Is This a Good $1000 PC Build?

[trev2395]

Hello, I need some help with a new $1000 budget Gaming/Editing PC. I am not a HARDCORE editor, I just do it as a hobby, it's not my job or anything. I also like to game, but my current PC is outdated, so I am looking to build my own which hopefully will be cheaper then buying a pre-built one. But of course I need your guys/girls help Ok, so I live in Newfoundland, Canada. WHich is a MAJOR bummer because of the HIGH shipping costs to rural communities. I tried Newegg.ca and tigerdirect.ca and ncix.ca and directcanada.ca. But they all have very high shipping to Newfoundland. My best bet is to go with Amazon.ca. They offer FREE SUPER SAVER SHIPPING. But only on some products, and there products are limited.. Anyways so here is my list of items from Amazon.ca:

- MSI P67A-GD53 (B3) LGA1155/Intel P67 B3/DDR3/SATA3&USB3.0/A&GbE/ATX Motherboard - $146
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0 [...] YIK6Y9EEQB

- MSI N560GTX Ti Twin Frozr IIOC GeForce GTX560 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/Mini HDMI PCI-Express Video Card - $244
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0 [...] YIK6Y9EEQB

- Elite 430 Mid Tower No Psu -$56
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0 [...] YIK6Y9EEQB

- Raidmax Hybrid RX-730SS 730W ATX12V/ EPS12V Power Supply - $64
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0 [...] YIK6Y9EEQB

- Benq G2320HDB 23-Inch 1080p LCD Monitor (Black) - $140
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0 [...] YIK6Y9EEQB

- Intel Core i5-2500K Processor 3.3GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 -$220
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0 [...] YIK6Y9EEQB

- Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B Vengeance Blu 8 GB PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit - $65

- Seagate Barracuda 1tb - $50-60 (Future Shop)

Total = $985

I also know that I will be needing a aftermarket cpu cooler (probably the hyper 212+) if I want to OC the 2500k, but I can't find a good one for the price yet (thats good with shipping to Newfoundland) Amazon has a horrible selection of cases, but I think the elite 430 is the best for the price. I am mainly wondering about my motherboard and graphics card. If I should go with the cheaper Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 or stick with the MSI. Whatever motherboard has the easiest BIOS for overclocking really. (I heard GIGABYTES BIOS sucks...) and they both support crossfire and SLI. I am also wondering if I should get the MSI GTX 560 ti or the HD 6950. I read everywhere and everyone has different opinions on which is better. I have heard though by a lot of people that if you have intel then its better to go with a nVidia over ATI. But other way around if you have an AMD. Amazon.ca I think has excellent graphics card prices, like for the 6950 2gb is the same price as the MSI gtx 560 ti twin frozr OC. What should I switch up that won't affect the price much, and also I mainly need to shop from Amazon.ca, because its basically the only place that sells computer components with mostly free shipping to all of Canada.

 

[madchemist83]

first of all
Why the hell do u need cooler if u live in Newfoundland? isn't it like 40 below zero there? Just open a window hehe
Also PSu is not a good choice stay away from raidmax
Get HD 6950 if u want better performance on higher resolutions and without oc .. if u like to oc get 560ti
also radeon CF scaling is a bit better then sli
2gb will matter if u go higher resolution

 

[inzone]

When you come down to it most components are close enough so that it's just a matter of personal preference really. Take the video cards , the difference in fps is such that it might not be noticeable in gameplay between the 560Ti and the AMD 6950. It's when you compare say a GTX 580 with anAMD 6950 that you will see a large difference in fps and then you would go with the higher card , but at a big price difference.
I know this is a big price difference from the MSI board but it is a good overclocking MB

http://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-Crosshair-IV-Formula-Motherboard/dp/B003G40Z66/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319311920&sr=1-7

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Terrible motherboard vs value.

i5 2500K $220
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD1527&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=INTEL
Asrock Extreme3 Gen3 Z68 $145
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950BD2247&vpn=Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3&manufacture=Others
G.Skill 8GB DDR3 1600 $48
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD5211&vpn=F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL&manufacture=G.SKILL
OCZ ZS 750w $86 (available $15 MIR)
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220AC2351&vpn=OCZ-ZS750W&manufacture=OCZ
MSI 560 Ti TFII OC $255 (Available $25 MIR)
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12980BD8066&vpn=N560GTX-TI%20Twin%20Frozr%20II/OC&manufacture=MSI
HAF 912 $60
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11130AC0700&vpn=RC-912-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER
Acer S211HL 21.5" 1920x1080 $130
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10140MN5155&vpn=ET.WS1HP.002&manufacture=ACER
Seagate 1TB (Future shop) $50-$60
Total: $1005 before rebates

You'd get a way better PSU, Free shipping on all of the stuff since it's free shipping on orders over $50, The case is larger to fit more things also better airflow, The board gives you more features while still overclocking well.

Suggestion Cooler:
Hyper 212 Evo
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11130AC0554&vpn=RR-212E-20PK-R1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER
This cooler succeeds the Hyper 212+ gives better performance for roughly the same price.

 

[madchemist83]

i would swap for Crucial memory low profile one as that cooler will cover up ur slots on that MOBO
also consider Antec 300 Illusion for a case or just regular one.

 

[madchemist83]

sorry I meant corsair vengeance low profile

 

[trev2395]

Thanks for the help, I literally had almost the exact same products that you recommended from Direct Canada. I contacted them about the shipping because it seemed to good to be true, and it was They could only ship via Canada Post Courier which was the most expensive. Direct Canada is the best site for prices to I also wanted a Z68 mb but amazon only got the Gigabyte ones (for cheap), and their BIOS aren't very user friendly. I also know the raidmax psu isn't a good choice but I didn't know what else to go with at amazon.ca. Thanks for the help though

 

[aznshinobi]

Ahhh... I see the restrictions, 50lbs or less. I pretty sure though that you could get all that stuff besides the case for 50lbs. So under the limit, can you check that?

 

[adrennn]

couldn't you get mutliple orders so it didn't go over the limit of 50 lbs?

 

[shaqxolotl]

^Exactly what I was thinking

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Also true.

 

[trev2395]

I have a PO Box, so their only shipping courier is Canada Post which isn't the free courier. I contacted them like 5 times about it and this is what it says in the fine print "DirectCanada shipping offers not valid to PO Boxes, Canadian Territories, and certain rural areas". So yea, that sucks

 

[aznshinobi]

Why can't it be sent to your house? Granted I'm not in Canada, in the US it is though.

 

[trev2395]

lol I asked them the same thing, I told them that UPS ships to my door, so Canada Post can't be the only courier that can ship to me. But they just said that they can only ship via Canada Post..

 

[aznshinobi]

Huh.... You should try it anyways... But I'm not really getting how Canada Post can't ship to your door.

 

[trev2395]

Ok thanks I will give it a shot. I will buy the CPU from amazon because it's the same price and Amazon has sure free shipping. But it doesn't matter to much. I also got this case instead of the one you recommended,
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15210AC1880
Mainly rather have this one because the reviews are very nice (on youtube) and it also has a temp. display and fan controller. Which I think is awesome for only $50. I did the math, and after everything is purchased it will come to: $1015, and if I am charged with shipping it would probably be an extra 40-50 bucks. Which would make it $1065. I'm quite happy with the final price, it's better then amazon's items for sure!

 

[aznshinobi]

Also solid. Looks to be a great build!

 

[trev2395]

thanks for the help, I will probably look into adding another gtx 560 ti in SLI in the future, but I will probably be gaming only at 1280x720, so I should be able to play new games at good FPS. I don't see any difference between 1080p and 720p with a small tv or monitor.

 

[aznshinobi]

Do NOT add another 560 Ti untill you get a monitor resolution higher than 1680x1050. I say this because your CPU will not be able to handle the graphical power at such a small resolution. You're putting too much GPU at such a small resolution it strains the CPU alot. A single 560 Ti OC would handle 1280x720 fine, especially any game (even BF3) on Ultra.

 

[trev2395]

Wow.. DirectCanada is being pretty weird. When I clicked checkout, it said the shipping was $103 :0. I went back to cart, deleted the cooler master 212+ because I forgot to delete it from my cart because I got the hyper212 evo like you said. It then went from $103 to "Free Ground Shipping". Pretty weird....

 

[aznshinobi]

Interesting.

 

[trev2395]

Oh, and yea the monitor is native 1920x1080. But I will game with the one GTX 560 ti on 1280x720 for now so I can have better FPS, but will I be able to add another gtx 560 ti in SLI and then play at 1080p. Thats what I think anyway

 

[aznshinobi]

Ahhh OK that'll be good then, the 560 Ti can game well @ 1920x1080 though, just try it out and see.

 

[trev2395]

I will when I get it lol. I heard that the GTX 560 ti performs better at lower resolutions then the 6950, but the 6950 performs better at higher resolution like 1080p, But I don't care, I am sticking with nVidia on this build. Also, is it really true that nVidia performs better then ATI on intel, and the ATI performs better then nVidia on AMD?

 

[aznshinobi]

Not true, there is no difference in performance AMD or Intel. That's a myth.

As for the 560 Ti better at lower resolutions than than the 6950. True, the 6950 is better at higher resolutions than the 560 Ti, but the MSI 560 Ti TFII OC is stock OC'd to perform at about the 570's level so it won't perform to bad.