Sub-$650 gaming build including W7

[MrTehPenguin]

Hey guys, I've decided that I'm going to save up $700 (the extra $100 for shipping and tax) for my first build. I'm having some trouble finding a good build with W7 that won't go over $650. I will probably be purchasing this in the summer so late Q2 to Q3 of 2012. I'd rather not go with combos because when I purchase my build they may not be available, so unless you know that the combo will be available for a long time then try to stick away to combos other than mouse & keyboard combos. I have no preference in GPUs and CPUs, I just want the best bang for the buck. I would be playing BF3 (multiplayer of course), Skyrim possibly, Minecraft, TF2, SW:ToR, and World of Tanks mostly. I'd like to play them on mid-high settings and still get at least 30 FPS.
I do not require a monitor
I do require a mouse and keyboard
I do require a wireless adapter

CPU-ntel Pentium G850 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz

Case-Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower

Motherboard-BIOSTAR H61MGC LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX

GPU-XFX Double D HD-679X-ZDFC Radeon HD 6790 1GB 256-bit

RAM-G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

PSU-Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2DB 500W ATX12V

HDD-Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM

Keyboard & Mouse-DCT Factory Black USB Wired Standard Keyboard

Disc drive-LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R

Wireless Adapter-TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless Adapter

OS-Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

Total=$634.89, $695.16 after tax and shipping.

 

[ToKiiNzSo1337]

try to upgrade to a phenom 2 dual core calisto 3.4ghz theyre 100$ if you can athlon arnt really great

 

[MrTehPenguin]

try to upgrade to a phenom 2 dual core calisto 3.4ghz theyre 100$ if you can athlon arnt really great

Ok, it seems like it'll be better, especially if I unlock it to a quad-core so it's reviews seem to support that it's pretty damned good. I had to downgrade to 4GB of RAM, but that's still adequate for my build. Now the build comes out to $700.52 which is only $.52 over what I want to spend in total so it's not bad. Anyone have anything else that I could lower the price of my build without sacrificing much performance?

 

[somekidxd]

i5 2400 $190
Asrock H61Cafe $70
ATI 6870 $165
Antec ECO 620w $70
Cooler Master Elite 430 $50
LG 22x $18
Cavier Blue 500GB 7200RPM $100 or Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM $70

Total: $663 w/ cavier blue

 

[aznshinobi]

Mehh you can do a bit better.
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
$600 build there.

Windows 7 here:
http://www.softwaresupplygroup.com/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-oem-branded.html

Cheaper and you get WAY more performance. A 6870 and an i5 2400.
i5 2400 vs 565
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/204?vs=363

 

[MrTehPenguin]

Mehh you can do a bit better.
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
$600 build there.

Windows 7 here:
http://www.softwaresupplygroup.com/microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-oem-branded.html

Cheaper and you get WAY more performance. A 6870 and an i5 2400.
i5 2400 vs 565
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/204?vs=363

Thanks, I'm not the best at finding the best bang-for-your-buck parts so feedback is always helpful. Also in my new build I totally forgot a case so I had to downgrade a bit with the GPU and PSU, so will that PSU be able to handle that build?

 

[somekidxd]

Intel Pentium G850 $88
Change PSU to a 500w $60
Cooler Master Elite 311 $40
BIOSTAR H61MLC $54
6870 $165
LG 22x $18
Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM $70
Ram Kingston Hyper X 1333 8gb $40
OS $100

 

[MrTehPenguin]

Intel Pentium G850 $88
Change PSU to a 500w $60
Cooler Master Elite 311 $40
BIOSTAR H61MLC $54
6870 $165
LG 22x $18
Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM $70
Ram Kingston Hyper X 1333 8gb $40
OS $100

Might consider it, I'll try to find some charts comparing the X2 565 vs the G850. Might change over to a G850, but I can't afford the 6870.

 

[zolton33]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/35396-63-windows

Read that i advise against windows oem if you ever plan to upgrade your cpu and motherboard ever in the life of windows 7. If you do microsoft does not have to activate your windows 7.

 

[MrTehPenguin]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/35396-63-windows

Read that i advise against windows oem if you ever plan to upgrade your cpu and motherboard ever in the life of windows 7. If you do microsoft does not have to activate your windows 7.

Probably by the time I upgrade, I'll be upgrading to Windows 8 as well.

 

[zolton33]

Thats true but i figure people building new pcs should be aware that this will cause you problems. I know most who build their own also like to upgrade fromtime to time and the full version allows for that while oem does not.

 

[MrTehPenguin]

Thats true but i figure people building new pcs should be aware that this will cause you problems. I know most who build their own also like to upgrade fromtime to time and the full version allows for that while oem does not.

Well thanks for that info! Never knew that about it. When I do upgrade it'll probably be in 2013 or even 2014 so Windows 8 will probably be out by then.

 

[zolton33]

Yeah and alot of people will have to switch os then as they willstop support for windows xp which worries people as its microsofts most stable version of windows ever in my opinion. Its a shame i hear windows 7 likes to bsod you like the old windows 98 >_<

 

[MrTehPenguin]

Yeah and alot of people will have to switch os then as they willstop support for windows xp which worries people as its microsofts most stable version of windows ever in my opinion. Its a shame i hear windows 7 likes to bsod you like the old windows 98 >_<

Yeah, for me it does it quite often, but I haven't lost anything, and it could also be due to me just having a crappy Acer 7540 laptop as well.

 

[MrTehPenguin]

Anyways, how do you guys like the build? I'd be able to spend more but I get taxed because I live in NJ, and I need to purchase W7.

 

[zolton33]

That mother board would really limit you on upgrades it has only 2 ram slots and 8 gig for each max of 16. And it would completely cut you out from being able to crossfire if you wanted to. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138308 Is a better otion still max 16 gig ram supported but you can at least crossfire in the future.

 

[MrTehPenguin]

That mother board would really limit you on upgrades it has only 2 ram slots and 8 gig for each max of 16. And it would completely cut you out from being able to crossfire if you wanted to. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138308 Is a better otion still max 16 gig ram supported but you can at least crossfire in the future.

I would, but it puts me $20 over my budget, if there are any boards that are $50-$60 then I could possibly fit it in the budget.

 

[zolton33]

Well its your choice but i thought i'd point it out. Alot of people like to crossfire for the huge fps increase they get. That motherboard locks you out you'd have to get a whole new motherboard to ever do it and in so doing you'd need another windows 7 oem disk as well as replacing your mother board makes it a whole new pc requiring a new oem license. so buying it then would cost you an extra 100 bucks plus the price of the mother board compared to the extra 20 now.

 

[MrTehPenguin]

Well its your choice but i thought i'd point it out. Alot of people like to crossfire for the huge fps increase they get. That motherboard locks you out you'd have to get a whole new motherboard to ever do it and in so doing you'd need another windows 7 oem disk as well as replacing your mother board makes it a whole new pc requiring a new oem license. so buying it then would cost you an extra 100 bucks plus the price of the mother board compared to the extra 20 now.

Well you just convinced me to save up an extra $27. EDIT: Is that motherboard you posted compatible with Pentiums? For the CPU type it shows only the i-Cores.

 

[zolton33]

LGA 1155 is the motherboard and LGA 1155 is the cpu. I don't think new mother boards list some of the older chips that fit them. Maybe some one else can explain? As long as the chipsets match i do not see why it would not fit. When i buy a motherboard i just match the cpu to the motherboard.

 

[MrTehPenguin]

LGA 1155 is the motherboard and LGA 1155 is the cpu. I don't think new mother boards list some of the older chips that fit them. Maybe some one else can explain? As long as the chipsets match i do not see why it would not fit. When i buy a motherboard i just match the cpu to the motherboard.

Alright, just making sure. I'm new to the desktop world so I'll always have quite a few questions. One of them is should I buy all the parts together or buy them individually?

 

[zolton33]

Just to give you something else to think about i found this bare bones kit on tigerdirect. Admitedly not all of the parts are top of the line. And you would need to upgrade a few of the parts over time to take full advantage of the cpu. Like the motherboard the power supply unit and the heat sink fan for the pc for over clocking (at the least). But with this you get a much better cpu the 2500k which is the top of the line in gaming right now. I just thought i'd at least let you know its an option its 429.99 after rebates and 469.99 without. I know its not for every one but heh there it is.

 

[zolton33]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1241992&CatId=4910 Doh forgot the link >_<

 

[aznshinobi]

So in the build I suggested, it'd b perfectly fine for you. The PSU is sufficient and the motherboard is good enough. The CPU and GPU would be a huge boost in your ACTUAL performance.

 

[MrTehPenguin]

So in the build I suggested, it'd b perfectly fine for you. The PSU is sufficient and the motherboard is good enough. The CPU and GPU would be a huge boost in your ACTUAL performance.

I know, but the parts in that build are a bit scattered and I want to buy all my parts from a single distributor, and I need W7 as well and your build does NOT include it so it goes about $50 over my budget. Also Zolton, I combined that with W7, a wireless adapter, and a HIS 6790 and it comes out $719.96, and I'll get $50 in MIR so that is a perfect build! Well time to start saving all my money! Thanks Zolton, also do you know if their bare bones kits don't expire like Newegg's combo deals? I'll be purchasing this in the summer so I want to make sure that it's still available.