$1000 gaming desktop

[xanada]

Approximate Purchase Date: Whenever final product is done. (hoping for this week)

Budget Range: $850 -$1000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Mainly for gaming (Diablo 3) for as I have laptops for browsing/movies.

Parts Not Required: Dont need the monitor, keyboard,mouse. This is just for the tower itself.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I only really know of NewEgg and Amazon. Doesnt need to be just those two, so If someone knows a reliable good site thats cheaper Im all for it.

Country: Western Pa, USA

Parts Preferences: Im honestly not that picky, I was looking at the GTX 550-570's and the i5 series and the i7's.

Overclocking: I dont plan on Overclocking. This rig is mainly just for gaming. Would just like to run diablo 3 and future games on high to max settings.

SLI or Crossfire: This makes me feel VERY dumb, just not too sure what this is xD xD.

Additional Comments: Any builds or ideas please. My friend will assemble it for me but he doesnt wanna have to go through the hassle of putting one together. If anyone have any questions please ask. Ill be watching for replays very frequently.

 

[Silvune]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz ($139.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ($147.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 CAS9 1.5V F3-1600C9D-8GAB ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB GV-R785OC-2GD ($266.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX Pro 650W Core Edition ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $927.77
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-07 07:28 EDT-0400)

SLI or Crossfire is installing more than one graphics card and making them work together to improve gaming performance. With Nvidia they need to be exactly the same card (eg two GTX 560 Tis), with AMD they have to have the first two numbers be the same (eg two 7850s or you could actually use a 7850 with a 7870) but it's still better for them to be exactly the same.
To be able to CF/SLI you have to usually spend more on the motherboard to make sure that it has two PCIe (2.0/3.0) x16 slots. And you usually have to spend more on the PSU to make sure it has enough power and PCIe connectors to support two cards.
There can also be implications for the case and cooling, as it takes extra cooling to make sure that both cards and the rest of the system stay cool enough.

In the build above I have provisioned for the possibility of CF in the future as it is usually seen as a potential upgrade option rather than something people do straight away.

 

[xanada]

Thank you for the reply. I love the build and went through everything but sadly I won't be able to get the CPU at Microcenter even though that price is amazing. What would that exact CPU cost on different sites so I could figure out the correct price? Another thing to add is that I don't know much about video cards. Question is, how can you tell how much dedicated RAM is only for this gpu that you have in the build? I'm assuming by the price it should have more than my laptop which is only 128mb dedicated.

 

[Silvune]

If you press the "Price breakdown by merchant" link it will show you a bunch of other websites where the parts are available.

Superbiiz has the i5-2400 at the next cheapest price of $186.99, which is only about $3 cheaper than Newegg/NCIX US.

With dedicated video cards they have RAM chips installed onto the actual graphics card PCB. This is to avoid communication with system RAM, which basically is too slow for high quality gaming. There is also the provision/possibility for developing video RAM more quickly than system RAM.
In the case of the 7850 it has 2GB of GDDR5 RAM. When looking at graphics cards on online shops they usually list the amount of VRAM that they come with.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Mid-Tower-Gaming/dp/B006I2H0YS/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336382927&sr=1-8 $75.84 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case - CC-9011014-WW

http://www.corsair.com/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case.html <----- another look at that case

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005A2RJJ8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $69.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
OCZ ZS Series 550W 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.910000 $269.98 save: $10.00
ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=B75%20Pro3 <----- another look at that board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544 $44.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAO

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336382996&sr=1-1 $17.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=sr_1_5?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336383091&sr=1-5 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N560GTX-Ti-M2D1GD5-OC-GeForce-Graphics/dp/B006MH2Z6W $219.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
MSI N560GTX-Ti-M2D1GD5/OC NVIDIA GeForce GTX560 Ti, 1GB GDDR5, Dual DVI, Mini HDMI, PCI Express 2.0 X16 Graphics Card

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack


Total: $898.76 *not including shipping and rebates

 

[J_E_D_70]

If you can go $10 over budget can get an i5-3550 to go better with your Z77 mobo (true PCI 3.0 for a future video card upgrade).

Look it up on newegg.

 

[Why_Me]

*edit

 

[Why_Me]

*edit

 

[lycros]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($107.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: OCZ 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($48.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $947.46
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-07 15:03 EDT-0400)

Edit: The total on newegg after shipping and promocodes is $1003.28 this is BEFORE MIR

 

[xanada]

Ok so here is the build I have so far. If anyone has any suggestions or questions please let me know. Im open to any ideas. Again, this rig is mainly for running games on max settings/performance. Please dont mind the Intel shirt and game coupon. They come out to cost nothing in the end.

http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view

I would also like to add that I have not priced these parts on any other sites so if someone knows a good/trusted site like Amazon or anything else thats cheaper im all for it. Only place i know i cant get parts from is MicroCenter(I dont live close enough to one.)

 

[lycros]

Cannot view your cart.

 

[xanada]

Cannot view your cart.

Hmm..thats wierd. Whenever I click on the link i can view it. Let me try to fix this.

 

[Why_Me]

Hmm..thats wierd. Whenever I click on the link i can view it. Let me try to fix this.

There's an option on there to make it available to the public.

 

[lycros]

It's saved in your cookies I believe.

 

[xanada]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819116506

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814125419

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231511

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811133066

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813157300

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136555

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817341047

Sorry about all the links. but thats the build so far.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819116506

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814125419

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231511

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811133066

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813157300

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136555

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817341047

Sorry about all the links. but thats the build so far.

I haven't went through all the post on this thread to see who gave you that advice, but whoever it was should be banned from this forum imo. Other than the vid card, psu, and cpu...that build is horrible.

16GB of RAM? Games don't take advantage of 4GB of RAM let alone 16GB. Is this for a professional video editing build? And what's with the $170 motherboard meant for dual vid cards and over clocking? And the $170 Ratpor? Then to top it off you went ghetto on the case.

 

[xanada]

Ok, So your saying I should go down to 8 GB ram? Only reason that MB was picked was because i said I might Crossfire someday. If you have better suggestions for everything else besides the Gpu, psu and cpu please im all ears.

 

[xanada]

The HD was picked because of the 10000 rpms. im assuming your saying 10k rpm isnt needed for a top end gaming/speed build? Should i knock it down to 7200?

 

[Why_Me]

Ok, So your saying I should go down to 8 GB ram? Only reason that MB was picked was because i said I might Crossfire someday. If you have better suggestions for everything else besides the Gpu, psu and cpu please im all ears.

Raptors aren't even going to be around in a year or two. Seeing how a SSD mops the floor with a Raptor and then some and you can get a 120GB SSD now for $100...well you get the point. That and SSD's just keep going down in price. Go with a 7200 RPM drive like the one I posted in that build up above until you can afford a SSD.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.910433 $319.98 save: $10.00 FREE SHIPPING
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450

OCZ ZS Series 750W 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-80PLUS-Bronze-Performance-compatible/dp/B005A2RJOI/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336976327&sr=1-5 $89.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544 $46.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAO

 

[xanada]

Ok, thanks a bunch. Another questiong though. You had the GTX-560 ti in your build that you posted before. Is that a better card than the 7850 I have in the build i posted with the links? (2nd link in the build)

 

[Why_Me]

Ok, thanks a bunch. Another questiong though. You had the GTX-560 ti in your build that you posted before. Is that a better card than the 7850 I have in the build i posted with the links? (2nd link in the build)

7850 > 560 ti

 

[xanada]

Ok, so here is the build with all the new information. If you dont mind could you please let me know what you think of this.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=sr_1_5?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336383091&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Mid-Tower-Gaming/dp/B006I2H0YS/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336382927&sr=1-8&tag=vglnk-c1001-20

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-80PLUS-Bronze-Performance-compatible/dp/B005A2RJOI/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336976327&sr=1-5&tag=vglnk-c1001-20

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.910433

 

[Why_Me]

Ok, so here is the build with all the new information. If you dont mind could you please let me know what you think of this.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=sr_1_5?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336383091&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Mid-Tower-Gaming/dp/B006I2H0YS/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336382927&sr=1-8&tag=vglnk-c1001-20

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-80PLUS-Bronze-Performance-compatible/dp/B005A2RJOI/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336976327&sr=1-5&tag=vglnk-c1001-20

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231544

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.910433

Ya now that looks good. That case gives you front 3.0 USB ports and room to add another card along with good cooling and airflow. Later on you can add a 120GB SSD for $100 or even less and another one of those cards and you will be screaming with FPS.