800-900 Build for a Friend

[redrage]

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next week

Budget Range: 800-900

System Usage from Most to Least Important:
1. Gaming, Specifically MMOs, shows a lot of interest in Diablo. I know he also enjoys FPS games quite a bit.
2. Surfing the Web, he has a online job i believe in online gambling.

Parts Not Required: Monitor, Mouse maybe not Windows if my friend can get me another fully licensed legitimate copy of windows 7 professional for 30$

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com,amazon.com, willing to try tigerdirect.com because of positive reviews i've encountered.

Country: U.S

Parts Preferences: Sapphire/HIS/MSI/Visiontek for AMD/ATI, EVGA for Nvidia cards

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: Most likely he'll be running 1920x1080

Additional Comments: i prefer a clean interior and overall performance of a computer over any atheistic looks, because those are what matter. For his price range of 800-900 i've put together this computer

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922
HD: Samsung by Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Support Video Card
Optical Drive: SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive
Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W ATX12V 80 PLUS Certified
Keyboard: Logitech K100 Black PS/2 Wired Slim Classic Keyboard
Ram/Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
Motherboard: ASUS P8H61-M LX PLUS (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CPU/PSU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155
Subtotal: $883.92

I'm wondering if the 650w PSU is overkill and how the socket H61 motherboards preform, i've never looked into them myself and when building my last intel powered rig was told to try to stick to p67/z68 for gaming rigs, but since i'm on a budget this MB looked like the right price.

What are your thoughts on this build and how would you improve it?

 

[James McKeane]

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922
HD: Samsung by Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Support Video Card
Optical Drive: SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive
Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W ATX12V 80 PLUS Certified
Keyboard: Logitech K100 Black PS/2 Wired Slim Classic Keyboard
Ram/Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
Motherboard: ASUS P8H61-M LX PLUS (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CPU/PSU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155
Subtotal: $883.92

I'm wondering if the 650w PSU is overkill and how the socket H61 motherboards preform, i've never looked into them myself and when building my last intel powered rig was told to try to stick to p67/z68 for gaming rigs, but since i'm on a budget this MB looked like the right price.

What are your thoughts on this build and how would you improve it?

H61, unlike p67 and z68, has no overclocking ability. Below I listed a build that includes a Z68 motherboard, a DVD writer instead of a read only optical drive, and a slightly cheaper but equally capable power supply, a SATA 6.0 1TB hard drive, an aftermarket heatsink fan since you may be overclocking, and a cheaper case. Again, this is just my opinion. Its about $950 solely at Newegg, so I highly recommend you consider shopping at other vendors.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.90 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($227.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS70 OEM DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Logitech K100 Wired Slim Keyboard ($13.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $859.12
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-08 20:05 EDT-0400)

 

[geofelt]

1) If you will use a 2500K, then you need a P67/Z68/Z77 based motherboard in order to overclock.

2) Microcenter has a nice deal on a ASRock Z77 Pro4-M for $60 if you buy it with a 3570K cpu for $190 to walk in customers.

3) With that motherboard, a 2500K is still good, and you preserve your options to OC. It is $170 for walk ins.

4) Look at the Silverstone TJ08 case, it is clean, smaller, with great ventilation:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182

5) The Corsair 650unit is a good one, and strong enough to power a 7970 or a GTX680. Actually, those cards will run on 500-550w too, so you might shave a few $ there.
Also check out XFX, Antec, Seasonic, and PC P&C for other good quality brands.

6) I really think any new build should include a SSD for the os and some apps. It makes everything feel so much quicker.
I think I would suggest an intel 330 series 120gb SSD for starters. That is enough to hold the os and 8-10 games.
If, or when that gets filled up, then buy a Hard drive for expansion storage.

7) I would add an inexpensive tower type aftermarket cooler with a slow turning 120mm fan.
It will keep the cpu cooler, and will be quieter when the cpu is under load. A $20 cm hyper212 will do the job.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[redrage]

I would add a SSD but i think it'll take away from the gaming power, i myself have a 120 Gb mushkin enhanced sandforce driven SSD and i love love love it, but i just don't think with 800-900 i could get a great video card(main priority imo), 8gb of ram, a nice CPU and be able to afford a SSD along with a HD.

I've seen a lot of microcenter deals and i know they're great for walk in customers but i live in washington and we don't have any in our state...

That ASRock z68 board looks like a great deal, i'll probably run with that one instead, i have the Fatal1ty z68 board from ASRock and i've had a great experience with it.

The reason i went with the 650watt PSU was because i myself own a corsair 1000 watt PSU and it came with a TON of extra power cables, a awesome bag to store them in and has lasted me through two builds and probably around 3-5 yrs which is why i'd love to grab him a PSU made by them since i've read horror stories of cheap PSU's having problems(frying things, smoking, ect.)

I have the hyper 212 and it's also a great cooling unit but i'd like to try to save him money where i can and if the stock cooling unit is sufficient until he needs to push the CPU then that's 30$ saved.