$1,300 Gaming PC for BF3

kong85

November 2, 2011 2:08:17 AM

Hi all,

Building a new gaming PC for my brother and would appreciate some advice!

Budget: US$1,300
Main uses: Office applications, basic design applications, Gaming (BF3).
Overclocking: None, or automatic.
Date: Buying in the next 4-6 weeks.

Already have:
LG 1080p monitor
Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB (don't necessarily have to use this).

Other info:

He has network storage, so don't need any data redundancy (i.e. open to using RAID0).

I'm based in Hong Kong, so will be getting all my items from a local outlet. However, I'm pretty sure the prices and availability is similar to US sites (newegg etc).

No other preferences. In general it would be great to keep this rig for a while. His current rig is AMD 4000 X2, GA-K8NXP-9 based and is still going fairly strong after 7 years (built in 2004).

More about : 300 gaming bf3

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hellfire24

November 2, 2011 11:14:28 AM

eldudus said:

looks good.change the motherboard to this one-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
ALMOST same features at less price.
i don't challenge samsung quality but iwould recommend this one-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
cheap,fast and most important thing very reliable.
get this PSU-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

c u latr.

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Hobo82

November 2, 2011 11:19:20 AM

Quote:

GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6970 2gb - $360 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125371

Is that HUGE card going to fit in the 300 without modding it? May be something to look into. 18" case . . . 11" card. Also, I know a 6970 can "RUN" BF3, but at what resolution and gfx settings? Surely not ultra 1080p? An extra ~$150 and 1you can crossfire two 6950s and run BF3 on ultra settings 2560x1600.

Also, don't really need a 2600k unless you plan on running heavily-threaded workstation applications. 2500k would be fine for gaming and save ~$100, which you could use on a blu-ray player or crossfire 6950s.

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eldudus

November 2, 2011 11:25:58 AM

Quote:

CPU: Intel i5-2600k - $220 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072

sorry typo, that's meant to be 2500k

Quote:

Quote :
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6970 2gb - $360 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125371

Is that HUGE card going to fit in the 300 without modding it? May be something to look into. 18" case . . . 1" card. Also, I know a 6970 can "RUN" BF3, but at what resolution and gfx settings? Surely not ultra 1080p? An extra ~$150 and 1you can crossfire two 6950s and run BF3 on ultra settings 2560x1600.

Also, don't really need a 2600k unless you plan on running heavily-threaded workstation applications. 2500k would be fine for gaming and save ~$100, which you could use on a blu-ray player or crossfire 6950s.

Totally forgot about length but a reference design 6970 might fit

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kong85

November 6, 2011 11:31:45 PM

Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I've spoken to my local supplier, and he's come back with a quotation. Some of these are equivalents, as some of the stuff isn't available. Total is $1,452.

MB‐SZ68X3G AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 x1 $153.18
i5‐2500K Intel i5‐2500k (3.3G, 6M Cache, with HD 3000 Graphics, Overclock unlock x1 $226.55
HD‐695X‐CDFC XFX HD6950 2GB GDDR5 ('Dual Fan ) x2 $476.28
F312800CL7D8GBXH G.SKILL 4GB*2 DDR3-1600 PC12800- CL7 x1 $186.65
VTX3‐25SAT3 OCZ Vertex 3 series 128gb SSD x1 $212.39
CMPSU‐750TXM Corsair Enthusiast Series Modular 750W Power Supply x1 $119.71
DVD1260I/HK HP 24X DVD‐RW x1 $21.88
Three Hundred Antec "Three Hundred" Tower Gaming Case ‐ Black x1 $55.35

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kai-fei

November 7, 2011 12:00:41 AM

that much RAM (8 GB) should be 50 dollars, not 190, there is no i5-2600k, only an i7-2600k, that seems really cheep for two 6950's, and you have two ssd's on there. Just want to make sure this guys prices are real, as they seem a bit strange, especially the ram being 4 times too much. Make sure you don't get ripped off.

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kong85

November 7, 2011 12:17:32 AM

kai-fei said:

that much RAM (8 GB) should be 50 dollars, not 190, there is no i5-2600k, only an i7-2600k, that seems really cheep for two 6950's, and you have two ssd's on there. Just want to make sure this guys prices are real, as they seem a bit strange, especially the ram being 4 times too much. Make sure you don't get ripped off.

Hi Kai-Fei, my mistake, fixed the post now. Didn't have the inline total for the 2 cards, and accidentally put both options for SSD in there.

Agreed, looking at the price it should be i5 2500k. Think that's just a typo on the quotation. On the RAM, you're right it should only be $105: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I'll check again with the vendor on that.

What about general feedback on the setup as a whole?

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kong85

November 7, 2011 6:02:51 AM

Looks like that model of GSkill just isn't that cheap here. Would this be a good alternative?

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C7R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Can get it here for $96.

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hellfire24

November 7, 2011 10:36:21 AM

get this one-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

they work fine with z68 boards.

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kong85

November 8, 2011 9:34:28 AM

hellfire24 said:

get this one-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

they work fine with z68 boards.

I think GSkill in general is quite expensive here. Am I OK going for the equivalent Corsair?

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hellfire24

November 9, 2011 7:45:22 AM

ofcourse

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kong85

December 12, 2011 5:20:02 PM

Thanks for the advice guys. I've put together my shopping list (HKD and USD below), which is a now over $1,300. Would appreciate some final feedback on this, any way I could shave off a hundred bucks?

MB: AsRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 HK$1,650.00 $211.54
CPU: Intel i5-2500k HK$1,760.00 $225.64
GPU: 2x XFX HD6950 Radeon 2GB GDDR5 HK$3,700.00 $474.36
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 CL7 HK$750.00 $96.15
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 128GB SSD HK$1,650.00 $211.54
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 HK$930.00 $119.23
ODD: DVD-RW HK$170.00 $21.79
CASE: Antec 300 HK$430.00 $55.13
Windows 7 Home Prem OEM 64 Bit HK$939.00 $120.38

Total HK$11,979.00 $1,535.77

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hellfire24

December 13, 2011 7:52:57 AM

get xtreme3 gen3 mobo.you will save some money.

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kong85

January 8, 2012 12:08:29 PM

Thought I'd post how I got on. My brother said I could push the budget a little so I kept the config and opted for the i7 2600K. So, it ended up being a $1,600 machine. Thanks for all the help, couldn't have done it without!

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hellfire24

January 8, 2012 12:51:57 PM

all the best

select any best answer to solve the topic...

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kong85

January 8, 2012 12:57:52 PM

Best answer selected by kong85.

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kong85

January 8, 2012 12:59:01 PM

Done. Weren't any posts that were truly the 'best answer' as a took a bit from all the posts, but picked one anyway!

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