$1000 Gaming PC (Also bit of rendering)

A_A_M_I_R

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Hi,


It seems my laptop has given up on me. I'm planning on build my own gaming desktop for the first time. I've saved up around $1k for the case+components. Will be buying the keyboard/monitor/accessories separately, but only really need help with the tower+components for now as that seems to be the main part of building it

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Approximate Purchase Date: Next couple weeks
Budget Range: $900-1000 CAD After Rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Rendering on After Effects/Cinema 4D (non-commercial, private, just-for-fun), Surfing.
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: tigerdirect.ca, newegg.ca, canadacomputers.com
Country of Origin: Canada
Parts Preferences: (Look below)
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: [Not sure, look at question 6 below]
Monitor Resolution: Full HD native resolution 1980 x 1080 [not included in budget]


Additional Comments:

- Quiet PC. Need it to last next 2-3 years.
- Looking for at least 8 GB DDR3 RAM + a 2 GB GDDR5 dedicated graphics card
- mid-to-full sized case with good airflow
- 1 TB/750 GB HDD + maybe another smaller solid state drive partition of around 250 GB
- Going for either intel i5-2500k or i7-2600k [still deciding, will pick one depending on budget after deciding on other parts]


A few questions:
1. What's usually the warranty when you separately buy motherboards, CPUs and graphic cards?
2. What do yo think of this RAM:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7114149
3. What do you think of this tower (and also the power supply that's suggested with it)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6269869&CatId=1510
4. How much of power supply is really needed? Some people say 600w, some say 650-700w? How do you figure it out?
5. Are unlocked CPUs worth it? I'm not sure how overclocking will work because I've never done it before. Is it all from those BIOS options from when you start your PC and press F2 or something?? I got no idea.
6. SLI vs Crossfire graphic cards? What gives better performance for the price overall? I heard SLI's are better since they have several GPUs in one or something like that. Please help me understand this :eek: Also, what graphic cards would you recommend for each type?
7. Will I need to buy additional fans or do the ones that come with the case and the CPU be enough?
8. As said above, i5-2500k or i7-2600k? Not sure how much overall other parts will cost but I hear i7 got hyper-threading and I multitask quite often so it might be worth it?
9. What motherboard/tower case/graphic card brands should I primarily be looking at?

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Any feedback/tips appreciated. Thanks. :D
 
Solution
Well, here's the thing. the HAF X is a bigass case. Check out the HAF 912 for a smaller (but still quite large) and more manageable case. We can easily fit it in the budget.
For gaming, here's how the money should be spent. GPU>CPU>PSU/Mobo>other stuff. That means we pick your CPU and GPU, and adjust stuff around that.

I don't quite understand what you mean by "partition". The OS partitions itself onto the primary hard drive, but I assume you're trying to separate the OS drive from the data drive?

no, 1080p is a good size. It's becoming the standard. I myself have a 1600x900 monitor, but I will upgrade to 1080p when this one dies.
Ahh, ok. I only asked because you might use an app that needs a bunch of Vram. But for 1080p and below...

striker410

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Hi there! welcome to the forums. I will answer your questions, then ask some of my own.

1. Usually around 2 years. Depends on manufacturer, but I would strive for at least 2 years.
2. Expensive. Plus, don't shop TigerDirect for stuff, it's expensive in Canada.
3. The HAF X is an excellent case. CM PSU's are not. Plus, I don't think we can fit the HAF X in with your budget. Look on NCIX.ca at the Antec 300 and HAF 912.
4. Depends on the card. The best way to find out is check reviews for the card, and see what the power consumption is. Add 100-150w ontop of system draw and you have a pretty solid PSU.
5. YES! With a 2500k or 2600k can easily reach 4.5GHz+ on air cooling, and it's like $10 more.
6. Well, Crossfire and SLI are both the act of putting the power of 2 separate GPU's into a combined force. Think of it like a horse drawn carriage. A single horse is the simplest option, but 2 horses add speed and power.
7. Depends. An aftermarket heatsink is probably a good idea if you want to overclock.
8. Go for the 2500k. It's a powerhouse, and we'll never be able to fit the 2600k in a GOOD build with this budget.
9. Really depends. For motherboard, I suggest an ASRock Gen3 board. Antec 300 or HAF 912 for case.

Now, my questions.
-Why 2GB of Vram? You know you can't take advantage of that much Vram at 1080p, right?
-you CANNOT fit a 250GB SSD into this budget, not without making big time sacrifices. a 60GB you could probably do though.
-Lasting 2-3 years is quite different than being top of the line in 2-3 years. Chances are, you'll want to upgrade by then anyway :p

Well, hope that helps somewhat. Cheers!
 

A_A_M_I_R

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Thanks for the response. You seem to know a lot about this stuff. Where should I be buying parts if not at TigerDirect, I've never really bought parts before so I don't know where to get cheap ones from a reliable website. You can adjust my budget up to $1100, would the HAF X then fit within my budget? I was really hoping to get that case.

Yeah, the SSD was just a side thing, I guess I don't really need it anyway. But I was just hoping to have some kinda partition. Guess I could juts get 2 harddrives which would be much cheaper? Yeah, I know it won't stay top of the line but I just want it to play games that come out over the next year or so :p

I just said 1080p monitor out of the blue, I really don't have a clue about it. Tell me more about it? What kind of a monitor do you have? I thought most monitors that are sold today already have native full hd resolution :S I said 2 GB Vram because I thought, the more dedicated RAM the better. I don't know how it would work with the monitor, does a native 1080p monitor reduce the performance or something?

Okay, so now that I got i5-2500k kinda in the list, what's next. Can I fit in the HAF X case in a $1100 budget?

So here I am, starting off the list lol:
- i5-2500k processor ($230-240) + taxes ($25)
- ?
 

striker410

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Well, here's the thing. the HAF X is a bigass case. Check out the HAF 912 for a smaller (but still quite large) and more manageable case. We can easily fit it in the budget.
For gaming, here's how the money should be spent. GPU>CPU>PSU/Mobo>other stuff. That means we pick your CPU and GPU, and adjust stuff around that.

I don't quite understand what you mean by "partition". The OS partitions itself onto the primary hard drive, but I assume you're trying to separate the OS drive from the data drive?

no, 1080p is a good size. It's becoming the standard. I myself have a 1600x900 monitor, but I will upgrade to 1080p when this one dies.
Ahh, ok. I only asked because you might use an app that needs a bunch of Vram. But for 1080p and below, 1GB is plenty.

Not sure about the HAF x. We'll see.

Btw, shop at www.ncix.ca first. Free shipping.
2500k CPU $240 http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=57962&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=Intel
RAM: 2x4GB 1600MHz $45
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=55544&vpn=996770&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced&promoid=1366
PSU: XFX 750w $70 (after rebate) http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=59617&vpn=P1750SNLB9&manufacture=XFX
GPU: 6970 2GB (haha, why not.) $330 http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=57629&vpn=HD697ACNFC&manufacture=XFX
Mobo: ASRock Gen3 $155
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=63945&vpn=Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3&manufacture=ASRock
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda $65 http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=58746&vpn=ST31000524AS&manufacture=Seagate
Case: CM HAF 912 $60 http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=55583&vpn=RC-912-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

That should get er done well under budget. Take a look, and tell me what you think!

EDIT: Do you need an OS?
 
Solution

A_A_M_I_R

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It says that the case and the graphic card are low in stock so they might not have it. You know the warning thing it shows when you try to add it to the cart. Anyway, when I add everything to the cart and with tax it comes out to $1,044.37. It's nice I can just pick it up from Markham so there's no shipping costs. Not sure if TigerDirect offers that. So that still leaves me with $150. The keyboard and monitor will also cost around $200 right. So, now adding 1044.37+200 --> 1244.37.

I guess I could still add $170 more. I think I should get a better motherboard by adding that amount. The one you suggested was 155.25, now what better motherboard would you suggest around $250? The remaining $50 can go towards a better case so suggest a better case around $100 now.

By the partition, I meant like having 2 physical drives so one is for backup, you know what I mean? One would almost never get used, and would be like 60-120GB or something.

I almost forgot, I didn't take into account the price of the OS in there lol, but I guess I'll spend a bit more since the laptop I was planning to buy before (asus g74) was gonna cost me around $1500(before taxes) anyway.
 

striker410

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Oh it's $1044 with tax? My bad. We could cut out a bit of money by dropping to a 6950, that would lower the cost by about $100.

Well if you want a backup system, the best option is to use RAID 1. RAID 1 mirrors everything from the first disc onto the second one, meaning that if your primary drive fails you can switch over to the secondary without an issue. It's a very popular way to make sure your data stays safe, I use it myself.

For the motherboard, I stay stick with it. The extreme3 Gen3 has an excellent featureset, especially for the price. If I were to build a Sandy Bridge machine (ie use the 2500k) I would use that board.
 

A_A_M_I_R

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No, the price is fine but I said I can spend more on the motherboard. The one you suggested was $155, if you had to upgrade to one around $230-250 which 1-2 would you pick?

Also, how does RAID 1 work, and how do you acquire it? As in, do you buy 2 HDD's and they have to be RAID 1 compatible or something?

And what case would you suggest if I had to upgrade to one around $100?
 

striker410

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Well, I would put that extra $100 into an SSD. The mobo is fine, you really don't get anything from upgrading the mobo, there aren't any more benefits.

It's quite simple! I'm not sure of the exact procedure for this board, but you just go into the BIOS and select the two drives to run in RAID 1. All drives are compatible.

Eh, you have a few choices. A personal favorite of mine is the Coolermaster 690 II but the HAF 922 is another great choice. If you're all about bang for buck, Andandtech recommends the IN-Win BUC.
 

A_A_M_I_R

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I think I might go for the HAF 922, anyway just wondering so I need to buy 2 separate drives to run RAID 1 and they have to be the same size too right?

What do you think of this monitor:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=934219&Sku=A179-2100%20CA

I'm not looking at the NCIX ones since their lowest priced ones are starting at $169 so may as well pay the shipping on this rather than get this one which doesn't even tilt I think:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59771&vpn=IPS231P-BN&manufacture=LG%20Electronics
 

A_A_M_I_R

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Corsair 400R looks nice too. Thanks for the comment. Just wondering though, does the 400R have all the features of the HAF 922 case, because the HAF922 case is 30 bucks more which I don't mind spending if I'm getting extra features.
 

striker410

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Forgot the link buddy.

Yeah that monitor looks alright OP but it doesn't have LED back lighting which I personally would want. If you'll throw down $20 more, on of these would be better: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254058 or http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1347354&csid=_21

I like both the HAF and the 400R. Haven't done a done of research into the new Carbide cases but I'm sure they are excellent.
 

A_A_M_I_R

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The LG one looks nice I'd probably go with that but I'm not sure if the screen tilts? They all come with adjustable screens right, so you can adjust the height and tilt?

Also, you didn't tell me how RAID 0 works!! Do I need to buy 2 harddrives for it with the same capacity?

As for looks, HAF 922 looks better but then again the Corsair 400R has 2 front fans instead of 1 that comes with the HAF 922. Not sure which one to pick, which one would you go for if money wasn't a problem??

Corsair 500R looks good too:
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62757&vpn=CC%2D9011012%2DWW&manufacture=Corsair
 

striker410

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Not sure. I imagine it says on the spec sheet?

Woah woah buddy! Calm down. RAID 0 is quite different from RAID 1. For RAID 1, you need 2 identical drives since you are "cloning" the first drive onto the second one. So yeah, you need 2 identical drives.

Hmm, tough one. They are both excellent cases and I'd say go for the one that looks better. The HAF gets my pick, but I love the HAF style. The fans don't really matter, as the 180mil fan on the HAF will take care of business. Your call.
 

A_A_M_I_R

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Your last sentence doesn't make sense "The HAF gets my pick, but I love the HAF style." lol

Yeah, your right. For the monitor it says:

Horizontal Viewing Angle: 170 degrees
Vertical Viewing Angle: 160 degrees

So I guess that would be good. Btw, can you use RAID 1 at any time? What if at a later time I want to get another drive and use it. How would that work?
 

striker410

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Sorry bout that. I mean I like the way it looks, so I'd pick the HAF.

Not sure if that's viewing angles or tilt adjustment.

Umm, not sure. I'm no expert on RAID, I suggest you ask in the Storage Forums because I am sure they know more than me on that subject.
 

A_A_M_I_R

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You're right, that's not tilt adjustment it's just viewing angle lol. It doesn't tell me anywhere :eek: Yeah, I think I'll go with the HAF case...
 

A_A_M_I_R

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What bout DVD writers, I've heard the Samsung ones are good? How did you end up buying your monitor? It doesn't tell me anywhere at all if you can tilt it or not, but I hear you can do it with most of them. Btw, thanks for all the help up till now :p
 

striker410

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Eh, DVD writers don't matter. I like the Sony Optiarc, simply because it has a blank black face. I'd prefer my clean new build not be defaced by ugly white writing on the DVD burner.

I got my monitor offhand, it's an older HP model from 2009. It's not a bad monitor and I find 19" to be the sweet spot. I sit close to my screen :p
 

A_A_M_I_R

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No, I mean how do I tell if I can tilt it or not, and adjust the screen? I'll be sitting close too, so maybe I should get a 19 inch as well. Any recommendations for 19 inch??

I'm gonna get this wooden piece cut at Home Depot tomorrow so I can use it as a stand for my case, since my desk won't have space for it anyway. I decided to stick with HAF922. Guess I'll leave the DVDwriter for later. Just wondering, but the motherboard has a Wi-Fi card built-in right??
 

Emelth

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This is a hard one sorry for the late reply....

Corsair 400R looks like it has better fan cooling due to the more fans

HAF you can easily upgrade to liquid cooling for even better temp control if you plan to OC
I dont like the red LED personally


Corsair 400R gets my vote
 

striker410

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No I would go for 1080p. it's what I would have picked, I simply got a deal on this monitor. Go with 1080p.

Not sure how you tell if it can tilt or not... When I google the model number, I see many mentions of "tilt" in the spec sheets, so I'm fairly confident it can.

Nope, no build in wifi card. That can be easily remedied with this: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=587833&CatId=2688 Unless you have REALLY fast internet speeds and a wireless N router, then you need this: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=189703&CatId=2688 it's really if you want it to be USB or not. Your call.