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Old guy building new system

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Its been about 7 years since I built a system and things have kept moving right along.

The system is a present for my soon to be 22 yo son who predominantly games. I have between $1000-1400 to spend on everything (computer, monitor, operating system and all the peripherals). I've done some preliminary research and come up with the following build using PCPartPicker:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9k40
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9k40/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9k40/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: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.98 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: MSI DH-24AAS-17 R DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer S220HQLAbd 21.5" Monitor ($119.00 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Full (32/64-bit) ($248.00 @ Adorama)
Keyboard: SIIG JK-US0012-S1 Wired Standard Keyboard ($15.84 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech M310 Wireless Laser Mouse ($24.87 @ Amazon)
Total: $1330.38
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-02 10:46 EDT-0400)

Any advice would be welcome. Hell, you can tell me I have no clue and give me a whole new build...no pride in ownership on this build.

Thanks in advance.

-Sid

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After posting I found Win Pro for $140 at Newegg.

As for the memory, in the past I always went for a nice break point that I could afford. Is 16Gb too much or too little?

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As far as RAM goes, 8Gb (2X4Gb) is kind of the sweet sport right now as far as price/performance. Certainly no harm in having 16Gb but if you wanted to save a little cash....

Do you have a specific need for Windows 7 Professional? You could save $40 by dropping down to Windows 7 Home Premium. Make sure you get the 64-bit version of whichever you choose.

Other than that, your system is almost exactly what I would build if I was making a gaming computer today. The only thing I might add to it is an SSD as a boot drive. Something like the Crucial M4 128Gb or 256Gb would be a good choice. Although Intel and Samsung also make pretty good SSDs.
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Actually, now that I think about it, I could drop to Win 7 Home Premium.

If I did drop down on the memory and switched OS, then I could add an SSD. That is seriously worth considering.

Thanks.

Lovely system! SSD's are cool for fast boot and some gaming. Mine presents continual challenges. My 10+ years of building and maintaining "mission critical" systems in healthcare leaves me thinking that SSD is still 2-5 tears away from being a stable, reliable device.

8GB RAM and W7 Home Premium as mentioned would still make a great system.

Good Luck with the build!

johnsid52 said:
Its been about 7 years since I built a system and things have kept moving right along.

The system is a present for my soon to be 22 yo son who predominantly games. I have between $1000-1400 to spend on everything (computer, monitor, operating system and all the peripherals). I've done some preliminary research and come up with the following build using PCPartPicker:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9k40
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9k40/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9k40/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: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.98 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: MSI DH-24AAS-17 R DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer S220HQLAbd 21.5" Monitor ($119.00 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Full (32/64-bit) ($248.00 @ Adorama)
Keyboard: SIIG JK-US0012-S1 Wired Standard Keyboard ($15.84 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech M310 Wireless Laser Mouse ($24.87 @ Amazon)
Total: $1330.38
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-02 10:46 EDT-0400)

Any advice would be welcome. Hell, you can tell me I have no clue and give me a whole new build...no pride in ownership on this build.

Thanks in advance.

-Sid

http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/index.html <----- Do you have access (live nearby) any of these Microcenter locations? The reason I ask is because of their walk in only specials.

I live about 2.5 hrs from Atlanta. I "could" drive over to pick up parts, but it certainly isn't convenient and the prices would have to take into consideration the current price of gas.
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