$1000 Build advice needed!

TheFoxyBox

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Nov 13, 2011
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Approximate Purchase Date: After Christmas (going to get me some extra money!)

Budget Range: $1000 Before taxes and shipping ($1200 Overall)
In Canadian dollars

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Web Browsing, Gaming (mid level)

Parts Not Required: I need everything

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.CA although any website that ships to Canada is fine with me. (Tiger direct, Canada direct...etc)
Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: No Preferences

Overclocking: Maybe (depends if it's in the budget)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe with an APU (although no point since Trinity and the 7xxx series arn't out yet.) or if its cheap!

Monitor Resolution: 1355x768 is what my laptop is running. So anything similar or bigger is fine.

Additional Comments: It needs everything. Monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse...etc I plan on using it for moderate gaming such as Dragon age origins, TF2, SC2 and maybe Skyrim (but id be fine with playing it on low) Iv just been having trouble getting pricing because the taxes for BC is 13% + shipping it kills a lot of the budget. I have no preferences but any future proofing is a +. Should I just wait for ivy bridge and the 7xxx series GPUs? Because there is no real rush on this. Although the laptop I have (I3 380M with integrated graphics) doesn't rock I can still play TF2 and SC1 and it's been keeping me entertained so far!
 

rvilkman

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If your machine is keeping our entertained at the moment, why not wait for ivy bridge and the new graphics card generation.
Sounds like a really good plan to me. Especially with the HDD prices currently being sky high. Especially if you can save a few more bucks during that time.
Will make a bigger variety of choices available.

Once they are out though, you should nicely be able to build a decent system including monitor and OS for the price.

NCIX.com has price matching and often free shipping, so they are a popular choice.

Currently the setup would look something like this:

Monitor: Asus VH236H FullHD $180
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM $120
CPU: i3 2120 $145
Mobo: Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 $155
Memory: Gskill 2x4GB RipjawsX 1.5V CAS9 1600Mhz $52
GPU: MSI Radeon 6770 $131 ( or something in similar range, might have 6850's for example at close to this price with price matching )
HDD: Seagate 1TB HDD $130 atm which is a lot
DVD: Liteon 24x DVD writer $26
PSU: XFX Core pro 550W $70
Case: Cooler Master HAF912 $60

Total comes to about $1200 with the 13% tax, so would be feasible with free shipping.
Another option is to go with PhenomII x4 955 BE and a suitable AM3/AM3+ mobo, might save a few bucks.
Mouse and keyboard are very personal so i left them out. But you can get something for about $50 i'm sure, but you can just as easily spend $150 getting the ones you actually want.
 

calguyhunk

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Jul 6, 2010
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The prices are scaring me off a little. The currencies are so similarly valued, but the prices are so much higher Nord de la Frontière ;)

Hence, I'm going AMD for this one. I'm giving you Newegg.com (USA) links, find 'em on your site and link 'em here if the prices don't match up.

CPU: $140 AMD Phenom II X4 970

Mobo: $90 ASRock 870 Extreme3 R2.0 AM3+

RAM: $43 G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB)

HDD: $100 HITACHI 500GB 7200 RPM The prices have gone through the roof in the last few weeks. You could have gotten a 1TB one for $60 a few weeks back.

GPU: $270 ASUS Radeon HD 6950 2GB

ODD: $20 SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA with LightScribe Support - OEM

PSU: $35 CORSAIR TX 650 V2

Case: $50 COOLER MASTER Elite 430

Total: $748 after rebates + shipping from Newegg (USA) Plus ~$200 Monitor.

Monitor: You want 1366X768? That will only get you an 18.5" one. You should state you budget and desired screen size for the monitor. From your post, seems like you can afford a 1920X1080 (16:9) monitor. I recommend getting one with low response rate (max 2/3 ms B to B), high typical contrast ratio contrast ratio (min 1000:1), wide viewing angles and at least 1 HDMI port from either LG, Samsung or Asus.