$1000 First Gaming Build

[11gearhead13]

Approximate Purchase Date: (Early June)

Budget Range: ($1000)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: (Gaming, Surfing the internet, Watching movies)

Parts Not Required: (e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (Amazon. Newegg is fine too.)

Country: (USA)

Parts Preferences: (by brand or type (Intel Build))

Overclocking: (Not immediately, but I would like to keep the option open.)

SLI or Crossfire: (NO)

Monitor Resolution: (1920x1080)

Additional Comments: (I decided to ditch the hard drive and only use an ssd. I will only store games and os. Also, motherboard is what have me confused the most.)

Games I would like to play near highest setting: Battlefield 3, Crysis, Batman Arkham City

These are the parts i currently have my eyes on:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor Quad-core 3.3GHz
MOBO: ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 1066 Intel - LGA 1155 Motherboard OR ASUS P8Z68-V LX Intel Motherboard LGA 1155 Z68 SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 ATX Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2200
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB (2X4 GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ8GX3M2A1600C​9B
HDD: Crucial 256 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT256M4SSD2
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card - Lifetime Warranty 01G-P3-1563-AR
DVD: Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)
Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case

Are these parts compatible? Feel free to leave any advice and necessary changes to my choices.

 

[Why_Me]

What if you held off for awhile on adding an SSD? That way you wouldn't get sucky frame rates which is exactly what you don't want in a gaming build. Remove that CM EVO cpu h/s from this build to reduce cost and then pick it up later on when you feel like over clocking.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006I2H0YS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $77.03 & 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 along with links to professional reviews

http://www.amazon.com/PC-Power-Cooling-Silencer-compatible/dp/B0064XAIXQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337669790&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.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=263 <----- review of that psu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.910439 $329.98 save: $10.00
ASRock Z75 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

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

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A1MD6J1KVR2O2V $34.73 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191 $44.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996995

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST500DM002/dp/B005CT56R6/ref=sr_1_9?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337669470&sr=1-9 $79.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 16 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST500DM002

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-AD-7280S-0B-Internal-Drive-Black/dp/B0057FRTPW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337668905&sr=1-1 $17.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive (Black)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600311820&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20670 $400
gtx 670

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga <----- gtx 670 review with benchmarks

Total: $1,061.20 *not including shipping (motherboard) and rebates

 

[elayman]

I think the first build is just fine but I'd recommend switching to the MSI Twin Frozr 560 Ti for its superior cooling and overclockability.
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N560GTX-TWIN-FROZR-2GD5/dp/B005RAUOQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337725055&sr=8-1

Why_Me's build is good too, but the case is slightly more expensive and you could just take your original OP build and drop the SSD down and get a HDD and the 670 if you wanted to.

 

[11gearhead13]

What causes a bad frame rate? A gpu?

 

[elayman]

The GPU and CPU work together so either can bottleneck your system. Mostly any CPU above the i3 can handle today's games, making the GPU the bottleneck.

 

[aznshinobi]

False. The 560 Ti is worse than a 7850.
The 7850 with GNC can still encode almost as good as CUDA, if that mattered. Also The 7850 can overclock to the performance of a GTX 580, while maintaining lower temps than an OC'd 560 Ti. It also consumes WAY less power than a 560 Ti, can run Crossfire with both cards OC'd with a 650w.

 

[Why_Me]

What causes a bad frame rate? A gpu?

Take that build I posted and run with it. Drop that cpu heat sink, change the case to a Antec three hundred two and get it at Fry's for $65 and free shipping. That knocks the build down by $50. If you can get into a gtx 670 then do it. It's all about Frames Per Second.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga <----- gtx 670 review with benchmarks

 

[elayman]

False. The 560 Ti is worse than a 7850.
The 7850 with GNC can still encode almost as good as CUDA, if that mattered. Also The 7850 can overclock to the performance of a GTX 580, while maintaining lower temps than an OC'd 560 Ti. It also consumes WAY less power than a 560 Ti, can run Crossfire with both cards OC'd with a 650w.

are you in the wrong thread, buddy? I don't see anyone talking about 560 Ti vs 7850 in this one.

 

[aznshinobi]

"I think the first build is just fine but I'd recommend switching to the MSI Twin Frozr 560 Ti for its superior cooling and overclockability. "

That is why I mentioned that, but you weren't making an assertion so I guess "False" wasn't necessary. But I'm just pointing out the 7850 is a better option at practically the same price.

 

[elayman]

Ah I see now. Sure go for the 7850. I tend to prefer the nvidia cards since I've never had any issues with all of the ones I've owned, thus why I tend to recommend them, but the AMD cards are just as powerful, if not more in certain cases.

 

[aznshinobi]

Yeah, Nvidia has the Driver argument all the time but if a person hasn't used an AMD card in the last few months or year, they haven't seen the changes. AMD drivers run with ease and no issues now so there is no real driver issues that people always bring up anymore. Besides, when people were crying about it during the 58xx I had a 5850 upon release, it didn't have driver issues at all. It's all based on user installation you could say and how you wipe the old drivers.

 

[11gearhead13]

Take that build I posted and run with it. Drop that cpu heat sink, change the case to a Antec three hundred two and get it at Fry's for $65 and free shipping. That knocks the build down by $50. If you can get into a gtx 670 then do it. It's all about Frames Per Second.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga <----- gtx 670 review with benchmarks

Thanks! I'll take your advice. Dropped my ssd, will get the bundle pack from newegg, the ram, and look for a decent 670

 

[11gearhead13]

Best answer selected by 11gearhead13.