~$1200 gaming build

[andrewbub]

New to the forums, have been lurking for a few weeks now, last build was in 2006 with an e6600.
Looking for advice about this build being overkill or not for what I plan to do with it. Also wondering if waiting for IvyB would be worth it with price and monitor resolution in mind. Bonus question: do the OEM HSF fit on the e6600? I moved cross country with my current rig and three of the four pins holding the HSF to the mobo are busted, and I have a very jury rigged contraption holding the HSF to the processor.

Approximate Purchase Date: Today

Budget Range: $1200 or less

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and web surfing

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, case (purchased fractal define r3 last week), storage drive (1tb)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg

Country: USA (Oregon)

Parts Preferences: none besides intel for processor

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: If recommended

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

Additional Comments: want to play current gen games at max settings at 1680x1050, with future upgrade path in mind.


Build:
LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS90B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136240

MSI N560GTX-Ti 448 Twin Frozr III PE/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti - 448 Cores (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127615

SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

Plextor M3 Series PX-128M3 2.5" 128GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249014

Grand Total: $1,214.00 (with shipping)

 

[sosofm]

PSU : CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M 650W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139031
CPU COOLER : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
And in your budget will fit EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 570
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130620

 

[Boopoo]

Everything looks top notch but you would probably be best served to hang on and wait for the Radeon 78xx cards cause the 7850 about less than a 448 and wipe the floor with it and there is really no reason to go with Nvidia right now unless 560 ti or 570

 

[theautumnsbest]

If you live near a Microcenter, i5 2500K is only $179 and also you get $50 off any motherboard.

Also, I'd recommend moving up to 750W PSU, in case of future SLI/crossfire. I have a corsair TX-750W v2, powering 2x HD6870 OC'd (but I don't recommend getting the Corsair though, I am on my 3rd RMA because of Fan problems, 1st one the fan was running at full speed and making scraping noise, 2nd one the fan doesn't always come on, I have to push it with a pencil to get it spinning. My 3rd one will be coming in today.

My friend has a OCZ 750W, it's pretty nice also
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341052

 

[tmk221]

i5-2500k is too powerful for GTX560Ti. Personally I would kick out aftermarket cooler and put that $ toward GPU. And once you want to upgrade you could buy 2nd gpu + Noctua NH-D14 and max out Core i5-2500K.

and Windowsl... well i guess you know what I mean here

 

[andrewbub]

If you live near a Microcenter, i5 2500K is only $179 and also you get $50 off any motherboard.

there aren't any Microcenter's in Oregon, but from what I've read on forums I'm jealous of those that live near them, especially since Oregon has no sales tax.

 

[theautumnsbest]

there aren't any Microcenter's in Oregon, but from what I've read on forums I'm jealous of those that live near them, especially since Oregon has no sales tax.

I believe ncix.com price matches microcenter. maybe give them a call, can save you ~$50

 

[theautumnsbest]

there aren't any Microcenter's in Oregon, but from what I've read on forums I'm jealous of those that live near them, especially since Oregon has no sales tax.

actually 2500K is on sale! http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=57962&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1315
$199

 

[andrewbub]

actually 2500K is on sale! http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=57962&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1315
$199

nice find! i have until the 22nd to decide if i should buy or wait for IvyB. i'm not partial to any particular estore, but i priced almost the same build into tigerdirect and it was way more. i might jump on this proc and order the plextor ssd before they're sold out and hold back on the rest.

 

[Boopoo]

nice find! i have until the 22nd to decide if i should buy or wait for IvyB. i'm not partial to any particular estore, but i priced almost the same build into tigerdirect and it was way more. i might jump on this proc and order the plextor ssd before they're sold out and hold back on the rest.

Why wait for the new shiny when the i5 2500K will never be cheaper and you are never going to max out it capabilities anyway so ....

 

[andrewbub]

Why wait for the new shiny when the i5 2500K will never be cheaper and you are never going to max out it capabilities anyway so ....

i was wanting more input on IvyB and hadn't received any yet, but lack of IvyB mentions besides yours makes the choice clearer, thanks!

 

[Boopoo]

i was wanting more input on IvyB and hadn't received any yet, but lack of IvyB mentions besides yours makes the choice clearer, thanks!

It doesn't matter it will be marginally better than 2500K and 2500K is already overkill for you so you and I as consumers today it is about getting the most for the leased amount of money Enter i5 2500K

 

[andrewbub]

okay so i juggled some parts as recommended and compared prices on newegg and ncix and came up with this:

2500k
http://us.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57962&promoid=1315 ($199)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM
http://us.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=45271&promoid=1315 ($95)

EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD SC Fermi 797MHZ 1280MB GDDR5 2XDVI Mini-HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card
http://us.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=59008&promoid=1315 ($340)

LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS90B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136240 ($16)

OCZ ZT Series 750W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341052 ($110, $10 cheaper at NCIX but they are out of stock)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 ($47)

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 ($122)

Plextor M3 Series PX-128M3 2.5" 128GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249014 ($160)

Changes: Omitted aftermarket HSF, Changed PSU to different make +100w, Upgraded to gtx 570

Previous total: $1214
Updated total: $1103

 

[Boopoo]

OP you really want to want for Radeon 78xx Nvidia is behind

 

[andrewbub]

OP you really want to want for Radeon 78xx Nvidia is behind

I just read Feb for release of these cards, what will pricing be compared to performance of current nvidia cards?

 

[Boopoo]

I just read Feb for release of these cards, what will pricing be compared to performance of current nvidia cards?

A Radeon 7850 should be at $250 with same or a bit better performance as GTX 570 on a lesser TDP with more Vram.

 

[andrewbub]

A Radeon 7850 should be at $250 with same or a bit better performance as GTX 570 on a lesser TDP with more Vram.

also someone brought up earlier that 560 ti would bottleneck the 2500k, would the 7850/70 be more equal with a 2500k?

 

[tmk221]

AMD 7xxx won't give you more performance per $ at release date. Usually old generation is better choice unless you want top tier performance.

and don't wait for Ivy Bridge, you would need much more than gtx580 to use full potentiall of oc'ed core i5-2500k

 

[andrewbub]

pulled the trigger on everything except for video card, i will wait for march 6 when 78xx is released to see what prices look like.

 

[Boopoo]

also someone brought up earlier that 560 ti would bottleneck the 2500k, would the 7850/70 be more equal with a 2500k?

No nothing Bottlenecks a 2500K in gaming apps not even a 7970 SLI 2500K is the best CPU for gaming you can get the AMD BD FX - 8150 is also good to. Remember the 7850 will be faster than a 560ti.

 

[andrewbub]

Best answer selected by andrewbub.