$600 Gaming Build - Advice would be Apprecaited

[solidstool]

Hey guys,

I am planning to build a $600 budget gaming pc and would appreciate some advice.

Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: 600 (After Rebates)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Watching Movies, Surfing the Web

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Direct Canada, Newegg, NCIX, Tiger Direct, Memory Express

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: Trustworthy Brands

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Here are a list of parts I have already selected:

CPU:
Intel Core i3 2120 Dual Core Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 3MB
http://www.directcanada.com/produc [...] ure=Others

Mobo + RAM:
Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 HDMI DVI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
Patriot Sector 5 PGV38G1333ELK 8GB DDR3 2X4GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24 1.65V Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] omoid=1114

PSU:
Corsair Builder Series CX600 V2 Power Supply
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX32939

Case:
Zalman Z9 Plus Case w/ Fan Controller
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX31654

HDD:
Western Digital 500GB Caviar Blue 7200rpm SATA III w/ 16MB Cache
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX32264

GPU:
Radeon HD 7770 (Need a good brand)

Some questions I have are:

What are some good brands for the Radeon HD 7770?
Are all the components compatible?

Thanks everyone!

 

[adgjlsfhk]

Your links are not working. That in mind, unless your mobo+ram combo is under $120 it is not a good use of your money. For this price you should get an H61 and Gskil Ripjaws. For gpu brands, get MSI, EVGA, Gigabyte, Power Color, or a bunch of others. Also if you give me a brand name, I will tell you if it is good or not.

 

[aznshinobi]

Sapphire, Asus, XFX, most are solid brands really. Visiontek, not many people think so, is a solid brand as well. Just go with the cheapest one you can get, usually it's Sapphire which is solid.

 

[adgjlsfhk]

Sorry, forgot those brands.

 

[solidstool]

Thanks for all the replies.
Sorry for the faulty links, but the mobo and ram combo is $119.99 after rebates, thats the only reason I am buying it.

In terms of the Radeon HD 7770 Brand, there is a sale on the Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 OC 1.1GHZ 1GB 4.5GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card.
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=68499&vpn=GV-R777OC-1GD&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1114

I have read some mixed reviews about it.
What do you think?

 

[aznshinobi]

Ehh not a fan of that Gigabyte design.
Would opt for either XFX with their dual fan config + double life time warranty
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=68526&vpn=FX777AZDF4&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1114
OR MSI's cheaper-ish price before and after rebate.
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=68459&vpn=R7770-2PMD1GD5%2FOC&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar&promoid=1114

 

[adgjlsfhk]

One thing is that the ram is 1.65 volt. Ivy bridge works best with 1.5 volt. Here is a good series of ram.
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8 gigs $41
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=55544&vpn=996770&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced&promoid=1114

Here is a good mobo

ASUS P8H61-I Rev 3.0 mITX H61 LGA1155 DDR3 PCI-E16 SATA2 USB3.0 HDMI DVI VGA Audio Motherboard $80

ASUS P8H61-I Rev 3.0 mITX H61 LGA1155 DDR3 PCI-E16 SATA2 USB3.0 HDMI DVI VGA Audio Motherboard

 

[aznshinobi]

Motherboard isn't worth $80 when it's a mini-itx that doesn't have SATA 3 and is so small that it's going to have ports blocked with a longer card.

 

[adgjlsfhk]

It's micro atx, not mini. Micro is bigger.

 

[aznshinobi]

Ahh I just assumed, still would be really small to work with.

 

[adgjlsfhk]

Micro atx is anything under 10" by 10". It is not that much smaller.

 

[aznshinobi]

Your board says mITX. That's even smaller and longer cards will start covering up SATA slots as i've seen since the PCI slots are arranged that way.