1000$ budget gaming pc.

[ekive]

Approximate Purchase Date: A week or so.

Budget Range: 1000$, Would like to get a little cheaper possibly. It's at 944$ newegg with shipping/tax.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Multimedia.

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.ca

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: Nothing.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Crossfire

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

Additional Comments: Looking for some advice on the power supply. I'm going to be running 2 ati radeon 6870s eventually, not up front but eventually. And overall general insight, possibly better parts for this build. Also my first build so if someone could tell me if everything is compatible that'd be nice. Willing to swap case, power supply, possibly downgrade memory to 4 gigs. Thoughts or insight please?

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GPU:SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

PSU:OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

Mobo:ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

Memory:G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

Burner:ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Aftermarket cooler: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+
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Case:Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

 

[blazorthon]

With two Radeon 6870s I recommend a 750-800 watt PSU. That would leave some headroom for overclocking of both GPUs and the CPU if desired or leave headroom for a more power hungry system down the road.

Besides that I would recommend either getting a cheaper motherboard or a more expensive CPU cooler. That motherboard is excessive for the maximum overclock that the CPU cooler can handle without overheating so is a waste of money without a similarly better CPU cooler and a higher (over 4.4GHz) overclock on that i5-2500K.

 

[ekive]

@blazorthon.

I do plan on keeping that motherboard, as it is very feature rich; and a very good motherboard for overclocking. Perhaps you could suggest a somewhat similar board in a better price range(with overclocking obviously )? As I don't want to spend to much on the motherboard alone. If not, perhaps a better cpu cooler? Thank you for the power supply information. I have another build I'll be putting that PSU in for when I plan on getting two radeons, so would that PSU suffice in this build for now?

 

[blazorthon]

A better CPU cooler? The Noctua NH-D14 can get around 5GHz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

 

[paradoxeternal]

my coolermaster hyper 212 EVO has been great, keeping my phenom ii x6 (a very hot processor) at 57 degrees celcius MAX with a 1.45 cpu voltage. since the sandybridge CPUs use much less heat than the phenom ii's, i can only imagine how cool it would keep your i5-2500k.

HOWEVER, just like overclocking a CPU, mileage may vary. just because one cooler can cool a CPU to 5 ghz doesn't mean that the cooler can do the same with another CPU of the same make and model. however, you should be able to expect similar performance.

 

[blazorthon]

I also have a Phenom II x6 (1090T in fact) and it's overclocked to slightly over 4GHz right now on my Cooler Master Hyper 212 (probably a bit worse than the Hyper 212 Evo, it was only $20).

I don't know the temps, haven't checked them since I don't use the machine often right now (needs a new hard drive but I can't afford one).

The CPU mileage varies a lot more than the cooler. If you want to look into this Google "CPU binning". Basically not all CPUs (even of the same model) are created equal and whether or not your i5-2500K will hit 4.4GHz or say 4.6GHz is kinda random, with better chances of higher overclocks depending on which batch the CPU is from.

The Evo can't handle the full speeds that the i5-2500K or the i7 K edition processors are capable of and that is what more expensive coolers are for. The Noctua NH-D14 will go farther than the Hyper 212 Evo will. Enough to justify the price? I don't think so. There are cheaper coolers than the NH-D14 but I don't remember them since I just haven't done any crazy overclocking that would need them.

Go to frostytech.com and look through the cooler reviews if you have some spare time. There are literally thousands of reviews from probably over a decade ago until now in order from newest to oldest so you can find a new cooler that fits your needs.

They do a great job of explaining everything you should need to know at frostytech.com.

Here's a link:

http://www.frostytech.com/articles.cfm

 

[madchemist83]

Cooler master 612pwm will be enough

 

[ekive]

I'm going to research on the cooler for a bit and decide what I'll do. Other then that, thanks everyone for the help in regard to it.

Other than that, This build would suffice for a good gaming computer right? perhaps years to come? Anything else that can be improved?

 

[blazorthon]

There probably isn't much to be improved but don't think that any budget gaming build will be good enough for gaming in a few years without a video card upgrade and maybe a CPU upgrade.

 

[madchemist83]

I'd get better psu

 

[blazorthon]

With only one Radeon 6870 for now, your 600 watt PSU is more than enough. You would have a fair amount of head room even if you overclocked your CPU and video card.

You could use a 500 watt PSU and still have some headroom with a single 6870. Personally, I would get a PSU with enough wattage for the upgrades planned later on now since PSUs really don't go down in price much, if at all.

The only advantages I see to getting the lower watt PSU for now and upgrading to the higher watt later would be that the higher watt PSU will have less time to fail (I've never had a PSU fail on me but hey, it happens) and that you spend a little less money up front. However that would end up costing more in the long run but it's all your choice.

 

[ekive]

Best answer selected by ekive.

 

[ekive]

With only one Radeon 6870 for now, your 600 watt PSU is more than enough. You would have a fair amount of head room even if you overclocked your CPU and video card.

You could use a 500 watt PSU and still have some headroom with a single 6870. Personally, I would get a PSU with enough wattage for the upgrades planned later on now since PSUs really don't go down in price much, if at all.

The only advantages I see to getting the lower watt PSU for now and upgrading to the higher watt later would be that the higher watt PSU will have less time to fail (I've never had a PSU fail on me but hey, it happens) and that you spend a little less money up front. However that would end up costing more in the long run but it's all your choice.

Thank you very much for all you're help. I'm going to lower the PSU to a 500 watt, get the CPU cooler you recommended and that'll be all the changes I'm going to make to this build. One last question for you though. I've looked at many PSU's and I cannot find one I'm willing to buy. PSU's are always the problem when I want to upgrade my computer, as there as many, and you can never find one that doesn't have a few bad reviews. In my custom built budget PC(me and my dad built it) from 2009 I've got a Rion 530 watt and it's never failed me, but I can't find them anymore.

 

[blazorthon]

Like all other components some PSUs just don't work right. Certain models have a much better chance of working but they all fail occasionally. I recommend you find one with a large number of reviews and as small a number of the failure reviews as you can. Even more important is finding one where the manufacturer replies to the bad reviews and gives a way to contact them so it can be replaced with a functional unit.