700$ Gaming Build For D3, Please Help!!

[elyjah]

Approximate Purchase Date: 1-2 Weeks

Budget Range: 600-700

System Usage from Most to Least Important: School Work, Gaming, Browsing, Music

Parts Not Required: Monitor, OS, Keyboard, Mouse

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.ca, NCIX.ca

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1900x1200

Additional Comments: Already purchased the case but please include the 50$ in the budget.

Build So far:

Zalman Z9 Plus Case: 50$ (Already Bought)

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 + CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) COMBO: 93$

Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s: 70$

HIS IceQ X Turbo Radeon HD 6850: 155$

Intel Core i3-2120 + MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 COMBO: 242$

TOTAL: 610$ ish BUT Shipping and Taxes takes the price to about 700 (Sucks, I know )


So is this build alright for moderate gaming, as well as word processing etc?

Would i3+z77 MOBO with the option to upgrade to i5 later be worse than i5 now and mATX MOBO with less upgradability?

Thanks guys any suggestions appreciated!

 

[the_creed4]

the 6850 is awesome, d3 will run like butter. I am pro amd but the upgradability path for the 1155 socket is great, you have a decent combo there and you should keep it and if you wish, you can upgrade to an i5 later

 

[constepatdyak]

Build is good. Have you considered cards such as 7850/7770? Your board will get an upgrade to i5 no probs

 

[aznshinobi]

7770 is worse than the 6850 wouldn't go that route.

I would try and not go Z77 right now with inflated prices. Z77 isn't as good as everyone says honestly. Nearly not benefit from the USB 3.0 controller to native. Gen3 vs Native PCI 3.0 or whatever has barely an improvement also so if you can get a Gen3 board and save go that way.

Check out my $650 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
Would probably work out. Gives you an i5 2400, 6870 which will be much better. Perhaps wait for the i5 2400 to be replaced by Ivy Bridge as the Ivy version is cheaper slightly.

 

[elyjah]

Thanks for the replies, and yes I have considered the 7850, however it is a little out of my price range so I decided ill go with the 6850 and hopefully upgrade down the line

 

[elyjah]

Thanks aznshinobi, your build looks good but I had a question about the Ivy Bridge CPU's, when do you think they will be available for purchase?

 

[aznshinobi]

Probably next week. So I think the numbers are i5 3470? That should replace the i5 2400 and only be $174 US though.

 

[elyjah]

alright thanks, so along with that cpu what mobo would you recommend? (preferably under 100$)

 

[azeem40]

Most of the MOBOs under $100 are mATX, which I don't recommend unless it is for an HTPC.

 

[aznshinobi]

Asrock H61M/U3S3 is a pretty good cheap one.
Z68 Gen3 Pro3 is another cheap motherboard.

I would go with the i5 3470 though on this budget.

 

[elyjah]

well then it becomes too expensive for me, so would i3 + better mobo for now work ok? (upgrade to i5 in the future)

 

[azeem40]

I would recommend H67 as it allows for an SSD in the future.

 

[aznshinobi]

^ WHAT? H61 allows for SSDs too... I don't understand what you're saying.

As for the price point, I managed to fit the build under $650 so... I don't really understand. You just use the same build just switch the i5 2400 to the i5 3470 which ends up saving you $16.

 

[azeem40]

I see most H61 mobos don't come with SATA III ports.

"H61
Another chipset that was released late on. The H61 is pretty much the same as the H67 but are designed for the bottom end of Sandy bridge builds. Whilst marginally cheaper than H67 chipsets they lack the following features;

Native USB 3.0 ports
Native SATA III ports
Clear Video Technology
RAID"

Source: http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/difference-between-h67-p67-z68-and-h61-chipsets-a-22.html

 

[aznshinobi]

The Asrock H61M/U3S3 does... -_-
Too bad it is so much more expensive. The H61M/U3S3 is about $25 more.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236
You could save OP and go with this
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530BD0062&vpn=P8H61-M%20LX%20PLUS%20REV%203.0&manufacture=ASUS
No flair and what not but you save money especially on shipping
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530BD0062&vpn=P8H61-M%20LX%20PLUS%20REV%203.0&manufacture=ASUS
Free ground.

 

[azeem40]

But it is mATX, which leaves no room for upgrades.

 

[aznshinobi]

Canadian prices make it hard to find an ATX that does and that's not true. mATX is small but it doesn't mean no upgrades. Buying the Pro3 wouldn't allow you to upgrade either, it only has 1 slot PCI 2.0/3.0.

Azeem you try and find solutions...

 

[azeem40]

The P8H67 is around $114, but idk how much it is in CAD.

 

[aznshinobi]

So basically, get another mATX board that costs more but still only has the same features as a board that is $50 less (Asrock H61M/U3S3) Honestly Asus boards are way overpriced as they bank on their name. Even Gigabyte offers boards of similar performance but much less. MSI somewhat.