Building gaming machine $1650 budget (help)

[JRoyales]

Hey guys, this is my first post on this forum.

For a few days i have been looking to build my own gaming pc, im 15 and have saved my pocket money and christmas/birthday money up towards this. I now have a total of £1050 or in dollars $1644.83 and am looking for some advice on what hardware i should buy. At first i was considering buying a alienware m17x gaming laptop but people say its way overpriced. If your wondering how im going to do all this my dad is capable of building it for me i just need you guys to help me with what i should buy. If you guys could just show me a setup you think would be good for gaming that would be great.

if you need anymore info just post

 

[moonzy]

Wouldn't it be funner if you and your Dad did the research yourselves and came up with
the best buy for the pound/buck?
Just sayin'.
There's braggin' rights in doing it that way vs. going to forums and asking others to do all your homework.

 

[JRoyales]

well, me myself have spent 2 days researching, im an absolute noob at this kinda stuff and every build i came up with i was told it would "Bottleneck" if someone can give me a good gaming setup for my price that would be so much apreciated.

 

[JRoyales]

Well i dont know what else i can do.. my dad does'nt want to help me because he thinks im wasting my money yet he would still build it if i bought it. wierd huh?

 

[JRoyales]

is there not some sort of common build that alot of people use and is well known?

 

[moonzy]

I see. Wasn't intending to be rude.
Someone will likely recommend an Intel setup, and I've none experience
with them.

 

[moonzy]

I honestly suggest you talk more to your Dad about what you really want, a decent budget to stick to, and saving more.
As we get older, money gifts may become less and you'll have less money to work with if
you don't have income.
Trust me, money saved now will be appreciated later. It's best to start saving when you are young, because you can't be young again, can you?
Be patient. You and your Dad can figure something out that will make both of you happy. Now and in the long run.
Good luck!

 

[rmiiirusty]

Ok Since no one has any suggestions,
I have the feeling you will spend your money one way or the other getting what you think you want so let me give you some suggestions to make sure its not wasted.
Here is a suggested list of things all from newegg,Amazon,and TigerDirect. It is designed to give you maximum bang for your buck and save you some cash for games and savings.
You will have to get your dad to purchase the parts with his debit or credit card.

Some things are sale prices and wont last long having an end of year sale so prices wont last long.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-SGC-2000-KKN1-GP-Storm-Scout/dp/B00243HHNY/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2QQ2GK3VOMKC6&ie=UTF8&qid=1325067097&sr=1-1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131759
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-V6GT-220-Watt-RR-V6GT-22PK-R1/dp/B003XNG6LI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1325066201&sr=1-1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416&cm_mmc=2011YearEndClearance-_-147-_-N82E16820231416&nm_mc=2011YearEndClearance
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1083959&csid=_21
http://www.amazon.com/ENGTX560-DCII-OC-2DI-1GD5/dp/B0051E3BYM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1325066853&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1325067229&sr=1-1-catcorr

This should all total about $1k and leave you a few hundred dollars. It will play any game out there and the Mobo will give you very stable easy overclocking if you desire. It is definately worth the money as it has all the features of its bigger brother boards without the cost.Find out more about the mobo here
http://www.asusrog.com/ASUS_Maximus_IV%20Gene-Z.html. You will love it.
The case is just an option as you will have your own desire as to how you want it to look, but the price is sweet and you should find something you like within $20. You can ,if so inclined sli those graphic cards for the additional cost of $200.
This is an ultimate gaming rig that should fulfill all your needs and leave you enough to buy the newest games
It is upgradeable for the future by adding larger sandy bridge cpu,adding more ram(max32g),sli or larger gpu. Ishould fully expect it to last you until you get out of college if you take care of it.
Try to keep your monitor as small as 22" widescreen and 1 gpu will max settings on most games

 

[JRoyales]

Thanks so much man, but instead of the i5 could i use this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i7-2600K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NOQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325081790&sr=8-1

and instead of the GPU could i use this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-GeForce-DirectCu-Graphics-1-56GB/dp/B004L519MI/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325082197&sr=1-1-catcorr


thanks again man.

 

[JRoyales]

or mabey not that GPU.. but is there any other good GPU's you could show me thats a little more expensive.. i have waited so long for a good gaming PC im willing to go for the best

 

[rmiiirusty]

Thanks so much man, but instead of the i5 could i use this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i7-2600K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NOQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325081790&sr=8-1

and instead of the GPU could i use this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-GeForce-DirectCu-Graphics-1-56GB/dp/B004L519MI/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325082197&sr=1-1-catcorr


thanks again man.

Sure you could go with the i7-2600k, but will you be editing video or running 4 or 5 apps at a time? If not ,you are largely wasting your money. The i5 2500k is the best for the money for gaming purposes.
You can if you insist but you wont notice a change in your games and you will spend a hundred more bucks.

You can also get a larger video card if you can afford it. I would not waste the money to sli if I were going with a larger card. However with the board I suggested you would not have room to sli the card you pictured because it takes 3 spaces from your rear punchouts on your case, and the third one would cover your second pci.e slot.
Keep in mind that with this board you have to go with two space (max) gpu if you want to sli. I think if you go with a larger gpu you will not need to sli.
I like this one and was able to max out all settings with skyrim with only 1 gpu. It should also do you for a long time.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121467
It is out of stock @newegg right now but they will restock it.
Also see here http://www.asusrog.com/ASUS_Matrix_GTX580.html

You are getting dangerously close to spending all of the money now. You'll have to come up with more for games.
Also if you want to sli larger three tier gpus in the future There are bigger boards than the one I showed you giving you more room .
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131760
The only thing it offers over the other board is more pci.e slots It has the same z68 chipset
See it here... http://www.asusrog.com/ASUS_Maximus_IV_Extreme-Z.html

And it looks like you will give up soundblaster x-fi which is onboard the smaller mobo. and the board costs roughly twice as much. That is why I suggested the one earlier cause it is just as good if you dont have to sli 2 giant cards

Also, If you go with 1 big card the psu I linked earlier will work great but if you decide to sli you will need to get a larger wattage like 700watts or more. Modular supplies like the one I linked make for much better cable management.
Also if going all out on graphics , make sure your monitor is dvi ready and use a dvi cable and not a vga.

 

[JRoyales]

Okay this is what i've come up with, i am so gratefull for this.

Could you confirm that this setup will be fine and run smoothly?

GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121467&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3899435&SID=skim1402X558040X4bfbb42dda6d96ff27f8493b17802e9d

OS:
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1325067229&sr=1-1-catcorr

HD:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1083959&csid=_21&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=TnL5HPStwNw-mvJApHlDdoCh64T8Qn_pDw

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3899435&SID=skim1402X558040X89b19439d910304d351938493ca4960a

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416&cm_mmc=2011YearEndClearance-_-147-_-N82E16820231416&nm_mc=2011YearEndClearance&AID=10446076&PID=3899435&SID=skim1402X558040X2573b470505fdf360fbfb50a492540ef

Fan:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-V6GT-220-Watt-RR-V6GT-22PK-R1/dp/B003XNG6LI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1325066201&sr=1-1

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131759&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3899435&SID=skim1402X558040X0d746db67ef3bd9a80050becfb559746

Case:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-SGC-2000-KKN1-GP-Storm-Scout/dp/B00243HHNY/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2QQ2GK3VOMKC6&ie=UTF8&qid=1325067097&sr=1-1

 

[JRoyales]

And onboard sound will be fine right? i wont need a Sound card?

 

[JRoyales]

Oh i need a 700W psu to run that build, can you reccomend any?

 

[rmiiirusty]

Ok your build looks solid and it comes to a total of a little over $1400. Maybe a little more by the time you add shipping. You should be fine with any psu you choose but try to stay with the brands,Silverstone,Seasonic,Antec,Corsair and look for 80+ efficiency for cleaner power , and I still suggest a modular for cleaner cable mgmt.
I like this one for the price and modular and 80+ silver rated plus you get 850 watts in case you ever need it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256058
One other thing we never mentioned is an ssd drive, which while you don't have to have one, it will make accessing programs and booting up slightly quicker.
If you should decide to go with one ,you dont need a very large one. With this motherboard you have smart response technology which ,if you read the instructions in your mobo manual, will allow you to set up a small,(like 40-60g) ssd as a operating system and cache drive.
Just make sure if you go this route,that you load windows,and all drivers on the ssd before you even plug in the hdd. If you follow the instructions for smart response tech. , then your system will not add an extra letter for the ssd drive and your hard drive will still be able to be drive c. This comes in handy for downloading games and every thing else as the download will default to your c drive. If you dont set it up as SRT then your ssd will be drive c and your hdd turns into drive e or whatever your system wants to use next. This would still work and you would still have the advantage of fast boots and access of frequently used programs, though, you would have to be carefull not to accidently load to much onto the ssd dr., so as to save room for cache dr.
It is just much easier to set up the SRT function and not have to worry about it.

If you get an ssd, try to find a sata3\6gb one and make sure you plug to one of the sata3 ports on the mobo. Check toms hardware reviews for a decision on which brand you want.

I think the sound on the board is awsome, and unless you are recording and mixing tracks(making your own music) etc... I would think it would do ya.

 

[holyrage]

or u can try my build im doing on 2012 9th jan so yah

mobo: asrock extreme 7 gen 3 best Z68 a very nice mobo if u wish to add onther card PS: im going dual 7970 so my cards will use the 16x/16x juice

psu:for me ill go with 1200+ for u hmm 850W psu will get the job done like the corsair AX-HX


ram:will it is up to u 8gb is more then u need ill go with the corsair low profile 16gb XD

GPU:7970 muahhah it will be 25% better then the GPU u chose just W8
11 day's man it isnt worth it and yes im a nvidia fan but ho ever is better ill go with lol and 7970 will cost 550$ same price as a 3gb 580


cpu:core i5 2500k the best gamer money friendly and yes Overclook it

cpu cooler :V6 that is way to wide lol a lot of ppl say it is pain in the ass to fit silverarrow FTW

HHD:go with the WD black it is faster

case:nothing better then the HAF x but the case u chose is nice but the cpu cooler will be so huge just saying

 

[rmiiirusty]

or u can try my build im doing on 2012 9th jan so yah

mobo: asrock extreme 7 gen 3 best Z68 a very nice mobo if u wish to add onther card PS: im going dual 7970 so my cards will use the 16x/16x juice

psu:for me ill go with 1200+ for u hmm 850W psu will get the job done like the corsair AX-HX


ram:will it is up to u 8gb is more then u need ill go with the corsair low profile 16gb XD

GPU:7970 muahhah it will be 25% better then the GPU u chose just W8
11 day's man it isnt worth it and yes im a nvidia fan but ho ever is better ill go with lol and 7970 will cost 550$ same price as a 3gb 580


cpu:core i5 2500k the best gamer money friendly and yes Overclook it

cpu cooler :V6 that is way to wide lol a lot of ppl say it is pain in the ass to fit silverarrow FTW

HHD:go with the WD black it is faster

case:nothing better then the HAF x but the case u chose is nice but the cpu cooler will be so huge just saying

These are all good choices to. Keep in mind that the mobo your getting has had allot of bad reports of memory issues and I personally tried to talk a guy out of it on these forums and he wouldn't budge. After he got it and built it he found out that pci.e slot #1 would not work and messing around with it he messed up slot #2 as well. It is not worth the risk to me to try a good mobo that might be ok as apposed to a good mobo that rarely ever has issues and for a substantial chunk less.

The v6 is chunky but it is not to big for the case he chose ,it is no bigger than the v8 and that fits in my case just fine. It doesn't block the first ram slot like people like to think either. At least not with the asus maximus. If I was going to consider a different cpu cooler I would go with either the v8 or a thermaltake frio for looks, as most on the market will work and what ended up mattering to me, especially with the side window , was looks.
While you are suggesting the radeon card, go ahead and tell him about the problems sometimes associated with the catalyst software. Radeon can be good if all goes well but in my experience I have had problems with 5 out of 6 radeon gpu's and have used countless nvidea gpu's with never an issue.

I don't meen to nitpick your choices but have just experienced enough to have different opinion.

 

[PCgamer81]

Hey man, I built my own a couple months back, and to start I had about the budget you do. I think you can do very well with what you have.

Here are some recommendations...

ASUS P8Z68-V Pro
i5 2500k @ 3.30GHz
8GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 @ 1333MHz
GTX580 (Is there a better choice? No.)
Antec 650w PSU (good enough for your needs, and a great bargain)
Raidmax ATX-798WB Chassis
Razer Death Adder Gaming mouse
Razer Black Widow Mechanical Keyboard (once you go mechanical, you will never go back to membrane)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
ASUS 24" 1080p monitor
Hitachi 7200RPM HDD - Wait on an SSD. For now, put the power where it counts
Standard DVD writer

That is more or less the essentials. This setup will max every game on the market in full HD, and do so with ease.


This is the way to go, my young friend. Do it.

 

[PCgamer81]

Let me also state, remember these two things...

Intel over AMD. Intel CPU's totally and completely own AMD CPU's, and. it. is. not. even. close.

Nvidia over AMD for the GPU. Yes, I went with AMD. But for someone starting out, Nvidia is the better choice. Less driver issues, and just overall more user friendly. Maybe for your second build you can consider AMD.

 

[holyrage]

+1 to u pc gamer81 i had both amd and nvidia

will nvidia have better driver's will amd have a good hardwear with craperst drivers i hope they F fix it on the 7970

 

[PCgamer81]

+1 to u pc gamer81 i had both amd and nvidia

will nvidia have better driver's will amd have a good hardwear with craperst drivers i hope they F fix it on the 7970

I am with you, there. I hope the 7970 is good to go right out of the gate. But considering the track record with AMD, it wouldn't necessarily surprise me if it wasn't.

Then again, I cannot exactly forget Nvidia's latest GPU fiasco. The 590 drivers were causing the GPU to literally burn itself up, which is absolutely inexcusable. Fortunately for Nvidia, they resolved it fairly quickly, and the GTX590 has since proved to be a reliable and absolutely amazing piece of hardware - the gap between the 590 and 6990 has been closed, that's for sure.

Other than the 590 blunder, Nvidia has proven themselves to be extremely reliable in terms of drivers and support, and is overall an excellent choice for someone starting out.

Considering that most games are optimized for Nvidia, the fact that AMD does so well is a testament to the quality of AMD hardware.

Bang for your buck, AMD will always trump Nvidia. And as far as multi-GPU configurations are concerned, CrossfireX will always trump SLi.

But...

For someone just starting out, I would be hard pressed to recommend AMD. I would definitely be forced to recommend Nvidia for people new to PC gaming. Less driver issues, and just overall more user-friendly.

 

[rmiiirusty]

Yeah That.

Thats why I steered him away from amd earlier.

Someone who is used to pc building might know what to try when something doesn't work right the first time, but someone new to the art, would be best suited if his build were to come off smoothly.

Also why I suggested the Asus brand when possible. Less problems from the box it seems to me.

Not to mention a lengthy warrantee on the products.

Also, If you cant get the asus matrix gpu go for an evga in the 580ti series.They also seam to have a record of great reliability.

 

[PCgamer81]

Yeah That.

Thats why I steered him away from amd earlier.

Someone who is used to pc building might know what to try when something doesn't work right the first time, but someone new to the art, would be best suited if his build were to come off smoothly.

Also why I suggested the Asus brand when possible. Less problems from the box it seems to me.

Not to mention a lengthy warrantee on the products.

Also, If you cant get the asus matrix gpu go for an evga in the 580ti series.They also seam to have a record of great reliability.

All of your advice is rock solid.

I stick with the ASUS brand as often as I can. I went with the ASUS P8Z68-V Pro for my mobo. I hear a lot of complaining about dual x8's vs dual x16's for multi-GPU configurations. Holyrage alluded to that in the board he chose, and to me it is not worth a downgrade just for dual x16's - especially when there is no difference except for 2560x1600+ resolutions. I almost bought in to that theory, but have since got my mind right. Your advice to him was right on.

EVGA makes great GPU's. Their dual fan 560Ti is one of the best cards on the market, and can be overclocked (or already is, in some cases) to give more expensive GPU's a run for their money. I almost went with the EVGA 560Ti DS SC when building mine.

 

[rmiiirusty]

Thanx PcGamer81,
It looks like you've been around the same blocks as I have with components.

Some folks complain about asustek support being nearly non existant but I wouldn't know as I've never bought an Asus product that didn't work.

I really don't get into gaming as much as some people do. I love to play but usually strategy or roleplaying games. Not so much action. The Battlefield games don't excite me much but I love the StarCraft series. I like Warcraft but not so excited about W.O.W. etc...

My thing of late has been building systems for friends and family, they were so well liked that their friends and family wanted one.
I must have built over twenty pc's in the last year or so. I enjoy buying,selling,and building more than anything right now. Also enjoy the forums here at Toms Hdwr.. I see allot of folks with the same questions I had when I first started building and it relives the excitement for me.

My personnal system is much like the one I suggested for this guy,and I have it overclocked with the software from asus to 4.4 gigs and it is as stable as a rock.

I recently gave up my asus engtx 560ti dc for a recent build that I had to finish for a customer in time for christmas, so I have an Asus engtx 550ti dc\oc installed at the moment and it is sufficient for all I use it for. My monitor is only a 22" widescreen but is also all I need and it helps me not need a bigger gpu.

 

[holyrage]

will the asrock sucks it just blow up my i5 ima send it back argh the only bad thing will be to run a card on 4x speed if not below that then it dosnt really matter any how the 16x pci 3.0 will be nothing if ur not runing a 690 or 7990 dual GPU cards so yah

now i have to look for a motherbord argh


and plus 1 to u guys

asus is makeing good mobos also for the msi but i see ppl saying that they suck lol so i think plus 1 to asus


and the asus support is bad -1 to that i boght a mobo to make a pc for my dad and i got a bad mobo send it back they gave me a new one and it went quick

will for me i might go with the asus Genz/Gen3 or something elss thats good for crossfire