~ $750 Gaming Build, Advice Appreciated!

[eagleblueline]

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=N82E16814130604

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115072

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822152185

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231314

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817182200

ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827135204

$664.94 so far.

Approximate Purchase Date: two or three weeks.

Budget Range: $750 before or after rebates. Can stretch to $800, but I want to go as low as possible without gimping performance.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (WoW, Total War, Mount and Blade, Star Wars MMO, possibly Skyrim and BF3 and some other games of these calibers). School Work (University). Web surfing and streaming.

Parts Not Required: Monitor, OS, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Would rather use Microcenter as I have one near me and that would help with shipping costs, but any.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel mostly, but any.

Overclocking: Maybe, if it is easy and worth doing.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the distant future.

Monitor Resolution: Not exactly sure. Using a 19 inch Dynex T.V.

Additional Comments: This is for my college dorm, so the quieter the better, although it's really not much of an issue. I need it to work with my T.V. for now, and the lower the cost, the better. I have not at all checked into combo deals and still need a Mobo and Case. Any advice or revisions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[eagleblueline]

Anyone care to chime in =/ I'm sure that there are ways to save some cash or get a better bang for my buck, but I'm a first time builder and could really use the help =)

 

[StealVictory]

You can get the i5-2500k for $180 at mircocenter and the HAF 912 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf%20912 which is a good case for $56 at mircocenter.
Both are cheaper than newegg.

As for Mobo most that can SLI are $150 or more, I'm not sure you can stay in the $750-800 range.

 

[eagleblueline]

You can get the i5-2500k for $180 at mircocenter and the HAF 912 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf%20912 which is a good case for $56 at mircocenter.
Both are cheaper than newegg.

As for Mobo most that can SLI are $150 or more, I'm not sure you can stay in the $750-800 range.

Okay, then let's scrap the SLI idea =)

I think it would be best to buy the whole rig off of Microcenter considering Newegg taxes me (NJ) and Micro seems to have some pretty good deals. Could you suggest a build from Micro that fits my needs?

 

[aznshinobi]

OK.
So at Microcenter they have a SB CPU+MB $40 discount. With that said.
Get the 2500K ($180) and this motherboard.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589
GA-Z68XP-UD3 $115 after discount from combo, avail MIR.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0366193
MSI 560 Ti TFII OC $245 (Avail MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565&Tpk=560%20ti%20oc
OCZ ZS 750w $100 (Avail MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049
Wintec AMPX 4GB DDR3 1333 (v1.5 the voltage is key for P67/Z68 MB) $27
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161279
Seagate 500gb $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767
HAF 912 $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&SubCategory=7&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1
Total: $767 before about $45 in rebates

Also keep in mind you get SLI for the future (750w and 8x/8x from the MB) and you get a 560 Ti that performs at the level of a 570.
560 Ti TFII OC from MSI review
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/01/27/msi-geforce-gtx-560-ti-1gb-review/6

 

[eagleblueline]

OK.
So at Microcenter they have a SB CPU+MB $40 discount. With that said.
Get the 2500K ($180) and this motherboard.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589
GA-Z68XP-UD3 $115 after discount from combo, avail MIR.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0366193
MSI 560 Ti TFII OC $245 (Avail MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565&Tpk=560%20ti%20oc
OCZ ZS 750w $100 (Avail MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049
Wintec AMPX 4GB DDR3 1333 (v1.5 the voltage is key for P67/Z68 MB) $27
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161279
Seagate 500gb $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767
HAF 912 $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&SubCategory=7&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1
Total: $767 before about $45 in rebates

Also keep in mind you get SLI for the future (750w and 8x/8x from the MB) and you get a 560 Ti that performs at the level of a 570.
560 Ti TFII OC from MSI review
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/01/27/msi-geforce-gtx-560-ti-1gb-review/6

I don't usually see a lot of 750-800 builds with only 500gb of HD space and 4 gigs a RAM. That kind of worries me just a bit. If I don't SLI and just use the one card what would I be looking at?

Also, using Microcenter altogether would be a better solution that ordering from two places. Shipping is a pain and Micro has some pretty good stuff for cheap.

Any other ideas or revisions?

 

[aznshinobi]

If your budget is $800.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung%20f3%201tb
And this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

 

[eagleblueline]

If your budget is $800.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung%20f3%201tb
And this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Yeah, I could probably do that =) Very nice looking aznshinobi. Is that with or without taxes and shipping? I have a feeling that it's without =/

Would it be a better idea to wait until my next paycheck or even Christmas time? In another month I'd have maybe 875-950 to spend, although I really don't want to go too overboard, and for my needs an $850 system would be more than enough I'd think.

 

[aznshinobi]

Well before everything, you're looking at a total of $773. Which is pretty good. Though you have to factor in taxes for only the Motherboard and CPU, and about $13 in shipping. So you're looking about a $800 build in the end.

 

[eagleblueline]

Sadly I live in New Jersey, so Newegg will be taxing me as well D:

 

[aznshinobi]

Oh... ouch, that really nips the budget. Well.... You should wait till your next paycheck then is my suggestion. By that time Bulldozer will come out and you could say you'll probably save even more money.

 

[eagleblueline]

How does this look? All from Microcenter.

Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

H67MA-E45-B3 LGA 1155 H67 mATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358076

G2 Series 8GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355688

High Current Gamer Series HCG-620 620W ATX Power Supply
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0348767

ZT-50303-10M GTX 560 Ti Overclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x16 Video Card
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0356003

Deskstar 7K3000 1.5TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 7,200 RPM 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0361571

AD-7260S 24X SATA Internal DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0342674

$748.24 after taxes without the case (not sure which to get). It looks pretty nice to me, and no shipping as I can drive there and pick it up! Although, the Mobo might not be that great. Let me know what you think.

 

[aznshinobi]

You wouldn't be able to OC with that motherboard.

Switch to this PSU. Allows for future SLI cheaper than the Egg too. (+20)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0361181
This board (+40)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0365993
Cheaper HDD same performance though sacrificing space. Samsung F3 1TB (-20)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0340562
So all in all you'll probably only total to like 780-ish?

 

[eagleblueline]

I also need a case =X Anything you would suggest that won't break the bank? Otherwise, thanks for all the help!

Oh, and do you mean overclocking the CPU because I think the GPU is already OC.

 

[aznshinobi]

Err.... ATM
Antec 300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
Rosewill Blackbone
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023
Rosewill Smart One
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147120
Rosewill Challenger
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

 

[eagleblueline]

Best answer selected by eagleblueline.

 

[eagleblueline]

Thanks much Azn!

 

[aznshinobi]

NP Good luck.