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Looking to build a $1200 gaming pc

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It has been a few years since my las build, so I am not as up on the hardware for this build. I was advised by a friend of mine who frequents here to post what I am thinking about buying to get the opinion of the masses and see if there are any parts that could be better by spending a little more money or replaced. I would like to stay close to the $1200 price range.
And now the parts list......

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
$229.99

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (This board seems to have mixed reviews)
$219.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm sleeve CPU Cooler
$29.99 (Has anyone used on the p8z68 board, I am wondering about space)

NZXT Crafted Series Phantom Black / Green Trim Computer Case
$129.99

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 01G-P3-1561-AR Video Card
$249.99

CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 (CMPSU-850AX) 850W Power Supply
$189.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) (Should I just go with 16GB and get it over with or will 8 be good enough to play most games)
$46.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive $94.99 (I am not really concerned about having a ton of space right now but will buy a secondary 1TB later)

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
$19.99

Thank you all in advance for the help!

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That's actually a pretty good build. Love the Phantom. If you're concerned about space the Phantom is a full size ATX tower and the Hyper 212 will fit in it easily.

However one suggestion I will make is go with the new version of the Hyper 212 - called the Evo - it's a few bucks more but it has a better LED fan and better heat pipes.

8GB of RAM will be plenty for now, there's not a lot of games out there that will accommodate more than that.

This is a pretty good build and if you were interested you could end up with a better video card.

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$121.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

EVGA 012-P3-1571-AR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$339.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The difference is $5 and you would have a similar motherboard with SLI capability and a GTX 570 which is a step up from a 560Ti. The 8gb would be a good choice to go with as g-unit says there are no games to take advantage of the 16gb unless you had some applications you were also going to be using on the computer that required more ram.

inzone said:
This is a pretty good build and if you were interested you could end up with a better video card.

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$121.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

EVGA 012-P3-1571-AR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$339.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The difference is $5 and you would have a similar motherboard with SLI capability and a GTX 570 which is a step up from a 560Ti. The 8gb would be a good choice to go with as g-unit says there are no games to take advantage of the 16gb unless you had some applications you were also going to be using on the computer that required more ram.


I'd second the 570 but thing about Asrock is I've heard really mixed opinions. Either people really like them or really hate them - there's no in between. That's why I'm usually hesitant to recommend them. Plus the Asus board has PCI-E 3.0 to take advantage of future video cards so it's somewhat more future-proof.
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The feedback for the Asus (66% pos) is about the same as the Asrock ( 63%pos) and the overall feedback on the Asrock is better acording to the Newegg site. If you combine the 5 star and 4 star the Asus (80%) is lower then the Asrock (84%) and less on the 1 star plus 2 star Asus (17%) vs Asrock (12%).
I usually look at the feedback as a whole just for referance and to see what comments are to be accepted as real and the one that are just plain stupid complaints like the UPS guy was late so one star was deducted or it took 4 days instead of 3 for delivery.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... this board, this PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168..., this video card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168.... Would give you the option to SLI later on, a gtx 570, and a power supply that can handle the SLI.

Edit: After some looking, there is a combo that includes a 2tb WD green hard drive with that motherboard for the same price as the 500gb you were looking at... http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

jeremyp1979 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... this board, this PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168..., this video card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168.... Would give you the option to SLI later on, a gtx 570, and a power supply that can handle the SLI.


The PSU is a good suggestion but I wouldn't recommend the GENE-Z as micro-ATX limits your expandability options. If you run dual video cards it will take up all your slots, and if you have a modem or any kind of peripheral that requires a special PCI-e adapter (some do) you won't be able to use it.

g-unit1111 said:
The PSU is a good suggestion but I wouldn't recommend the GENE-Z as micro-ATX limits your expandability options. If you run dual video cards it will take up all your slots, and if you have a modem or any kind of peripheral that requires a special PCI-e adapter (some do) you won't be able to use it.


This is good advice, but personally, I haven't used an addon card other than a Video card in probably 6 years or so, and would venture a guess that the average user doesn't either. If you do, go for a bigger board. This one is a micro atx, but has a lot of good features, and is IB ready out of the box.

jeremyp1979 said:
This is good advice, but personally, I haven't used an addon card other than a Video card in probably 6 years or so, and would venture a guess that the average user doesn't either. If you do, go for a bigger board. This one is a micro atx, but has a lot of good features, and is IB ready out of the box.


That's true that most don't but PCI-E Wifi cards are definitely an exception, but then you get that one rare cable or DSL modem that does and you won't be able to use it, so I generally prefer full ATX boards for that reason.

Someone may prefer to use the Bigfoot Killer Nic instead of the onboard lan for control of the apps plus priority of access to the internet and to bypass the Windows network stack.

stick with your asus above and get a gtx 570 or a gtx560ti 2GB and sli them, if you get another one, and the PSU don't change it, overall your build up is very good, oh and i do advice to get the 212 evo, unless you can afford the noctua nh-d14 then go with the evo

Thank you all for you help and advice so far, I think that I am going to take some of your advice and go with the evo 212. I have one more question about the video cards. This card is not too much more but is it worth it and other than the obvious reason that it has 2GB?
EVGA 02G-P3-1568-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

g-unit1111 said:
That's true that most don't but PCI-E Wifi cards are definitely an exception, but then you get that one rare cable or DSL modem that does and you won't be able to use it, so I generally prefer full ATX boards for that reason.


I would have to agree, even if I do not use the extra ports I do like the space and the flexibility just in case the future calls for a change.
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