System spec

[ctaylor17]

So I'm trying to build a budget gaming PC for my girlfriend; it will need to be capable of playing, at least, League of Legends, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Diablo 3 (none of which I expect to be terribly graphics intensive). I've put together the below build largely using this, but with a few variations. I'm looking to spend no more than about $1000, including the monitor. I already have speakers, mouse, keyboard, and a copy of Windows 7. Any thoughts on the below build? Ways to improve while staying around this price? This will be the first computer I've built, so any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated. All prices and product names are from Newegg.

HARD DRIVE: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$54.99

POWER SUPPLY: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W High Performance Power Supply
$104.99

PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
$219.99

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory
$42.99

CASE: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming Computer Case
$54.99

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX Intel Motherboard
$113.99

VIDEO CARD: PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 AX6850 1GBD5-DH Video Card with Eyefinity
$149.99

DVD DRIVE: LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04
$17.99

MONITOR: Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design
$149.99

Grand Total: $909.91

 

[JerRevo]

You can save about $100 if you go amd. Some really good amd motherboards are under $100 as well. I bought my callisto 550 x2 3 somthing Ghz for $95. Handles all my gaming needs, wow, crysis, prototype, assassins creed II, deus ex...

 

[nordlead]

$909 isn't exactly what I'd call a "budget" gaming PC. You can save a good bit by switching to an AMD, or you could drop to a i5-2400 if you want to stay with Intel (even an i3-2100 would keep up with the best AMD has to offer). Assuming you don't plan on overclocking you can probably cut some costs and still have a competent gaming PC.

Your PSU is bigger than needed. You can switch to another brand like Antec and likely save a bit of money (they have a quality 650W for $50)

Your RAM isn't the max speed the processor/motherboard can handle. I've been told that DDR3-1600 CAS 9 would be the best option. You can go down to 4GB to save some $ since 8GB isn't needed yet. You can upgrade later for cheaper.

CPU - i5-2400 - $189.99
PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W - $84.99
RAM - Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $19.99 ($10 off instant rebate ends tomorrow)

$70 less than the currently spec'd system and should run just as well.

You could save some more money with no/minimal impact to performance by changing brands or dropping to an i3-2100.

 

[JerRevo]

Also keep an eye on newegg. I saw a Hanns G 20 or 20.5" for $90 or so.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152028 530W psu raidmax $40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254055 Hanns G 20" widescreen $100 and $10 off promo ($90)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130601 MSI motherboard amd $49

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313098 $23 each one i had before was ddr2 not 3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846 Callisto 555 x2 3.2Ghz $88

$313

 

[JerRevo]

After thought, with the savings, I'd shell out for a WD Veliciraptor drive. about $150.

 

[ctaylor17]

Best answer selected by ctaylor17.