$800-900 Gaming Rig Advice

[FuriousFuzz]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2-4 weeks from now

Budget Range: $800-$900 Canadian before MIR

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Media Center

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

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca / Memoryexpress.com

Country of Origin: Canada

Parts Preferences: Intel i5 Quad Core CPU / Radeon HD 6870 GPU (Video Card Very Open To Debate)

Overclocking: Not Sure

SLI or Crossfire: Not Sure

Monitor Resolution: Not Sure

Hard Drive: 1 TB (will hold off on SSD)

Optical : Standard DVD burner with lightscribe is fine.

Case: Barebones, don't need anything fancy.



Additional Comments:

Looking for a Gaming PC that can also be used to watch Media on our T.V at the same time. While I am open to attempting to assemble the Hardware myself I would prefer having it built through a local party company like

http://www.memoryexpress.com/CompanyInfo/StoreLocations.aspx

I'm willing to pay an extra 40-100 dollars on the assembly and assumed hardware markup, but if it's going to save me a pile of money getting everything from newegg.ca then I would give it a go. Also would buy a pre-built, but everyone tells me that I will get much more going this route.



Thanks in Advance for any help I get!

 

[Why_Me]

These two sites (Best Direct and Direct Canada) are affiliated and both use the same shipping addy out of Richmond, BC and both offer free shipping.

http://www.bestdirect.ca
http://www.bestdirect.ca/contact/

http://www.directcanada.com
http://www.directcanada.com/contact/


Add a case to this build. This build allows you to add another one of those factory o/c cards later on for SLI.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/233768/P1750SNLB9/XFX/ $97.67
XFX 750W PRO750W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 62A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze PSU

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD4863&vpn=GA-Z68A-D3H-B3&manufacture=GIGABYTE $126.92
Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 HDMI DVI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232639/BX80623I52500K/Intel/ $208.79
Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/218427/RR-B10-212P-G1/COOLERMASTER/ $24.20
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120MM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232563/F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL/G.SKILL/ $29.49
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/233111/ST31000524AS/Seagate/ $53.74
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 7200.12 1TB SATA 32MB Cache 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive OEM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/225965/DRW-24B1ST%20Bulk/ASUS/ $16.79
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD9294&vpn=GV-N560OC-1GI&manufacture=GIGABYTE $233.92 MIR $203.92
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti Fermi 900MHZ 1GB 4.0GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI Mini HDMI DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card

Total: $791.52 *not including mail in rebates

2x4GB kit down below...

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232563/F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL/G.SKILL/ $52.05
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory

 

[danraies]

The i5-2500K with the 6870 is a good start and will be about $400. I guess I would start with the following:

Intel i5-2500K - $220
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 - $120
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502

XFX Radeon 6870 - $195
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB RAM - $60
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

That's $695 so far. If you can find cheaper 1600 RAM then that would be fine. I picked the Gigabyte motherboard because it is one of the cheapest ones that supports realistic crossfire, meaning you can add a second 6870 later as an easy graphics upgrade if you wanted. That means, though, that the PSU has to be large enough to support crossfire, so 650W is about as low as you'd want to go.

Antec EarthWatts EA650 - $85
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

All that's left is a hard drive, an optical drive, and a case. You can find whatever optical drive is cheapest which will be around $20 and whatever case you like. I would go with the Samsung Spinpoint F3 for your hard drive.

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - $75
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

That's $755 before a case and an optical drive. If it were me I would buy the following, but the case is personal preference.

Rosewill Blackbone - $50
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023

ASUS 24x DVD burner - $21
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

These parts put you at $826 before mir. If you wanted to fill out your budget a little more you could go with an aftermarket cpu cooler for overclocking (the stock cooler is crap on the i5-2500K), a slightly better (meaning modular and/or single +12V rail) psu, or a motherboard with some extra features.

 

[Why_Me]

The i5-2500K with the 6870 is a good start and will be about $400. I guess I would start with the following:

Intel i5-2500K - $220
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 - $120
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502

XFX Radeon 6870 - $195
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB RAM - $60
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

That's $695 so far. If you can find cheaper 1600 RAM then that would be fine. I picked the Gigabyte motherboard because it is one of the cheapest ones that supports realistic crossfire, meaning you can add a second 6870 later as an easy graphics upgrade if you wanted. That means, though, that the PSU has to be large enough to support crossfire, so 650W is about as low as you'd want to go.

Antec EarthWatts EA650 - $85
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

All that's left is a hard drive, an optical drive, and a case. You can find whatever optical drive is cheapest which will be around $20 and whatever case you like. I would go with the Samsung Spinpoint F3 for your hard drive.

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - $75
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

That's $755 before a case and an optical drive. If it were me I would buy the following, but the case is personal preference.

Rosewill Blackbone - $50
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023

ASUS 24x DVD burner - $21
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

These parts put you at $826 before mir. If you wanted to fill out your budget a little more you could go with an aftermarket cpu cooler for overclocking (the stock cooler is crap on the i5-2500K), a slightly better (meaning modular and/or single +12V rail) psu, or a motherboard with some extra features.

This is why Canadians should never shop newegg. You get less for your money.

 

[danraies]

This is why Canadians should never shop newegg. You get less for your money.

Yeah, agreed, but it's what he listed.

Also, you can pay to have it put together if you want, but putting it together yourself is a pretty fun/rewarding experience and it's really not that hard nor does it take very long. If you're up to the challenge, put that money toward a slightly better machine.