1200 Dollar Build

[sammymax]

Budget Range: 1200 USD before rebates

System Usage: Gaming and rendering

Parts Not Required: No monitor, keyboard, or mouse needed

Preferred Website for Parts: Newegg

Country: United States

Overclocking: Yes, a mild OC

SLI or Crossfire: If it gives me better performance

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I don't know what I should do about the current situation with hard drives, so I don't know when I'll be buying these parts. My build hasn't been updated for the new hard drive prices, so I might have to downgrade my components to get it within my budget

My build so far:
Processor: i5-2500K - $199.99
Heatsink: Hyper 212 EVO - $34.99
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 - $149.99
GPU: GTX 580 - $499.99
RAM: Ripjaws 8 GB - $29.99
Hard Drive: WD 500 GB - $64.99 before flooding
PSU: OCZ 650W - $99.99
Case: HAF 922 - $79.99
CD/DVD Drive: $19.99
Wireless Adapter: $9.99

I don't know really know what to do about the situation in Thailand, because I heard it'll take a year for prices to go down. Perhaps I should get an SSD? Whatever it is, I'll almost certainly have to spend more on it, and that means bye-bye GTX 580 Also, I picked a P67 motherboard because I'm not sure if I need any of the features that Z68 brings. Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[Emelth]

With the specials going on I made this list earlier
I know this build is a little over your stated price but you can always knock the motherboard dowb to a $150 or even $125 moBo

The PSU will be good enough for 1 GPU but if you plan to SLI down to the road get a 900W

Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower - $70.00 (on sale)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107

Intel Core i5-2500K - $200.00 (on sale GRAB IT FAST!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 - $175.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157250

Hyper 212 Plus - $26.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $30.00 (on sale)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314&cm_sp=Cat_Memory-_-Daily_Deal-_-20-231-314

EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-TR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB - $500.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130615

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM - $150.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

LITE-ON DVD Burner - $17.00 (on sale)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W - $95.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Total: $1263.00 (add $100 for OS if needed)

 

[ARchamps]

That's a very nice build, pretty similar to mine - except the GPU. FYI, that board doesn't support SLI. Step up to the P8P67 Pro or Evo.

Unless you really need the storage, I would go for SSD and throw in an old hard drive if you have one kicking around. Pretty solid build!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Z68 or P67 ? Read this to decide:

http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/difference-between-h67-p67-z68-and-h61-chipsets-a-22.html

Ya indicated that you'd go for SLI/CF but your MoBo doesn't have that capability. Getting that option would cost ya $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131771

GFX - Consider the fact that twin 900MHz 560 TI's give ya 40% more fps than the single 580 for s much as $70 less. Yes, there is the argument that adding a 2nd 580 would be better than that ......but only 10% better than that.

$ 215.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.43 - $ 0.50
$ 500.00 580 (616/953) $ 0.81 - $ 1.05

The new 560-448 comes out Tuesday, reportedly for same price as the 560

Case - HAF 922 was great....in its day, but no front USB is a deal killer IMO. Corsair 500R gets superb reviews and is on sale for almost half price.....normally $140, can be had for $80

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=61
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=100006662&isNodeId=1&Description=Corsair+500R&x=0&y=0

PSU - As above, PSU won't handle twin 580's if that's on the agenda as a future upgrade. The following PSU is not only bigger and better (9.5 jonnyguru performance rating) but it's also $10 cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

 

[sammymax]

Thanks for all the suggestions! First of all, one clarification - I'm not going to SLI GTX 580's, I'm either going to have one 580 or SLI/Crossfire a cheaper card. I would also prefer a modular PSU.

I'll definitely switch to the Corsair 500R if it stays at the price.

Now for the tough part... I see that my board supports Crossfire, but not SLI. I can either use my existing board and Crossfire two AMD cards, or I can SLI two Nvidia's and get a new mobo. Which choice do you think I should take? What motherboard should I upgrade to, and what cards to Crossfire/SLI? And, most importantly, what PSU should I get if I have a multi-GPU setup (I would need more than 650W, right?)