Gaming computer under $1k

[richboyliang]

I built my computer similar to these guidelines below, with slight differences such as 16 GB RAM instead of 8, a cheaper hard drive before the Thailand flooding, no graphics card, and Windows 7 Professional. But this build below outlines a fine gaming computer with mostly second-best materials.

Intel Core i7-2600K - $320
GIGABYTE Z68 Motherboard - $170
Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 7200 rpm hard drive - $70
Cooler Master Elite 430 Black Mid Tower - $39
Thermaltake 600W PSU - $60
Any DVD burner - $20
Radeon HD 6850 1GB - $150
DDR3 8GB 1600MHz DUAL CORSAIR - $30
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM - $80
Asus wireless-n adapter card - $30

 

[aznshinobi]

Please fill this out.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

 

[Zero_]

Get a i5 2500k and spend the saved $100 on graphics.

 

[richboyliang]

I'm afraid you two are misguided. I am not looking for advice to build a new PC; I am giving the advice here.

 

[aznshinobi]

Ahhh I see, I'd still change a few things, I.E CPU, GPU, MB, and PSU. Just my opinion though.

 

[Zero_]

I'm afraid you two are misguided. I am not looking for advice to build a new PC; I am giving the advice here.

In that case, I would get a i5 2500k and spend the saved $100 on graphics. And I'd also get a decent mobo for $120, and spend the saved $50 on graphics.

 

[richboyliang]

A 6850 benchmarks pretty high among graphics card, don't need to spend more unless you're seriously interested in the most extremely graphically intense games like battlefield with max settings and stuff. Then you're looking at GTX 560+. But for everything else, a 6850 should be fine and i5-2500K is significantly weaker than i7 2600K.

 

[aznshinobi]

.... 6850 is not good enough for 1920x1080. It's a 1680x1050 High settings card at best, it's basically the 5850 and my 5850 somewhat struggles with BF3 at this res on high settings, also there are more demanding games than BF3 that most people play.

The i5 2500K vs 2600K is not SIGNIFICANTLY weaker, in fact the difference is just 1-2% in gaming and the 2600K only has advantage in multi-thread programs, and even then the 2500K is more than sufficient, worth the $100 saved and put towards the GPU.

Most gamers would need more than a 6850 and don't need a 2600K. 2600K would only really be justified by say Adobe Creative Suite or Maya etc progs.

 

[richboyliang]

I read your squidoo thing, learned more about amd, intel, and nvidia.