Pending Gaming/Live Streaming Computer Build $1800 limit

[NBound]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I'm a long time Tom's Hardware Forum reader, but this is my first time posting. I respect the community's opinion which is why I'll only post my pending build here. I have to wait until mid-March to fully purchase this setup as I am out of the country and won't return to the US until then.

Basically I'd like to go for a FULL new computer build, including: Monitor, Keyboard, and mouse and all the other basic computer parts for under $1800 with shipping included. I plan to purchase everything from Newegg. I don't really want to purchase some things here, and others there as I can easily track it if it's from one spot. I want to be able to play SC2 on highest settings (I doubt thats too hard to do anyway), BF3 on either the highest settings or really close to highest, and WoW or SWTOR on the highest settings. I would like this to be a bit future proof as far as still being able to SLI or swapping out this CPU with a new Ivy Bridge down the road.

This is what I have so far:

Optical Drive = ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - OEM $23.99
Case = COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Black Steel ATX Mid Tower $69.99
HDD = Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM $89.99
Monitor = ASUS VS248H-P Black 24" HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor $199.99
SSD Bracket = BYTECC Bracket-35225 2.5 Inch HDD/SSD Mounting Kit $4.99
GPU = EVGA 012-P3-2068-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores Classified 1280MB $289.99
PSU = CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W $104.99
Keyboard = Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard $46.99
Mouse = Logitech G400 Mouse $41.99
Thermal Paste = ARCTIC COOLING Arctic Cooling MX-4 $12.99
RAM = CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $49.99
Mobo = ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 $121.99
CPU = Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 $229.99
OS = Windows 7 OEM $99.99
HS = COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO $34.99
SSD = Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III $169.99

Total w/ Shipping: $1,610.11

I've tried to do as much research as possibly and this is what I came up with to leave me a bit of room to get a new Webcam and Headset+Mic.

I plan on either Twitch or Own3d for my streaming of SC2, WoW or SWTOR and BF3.

What do you guys think?

I've had all this stuff in my shopping cart for a little over 2 weeks and the price is slowly dropping every day (as far as the total goes).

Thanks!

 

[g-unit1111]

I've tried to do as much research as possibly and this is what I came up with to leave me a bit of room to get a new Webcam and Headset+Mic.

IMO - these things are not that essential to a build. I think it would be better to put the money into the hardware first, get the accessories last. That's the way I look at it.

Looks pretty good but a couple of things. First is you don't really need the extra thermal paste as the Evo comes with some that is pretty decent. I'd also drop the expensive peripherals and invest that in getting a better video card. Try this build that I posted in another thread - you'll get a more current case, better video card (not that I have anything against EVGA), larger secondary HD:


Case: Fractal Design Arc MIDI - $99.99
PSU: Corsair TX650 V2 - $89.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3H - $159.99
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - $229.99
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo - $34.99
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $69.99
SSD: Samsung 830 64GB - $109.99
HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 1TB - $139.99
Optical: Lite On DVD Burner - $17.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 - $449.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $99.99
Keyboard / Mouse: Logitech MK320 - $39.99
Monitor: ASUS VS248H-P Black 24" HDMI LED - $199.99

Total: $1,741.89

A little bit more than your build but there's a lot of high quality stuff here. Plus the case I linked to has built-in support for SSDs so you can skip the mounting bracket.

 

[NBound]

Quote :


I've tried to do as much research as possibly and this is what I came up with to leave me a bit of room to get a new Webcam and Headset+Mic.




IMO - these things are not that essential to a build. I think it would be better to put the money into the hardware first, get the accessories last. That's the way I look at it.

For what I am trying to do...live streaming etc; they are essential to me. Out of an $1800 budget I am saving roughly $150 toward the webcam/headset+mic...so I definitely went with the hardware first haha. Thanks though..

I appreciate the feedback g-unit.

As far as the video card goes I'm pretty set on that for now. I've read some reviews of the 7950 and it is pretty solid except I want to stay around $300 for that. I could use a bit of what you posted with my build and get a slightly different price. I wouldn't want to drop the SSD down to 64 as I want to put Windows and some of my gaming files on it and I dont think the 830 would hold it all. The secondary HDD is a better option that you have however, I don't think I'll need 1TB right now and would rather save a bit on the price for that.

The keyboard and mouse that I have, I really like and will probably go with due to backlist, wired, and they both have extremely good reviews.

Thanks again g-unit!

 

[Why_Me]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I'm a long time Tom's Hardware Forum reader, but this is my first time posting. I respect the community's opinion which is why I'll only post my pending build here. I have to wait until mid-March to fully purchase this setup as I am out of the country and won't return to the US until then.

Basically I'd like to go for a FULL new computer build, including: Monitor, Keyboard, and mouse and all the other basic computer parts for under $1800 with shipping included. I plan to purchase everything from Newegg. I don't really want to purchase some things here, and others there as I can easily track it if it's from one spot. I want to be able to play SC2 on highest settings (I doubt thats too hard to do anyway), BF3 on either the highest settings or really close to highest, and WoW or SWTOR on the highest settings. I would like this to be a bit future proof as far as still being able to SLI or swapping out this CPU with a new Ivy Bridge down the road.

This is what I have so far:

Optical Drive = ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - OEM $23.99
Case = COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Black Steel ATX Mid Tower $69.99
HDD = Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM $89.99
Monitor = ASUS VS248H-P Black 24" HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor $199.99
SSD Bracket = BYTECC Bracket-35225 2.5 Inch HDD/SSD Mounting Kit $4.99
GPU = EVGA 012-P3-2068-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores Classified 1280MB $289.99
PSU = CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W $104.99
Keyboard = Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard $46.99
Mouse = Logitech G400 Mouse $41.99
Thermal Paste = ARCTIC COOLING Arctic Cooling MX-4 $12.99
RAM = CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $49.99
Mobo = ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 $121.99
CPU = Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 $229.99
OS = Windows 7 OEM $99.99
HS = COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO $34.99
SSD = Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III $169.99

Total w/ Shipping: $1,610.11

I've tried to do as much research as possibly and this is what I came up with to leave me a bit of room to get a new Webcam and Headset+Mic.

I plan on either Twitch or Own3d for my streaming of SC2, WoW or SWTOR and BF3.

What do you guys think?

I've had all this stuff in my shopping cart for a little over 2 weeks and the price is slowly dropping every day (as far as the total goes).

Thanks!

That CM cpu h/s comes with a small tube of excellent thermal compound so you can take that MX-4 off your list. Also get rid of that Corsair RAM with the mile high heat sinks. The last thing you need is to impede your cpu h/s. Corsair makes low profile RAM, and look at G.Skill, Crucial, Mushkin, and Patriot.

Here's a few options to look for saving a few bucks although that build of yours looks good.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220570 $41.99 FREE SHIPPING
Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory with heatshield Model PSD38G1600KH

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FCCOII/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0069RZ0LW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1P08DECCM3F01CQ7ZCN1 $289.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
MSI N560GTX-Ti 448 Twin Frozer III PE/OC - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (448 Cores) PCI-E 16X Graphics Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211588 $154.99 FREE SHIPPING
ADATA S510 Series AS510S3-120GM-O 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Computer-Case-RC-692-KKN2/dp/B00336EM0W $69.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Computer Case RC-692-KKN2

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD%C2%B1RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=dp_cp_ob_pc_title_2 $22.88 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Asus 24xDVD±RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

 

[NBound]

Yeah I am definitely going to remove the thermal paste lol...didnt catch that the CM Evo came with some. I appreciate that. As far as the RAM goes, I'll look at what you posted. I know that I was planning on using the 2nd and 4th RAM slots since I believe the 1st would be taken either way I went with RAM due to the new H/S.

I'll definitely look at that SSD too. Case you posted I have already.

Thanks!

 

[g-unit1111]

Quote :


I've tried to do as much research as possibly and this is what I came up with to leave me a bit of room to get a new Webcam and Headset+Mic.




IMO - these things are not that essential to a build. I think it would be better to put the money into the hardware first, get the accessories last. That's the way I look at it.

For what I am trying to do...live streaming etc; they are essential to me. Out of an $1800 budget I am saving roughly $150 toward the webcam/headset+mic...so I definitely went with the hardware first haha. Thanks though..

I appreciate the feedback g-unit.

As far as the video card goes I'm pretty set on that for now. I've read some reviews of the 7950 and it is pretty solid except I want to stay around $300 for that. I could use a bit of what you posted with my build and get a slightly different price. I wouldn't want to drop the SSD down to 64 as I want to put Windows and some of my gaming files on it and I dont think the 830 would hold it all. The secondary HDD is a better option that you have however, I don't think I'll need 1TB right now and would rather save a bit on the price for that.

The keyboard and mouse that I have, I really like and will probably go with due to backlist, wired, and they both have extremely good reviews.

Thanks again g-unit!

If you already have the keyboard and mouse definitely reuse those and there's no need to factor that into your budget.

What I do with my SSD is I use it for boot / Windows only (hence the low capacity) and then I load my programs and everything else on the secondary. It's still blazing fast and much faster than what you would get with a mechanical HD alone.

The 7950 is an excellent video card and is one of the newest around but if you want to stick to NVIDIA that's fine as well - the card you picked is quite excellent, I pretty much only use EVGA in my systems, Sapphire for Radeon if I'm going for an Eyefinity rig.

 

[Why_Me]

Yeah I am definitely going to remove the thermal paste lol...didnt catch that the CM Evo came with some. I appreciate that. As far as the RAM goes, I'll look at what you posted. I know that I was planning on using the 2nd and 4th RAM slots since I believe the 1st would be taken either way I went with RAM due to the new H/S.

I'll definitely look at that SSD too. Case you posted I have already.

Thanks!

That Corsair RAM with the high heat sinks is actually the old style. When Corsair finally jumped into the game with 1.5v RAM they came out with those as a gimmick. The thing with these 1155 boards is that you don't have to o/c your RAM in order to o/c your cpu...no moving up the FSB like in the old days so no worry of your ram getting hot and needing those cake cutter heat sinks. A lot of peeps didn't know this at first seeing how they failed to read the Sandy Bridge reviews and they purchased that RAM only to find out it screwed them on their after market cpu heat sink...especially the larger ones with 120/140mm fans. When peeps started complaining and returning that RAM, Corsair came out with the low profile heat sinks...same RAM but lower heat sinks.

I threw that case with the amazon link due to the free shipping. You combine that case with the free shipping along with that Asus optical drive @ amazon w/free shipping and you save around $15.

 

[NBound]

Oh no, I don't have a keyboard and mouse. I guess I see where you are coming from with me saying "saving only $150 towards..."...I'm spending like $80 on the keyboard and mouse with $150...on the headset/mic and webcam...so $230 out of an $1800 budget then...haha.

Yeah for me I've been watching videos of people who load windows and WoW or any other game for that matter on an SSD vs. Windows on an SSD and WoW on a mechanical and it's a pretty significant difference. Plus I figured in the future 128GB would be more useful and 60GB would pretty much be used up quickly...if like Windows 8 is bigger than 7.

 

[NBound]

That Corsair RAM with the high heat sinks is actually the old style. When Corsair finally jumped into the game with 1.5v RAM they came out with those as a gimmick. The thing with these 1155 boards is that you don't have to o/c your RAM in order to o/c your cpu...no moving up the FSB like in the old days so no worry of your ram getting hot and needing those cake cutter heat sinks. A lot of peeps didn't know this at first seeing how they failed to read the Sandy Bridge reviews and they purchased that RAM only to find out it screwed them on their after market cpu heat sink...especially the larger ones with 120/140mm fans.

Very nice info, Why_me.

Did not know that. Frankly I saw that ram suggested from somewhere (possibly here...and possibly in an older post haha) and saw the 5 star egg rating and was like...ok good to go!

I'll look at the lower profile/newer ones.

 

[NBound]

Updated shopping with:

- Removed MX-4 thermal paste
- Removed Corsair Vengeance HIGH PROFILE ram

- Added CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 Low Profile $49.99

Appreciate the feedback gents!