Ugoaway's Very First Gaming Rig $600-700

[ugoaway]

Though i am unworthy, please bestow upon me your awesome technical wisdom, and set me on the correct path.

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: USD 600-700 Before Rebates

System Usage: Gaming (BF3 preferable on max, Eve Online, LoL, WoT) thats pretty much it.

Parts Not Required: My buddy gave me a ASUS A8n32-SLI Deluxe and an Athlon 64 ADA4000DKA5CP socket 939. Based off of what i have read in the forums.... i am basically starting for scratch.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: all of the parts i am listing are from newegg.com

Country: US

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, EVGA Graphics Card. Asus mobo. certified PSU. I would like to keep the Sandy Bridge. That being said, im here for help so feel free to tinker as much as you like

Overclocking: Hoping for no initially and the yes later on as the rig becomes dated

SLI or Crossfire: same as above

Monitor Resolution: So i could use some help on this as well. i think im looking to get a single monitor 21.5-24 inch @ 2ms. but i do not know what the 'standard' for this size screen. Also the price of the monitor is not included in the total cost, mostly b/c im hoping to find one on sale somewhere...

Additional Comments: Basically i picked these pieces of hardware after doing some research, but 2 weeks of reading obviously does not match up to the info you guys have rattling around. Im currently standing at $750 on newegg, and would like to trim any fat if possible. Thanks in advance, i really appreciate the help.
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Intel Core i5-2380P Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623i52380P (No integrated graphics)($195)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115232

ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS($125)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781

EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card ($130)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply ($90)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAKX 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136771

Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MD316C81609L2 ($41)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576011

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM ($100)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
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Thanks again.
Ugoaway

 

[bigcyco1]

CPU & Optical Drive: $$223.98 - i5-2500K & Samsung (Better CPU can be overclocked as well.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.972810


Motherboard & HDD: $144.98 - Biostar TZ77B & Seagate Barracuda 500GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.977625



Case & RAM: $$83.98- COOLER MASTER HAF 912 & Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.966138



PSU: $69.99 - CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028#top



GPU: $199.99 -ZOTAC AMP!GeForce GTX 560 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500196#top


Total (Excluding Rebates, Prmos): $723 USD

 

[bigcyco1]

If you went with your build you need to get rid of that 550ti it's a horrible gaming card at least get a R6870 and change the memory to this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424

 

[ugoaway]

i forgot to post that i would be receiving a optical drive and case from another friend. Thank you much for your suggestions bigcyco1.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

I'd be double sure on the optical drive. if its of an age with that Athlon 64, its probly IDE and won't work on modern systems. get a cheap SATA drive, Newegg has various models on sale for about $15 every week.

 

[bigcyco1]

i forgot to post that i would be receiving a optical drive and case from another friend. Thank you much for your suggestions bigcyco1.

No problem your very welcome!

 

[mousseng]

I actually really like what you've got there already, save for the video card. For $5 more (before rebate), you can get an XFX Radeon 7770, which uses less power, runs faster, and nets you a free copy of DIRT Showdown.

Like Screwy said, make sure the optical drive is a SATA drive, otherwise you'll be looking at an ASUS DRW-24 for $16 + $5 shipping.

You can shed off a bit by switching the motherboard to an ASRock Z68 Pro3 for $105 and free shipping. Note that ASRock used to be a subdivision of ASUS.

More things to keep in mind: according to the reviews, the 2380P can overclock to 4+ GHz, so you should be good with that.

Edit: Also consider getting a PC Power & Cooling power supply, like this 600W model for $90, free shipping, 15% off, and then a $20 rebate. Here's some more PCP&C PSUs, as well as the 15% off code.

 

[ugoaway]

I will definately check on that optical drive, thanks guys. also checking out all the parts recommended trying to find the best price/performance. idk if i can switch from the nvidia, upgrade to 560 as all my friends have it and recommend it highly but will at the very least entertain the idea of the AMD
Thanks again
Ugoaway

 

[bigcyco1]

There is nothing wrong with the 560Ti but you want the right ones not the stock ones those are weak in this day and age. Look at the non-reference 560 Ti designs, factory OC'd to 900 Mhz you will find several models that have upgrade dPCB's and beefed up VRMs. The ones w/ 7 phases or more and the special coolers have been known to top 30% overclocks over the reference card speed.

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1201&page=17 <----- non-reference 560 Ti

Below i will introduce you to these little beasts!





----> Asus DCII Cu TOP (900Mhz -7 phase VRM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425



----> Gigabyte OC (900Mhz - 7 phase VRM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363

The R7850's everybody praises performance is about the same as the 560 Ti 900Mhz ----> for about $20.00 more

 

[ugoaway]

Best answer selected by ugoaway.