My $800 gaming rig

[michaelbae930]

<CPU>
Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB
- $200

<MOBO>
ASUS P8Z77-V Lk ATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA3 SLI DVI HDMI DP USB3.0 Motherboard - $130 (after 20 MIR)

<GPU>
MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC 880MHZ 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini-HDMI DX11 PCI-E Video Card
- $210 (after 20 MIR)

<RAM>
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B Vengeance Blue 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit
- $45

<HD>
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5IN 16MB Cache SATA3 Internal Hard Disk Drive HDD
- $70

<PSU>
Corsair TX650 V2 650W ATX 12V Single Rail 53A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS Bronze
- $80

<CASE>
Fractal Design Core 3000 Black Gaming Computer Case 2X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB
- $70 (and I get $15 gift card)

<WIFI adapter>
Patriot WI-FI USB Wireless-N LAN Adapter 64BIT / 128BIT WEP TKIP AES WPA WPA2 150Mbps
- $7

Total is $855
Cost me $955 after tax. Then after two MIRs and gift card. It is $900.
I am really in tight budget, so SSD, Overclocking, good pair of mouse and keyboard is in long future.
What's your opinion? Tell me if something is wrong...

 

[Niklas_13]

Its a Nice build

If your budget is tight you could do a

i5 2500K 20 bucks less or even a i5 2400 ( IMO a 2400 will do for 5 years )

up grade the GPU to a 7870 2 GB or higher

Down grade the PCU to a 550W

Look for a MoBo without SLI?CROSSFIRE to save money

CM HAF 912 59.99

If you do a single card setup, you could get in a 300 + GPU and ( IMO you need 70% GPU 30% cpu ) for games

I think IMO your a bit over on the CPU and a bit under on the GPU ( if your looking to try and max games on very high settings )

GL with the build

 

[Niklas_13]

Also look for ComBo deals to save some coin

 

[jerreddredd]

<WIFI adapter>
Patriot WI-FI USB Wireless-N LAN Adapter 64BIT / 128BIT WEP TKIP AES WPA WPA2 150Mbps
- $7

you want to go with a PCIe wireless adapter, trust me on this one.

Ditto on the advice Niklas_13 gives.

for the average gamer a i5 2400 and a H61/67or a B75 MB is fine. the CPU has plenty of power. you don't need SLi/CF - save your money. A HD 7850/7870 or a GTX 670 would be good GPU choices and they will have plenty of longevity.

Roll the savings into a SSD, Crucial M4, Samsung 830 or KingstonX are good choices.

NewEgg has some great combos going on over Memorial Day weekend. take advantage.

you can save a a little money going to a good 520-600W PSU (Corsair, Silverstone, Antec) there are some combo deals a newegg also.

 

[michaelbae930]

is WIFI USB adapter has poor range? or weak signal?
I chose this cheep one because
I found PCIe too expensive, they are generally $30~40.
Do you know where I can get cheaper?

 

[jerreddredd]

is WIFI USB adapter has poor range? or weak signal?
I chose this cheep one because
I found PCIe too expensive, they are generally $30~40.
Do you know where I can get cheaper?

because of your MB weird layout your PCIe x1 slots are useless the first one is internal and the second will be covered by your GPU. So will have to use a PCI one.

PCI $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166051

if you change up your MB for some reason and have an accessible pcie x1 slot

PCIe $17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166063

 

[Desert Eagle]

Its a Nice build

If your budget is tight you could do a

i5 2500K 20 bucks less or even a i5 2400 ( IMO a 2400 will do for 5 years )

up grade the GPU to a 7870 2 GB or higher

Down grade the PCU to a 550W

Look for a MoBo without SLI?CROSSFIRE to save money

CM HAF 912 59.99

If you do a single card setup, you could get in a 300 + GPU and ( IMO you need 70% GPU 30% cpu ) for games

I think IMO your a bit over on the CPU and a bit under on the GPU ( if your looking to try and max games on very high settings )

GL with the build

michaelbae930, that's very good advice, especially if you don't plan to SLI. A 2500k won't be a bottleneck in Skyrim or BF3 in your GPU range even if you don't overclock it.

Other than that you've put together a solid build.

 

[michaelbae930]

I found Visiontek 7870 2g for 280 dollar.

560 ti oc is 210 dollar.

I think it is worth to spend 70 dollar for the better graphic card.
but I have doubt about visionteck card.
I'm not familiar with it.
Although it has life time warranty, it is a reference card.

What do you guys think of it? Apparantely there is no review on this specific one.
I'm seriously consider replace this with 560 ti oc..

 

[Niklas_13]

I found Visiontek 7870 2g for 280 dollar.

560 ti oc is 210 dollar.

I think it is worth to spend 70 dollar for the better graphic card.
but I have doubt about visionteck card.
I'm not familiar with it.
Although it has life time warranty, it is a reference card.

What do you guys think of it? Apparantely there is no review on this specific one.
I'm seriously consider replace this with 560 ti oc..

Its a card that was build by a OEM with AMD Specs, if its has a good warranty i see no reason not to.....it should perform as well is the others.

 

[michaelbae930]

Thank you for all the help you guys and gals!
I finally decided.
Tell me if there is any bottleneck.
If there is I have to lower the price not buy a better one, so LET ME know ! thanks.


<CPU>
Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB
- $200

<MOBO>
ASUS P8Z77-V Lk ATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA3 SLI DVI HDMI DP USB3.0 Motherboard - $130 (after 20 MIR)

<GPU> I chose ..
Visiontek Radeon HD 7870 1000MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
- $280
instead of ....
MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC 880MHZ 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini-HDMI DX11 PCI-E Video Card
- $210 (after 20 MIR)

<RAM>
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B Vengeance Blue 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit
- $45

<HD>
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 3.5IN 16MB Cache SATA3 Internal Hard Disk Drive HDD
- $70

<PSU>
Corsair TX650 V2 650W ATX 12V Single Rail 53A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS Bronze
- $80

<CASE>
Fractal Design Core 3000 Black Gaming Computer Case 2X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB
- $70 (and I get $15 gift card)

Total comes to $860 before tax.

 

[michaelbae930]

Ummm last question about the fans.

The more I read about, the more I get confused.
My case has front 140mm intake, top 140mm exhaust, rear 120mm exhaust.

Since I just use cooler that comes with i5 3570k, and has 7870 graphic card,
what additional fans can I use to help the temp down.

I have extra 120mm rolling around in my room. it is 4 years old but still work I goess.
The case itself can have

bottom 120mm intake
front 120mm intake
side 140mm intake,
additional top 140mm exhaust,

 

[Niklas_13]

Build looks Grate, only one thing i seen the HDD get one with Cache 32MB or higher

A few Combos to think about, before you pull the tirger.

MoBo and HDD http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.944625

this will let you SLI/CROSSFIRE down the road and the HDD has more GB and cache 194.89

PSU and RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.917829

This PSU will run 2 7870s Down the road and is in a combo with ram 126.98 + 20 MIR

194.89
126.98

321.87 - 20 = 301.87

Your Parts 345 - 20 = 325

You save 23 bucks and still get to Crossfire down the road and a better HDD with more GB

 

[jerreddredd]

Ummm last question about the fans.

The more I read about, the more I get confused.
My case has front 140mm intake, top 140mm exhaust, rear 120mm exhaust.

Since I just use cooler that comes with i5 3570k, and has 7870 graphic card,
what additional fans can I use to help the temp down.

I have extra 120mm rolling around in my room. it is 4 years old but still work I goess.
The case itself can have

bottom 120mm intake
front 120mm intake
side 140mm intake,
additional top 140mm exhaust,

Bottom intake if you set it on a hard surface floor is the best (air is cooler on the floor). if you set it on a rug/carpet then maybe the side.

 

[Niklas_13]

If you set it on the carpet, cut a piece of plywood to fit the case so the rubber pads have a space between the plywood and case so air will flow in.

 

[michaelbae930]

Best answer selected by michaelbae930.

 

[michaelbae930]

I've been searching around about VisionTek.
They had bankrupt rumours in 2002 and 2009.
They have limited lifetime warranty.
However, compared to any other well know brand, you can barely find any information about graphic cards from visiontek. Any thought?

 

[Niklas_13]

They might of recoved from that this is a press from Sept 11 http://www.visiontek.com/press.html