$850 Gaming build (1st Build!)

[golfboy85]

Approximate Purchase Date: Last Month in April

Budget Range: $850 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Photo/Video Editing, internet, whatever.

Parts Not Required: Monitor, Speakers, keyboard, mouse.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon, Newegg, anywhere that ships to CA,

Country:USA, CA

Parts Preferences: FX-4170 Processor, Nvidia Graphics (GTX 550Ti or above), at least 8gb of ram, ≥750gb hard drive,

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire:Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006OJN49K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
is a combo for the video card im looking at considering it includes the video card I want, a game I want, and the amount of ram I want.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barra...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1332871828&sr=1-1
This is a hard drive I am looking at.
Please keep in mind that this will be my first build, but I have friend helping me out on it.

This is all open to change, as I am open to anything.
PLEASE HELP

 

[azeem40]

If you are using the HDD as a boot drive, get Seagate Barracuda or Caviar Blue.

 

[wasupmike]

with an $850 budget... just can't recommend an AMD based system:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
- COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower: $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027
- CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified: $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit: $100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244
- SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner: $16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
- Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM: $85

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279
- ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0: $105

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
- Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz: $220

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544
- G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600: $45

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125383
- GIGABYTE GV-N56GOC-1GI GeForce GTX 560: $185

TOTAL: $876 (before $50 mail-in-rebates)

so a better video card than your 550Ti (also slightly factory overclocked too)... But remember, Ivy Bridge is coming out in about a month... but you could base an Ivy Bridge system on this one.. and replace the motherboard + CPU with the Ivy Bridge comparable parts respectively...

 

[golfboy85]

In what way is the 2500k better than the fx-4170? The amd seems faster and cheaper. Also is that power supply going to be enough, if I decide to overclock/upgrade?

 

[wasupmike]

In what way is the 2500k better than the fx-4170? The amd seems faster and cheaper. Also is that power supply going to be enough, if I decide to overclock/upgrade?

in every way... faster at stock speeds, faster at overclocked speeds and much more efficient... (there's a reason the i5 is more expensive)

yup, the PSU will be more than enough... (unless you're SLI-ing.. then you'd need ~750w)

 

[mojorisin23]

Intel is better than AMD... i would go with Intel.

Otherwise i like Wasupmike's build. I might up the PSU for future expansion if money permitted. And perhaps up the GPU to the 570 Ti (I made the mistake of going with the 560 Ti. i'll wait a bit for prices to come down, get a second and SLI them).

 

[golfboy85]

Okay that set seems pretty good, but for ram and gpu, I'm going with this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006OJN49K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[golfboy85]

Intel is better than AMD... i would go with Intel.

Otherwise i like Wasupmike's build. I might up the PSU for future expansion if money permitted. And perhaps up the GPU to the 570 Ti (I made the mistake of going with the 560 Ti. i'll wait a bit for prices to come down, get a second and SLI them).

I want the570 but there's no room for it in the budget.

 

[quicksand10]

In what way is the 2500k better than the fx-4170? The amd seems faster and cheaper. Also is that power supply going to be enough, if I decide to overclock/upgrade?

Read: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

+1 for the i5-2500k if you have the cash, otherwise go with the CPU from that article that fits your budget

 

[golfboy85]

Oh god I forgot about, CA sales tax, which is 7.25%. So that's gona take like $50 off my budget. Can someone please reconfigure wasupmikes recomendations? It would really help.

 

[quicksand10]

I would leave it as is, but change the i5-2500k to the i5-2400.

Seeing as there isn't an aftermarket CPU cooler + thermal paste in your build, I don't see the point of going with an i5-2500k (except maybe for future 'upgradeability' and bragging rights :lol

Otherwise, you can always go with a low end case? (won't save you 50$, but if you downgrade the processor, that's increased savings...)

 

[somekidxd]

i5 2400 $190
Sapphire 7850 or MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) $250
Asrock Z68/USB3 $85
Windows 7 $100
LG 22x $20
GSkill Ripjaws 8gb $38
Western Digital Cavier Blue $85
Corsair Builder Series 600w $70
COOLER MASTER Elite 335 $45

Total: $853 if you get the GTX 560ti, because theres a rebate. But hey, the 7850 is new and thing for you to choose if you want it. I personally have the Elite 335, haven't had much problems, but then again its a case. Gaming should be pretty awesome.

 

[wasupmike]

ya, go with the i5-2400... you won't need an aftermarket cooler (you can always get one later too), and it can still be overclocked to its maximum turbo boost of 3.8GHz on all four cores

don't skimp out on PSU or case... your build will last longer with quality parts.. and remember - you still have $50 of mail-in-rebates there too...

 

[golfboy85]

Best answer selected by golfboy85.

 

[golfboy85]

Thank You for all the help guys~!