Up until now all of my computers have been either hand me down laptops, or amalgamations of friends and families extra computers with whatever cheap parts I could find on craigslist, somehow I've found myself without a computer in about a month, and so I've finally decided to put some money into the computer I've always wanted.
My budget is..ABOUT $1500 preferably, I have the funding to go as high as $2500 if I absolutely need to, but I'd really rather keep it low, the issue being I need peripherals as well, monitor, keyboard, what have you.
I've ironed out a build in the past week, but I'm trying to fine tune it to get the most bang for my buck and reducing cost while keeping the power that I need, I'd really appreciate any input whatsoever, from comments on the flaws of any of the parts that I have to "That sucks, do this instead" as I'm..More or less clueless.
The primary focus of the CPU is schoolwork, gaming (I intend to play anything this year on max if possible, I don't care about AA. Nor about future proofing, I'll just play on lowest, so long as this can actually PLAY them) and very basic video/photo editing, not enough to merit 16 gb right off the bat.
Note: All links if possible will be from newegg, due to ease of reading and access, I will not be buying most of these parts from newegg, as they're sold from local stores for cheaper.
Processor: i5 2500k - This isn't something I really want to budge on. I've never liked or had good experiences with AMD processors, and this just seems like a decent investment for the priceower.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
MOBO: MSI P67A-G43 - Cheapest thing I could find that (Allegedly?) can handle SLI for the future, and has all the features I need, I had my eyes on a different board, but this was $70 cheaper, and that helps.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583&Tpk=MSI%20P67A-G43
PSU: Seasonic S12II 620W - Seems to be a great PSU for this pricerange, though I've heard it'll be really pushing it to SLI if I end up doing that, but that's a bridge I can cross later.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096
GPU: GTX 560 TI, or if the prices drop by the time I get it, GTX 570 - This is the part I'm having the most trouble with. I was originally going for the 570, but it's just..Not worth the $130 more for the comparitively minor increase over the 560 TI, which I apparently can match with overclocking if need be. I've looked into AMD cards, but again, meaningless dislike for AMD, however I know they have better priceower than nVidia in general and I don't really need cuda cores. This is the part I need the most help on, as even if I get a 560 TI, I don't know what one to get, mostly looking at 2 fans for reasons previously mentioned
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gtx-560ti-us.html
(Linked to nvidia site because I can't decide on a model.)
Case Coolermaster 690 ii - I was originally looking at a Fractal design define r3 because it was sexy as hell, but I heard the case gets really hot, and this one was cheaper. I don't particularly care about the case, so long as it doesn't have a glowy faceplate and looks like a 15 year old's wet dream. I'm not into excessive LED.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119215
RAM 2x4gb Mushkin DDR3 silverline - It's cheap and I like the company name, I'm honestly not dedicated to this at all, RAM is RAM in my mind, so long as it's a decently reliable brand, but I've heard there's better for cheaper out there. Also willing to upgrade to 16gb, but I don't think I need it right now, the board supports it if neccisary.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095
HDD Seagate barracuda 7200.11 1tb - I got blasted last time I mentioned this to someone, but I'm honestly just looking for the cheapest thing I can find, no SSD until later, and I'm entirely willing to drop to 500 gb.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
I believe that's it, may have forgotten something, as for peripherals..
Monitor ASUS ML239H - Cheapest thing I could find with an IPS panel, which doesn't mean much to me, but I'll spend the extra $30 for it. If anyone has other suggestions I'd be happy to hear.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236122
Microphones, webcams, headphones, keyboards and mice are all in the air right now, but I think that'd be mostly a preference thing, so I won't ask, but if you have opinions feel free.
Edit: I remember one thing I forgot.
I need a DVD read/write drive and I was slapping myself for forgetting earlier, but I seriously don't think that's going to be hard to find.
I really appreciate any input, I'm having a hell of a time finding parts for decent prices in Canada, not sure if that's a common thing.
My budget is..ABOUT $1500 preferably, I have the funding to go as high as $2500 if I absolutely need to, but I'd really rather keep it low, the issue being I need peripherals as well, monitor, keyboard, what have you.
I've ironed out a build in the past week, but I'm trying to fine tune it to get the most bang for my buck and reducing cost while keeping the power that I need, I'd really appreciate any input whatsoever, from comments on the flaws of any of the parts that I have to "That sucks, do this instead" as I'm..More or less clueless.
The primary focus of the CPU is schoolwork, gaming (I intend to play anything this year on max if possible, I don't care about AA. Nor about future proofing, I'll just play on lowest, so long as this can actually PLAY them) and very basic video/photo editing, not enough to merit 16 gb right off the bat.
Note: All links if possible will be from newegg, due to ease of reading and access, I will not be buying most of these parts from newegg, as they're sold from local stores for cheaper.
Processor: i5 2500k - This isn't something I really want to budge on. I've never liked or had good experiences with AMD processors, and this just seems like a decent investment for the priceower.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
MOBO: MSI P67A-G43 - Cheapest thing I could find that (Allegedly?) can handle SLI for the future, and has all the features I need, I had my eyes on a different board, but this was $70 cheaper, and that helps.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583&Tpk=MSI%20P67A-G43
PSU: Seasonic S12II 620W - Seems to be a great PSU for this pricerange, though I've heard it'll be really pushing it to SLI if I end up doing that, but that's a bridge I can cross later.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096
GPU: GTX 560 TI, or if the prices drop by the time I get it, GTX 570 - This is the part I'm having the most trouble with. I was originally going for the 570, but it's just..Not worth the $130 more for the comparitively minor increase over the 560 TI, which I apparently can match with overclocking if need be. I've looked into AMD cards, but again, meaningless dislike for AMD, however I know they have better priceower than nVidia in general and I don't really need cuda cores. This is the part I need the most help on, as even if I get a 560 TI, I don't know what one to get, mostly looking at 2 fans for reasons previously mentioned
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gtx-560ti-us.html
(Linked to nvidia site because I can't decide on a model.)
Case Coolermaster 690 ii - I was originally looking at a Fractal design define r3 because it was sexy as hell, but I heard the case gets really hot, and this one was cheaper. I don't particularly care about the case, so long as it doesn't have a glowy faceplate and looks like a 15 year old's wet dream. I'm not into excessive LED.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119215
RAM 2x4gb Mushkin DDR3 silverline - It's cheap and I like the company name, I'm honestly not dedicated to this at all, RAM is RAM in my mind, so long as it's a decently reliable brand, but I've heard there's better for cheaper out there. Also willing to upgrade to 16gb, but I don't think I need it right now, the board supports it if neccisary.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095
HDD Seagate barracuda 7200.11 1tb - I got blasted last time I mentioned this to someone, but I'm honestly just looking for the cheapest thing I can find, no SSD until later, and I'm entirely willing to drop to 500 gb.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
I believe that's it, may have forgotten something, as for peripherals..
Monitor ASUS ML239H - Cheapest thing I could find with an IPS panel, which doesn't mean much to me, but I'll spend the extra $30 for it. If anyone has other suggestions I'd be happy to hear.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236122
Microphones, webcams, headphones, keyboards and mice are all in the air right now, but I think that'd be mostly a preference thing, so I won't ask, but if you have opinions feel free.
Edit: I remember one thing I forgot.
I need a DVD read/write drive and I was slapping myself for forgetting earlier, but I seriously don't think that's going to be hard to find.
I really appreciate any input, I'm having a hell of a time finding parts for decent prices in Canada, not sure if that's a common thing.