$500 gaming build checkover

[go joe]

Approximate Purchase Date: This week


Budget Range: $500


System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet/watching movies, office stuff


Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon, any reputable online retailer


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences: brand doesn't really matter


Overclocking: What I can


SLI or Crossfire: No


Monitor Resolution: 1600x900


Additional Comments: I like to shop from newegg but if there are some better deals from other sites with free shipping I'm open for suggestions. Otherwise I think I'm pretty happy with the parts I selected, I just haven't built a computer in a while.

If there are much better components for a little more I'll look into those too but I would like to keep within the $500 budget.


Case and PSU combo:$99.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.693977
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply

Burner and HD combo: $53.48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696137
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner 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 AD-7260S-0B - OEM
Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CPU: $124.99
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100

Video card: $129.99
Galaxy 60XGH3HS3CUD GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Motherboard: $59.99
ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM: $26.99
Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996586

Total with shipping:
$505.37

 

[rolli59]

The GTX465 although at a good price is not a great card, power hungry for its performance. Here is a couple of other options HD6850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150516
GTX460 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121391
Both are better in performance and power consumption and well worth the price difference after MIR.

 

[jerreddredd]

I will agree with Rolli59 on the GTX465. For around the same price you can get a GTX550ti which performs much better
ZOTAC ZT-50401-10L GeForce GTX 550 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500193

The Rosewill PSU in that combo has about at 19% failure/DOA rate. I would go with one of these and just pick a case you like that has low or free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815009
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207012
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256071
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256061

 

[go joe]

The GTX465 although at a good price is not a great card, power hungry for its performance. Here is a couple of other options HD6850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150516
GTX460 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121391
Both are better in performance and power consumption and well worth the price difference after MIR.

I don't do mail in rebates.

According to Tom's Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart the GTX 465 is just as fast as the GTX 460 and HD6850. Those cards a much more expensive for the same or less performance....

Both of those cards you recommended are rated lower than the 465 I am looking at...

I will agree with Rolli59 on the GTX465. For around the same price you can get a GTX550ti which performs much better
ZOTAC ZT-50401-10L GeForce GTX 550 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500193

The Rosewill PSU in that combo has about at 19% failure/DOA rate. I would go with one of these and just pick a case you like that has low or free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815009
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207012
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256071
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256061

Where did you come up with this 19% failure/DOA rate from? All I see is that it was reviewed by HWS and was rated very well.

None of these PSU you recommend look much better except for the Antec and I don't see any reason to pay 40% more for it especially without a combo I like.

The GTX 550 Ti looks to be slower than the 465 at the same price. I think I'll disregard your advice since you seem to be confused about hardware yourself.

 

[jerreddredd]

my, my aren't we testy.

look at the newegg reviews, specifically the 1 and 2 egg. these are usually your DOA and infant mortality (died shortly after install) reviews.

I build about 200 PC's a year. mostly for work, some for family and friends. I NEVER use Rosewill PSU's, they just don't last. the XFX core PSU's are solid the OEM is Seasonic. the PSU's I linked were pretty close to the same price as the Rosewill, a few were $10 more.

I was looking at your budget for a better GPU recommendation than the GTX465. All the ones Rolli59 were quite a bit more, but performed a lot better, ran cooler and quieter. I think I was looking at the performance chart of GTX 560ti and the price of a 550ti. LOL. So, I must apologize for my error. I was trying to finish the message quickly, not an excuse, but an explanation.

 

[rolli59]

I don't do mail in rebates.

According to Tom's Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart the GTX 465 is just as fast as the GTX 460 and HD6850. Those cards a much more expensive for the same or less performance....

Both of those cards you recommended are rated lower than the 465 I am looking at...

Since you do not do mail in rebates then you get good performance for the price. Asus is one of the better known Hardware manufacturers and is on the recommended list for GPU's while Galaxy is considered a budget brand with shorter warranty. On the performance then http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_460_DirectCu/28.html more precise than Toms Hierarchy list which groups cards by +/- 10% performance difference.

 

[aznshinobi]

^+1 to Rolli & jerrededd
You defiantly would hate having a 465. It's a card that runs way to hot and overheats too much. You can look up older forum posts course I don't even know where you can find them. But the 465, 470, 480 was loathed because of their crazy power consumption and really crazy temps. The 460 is an exception because it was made later and they fixed the issue for the 460.

 

[imaurer269]

I can vouch the 470 runs crazy hot mine ran low 90's under load stock, i have this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133318
EDIT: Runs high 70's low 80's with msi afterburner increasing the fan speed
they run close temps 465 vs 470 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/161?vs=160

If you dont mind a ATI card look at the HD 6790
Here are some 3dmark vantage scores with the i3-2100
gtx 465 http://3dmark.com/search?resultTypeId=192&linkedDisplayAdapters=0&cpuModelId=1252&chipsetId=617
HD 6790 http://3dmark.com/search?resultTypeId=192&linkedDisplayAdapters=0&cpuModelId=1252&chipsetId=690

The 6790 runs about the same as the 465 price(cheaper with rebate) wise xfx has one and sends out rebates quick http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150534
I have received 4 rebates from them this year off of GPU's

A 6870 would be a major step up have a sale on one here http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-6870G-2&c=CJ $156 shipped with $20 MIR

 

[go joe]

All I hear is hearsay from people who actually have no experience with a product while actual verified owners seem to really like it.

my, my aren't we testy.

look at the newegg reviews, specifically the 1 and 2 egg. these are usually your DOA and infant mortality (died shortly after install) reviews.

I build about 200 PC's a year. mostly for work, some for family and friends. I NEVER use Rosewill PSU's, they just don't last. the XFX core PSU's are solid the OEM is Seasonic. the PSU's I linked were pretty close to the same price as the Rosewill, a few were $10 more.

I was looking at your budget for a better GPU recommendation than the GTX465. All the ones Rolli59 were quite a bit more, but performed a lot better, ran cooler and quieter. I think I was looking at the performance chart of GTX 560ti and the price of a 550ti. LOL. So, I must apologize for my error. I was trying to finish the message quickly, not an excuse, but an explanation.

Well the PSUs recommended also have 1 and 2 egg reviews from DOA. In fact, some of the PSUs recommended seem to have higher failures rates than the unit I selected.

I really doubt you can speak for Rosewill PSU reliability considering you've never used one.

Those 2 video cards do not outperform what I selected. In fact, they perform worse overall:

Again, I think I'm going to disregard your advice.

^+1 to Rolli & jerrededd
You defiantly would hate having a 465. It's a card that runs way to hot and overheats too much. You can look up older forum posts course I don't even know where you can find them. But the 465, 470, 480 was loathed because of their crazy power consumption and really crazy temps. The 460 is an exception because it was made later and they fixed the issue for the 460.

I really doubt you have any experiences with any of these products considering many of the models you mentioned have 5 egg reviews.

From my own research I've found that this specific Galaxy model runs relatively cool and is very quiet.

Unless you consider the 5870 to have "crazy power consumption and really crazy temps" then this 465 looks fine to me.

I can vouch the 470 runs crazy hot mine ran low 90's under load stock, i have this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133318
EDIT: Runs high 70's low 80's with msi afterburner increasing the fan speed
they run close temps 465 vs 470 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/161?vs=160

If you dont mind a ATI card look at the HD 6790
Here are some 3dmark vantage scores with the i3-2100
gtx 465 http://3dmark.com/search?resultTypeId=192&linkedDisplayAdapters=0&cpuModelId=1252&chipsetId=617
HD 6790 http://3dmark.com/search?resultTypeId=192&linkedDisplayAdapters=0&cpuModelId=1252&chipsetId=690

The 6790 runs about the same as the 465 price(cheaper with rebate) wise xfx has one and sends out rebates quick http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150534
I have received 4 rebates from them this year off of GPU's

A 6870 would be a major step up have a sale on one here http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-6870G-2&c=CJ $156 shipped with $20 MIR

I don't see what a PNY GTX 470 has to do with a Galaxy GTX 465. Are you just trying to make it look like you have something to contribute?

From the benchmarks I am looking at the 465 is much faster than the 6790...

The 6790 costs more and I said I was not interested in rebates. The 6790 looks like a bad buy in comparison to this 465 at this price. I really don't see where you're getting that these cards are equal in performance when the 465 looks much faster.

The 6870 doesn't look much faster than the 465 and apparently the 465 overclocks very well.

The link costs $166 after shipping. I don't see how it's worth $25 or about 17% more.



It doesn't look like anyone who tried to give any suggestions actually did any research on the subject. Not trying to argue but nobody seems to have their facts right. Not that I expect you to research my build but I didn't expect to get misinformed, misguided and incorrect advice.

 

[aznshinobi]

OK, then please. You're very informed about your current build, why ask for our help only to flame on other users. Please just take your build and leave instead of flaming on users.

 

[zooted]

So... what was the point of you coming here? To start an argument? I don't understand.

 

[go joe]

I was just looking for some other suggestions but found all the replies to be factually inaccurate and based off assumptions. I would certainly be open to some accurate advice, especially if there was some evidence behind it. I came here because it's one of the first sites that popped up when I googled building a computer. I thought the members here would be technically informed but I was mistaken.

Either way I purchased the build, you can all be wrong in other threads.

 

[rolli59]

Us uninformed people go by http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-geforce-gtx-465-fermi-gf100,review-31908-12.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_465/33.html
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/asus_gtx465/6
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/geforce-gtx-465_14.html#sect0
It is reviews like this that probably helped us make up our mind and not ever buy a GTX465 with other viable options on the market. Regardless of that you got your card at a good price and I hope you enjoy it for a long time!

 

[jerreddredd]

Alrighty then. go with what you think is best.

BTW I have used Rosewill PSU's before. the biggest boondoggle I remember was:

one of the guys in the IT shop I used to work at a while back got a good deal (he thought) and send a purchase order for 50 (400w or 450w i don't remember which) of them for a office machine roll out. of the 50:
4 DOA's
3 blew smoke when powered up.
6 died during burn in
5 died with in the week of the roll out.
I may be off by one or two in the above, but it was a fiasco that I will never forget. Rosewill did send replacements, but they didn't fair much better. we eventually replace most of them with Antec 380w or 430w

I have also replaced about a dozen Rosewill PSU's for various people over the last year or so.

you might get a good one though.

 

[Outlander_04]

Antec 300 + psu 4 for $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129065

 

[imaurer269]

I was just looking for some other suggestions but found all the replies to be factually inaccurate and based off assumptions. I would certainly be open to some accurate advice, especially if there was some evidence behind it. I came here because it's one of the first sites that popped up when I googled building a computer. I thought the members here would be technically informed but I was mistaken.

Either way I purchased the build, you can all be wrong in other threads.

Factually inaccurate??? What are you smoking??? Every one knows the 465 is one hot running card just like the 470 and 480, I was giving you HARD evidence of my 470 running hot, but that's just an assumption I guess. I also posted links to real benchmarks from real people with the exact cpu you planned on getting paired up with a 465 and a 6790, more assumptions again though. Did I ever say a 6790 was better, no. If you would of looked at some other benchmarks from that review you would of noticed it was one of the best cards for performance per dollar at that time: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6790/24.html

If you weren't high off the pipe you would of noticed the $10 off code at the top of the link I gave you for the 6870 making it $156 vs your cards $138. $18 dollars for 20% performance increase roughly, yeah really a waste of money there.

LOL enjoy your stuff while it works, if it works, and GL with your RMA's after it all goes kaboom. The only assumptions I see would be you, if you subtract the umptions.

 

[jjb8675309]

Rosewill PSUs are ***, end of story; if it doesn't fail it will degrade your components to *** over time, if you want to be a cheapass about then try yourself. you can get a antec earthwatts 380w psu for around 40 most times and it will run a 6850 and an oc'ed quad no sweat, before you make an dumb purchase, do a little research and come to your senses on a decent psu.

On a side note:

Newegg had msi 6850s yesterday on an open box deal on newegg for $126 and im kind of kicking myself for not picking up 2 of them for a secondary crossfire rig im building.