Up to $1000 PC Build Advice

gang,

i've been anxiously awaiting Diablo 3 (as i'm sure many of you have as well). i want to get a new pc to run the game. i do realize the recommended system requirements are not very high by any means, but i'd still like to spend somewhere around $800 to no more than $1,000. if $800 is all it will take, then great.

i'll use the guidelines for recommendations from the sticky.

Approximate Purchase Date: next few weeks

Budget Range: $700-$1000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Diablo 3, surfing the net, did i mention Diablo 3?

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: whatever (newegg?)

Country: US

Parts Preferences: Intel chip, Antec PS, don't have a preference on mobo or video card manufacturer any longer (been a LOOOONG time since i built a machine)

Core: Intel, either a good i5 or if it's doable, an i7 but i can't imagine i'd need an i7 if all i'm playing is Diablo 3

Overclocking: no

Motherboard: no idea

Memory/RAM: 8GB (no less, but don't need more either)

Hard Drive: 500GB+ (not too concerned about size, but want a good, fast drive; maybe an SSD main drive for OS and Diablo 3 etc. plus a 500GB secondary drive? i don't know, just don't need a monster drive by any means but the idea of two drives seems to make sense to me - whether one SSD and one regular or just maybe two 500GB drives)

Video Card (SLI or Crossfire): no, i would like to stick to a single video card solution only. don't want to mess with multiple cards. one thing here though is that i might be interested (someday) in having dual-monitor support from the single card. i don't know if all decent single-card solutions these days offer dual-monitor support by default. but i might decide to someday do dual 24's. or a 24 and a 20 or something. this is not imperative.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200 (have a 24" monitor)

Additional Comments: don't want some crazy looking case, just a nice, basic black will do. and preferably quiet.

as mentioned above, i haven't built a machine for many years so i'm not current on chipsets/mobo's and video cards these days. i will need a license of Win7 as well (only have XP lying around here).

i've tried reading as many of the requests for pc build help ideas within the past couple of months and none seem to fit exactly my ideas so i hope everyone doesn't think i'm spamming by posting this request.

also... if a very cool option comes up and the pricing has to go over the $1,000 limit by $100 (for the OS for example) then so be it. i don't want the OS license to kill the deal on a nice machine.

thanks to everyone in advance for their support/advice.

-george

Reply to ajazi

Hey man sorry no one has helped you yet, Im going to put a build for you together 100% compatible for about 800$, anymore than that, and your pretty much losing bang for the buck. ill put one together 800-900 bucks brb, Just stick around.

------------------------------ AMD 960T 6 CORES @ 3.66ghz | Windows 7 64bit | 4 GB ram | 500GB HDD | HD 6870
Reply to ChaotixBlade

By the way, I put this build together,

(mine)

and look AMAZON IS BETTER

PARTS ARE CHEAPER.

30 DAY RETURN, SHIPPING IS ON THEM (NEWEGG YOU PAY FOR IT)

newegg is subject to 15% restocking fee amazon always full refund no questions asked.

Amazon is better

Look at this build (mine)

Ram = Kingston Technology HyperX Blu 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM (Kit of 2) XMP KHX1600C9D3B1K2/4GX 24$

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Tec [...] 70&sr=1-13

Hard Drive = Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive - WD5000AAKX
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive - WD5000AAKX 88$

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digi [...] &sr=1-2%20 88$

Case = GAMMA Classic Series ATX Mid Tower Interior Steel Chassis (Black) 40$

http://www.amazon.com/GAMMA-Classi [...] pd_vtp_e_2

PSU= Corsair Builder Series CX V2 500-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel and AMD Platforms - CMPSU-500CXV2 58$

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-500- [...] k-c1001-20

Graphics card = SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE Graphics Card 164$

http://www.amazon.com/SAPPHIRE-Rad [...] 873&sr=1-1

Motherboard= ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AMD 970 & SB950 ATX DDR3 800 AMD - AM3+ Motherboard 90$

http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-970-E [...] 757&sr=1-1

Os= Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack 100$

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Prem [...] 983&sr=1-3

disk drive = Genuine Dell Desktop FAST SATA DVD+RW DVDRW DVD Burner Drive 16x DVD+R Write Speed 48x CD Write Speed For Any System That Accepts Full Size Optical Drive & SATA Connection 20$ (CHEAPEST)

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Dell [...] 644&sr=1-1

CPU = AMD Phenom II X4 960T Processor, Black Edition, 3.0 4 Socket AM3 - HD96ZTWFGRBOX 115$

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Phenom-P [...] 245&sr=8-1

Extra fans

Fan:Cooler Master Computer Case Cooling R4-L2R-20AC-GP

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] k-c1001-20

x1

7$

706$

ON NEWEGG it WOULDVE been 766$ same parts.

PLUS on newegg you have to pay tax.

So newegg 766$ + .07% tax,

Amazon 700$ flat

------------------------------ AMD 960T 6 CORES @ 3.66ghz | Windows 7 64bit | 4 GB ram | 500GB HDD | HD 6870
Reply to ChaotixBlade

Quote :

Hard Drive: 500GB+ (not too concerned about size, but want a good, fast drive; maybe an SSD main drive for OS and Diablo 3 etc. plus a 500GB secondary drive? i don't know, just don't need a monster drive by any means but the idea of two drives seems to make sense to me - whether one SSD and one regular or just maybe two 500GB drives)

What I generally do here is I like to have my OS separate from my data - which eliminates the need to spend countless hours backing up data in case you need to do a complete HD reformat. This is where having an SSD comes in handy. Without moving parts, an SSD can flash a complete install of Windows in less than 10 minutes.

Quote :

Video Card (SLI or Crossfire): no, i would like to stick to a single video card solution only. don't want to mess with multiple cards. one thing here though is that i might be interested (someday) in having dual-monitor support from the single card. i don't know if all decent single-card solutions these days offer dual-monitor support by default. but i might decide to someday do dual 24's. or a 24 and a 20 or something. this is not imperative.

Most cards will offer dual monitor support easily. Where one has an advantage over the other is that if you use a Radeon with a 3-monitor Eyefinity setup.

Quote :

By the way, I put this build together,

(mine)

and look AMAZON IS BETTER

Elaborate please.

Just because the parts are cheaper doesn't make them a good seller. In fact if you look closer Amazon doesn't really sell PC parts as they outsource that to other sellers. I tried to buy a fan from them and I had to go to some other site to get it.

Quote :

CPU = AMD Phenom II X4 960T Processor, Black Edition, 3.0 4 Socket AM3 - HD96ZTWFGRBOX 115$

First off the OP doesn't want an AMD build, the OP wants an Intel build with an Antec PSU.

Try this:

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 - $59.99
PSU: Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W - $99.99
Motherboard: Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3 - $121.99
CPU: 3.30 GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $229.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 - $29.99
RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $44.99
HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $89.99
Optical: Lite On DVD Burner - $17.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 - $279.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $99.99

Total: $1074.93 ($974.91 without OS)

Message edited by g-unit1111 on 02-06-2012 at 07:43:54 PM

HERE IS THE BUILD 999 WITH OS

PSU http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Power- [...] 785&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

CASE Raidmax Altas ATX Mid Tower Case ATX-295WB

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

RAM Corsair XMS3 8 GB (2 x 4GB) 1333 MHz PC3-10666 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit CMX8GX3M2A1333C9

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

MOTHERBOARD

DVD DRIVE Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

OS Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack
by Microsoft

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

CPU Intel Core i5-2400 3.10 GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 Processor

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

GPU SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE Graphics Card

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

HDD Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB SATA III Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive Desktop Hard Drive -

WD10EARX

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

THERE UPDATED WITH ANTEC PSU, AND RAIDMAX IS FINE, ive been using them for 5 years.

Message edited by ChaotixBlade on 02-06-2012 at 08:00:17 PM

------------------------------ AMD 960T 6 CORES @ 3.66ghz | Windows 7 64bit | 4 GB ram | 500GB HDD | HD 6870
Reply to ChaotixBlade

Gives you a nice 8gb ram, 700w psu available for upgrades, Mobo is very nice, and a nice cpu from intel 3.1 ghz. Also gives youa pretty nice 1 tb hard drive to work with. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.

THE OS is included.

Feel free to swap out that windows 7 for a home premium 64 bit

TOTAL COST IS 999.23

Some more points that amazon is cheaper, The previous replie, stated a 3.3ghz sandy bridge i5 3.3ghz for 229. They are 219 on amazon, and the ram was 20 dollars cheaper on amazon, along with the graphics card 40$ cheaper. Newegg used to be a good company, they have since gotten greedy, and instead of lowering prices on holidays they raise them dramatically, Plus their return policy is the shadiest crap i've seen in a long time.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by ChaotixBlade on 02-06-2012 at 07:57:23 PM

------------------------------ AMD 960T 6 CORES @ 3.66ghz | Windows 7 64bit | 4 GB ram | 500GB HDD | HD 6870
Reply to ChaotixBlade

ChaotixBlade wrote :

Gives you a nice 8gb ram, 700w psu available for upgrades, Mobo is very nice, and a nice cpu from intel 3.1 ghz. Also gives youa pretty nice 1 tb hard drive to work with. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.

THE OS is included.

Feel free to swap out that windows 7 for a home premium 64 bit

I would stay away from RAIDMAX cases - awful brand. We use these where I work and they're very cheaply made and fall apart easily. And the PSU still isn't an Antec which the OP wants.

Whatever I gave him some idea's Im out, godbless everyone.

------------------------------ AMD 960T 6 CORES @ 3.66ghz | Windows 7 64bit | 4 GB ram | 500GB HDD | HD 6870
Reply to ChaotixBlade

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Three- [...] 404&sr=1-5 $55.67 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371030 $59.99
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157270 $84.99
ASRock Z68M/USB3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Here's a nice quad core cpu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115074 $189.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52400

Or a less expensive dual core cpu...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115090 $134.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i3-2105 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I32105

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] x%204GB%29 <----- You want 1.5v RAM for these 1155 boards. Any of these sets in the link will do, just stay away from that Corsair RAM with the tall heat sinks so you don't screw yourself with your cpu h/s. Corsair, G.Skill, Mushkin, Crucial and Patriot are all solid brands. 8GB (2x4) is more than plenty.

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce [...] B0050I1PHO $189.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1460-KR

Any $20 SATA DVD/CD burner/writer will do just fine. Samsung, Asus, LG, Lite On, etc.... just make sure it's SATA and not EIDE.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820211588 $154.99 FREE SHIPPING
ADATA S510 Series AS510S3-120GM-O 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM

A solid and quick storage drive...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148840 $124.99
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Message edited by Why_Me on 02-06-2012 at 08:08:56 PM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

wow, i wasn't expecting multiple responses within minutes of posting.

thanks so much to everyone's feedback, i truly appreciate it.

now i have to dive into the reco's and see what makes the most sense to me.

i'm sure i'll have follow-up questions, if so, i now know where to go.

thanks again.
-george

Reply to ajazi

Ill be here sir.

------------------------------ AMD 960T 6 CORES @ 3.66ghz | Windows 7 64bit | 4 GB ram | 500GB HDD | HD 6870
Reply to ChaotixBlade

XD

------------------------------ AMD 960T 6 CORES @ 3.66ghz | Windows 7 64bit | 4 GB ram | 500GB HDD | HD 6870
Reply to ChaotixBlade

so, i like what i see from the recommendations, but i was curious how this would all stack up against some pre-built systems from Alienware, iBUYPOWER, etc.

Alienware doesn't have anything competitive in the price range (the X51 for $1,000 is not as good as the suggestions above), but iBUYPOWER has a Paladin D828 for around $1K that seems to be better in some respects but not as good in others.

Gamer Paladin D828 - $945
1 x Case ( NZXT Tempest 410 Gaming Case - Black )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Processor (4x 3.30GHz/6MB L3 Cache) )
1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink ) (Liquid cooling was a free option)
1 x Memory ( 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand - FREE Upgrade to Corsair XMS3 )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 - 2GB - Single Card )
1 x Motherboard ( Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 )
1 x Power Supply ( 700 Watt - Standard )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black )
1 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer - Black )
1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
1 x Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )
1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit )

i was anticipating that dollar for dollar, i'd be able to build a machine by hand for less than from a pre-built source (or at least if the same price, better performance for the dollars).

does anyone have opinions/thoughts/comments about iBUYPOWER as a company? i know CyberPower PC has had a lot of negative reviews from what i can see but i don't see a ton of negative for iBUYPOWER.

if i'm missing something major, let me know as i'd like to build my own machine but not if i can get just as good pre-made with a warranty.

thanks again everyone...

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to ajazi

ajazi wrote :

so, i like what i see from the recommendations, but i was curious how this would all stack up against some pre-built systems from Alienware, iBUYPOWER, etc.

Alienware doesn't have anything competitive in the price range (the X51 for $1,000 is not as good as the suggestions above), but iBUYPOWER has a Paladin D828 for around $1K that seems to be better in some respects but not as good in others.

Gamer Paladin D828 - $945
1 x Case ( NZXT Tempest 410 Gaming Case - Black )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Processor (4x 3.30GHz/6MB L3 Cache) )
1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink ) (Liquid cooling was a free option)
1 x Memory ( 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand - FREE Upgrade to Corsair XMS3 )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 - 2GB - Single Card )
1 x Motherboard ( Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 )
1 x Power Supply ( 700 Watt - Standard )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black )
1 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer - Black )
1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
1 x Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )
1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit )

i was anticipating that dollar for dollar, i'd be able to build a machine by hand for less than from a pre-built source (or at least if the same price, better performance for the dollars).

does anyone have opinions/thoughts/comments about iBUYPOWER as a company? i know CyberPower PC has had a lot of negative reviews from what i can see but i don't see a ton of negative for iBUYPOWER.

if i'm missing something major, let me know as i'd like to build my own machine but not if i can get just as good pre-made with a warranty.

thanks again everyone...

Take the psu from that build and use it for a door stop cuz that's what it's good for.

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Kingston 8Gb 1600MGZ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

500 GB 7200 RPM http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER ( SSD's from what i read are dropping in price so id say wait imo )

Master Elite 430 Case http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

Dvd Drive http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

Windows 7 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

700 Watt ( If you even slightly think you may want to have a multiple monitor setup, overclocking ) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

Motherboard http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER ( Has PCIE 3.0, will support some future processors like the ivy bridge if wanted to upgrade, Usb 3.0, etc.. )

i5 2500k http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

Best type of 6950 Card imo http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] PDKIKX0DER

Total: 1055.00 ( OS included )

Other:
- If dont want overclocking or Multiple Monitor Setup for sure heres a 600 watt supply which would be fine.
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Cert [...] 79&sr=8-3`

Again if you dont want overclocking heres i5 2500 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-250 [...] 670&sr=8-1

If you dont care about 1 ghz loss then here is i5 2400 20 dollars cheaper http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-240 [...] 670&sr=8-3

With this you can knock 30-50 bucks.

You could also go with a 6950 1gb instead of 2gb which will knock off about 20 bucks.

All parts are on amazon, newegg might have a few parts cheaper, but not by much.

Message edited by ACRabbit on 02-07-2012 at 03:51:50 AM

Reply to ACRabbit

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