847415.p?id=1218297027432&skuId=1847415&st=radeon%206850&cp=1&lp=1

$579 +250 < $999 and i get a better graphics card. It's an i5 vs an i7. That's the only drawback.

Is there any concern i should have with the motherboard on these prebuilts? I know they skimp on the motherboard and powersupply sometimes. Or am i basically getting the same thing?

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

I still think parts which you can buy at great discounts can still save you alot of money.
You get what you want and at the price you want.

 

[celtic34]

The problem with that is i would have to buy the case, the drives, and windows 7 as well. It's been a long time since i've upgraded. This just seems easier to me. And i don't think the savings would be that great. i might save $100 but i'd have to build the whole thing and get all the right parts.

 

[torytorydor]

Agreed with Ghnader, I suppose you can build the same rig as the 2nd PC option around $800 with the PC case and everything to your preferences, the price difference is due to the CPU, as not all motherboards supports i5 and i7 cores, so more performance more $

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

Since i havent bought a bestbuy pc so i really cant answer much however if they do use OEM Windows.That means that the computer might not be upgradeable.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey

 

[Why_Me]

FREE SHIPPING for this entire build.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.683239 $254.98 save: $15.00 FREE SHIPPING
Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371047 $54.99 FREE SHIPPING 10% off with promo code Julsv10, ends 7/31
Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-520 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.689150 $129.98 save: $35.00 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $29.49 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-3-5-Inch-Internal-HD103SJ/dp/B002MQC0P8/ref=sr_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1311298228&sr=1-1 $59.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 $19.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261108 $179.99 - $159.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING
Palit NE5X5600HD02F GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Total: $729.41 *not including mail in rebates and promo codes

Optional and stronger gpu...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604 $234.99 (Before $25.00 Mail-In Rebate Card) FREE SHIPPING
EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

 

[celtic34]

thx man for pricing that out. The thing is like i was saying, when you add in windows 7 its the same price and i get a warantee and don't have to put it together. Same parts.

579 +250 =$830

729 +100(windows 7) = $830

It's the same thing unless the motherboard is just cheap in the prebuilt and i can't upgrade the powersupply. But that was the question. I don't see why i can't?