Trying to get bang for my 800 bucks, please help.

[heyscotttt]

I'm looking to build a new computer most likely beginning of Feb, possibly late Jan but most likely beginning of feb..



Approximate Purchase Date: late Jan, most likely early Feb

Budget Range: (e.g.: 600-800) $800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming is most important to me. I am looking to build rig to handle Diablo Three and other MMOs

Parts Not Required: I have copy of Windows xp so I dont need windows. Have monitor mouse keyboard and can scrap dvd drive from old machine

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Tigerdirect,

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: None really just looking for good value for my money

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: uncertain

Additional Comments: Been looking at a lot of the combo deals on newegg. This is my first full rig build from scratch so trying to do it right

_________________________________________________________

As I stated ive looked up few combo deals etc on newegg what ive come up with is :

Core i5-2500K/P67/4GB/1TB SuperCombo

With this added

SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card


Would this all work together and do you think I could spend my money better on something different? I'm also open to AMD ideas if that would be a better route. Thanks

 

[g-unit1111]

It's certainly not a bad start but 4GB will be very underpowered for Diablo III. The 6870 is an excellent card, no question.

The AMD route might provide better options for overclocking. Either way you'll need a good fan for both builds.

Maybe try something like this:

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 - $59.99
PSU: Seasonic M12 620II - $79.99
Motherboard: Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3 - $121.99
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $219.99
RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) G.Skill Ripjaw X 1600MHz 1.5V - $46.99
HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $99.99
Optical: Lite On DVD Burner - $17.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 - $149.99

Total: $801.71

The main differences are that I swapped the case, PSU, and motherboard, and pretty similar video card (6850 is almost exactly the same as the 6870). Add a Cooler Master Hyper 212 if you plan to overclock. Alternately you could go the AMD route and with the same parts as above it'd look something like this. It would allow you to get a better GPU and a Hyper 212:

Motherboard: Asrock 970 Extreme 3 - $97.99
CPU: 3.5GHz AMD Phenom II X4 970T Black Edition - $144.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 - $29.99
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw X 1333MHz 1.5V - $41.99
Video Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 560TI - $249.99

Total: $814.99

 

[Cripple13]

If you have a hard drive you can use save the $100 on a new one and pick up a 60 gb ssd for a boot drive

 

[heyscotttt]

Thanks for the reply G-Unit. Does the motherboard to the intel build you linked overclock? Also what would be the differences between the performance on the Intel and AMD you suggested?

 

[Cripple13]

The mobo he linked does overclock, fairly well (I own one myself for that reason)

the i5-2500k is a beast to overclock, you can get it to 4.5 without trying (and going over that isn't necessary due to performance gains beyond that point)

I can't speak for the amd

 

[heyscotttt]

Also, 100 for a 500gb Harddrive, isn't that a little excessive? I guess I always thought a harddrive would run me around 50. haha

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks for the reply G-Unit. Does the motherboard to the intel build you linked overclock? Also what would be the differences between the performance on the Intel and AMD you suggested?

The 2500K is the better CPU no question. The AMD is good for budget builds and that sort of thing. All Intel Z68 boards running a K CPU can be overclocked. The ones without a K can't be.

If you have a hard drive you can use save the $100 on a new one and pick up a 60 gb ssd for a boot drive

I'd actually agree with this but it depends on what the capacity of the original HD would be (if it's less than 250GB I wouldn't just yet).

Parts Not Required: I have copy of Windows xp so I dont need windows. Have monitor mouse keyboard and can scrap dvd drive from old machine

I just saw this - Windows XP is a 32-bit operating system so you won't get the full 8GB of RAM. It's fine for now but you'll definitely want to acquire a 7 Home Premium license at some point.

Also, 100 for a 500gb Harddrive, isn't that a little excessive?

It is but there's not a whole lot we can do because the flooding in Thailand shut down Seagate and WD's main production plants for the time being, hence the increase in prices. Both companies are saying they hope to get the factories back online by mid-summer but they haven't given an exact time frame.

 

[Cripple13]

hard drives are insanely inflated right now and have been for months, and months to come

I forget exactly why but it was flooding in thailand I think, or whatever country they are produced in. So, as I suggested, if you have an old hdd that would fulfill your storage needs, scrap the new one and pick up a 60gb ssd for $100 instead

 

[heyscotttt]

Yeah I am almost certain my old harddrive is at least 500gb i'd have to double check that. Didn't realize hd's were so inflated.

 

[Cripple13]

And it makes sense if you have an old hd to reuse it, unless its terribly old or a 5400rpm model, there isn't much of a gain in buying a new one with the same specs. With an ssd you will notice a tremendous difference in performance, so even if you cants afford one when you build this pc, I would highly suggest getting one as soon as you can.

Also, +1 to gunit's comment about picking up win7, i'm not sure how xp handles SSD's, can someone put in their 2 cents on this?

 

[g-unit1111]

hard drives are insanely inflated right now and have been for months, and months to come

I forget exactly why but it was flooding in thailand I think, or whatever country they are produced in. So, as I suggested, if you have an old hdd that would fulfill your storage needs, scrap the new one and pick up a 60gb ssd for $100 instead

Yeah floods in southern Thailand where WD and Seagate's main production plants are located. The plants have been shut down for quite a while now and until they get back on line don't expect those prices to change anytime soon.

Also, +1 to gunit's comment about picking up win7, i'm not sure how xp handles SSD's, can someone put in their 2 cents on this?

I'd be really curious to know this as well - all I've ever used is Win 7 with SSDs, I think as long as they're drivers available XP could handle them.

 

[heyscotttt]

Sorry I didn't mean to say had a copy of XP, I meant Vista. Will windows vista handle more than 4gb memory?

 

[heyscotttt]

Also have a microcenter located about thirty minutes away from me, can probably save 40 dollars on the CPU by just running by there.

 

[g-unit1111]

Sorry I didn't mean to say had a copy of XP, I meant Vista. Will windows vista handle more than 4gb memory?

Depends on which version of Vista you have. 32-bit - less than 4GB RAM, 64-bit = greater than 4GB RAM. The basic version will handle up to 16GB, Ultimate will handle more than that.

Also have a microcenter located about thirty minutes away from me, can probably save 40 dollars on the CPU by just running by there.

That's fine. Just make sure they have a good return policy on it in case something goes wrong.

 

[Wisecracker]

Sorry I didn't mean to say had a copy of XP, I meant Vista. Will windows vista handle more than 4gb memory?

Vista will DX11 -- XP DX10 ... You need a '64-bit' OS to address more than 3GB of RAMs. Vista will enable TRIM for an SSD (this is important) -- no such joy on XP

Also have a microcenter located about thirty minutes away from me, can probably save 40 dollars on the CPU by just running by there.

The best deal at MC today looks like the PHENOM II X4 840 95w Boxed Processor HDX840WFGMBOX for $60 -- it's essentially a 3.2GHz Propus quad. It should clock nicely with good air. Not sure what you are looking for in a mobo - here are some AM3+ 970 chipset boards. Mr Gigabyte looks good.

That frees up cash for a serious video card. I suspect you may find a dualBIOS reference HD69502GB that is mod-able for around $250 if you look around ... and the landscape over the next month should change, anyway, with 7xxx cards a'coming.

Hold off on an HDD if you can - buy an SSD and recycle an older drive for storage if possible. HDD prices will, hopefully, return to normal by late Summer. $100 -less with rebate- will work for a good SSD.

That leaves you $150 for a 650TX PSU & Rosewill DESTROYER