Seeking help for my first build

[elmasloco]

Approximate Purchase Date: This week, next week, next month, not in a hurry

Budget Range: 500-800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: Need everything

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: U.S.

Parts Preferences: No Preference

Overclocking: No experience, but willing to overclock

SLI or Crossfire: Don't think it will fit with budget

Monitor Resolution:1920x1080

Additional Comments:

I have these two things in mind but I'm not sure about the combo. From what I have been reading it'd be a bad buy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.759542

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009255

I know it will be tough since I don't have any parts I can salvage or a monitor. Mostly want a build for playing BF3 and wouldn't mind having to lower a few settings. Any help is appreciated.

 

[elmasloco]

Nobody has any recommendation? My biggest problem in building this system is that I also have to buy a monitor that has decent features and they run pretty high. Hard to build a rig and buy a good monitor when you have around 700 budget.

 

[elmasloco]

Well I'm probably going to end up buying a system from cyberpowerpc...probably a bad idea but they have some good deals going on now. I specially like that Battlefield 3 comes free with the FX processor. If anyone knows of a better deal let me know. Or if this is a bad idea also let me know.

Total $626 + $125 shipping=$751. BF3 is probably $40-60 so really I will be spending $700 overall. My biggest concern with this is that

a) I'm not building this rig myself
b) Power supply seems crap
c) Have never dealt with Cyberpowerpc/don't know what to expect

CPU: AMD FX-4100 3.60 GHz Quad-Core AM3+ CPU 4MB L2 Cache & Turbo Core Technology

HDD: * 60 GB OCZ Agility 3 SATA III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 525MB/s Read & 475MB/s Write

MEMORY: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Vengeance)

MOTHERBOARD: [CrossFireX] MSI 970A-G45 AMD 970 Socket AM3+ ATX Mainboard w/ OC Genie II, Winki 3, 7.1 Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PC

VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB 16X PCIe Video Card

CASE: Thermaltake Commander Mid-Tower Gaming Case

CD: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive

FAN: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan

MONITOR: 24" Widescreen 1920x1080 Asus VS247H-P LCD

POWERSUPPLY: 700 Watts - XtremeGear SLI/CrossFireX Ready Power Supply

 

[elmasloco]

I might just wait until black friday or cyber monday...

 

[elmasloco]

Nobody has any suggestions or ideas?

 

[loligo]

You should check out this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-ii-overclock-graphics-card,3032.html

Should leave you with enough for a good $150 screen.

 

[elmasloco]

I've looked at that one before. The problem with it is that hard drive prices have changed since that article was published. With current hard drive prices and that setup I think it'd be in the 750-800 range. I was trying to stay somewhere around 700 or under if possible. I guess when I opened this topic I had more money than I have because I have budget set for 500-800 when I'm trying to keep it under 700. Anyone know of a 1080p with hdmi input under 100-140?

 

[elmasloco]

Should a monitor have an HDMI input if I plan on playing on 1080p?

If I play on a lower resolution, will it be a big visual difference? Will I be able to buy a cheaper non-hdmi monitor?

 

[Jim_L9]

You can play at 1080p over DVI. HDMI is only important if you want to connect to a big screen TV and have it handle the audio.

 

[elmasloco]

Thanks. That changes everything.

 

[elmasloco]

What do you guys think about this?


AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core

SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC SSD

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

Acer 23'' WideScreen LCD monitor

Rosewill FUTURE Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

BIOSTAR A870U3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-530SS 530W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire

Subtotal: $704.92