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$1200 Gaming Build Help

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Approximate Purchase Date: This week preferably or until I get enough responses from all you educated guys on parts I should buy.

Budget Range: Around $1200 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming is going to be the biggest usage, surfing internet , movies, music, video/photo editing (rarely)

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Don't really have any preferences. I'd prefer Intel but honestly if I can get something similar/reliable for around the same price point, it doesn't matter to me.

Overclocking: Not anytime in the near future

SLI or Crossfire: If possible within my budget (don't know enough about this, just it increases performance by a lot)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and I hate "barging" in like this but you all are much more knowledgeable than I am. So I was just wondering if I could get help on choosing the right parts for what I'm looking to do. I just bought a decent laptop for college and I wanted to build a computer for gaming specifically along with possibly watching movies. But the laptop will cover all my word processing needs etc... This is going to be my first build ever and I really wanted to make sure that I did everything right.

I appreciate all the help! :wahoo: 

EDIT: OC capabilities would be nice but not a big deal at all. Would rather that $ be spent on better parts elsewhere etc... Also I forgot to mention, I'd like a full size case if possible for upgrading in the future if possible. And I don't need a blu-ray or SSD.

More about : 1200 gaming build

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EzioAs said:
Just to be clear on this, do you need overclocking capabilities or not?


I've never done it before but if it fits into the budget, I might look into doing it for the future. But if that $ could be better spent on a GPU for example, I'm willing to pass. To be honest, it's not really important to me especially if it means a better part elsewhere.

Best solution

Gaming Expert

If you want to overclock, here are the specs I'd recommend:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K($224.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600($46.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P($189.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio($54.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Video Card: MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC($239.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB($159.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

SSD: Crucial M4 128GB ($174.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ODD: LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM($18.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Chassis: Fractal Design Define R3($109.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU: Corsair HX750W Modular($149.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Subtotal: $1370.90 ($1360.90 after MIR)

This is over your budget, I know. But if you dont need an SSD, you can just drop it and it'll be around $1200. An SSD will make your system more responsive and games will load faster but it's very optional for a pure gaming system. Also, overclocking can help you to avoid bottlenecks with graphics card and some games so it's also a good choice since there are games(Skyrim for example) that requires more cpu frequency, but you need to ask for advice if you're not sure how to do it.
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Gaming Expert

Btw, you don't necessarily have to get the case I pick. Cases are quite subjective, and preference differ from one person to another. As long as it has good airflow, good cable management features, looks great to the person buying it, good build quality and within the budget, every chassis is quite good.

Thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate it. When it comes to cases though, how do I know if a specific case will work with all the parts or not? Sorry I know that's kind of a stupid question. Also I've never heard of that MSI card, is it considered mid range or what? Thanks again.
Gaming Expert

MSI has all cards from low to high end. They're just subvendors for Nvidia and AMD gpus and they're twin frozr cooler is astounding. It keeps the card cool and gives you plenty of overclocking headroom on the card. As, I've said before, pick one you like base on the looks and features such as proper cable management with rubber grommets to hide your cable and make your system looks tidy and clean, the number and type(120mm/140mm etc...) of fans it supports for optimal airflow and cooling, maybe cases with sound dampening material for a quiet pc, watercooling optimize case, etc. The fractal define R3 is a case with good cable management and a very quite case. You can also install up to 7 120mm fans for better airflow and it supports a 240mm radiator such as corsair H100 (which is pretty expensive) up on the top. You can get it in 4 colors black, white, grey and silver. Then again, if you don't like the looks, you can find others with the same features as well

EzioAs said:
MSI has all cards from low to high end. They're just subvendors for Nvidia and AMD gpus and they're twin frozr cooler is astounding. It keeps the card cool and gives you plenty of overclocking headroom on the card. As, I've said before, pick one you like base on the looks and features such as proper cable management with rubber grommets to hide your cable and make your system looks tidy and clean, the number and type(120mm/140mm etc...) of fans it supports for optimal airflow and cooling, maybe cases with sound dampening material for a quiet pc, watercooling optimize case, etc. The fractal define R3 is a case with good cable management and a very quite case. You can also install up to 7 120mm fans for better airflow and it supports a 240mm radiator such as corsair H100 (which is pretty expensive) up on the top. You can get it in 4 colors black, white, grey and silver. Then again, if you don't like the looks, you can find others with the same features as well


Ah gotcha. Thanks a million for all the help. I'm going to wait a little bit to see if anybody else has any opinions but that looks like a solid build to me. Thanks again :wahoo: 
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