Are all of these parts compatible? Way to cut price? $1-1.5k budget

[anichowy]

I believe all of these parts are compatible however I figured I'd ask here because I've been incorrect before!

I'm also looking to see if any of you guys have ideas on how to reduce price or keep the same price while increasing performance, or hovering near the same while reducing price.

I'm expecting to use this for generally everything I do on the computer, which includes gaming.

Thanks!

Motherboard: MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $139.99

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K $219.99

After-market cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R1 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+p $33.99

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Fans-1x 230mm front RED LED fan, 1x 140mm rear fan, 1x 230mm top fan, and 1x 230mm side fan $159.99

SSD: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $108.99

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $239.99

Optical: LITE-ON Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo Model ihes112-04 - OEM $59.99

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL x 2 $59.98

PSU: SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $149.99

Video: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $249.99

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM $99.99



Grand Total: $1,539.72

 

[drunkducki]

how about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 - $149.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

do you really need a 1tb hard drive? i would get a 500gb and a gtx570/6970

 

[Silvune]

Yes they're compatible.

I'm also looking to see if any of you guys have ideas on how to reduce price or keep the same price while increasing performance, or hovering near the same while reducing price.

Easy, change the harddrive.
The Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB is just as, if not faster, than the WD 1TB FAEX, but is much cheaper (at $150), quieter and cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Or just the cheapest performance 1TB drive on newegg atm:
Seagate Barracuda 1TB ST31000524AS $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

Do you need 16GB?

You could save money on the PSU if you don't need a modular one.

 

[madchemist83]

Drop the case. Btw that mobo is crap

 

[anichowy]

how about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 - $149.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

do you really need a 1tb hard drive? i would get a 500gb and a gtx570/6970

1TB is nice but not necessary, but if I can fit in a gtx570 and dropping down to 500gb I'm all for that. I'll check it out. Using that drive now too.

Edit: I can't really find a good drive that'll save enough money to make switching to a gtx570 not change the price significantly. The 1TB spinpoint looks really, really good.

Yes they're compatible.



Easy, change the harddrive.
The Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB is just as, if not faster, than the WD 1TB FAEX, but is much cheaper (at $150), quieter and cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Or just the cheapest performance 1TB drive on newegg atm:
Seagate Barracuda 1TB ST31000524AS $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

Do you need 16GB?

You could save money on the PSU if you don't need a modular one.

Thank you, I'm now using that drive. The 16gb is only there because I thought it was relatively cheap for that memory, and I might use it in another computer. It's not necessary, and I can remove it if I have to be really tight on budget. Do you have any recommendations for a PSU? I don't think I really need modular but I thought it would be nice.

Drop the case. Btw that mobo is crap

Why is the motherboard crap? I'll look into other cases since it does seem the one I selected is a little pricey.

Edit: Now using Fractal Design Arc Midi Black case, looks great.

 

[g-unit1111]

Why is the motherboard crap? I'll look into other cases since it does seem the one I selected is a little pricey.

Edit: Now using Fractal Design Arc Midi Black case, looks great.

Yes! Love the Arc MIDI, I'm heavily thinking of swapping my HAF 912 for one in the near future. Although the last thing I need is another case sitting at my desk... :lol:

MSI doesn't have the best track record of all the major manufacturers, there's a lot of better ones you can buy for the same price. This is the one I use: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506

SSD: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $108.99

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $239.99

My advice would be to drop the storage configuration - you can always add the SSD in later, and go with a $149 1TB barebones drive.

PSU: SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $149.99

You could also save $70 here by going with this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

[madchemist83]

or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104099

 

[madchemist83]

or if you want modular http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194086

 

[Silvune]

I disagree with the recommendation for an FSP Aurum 700W because the fan controller is bad resulting in the fan spinning too fast/too loudly even at low loads.
Get a modular one if you want, but if you decide that you'd prefer to save the money then the Rosewill Capstone 750W is a much better buy at a similar price to the FSP:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182073

The XFX Pro 650W Core Edition is the same internally as the Corsair 650TXV2. As it is cheaper, if you decide to go with a 650w unit, then you should buy the XFX rather than the Corsair.
XFX Pro 650W Core Edition 80Plus Bronze $80 ($30 rebate)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=59616&vpn=P1650SNLB9&manufacture=XFX

 

[madchemist83]

really u pick Rosewill over FSP ?
I understand that this is one of the Rosewills PSU that actually work and don't burn ur system but FSP is way superior .. and that bad fan controller .. where did u get it from ?
xfx core is good .. but will fry ur mobo in a year or too
might as well go for Power PC and Cooling mkII or mkIII

 

[Silvune]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/fsp-aurum-psu.html#sect1
This review shows the fan curves of three members of the FSP Aurum series.

The Rosewill being based on the Super Flower Golden Green platform is superior to the FSP Aurum platform. With an average of 1% regulation on the three main rails. Ripple and noise is fairly even between the Rosewill and Aurum, but usually ripple and noise suppression is much better on the Golden Green platform. The Capstone has Nippon Chemi-con capacitors throughout. The Aurum has a Rubycon on the primary (nice) and Capxon on the secondary, on balance I think most people would choose NCC over Capxon.

The XFX won't fry motherboards.

 

[madchemist83]

yes but Rosewill doesn't really have reputable history
I'd go for Pc power and cooling or Corsair

 

[motorneuron]

When are you buying? If you can wait until after Christmas, and in particular if you can wait until mid- to late-January, you could probably pick up a Radeon HD 6950 or 6970 for significantly cheaper than they are now, because the 7970 and 7950 are about to be released. That is, assuming you're not zealously devoted to nvidia.

I second the HD question--do you really need 1TB, and do you really need it now? Very easy to add another HD later. You already have an SSD for your boot drive, so you won't be reinstalling Windows or anything like that if you do decide you want more storage later.

 

[87ninefiveone]

Unless you're getting some awesome shipping discount from Newegg look elsewhere for some of your components. Just use google and you'll find the Hyper 212 for $20, and Windows 7 OE for $65. If you don't trust random sites at least try amazon and tigerdirect, or on a long shot cdw.

 

[Silvune]

yes but Rosewill doesn't really have reputable history
I'd go for Pc power and cooling or Corsair

As far as I'm concerned Rosewill don't need a reputable history if they are using such a high quality platform at a reasonable price.

 

[hapkido]

That case and HDD are WAYYYYY too expensive. You could save $200-250 on those parts alone. And I don't think you need a $150 PSU. Don't get me wrong, you don't want to skimp on PSU quality, but there are quality units for less than half the price. Also, 750W is overkill unless you plan on SLI.

My theory about gaming PCs is ~1/3 of your budget should go towards the GPU, ~1/3 should go towards CPU+mobo and ~1/3 should go towards RAM+HDD+case+PSU+DVD (depending on price-points and your overall budget). OS, monitor, keyboard, and mouse costs you figure separately, as they will be relatively constant.

So for a $1200 PC, you spend ~$400 on GPU (easily fit in a 570 or 6970 with money to spare), ~$400 on CPU+mobo (easily fit i5-2500k + z68 mobo. edit: including aftermarket HSF), and ~$400 on everything else. When you look at it that way, you can buy a ~$100 SSD, ~$100 HDD, ~$75 case, ~$75 PSU, ~$50 BR burner, ~$50 RAM. Add in $100 for the OS, and you have ~$200 to upgrade parts as necessary and still hit your $1500 budget, while having a stronger PC by spending the most on the most important parts.

 

[jessterman21]

That case and HDD are WAYYYYY too expensive. You could save $200-250 on those parts alone. And I don't think you need a $150 PSU. Don't get me wrong, you don't want to skimp on PSU quality, but there are quality units for less than half the price. Also, 750W is overkill unless you plan on SLI.

My theory about gaming PCs is ~1/3 of your budget should go towards the GPU, ~1/3 should go towards CPU+mobo and ~1/3 should go towards RAM+HDD+case+PSU+DVD (depending on price-points and your overall budget). OS, monitor, keyboard, and mouse costs you figure separately, as they will be relatively constant.

So for a $1200 PC, you spend ~$400 on GPU (easily fit in a 570 or 6970 with money to spare), ~$400 on CPU+mobo (easily fit i5-2500k + z68 mobo. edit: including aftermarket HSF), and ~$400 on everything else. When you look at it that way, you can buy a ~$100 SSD, ~$100 HDD, ~$75 case, ~$75 PSU, ~$50 BR burner, ~$50 RAM. Add in $100 for the OS, and you have ~$200 to upgrade parts as necessary and still hit your $1500 budget, while having a stronger PC by spending the most on the most important parts.

+1

Your case is too expensive, and you can get a cheaper PSU - but I'd say stay with the 560ti - an extra $100 for a 570/6970 isn't worth the 15% increase in performance.

 

[madchemist83]

Yeah that 1/3 price for everything else is kinda dumb. Build has to be balanced and will not fit that system of money management

 

[hapkido]

Yeah that 1/3 price for everything else is kinda dumb. Build has to be balanced and will not fit that system of money management

~ means roughly. It's a loose guideline I use to approximate what parts you can fit in your budget and will adjust based on price points (as I already stated). It doesn't have to be used literally, but does give me an idea that $1200 should net you at least a 570/6970, i5-2500k, and a SSD (which for the record, IS a balanced gaming system). If you're spending that much, or more, there's no reason to only spend $250 on a GPU while spending $550 on case, PSU, and HDD. Obviously the higher your budget, the less percentage of your budget you'll spend on parts that aren't GPU and CPU. It's just an approximation. And of course, this isn't for ALL systems.

 

[madchemist83]

Ok fair enough. But wat psu for 75 u recommend for this build?

 

[hapkido]

Ok here we go...

CPU+HSF: Intel Core i5-2500K + COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO $243.98
GPU: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 $319.99
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 $149.99
RAM: GeIL Enhance CORSA 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 $74.99
SSD: SanDisk Ultra 120GB SSD $128.99
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB $84.99
BR Burner: LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner $69.99
Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout $69.99
PSU: Antec EarthWatts Green 750W 80+ Bronze $89.99

Total: $1232.90 (before $2.99 shipping and $40.00 in mail-in-rebates)

If you have questions about why I selected what I did, let me know.

 

[BradHP]

Newegg has a $40 off code for the Spinpoint 1TB until 12/21. That makes it the cheapest decent 1TB drive I've found recently.

 

[anichowy]

Thanks, everyone!

I am going to be buying soon. Here is my final parts list. Tell me if anything is amiss, or if there are any final suggestions before I go ahead and buy?

Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Black High Performance PC Computer Case w/ USB 3.0 and 3 x Fractal High Performance 140mm fans $109.99

PSU: Antec EarthWatts Series EA-750 Green 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Continuous Power Supply $89.99

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $174.99

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K $219.99

Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R1 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+ $33.99

Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model GEC316GB1600C9QC $74.99

Video: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti DS Superclocked 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1567-KR $219.99 (-$10 off with mastercard promotion, DS is better than normal right?)

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $109.99

SSD: SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $128.99

Optical: LITE-ON Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo Model ihes112-04 - OEM $59.99

Grand Total: $1240.63