$1200 gaming build, help please

[mward86]

Hey Guys, I'm wanting to get back into some PC gaming. Been away from it for a couple of years now. I posted the link to the current build a friend has suggested for me at the bottom. I don't want to go over the $1200 mark including a new monitor. Any feedback is welcome. I appreciate everyones time.

Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: $1200 at very most

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Want to get back into gaming some. PC now is about 8 years old so I can't run the newer things. Planning to pick up Diablo 3, maybe SWTOR, maybe jumping back into WoW as I've got some friends inviting me back. Just want a decent computer that can run these newer games comfortable.

Parts Not Required: dont need a mouse or keyboard

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg is fine or any other recommendations I'm open for.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Wanting to do an intel build.

Overclocking: Maybe in the future

SLI or Crossfire: dont know

Monitor Resolution: unsure

Additional Comments: I've currently set up a build on newegg. Here is the link for it:
Currently what I'm looking at

 

[boulbox]

for what i want to do for your build is
change mobo
graphics card
SSD
and HDD

will get back to you in a bit need to get the items in will edit

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.937035
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
also comes with a DVD burner so saves an extra $13

CPU/mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.947878
GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H and Intel Core i5-3570K
the mobo is a bit more but the combo almost evens it out
(if you live near a microcenter they have i5 3570k's for $190)

SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236
for this build i would really like to not have an SSD and put more into the video card but it seems you will not be playing something really intensive so you can have an SSD and put lower on the GPU

CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0
all Z77 boards have front USB 3.0 so try to find the extra $10 to get this beautiful case

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
same priced ram these look a lot better compared to the ones you suggested and do not buy 2 of them only get 1 8gb of ram is all you need

PSU: (optional you can go with yours) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
modular supplies are just better it has no extra wires inside so better air flow

Heatsink Fan: want something cheap go with hyper 212+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

now to the GPU as i said you do not really need a super high end GPU since D3, WoW, and SWTOR are not that GPU intensive i will be putting up options to what you want meaning something cheaper to save some money or full on Max budget

GPU 1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161406
HIS H785F2G2M Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
a good card for years to come this will make your Budget roughly $1000

GPU 2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
if this comes out of stock by the time it is out grab it
will be a little bit over budget

GPU 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (100315L )
great card will make budget a little under $1000

 

[mward86]

Ok, I'll check back for your response. Thanks.

 

[mward86]

Also, I'm looking to make this purchase tomorrow or Friday so any feedback at all is welcome.

 

[boulbox]

if it is tomorrow or Friday go with the 7850 it is a great GPU and it leaves you with a good margin of money to play with

 

[mward86]

Wow the forum rolled back it looks like. Can you elaborate more on why you wouldn't go with an SSD? My friend recommended getting one to install my OS to.

 

[azeem40]

At your budget, definityely get a 128GB SSD.

 

[mward86]

Can you elaborate more on why you wouldn't go with an SSD? My friend recommended getting one to install my OS to.

 

[mward86]

Can you elaborate more on why you wouldn't go with an SSD? My friend recommended getting one to install my OS to.

 

[mward86]

Sorry for all the reposts. Forums are messing up terrible on me right now for some reason.

 

[mward86]

Azeem you say get an SSD why is that? Anyone else? SSD or no SSD?

 

[brandonkick2005]

No reason to get a SSD. The performance gains are not worth the high dollar price tag.
Years from now when the prices fall on the SSD's you can easily pick one up then. For now
just save yourself the high cost of early adoption and stick with a HDD.

You don't need high end stuff for anything your looking at doing.

In all honesty you could go with an AM3+ Phenom II X4 and have mad speed. They overclock
like a beast (get a black edition) and you will save hundreds of dollars. They are even plenty fast
if you don't overclock them.

Option two for motherboard / processor would be a Sandy Bridge core i5 (k). The Sandy Bridge
chips are killer and very powerful. Although for you I would honestly say the Phenom II X4 is plenty.

The only important things aside from the Phenom II X4 is that you get 8GB of ram (it's cheap)
and that you get a good graphics card. I believe I have a ATI RADEON HD5870 and it games
like a beast. Do you self a favor and listen to someone who has spent nearly $4000 on his last
two computer builds (one in june 2010 and the other in May 2006).

Do not go top of the line. It will be yesterdays news and worth half as much in three months. Yet it will be plenty powerful.

Do not spend more then $200 on a graphics card. It will be soon outdated and drop in value. But it will game just fine.

Do not buy a power supply over 550W. You do not need 600,700 and 800W of power. You just don't.

Do not buy a cheap power supply! Go with a good name like corsair, antec, enermax, thermaltake. This is the backbone of your computer. If you buy a crappy powersupply because it was a few dollars cheaper you risk it blowing out and taking the rest of your very expensive hardware with it. Don't skimp. Read the product reviews and go with a good name.

Get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 + for your cooler. You'll be glad you did. Make sure your case is big enough for this cooler as this thing is BIG. But it cools like a beast.



You should be able to get out the door well under $1000. You should easily be able to put together this system for about $800 tops. Then pick yourself up a 23" LED HD flatscreen on newegg for $150 and your good to go. In under $1000 and you didn't buy anything you didn't need.



But seriously take my advice....

I went core i7 930 over a core i5 chip because I though the extra PCI-E lanes and triple channel memory would do me good. They have only cost me a lot more money. I wish I would have went with a cheaper i5 and a chipset that didn't have triple channel memory. When I built back in 2006 I bought an AMD Opteron 165 socket 939 and a ATI Radeon X1800XT. I paid $300 for each... not even 3 months later both had dropped to $150 ish retail. NOT EVEN 3 MONTHS!

 

[mward86]

Great information Brandon. Do you have the time to link me some of stuff that you are recommending? I've pretty much been out of the game for several years now as far as keeping up with the PC technology etc. Just havent had as much interest in it as I did when I was in high school.

 

[boulbox]

Great information Brandon. Do you have the time to link me some of stuff that you are recommending? I've pretty much been out of the game for several years now as far as keeping up with the PC technology etc. Just havent had as much interest in it as I did when I was in high school.

with your budget SSD is a great thing to put inside if you want to be fast

with your $200 margin of money(i already included a 120GB SSD into the build) you can take it out and put in a 256GB SSD in a 1:1 ratio of dollars to GB

the SSD will do you for quite a while with a lot of space

if you really want to wait it will go down in price but it seems this will let you be for the next 3-5 years where you can just update to the newest and greatest

SSD is optional but i recommend it. it is fast, stable, and doesn't fail(with the right controller)

to put it in the right idea
SSD is like a super fast N64 cartridge that is stable and doesn't fail if you drop or put scratches on it
and
an HDD is like today's games where you buy it at a store and if you scratch it, well it sucks to be you

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-300R-Mid-Tower-Gaming/dp/B006I2H0YS/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337225714&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/PC-Power-Cooling-Silencer-compatible/dp/B0064XAIXQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337224476&sr=1-3 $76.49 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 600W Modular 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157304 $99.99
ASRock Z75 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z75%20Pro3 <----- another look at that board along with the latest bios update

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-3570K-Processor-BX80637I53570K/dp/B007SZ0E1K/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337224563&sr=1-6 $228.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Intel Core i5 3570K Processor 3.4 4 BX80637I53570K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 $34.99 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.937167 $104.98 save: $13.00
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner, Bulk Package Black SATA Model AD-7280S-0B - OEM

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VS228H-P-21-5-Inch-Full-Monitor/dp/B005BZNDOO/ref=dp_cp_ob_pc_title_1 $129.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS VS228H-P 21.5-Inch Full HD LED Monitor - Black | LED Backlit with 50,000,000:1 ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio; Full 1080P with HDMI

Total: $798.26 *not including shipping and rebates


http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-SP7850 $248.99 Free Shipping
Sapphire AMD Radeon HD7850 2GB DDR5 DVI/HDMI/2x Mini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card - 11200-00-20G

http://www.amazon.com/HD7870-DC2-2GD5-DisplayPort-Utilities-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B007JLFVNO $349.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5 Radeon 2GB DDR5 VGA/DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort GPU Tweak Utilities PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card HD7870-DC2-2GD5

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7870_Direct_Cu_II/ <----- review of that card with benchmarks

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236 $102.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

[azeem40]

I disagree. SSDs are coming way down in price, so it actually has become worth it. I can personally vouch for SSDs. I have one and it is 5x faster than my HDD. Loads OS in 10 seconds while the 7200RPM HDD I had took 40 seconds.

 

[boulbox]

I disagree. SSDs are coming way down in price, so it actually has become worth it. I can personally vouch for SSDs. I have one and it is 5x faster than my HDD. Loads OS in 10 seconds while the 7200RPM HDD I had took 40 seconds.

SSDs are suppose to be 10x faster than a 7200 rpm HDD and a 15k HDD is suppose to be 3x faster than a 7200 HDD

either you bought one that is really slow or you have a really fast HDD

 

[azeem40]

In any case, it is still worth getting.

 

[brandonkick2005]

I disagree. SSDs are coming way down in price, so it actually has become worth it. I can personally vouch for SSDs. I have one and it is 5x faster than my HDD. Loads OS in 10 seconds while the 7200RPM HDD I had took 40 seconds.

So your saying its worth paying at least $50 extra for roughly 1/8 to 1/10 of the storage space because your desktop boots up 30 seconds faster?

Honestly until I can get a 1TB SSD for under $200 it's just not worth it. I'll wait the extra second and have eight to ten times more fore space.

Is it faster? Yes. Much faster.

Does it make a negligible difference to all but the extreme users? No.

Is it worth $1 per GB? No.

The parts list above with the Core i5 stuff should be fine that Why_Me posted.

 

[brandonkick2005]

with your budget SSD is a great thing to put inside if you want to be fast

with your $200 margin of money(i already included a 120GB SSD into the build) you can take it out and put in a 256GB SSD in a 1:1 ratio of dollars to GB

the SSD will do you for quite a while with a lot of space

if you really want to wait it will go down in price but it seems this will let you be for the next 3-5 years where you can just update to the newest and greatest

SSD is optional but i recommend it. it is fast, stable, and doesn't fail(with the right controller)

to put it in the right idea
SSD is like a super fast N64 cartridge that is stable and doesn't fail if you drop or put scratches on it
and
an HDD is like today's games where you buy it at a store and if you scratch it, well it sucks to be you

This is a poor analogy. SSD's have much higher failure rates and issues then regular HDD's have.

HDD's are no more fragile then a SDD in any real world scenario. You shouldn't be kicking your tower around the room while you play Modern Warfare so there is no reason why a regular HDD would sustain damage under "normal" usages.

 

[boulbox]

[/b]

This is a poor analogy. SSD's have much higher failure rates and issues then regular HDD's have.

HDD's are no more fragile then a SDD in any real world scenario. You shouldn't be kicking your tower around the room while you play Modern Warfare so there is no reason why a regular HDD would sustain damage under "normal" usages.

i beg to differ

http://forums.storagereview.com/index.php/topic/29329-ssd-failure-rates-compared-to-hard-drives/

 

[brandonkick2005]

While those figures do show a higher failure rate for 2TB HDD's in general the 1TB's are pretty much in line with the SSD's.

Either way your talking about 2 failed drivers per hundred vs 3 or 4 failed drives per hundred. Does that really warrant the cost jump of almost ten times the amount per GB?

 

[boulbox]

While those figures do show a higher failure rate for 2TB HDD's in general the 1TB's are pretty much in line with the SSD's.

Either way your talking about 2 failed drivers per hundred vs 3 or 4 failed drives per hundred. Does that really warrant the cost jump of almost ten times the amount per GB?

typically yes

for its performance you might as well just get a 64-128GB one until then an HDD will last you long enough until a 500GB SSD comes out at a reasonable price.

if you think about read/write speeds it is more than worth it if not even a 64 GB will do good enough for just boot up then you can store all you can in an HDD

also random access speeds are way higher than a HDD.

even for gaming 1TB will last you years so if you want to buy 1 1TB and wait for a super high capacity SSD go ahead but if you want to stay up to current technology you might as well get one for quick boot and opening apps pretty dam fast

Is an SSD worth just as much as and HDD? no, it is for enthusiast that can afford it

Can he afford it? yes he can so why not let him have it for a fast computer

Can he do with just an HDD? yes, that is why i suggested the SSD is optional and added an HDD

 

[azeem40]

I see no point in not getting an SSD if 1) you can afford it, and 2) all your parts are the best they can be for the games you plan to play.

 

[boulbox]

I see no point in not getting an SSD if 1) you can afford it, and 2) all your parts are the best they can be for the games you plan to play.

exactly