1200 Dollar gaming system

Hoplite32

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Hello I'm planning on building a new computer right after or slightly before Christmas time rolls by. The computer will be mostly used for gaming and the occasional blender modeling. I play a wide array of games including SC2, BF, Shogun 2, etc. I have absolutely no part preference so go free on your part selection.

Approximate Purchase Date: Right after Christmas or maybe slightly before

Budget Range: 1200 Dollars before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Blender (3d, nothing heavy though), surfing, watching movies

Parts Not Required: no keyboard mouse or monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg but if there's a better deal somewhere else ill go with it

Country of Origin: U.S.A Chicago IL

Parts Preferences: Midtower is the only preference

Overclocking: On the CPU definitely, GPU maybe

SLI or Crossfire: In the future

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Quite, and relatively easy to move from one house to another occasionally.


Thanks in advice!
 
Solution
Hello and welcome :)

I have some options for you to consider:

1. The 850W PSU is not overkill. It is best to spec you PSU to run at 50% capacity if possible. I would recommend that you go with the Corsair HX850 which regularly goes on sale for $140 - $150. It has several advantages:

* It is modular - you won't have cable mess in your case
* It will run at 92% capacity at 50% capacity which is nearly platinum performance
* It will run very quiet and cool
* It comes with a 7 year warranty from a company with legendary customer service
* It comes with an abundance of cables (more than you will need)
* It will easily power two cards, it will put out over 1000W and remain stable

There is a rash of posters that...

IH8U

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Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112345
$110 LIAN LI PC-7FN USB 3.0 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower (good quality, light case)
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194093
$120 LEPA B850-MA 850W ATX12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80+ Modular (you wanted SLi/X-Fire later, lepa is a rebadged enermax)
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502
$120 GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
$220 Intel i5 2500k
HSF: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
$26 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416
$48 G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145533
$70 HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 (0F13180) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb
ODD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151232
$60 SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM (retail)
VID: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125383
$190 GIGABYTE GV-N56GOC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 (Free Arkham Asylum)
OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
$100 Win 7 home 64bit

Total: $1064 + S&H (not counting MIR, or combo/specials)
Spend a bit more for a 3TB HDD to add to this for storage, or add an SSD for a boot/OS drive if you really need speed.
 

Hoplite32

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As I don't watch blurray at the moment it's not neccaray. Also I just realized that I forgot to mention that I already have windows. With that in mind what revisions could be made to the above?
 

Nigelfrost

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Firstly,dont get the mobo suggested get the Asrock Z68 Xtreme 4 Gen 3, also upgrade from a 560 to a 560 ti or a 6950. That psu is WAY overkill-you could run dual 580s with it, insteadget a good modular 750 watter.And just because you dont watch burayat themomentdoesetmean you wontin future.
 

IH8U

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He stated that he wanted to do SLi, or X-Fire later (reason for overkill PSU). The Gigabyte board is fine, as it will be able to use a 3TB+ Hdd (the ASRock won't). I thought the card I listed was a 560Ti (not enough caffiene/inattention). Since the OP stated he won't need an OS, grab either 2 cards or a SSD. (or just 1 card, and an SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227729
$184 OCZ Solid 3 SLD3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401
$220 GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti ($30 more than what I listed previously, same game with)
 

Hoplite32

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Oct 24, 2011
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Ill get the 2 560TI's as I believe that SSD's are to much for storage capacity at the moment no matter how much faster it is. Also I wont be watching Blu-Ray on my PC as I have a PS3 set up elsewere in my house for family use, this is a personal machine that as I said i may move around and thus would like to be able to atch movies on. Lastly Is the 850 overkill? it seems like it.
 

justjohn5

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IH8U why did you recommend the 560? I mean for that kind of money spending he could get much better of a card. Try to get atleast the 560 ti which is good with sli, or grab a gtx 570. I recommend getting an nvidia card because you stated your resolution. If your resolution was higher I would recommend either a 6950 or even a 6970, but they are not worth it for your resolution imo.
 

Hoplite32

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He did change his statement as he thought he put a 560ti in there. After what you mentioned would it be best to put a 570 in the build and later get the second card? Or just get the two 560ti and possibly oc them.
 

flong

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Hello and welcome :)

I have some options for you to consider:

1. The 850W PSU is not overkill. It is best to spec you PSU to run at 50% capacity if possible. I would recommend that you go with the Corsair HX850 which regularly goes on sale for $140 - $150. It has several advantages:

* It is modular - you won't have cable mess in your case
* It will run at 92% capacity at 50% capacity which is nearly platinum performance
* It will run very quiet and cool
* It comes with a 7 year warranty from a company with legendary customer service
* It comes with an abundance of cables (more than you will need)
* It will easily power two cards, it will put out over 1000W and remain stable

There is a rash of posters that are stuck on recommending the cheapest, lowest wattage PSU that will run your computer. This is a mistake. ANY PSU will run better at 30% - 60% than at 70% - 100% capacity. It is just a simple fact.

There is also the "200W rule." That is, specify your PSU at 200W over max capacity. This is somewhat acceptable but it is inferior to specing your PSU at 50% max capacity. Your PSU will simply run much more efficiently at lower capacity.

BTW I own the HX 850 and so I speak from experience. It is simply a superb PSU. I run one ATI XFX 2GB 6950 and I have never even hear the fan turn on (it may have but it is silent if it is running).

2. Go with a cheap 120GB SSD like the Kingston Hyper X Extreme or the Corsair GT Force (emphasize the GT). These are usually at $200 or less and they are very fast. I own the Corsair GT, it is a very good SSD. The Mushkin Chronos Deluxe is probably the fastest 120GB SSD but it is also expensive and it is not that much faster than the GT or the Extreme. Avoid the OCZ Agility and Solid if possible as they have a cheaper Nand flash memory.

The SSD will speed up your whole system and make everything much faster. It is a joy to use a system with the operating system on the SSD

3. The 1 GB 6950 or the 560Ti are both very good video cards for the money. They are both recommended by Tom's Hardware. The brand is not overly important. I like XFX for their lifetime warranty. The 560Ti not the 560 is the way to go if you are going to buy Nvidia. Check to see if you can get a 2GB 6950 on sale too, sometimes they are really cheap

4. A great midtower cases are the Corsair Carbide 400 / 500, the Corsair 650D. The Silverstone Raven is another very good case - but it is very big. The Cooler Master 922 is worth a look. I own the 650D and I think it is an amazing case. It is pretty conservative compared to many gaming cases. I am not sure which cases are "easiest to move from house to house," some of the "lan" cases are pretty mediocre. The Cooler Master 690 II is also a cheap midtower that is very good.

5. The Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB and the Seagate Barracuda 1TB drives get recommended a lot for good reason; they are very good drives and they can be found on sale for around $50 on Newegg. However it appears that HDD prices are going up lately.

6. Get a motherboard that is Ivy Bridge compatible and PCI-E 3.0 compliant. They will be ready for the next generation GPUs as well as the new Ivy Bridge CPUs. So if you want to upgrade, you will not need to change out your motherboard. The AsRock Extreme 4 Gen 3 is in your price range and is an excellent board.

7. Since you are going to overclock I would recommend the Noctua NH-D14 as a CPU cooler. It is a legend among overclockers and is perhaps the best overall air cooler. The Hyper 212 Evo recommended earlier is a cheaper alternative and it is a capable cooler but with a $1200 budget you should be able to afford the D-14.

8. The 2500K is the perfect CPU for your build. Check Amazon for pricing because they are frequently cheaper than Newegg and they have a better return policy.


Good luck with your build
 
Solution