First PC build $800~

[Crescens]

Approximate Purchase Date: This week

Budget Range: $800-900

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, general schoolwork, surfing/movies

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None as long as they'll ship to an APO address. I know, at least, Amazon and NewEgg will.

Location: UK

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Maybe - I don't have much of a knowledge-base but would like to learn more so possibly later.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 - using my television for the time being.

Additional Comments: I primarily play PSO2 now and much older games; however, I do like the option of playing newer games and occasionally multibox MMO's.

Why Are You Upgrading: I would like to stop relying on my laptop for everything.

I have been looking and trying to do research the past two days and have come up with:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cr3t

CPU Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor $189.99
Motherboard Asus P8H77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard $139.98
Memory G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $43.99
Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive $89.99
Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $89.99
Video Card MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card $239.99
Power Supply Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply $44.99
Optical Drive Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer $17.99
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) $98.98

Currently totaling 892.88

If there's any way to decrease that and still have a decent level of performance then that'd be fantastic. I still need to find a good, solid case as I know I'll be shipping this back to the states with me once I'm done here. Any suggestions or help is appreciated, thank you!

 

[vyreon]

Hello,

if you're planning on multiboxing MMO's, it might be usefull to get 16GB of memory (2x 8GB), if it is still within your budget.
(http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139016)
For the case i would recommend the Corsair Carbide 300R, it's a really nice case with enough cooling and room for your hardware.

I would also get another CPU cooler than the one that comes with the CPU, specially when you want to learn something about overclocking. My suggestion would be the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. (http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099)

Good luck with your build.

 

[Crescens]

Thank you for your suggestions. I will take a look and start researching some more information. My experience with multiboxing so far has been WoW and EQ2 but for any future MMOs perhaps I may need more memory.

I do like the look of that case, but I am more trying to reduce the cost of what I currently have planned if possible and that seems a little more on the expensive side. I will keep looking though.

 

[Crescens]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ctvM

I changed a couple things upon looking through these forums and various review sites as well as added a case. I would like to know if there's any way to trim off 50-100. The easiest way would be to cut the SSD out, but perhaps there is another option I am not considering. Would this build be worth the $100 over budget - would it last me a couple years to play any upcoming games - at least on medium settings?

 

[vyreon]

You could always ditch the ssd and hdd and get a Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive.
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591 )

I have no experience with hybrid drives, but i've seen quite a few good reviews on youtube. You could go and check those out.

The hybrid drive is mainly an hdd with a small amount of ssd storage that is used as cache. This is supposed to speed up your pc.

 

[Crescens]

I have researched a bit more and realize I was likely going for way more than what I needed. Here is what I currently have:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ SuperBiiz) Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg) Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg) Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.86 @ Outlet PC) Hard Drive: Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Newegg) Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($26.98 @ Newegg) Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.65 @ Amazon) Total: $868.43 (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-19 11:01 EDT-0400)

Does this look alright? Are the PSU and case decent(would it be worth buying a very high quality case now for reuse later)? Will I need more RAM? The pricing seems okay as I am willing to move up to $900.

 

[Crescens]

Any suggestions? I'd like to purchase this weekend or even tomorrow and would appreciate some feedback. I unfortunately can't edit my original post.

 

[vyreon]

I would look for a 500 watt power supply. On AMD's website it says the hd 7850 requires a 500 watt psu with 1 6pin power connector. Another psu from corsair but just 500 watt should be just fine and not that much more expensive.

The I5 3450 is a better choice than the i5 2400 and it's only a $5 difference, so i wouldn't change it to an i5 2400 and just stick with the 3450.

In my opinion buying a decent quality (not high end quality) case is a pretty good choice. I personally reuse my case because it doesn't get "old" like other hardware does. The fans in quality cases usually provide better cooling and less noise. Also the ease of use for a case like the Corsair carbide 300r is really good.

If you're planning on overclocking you should really consider an aftermarket cooler. It doesn't even have to be an expensive one, cooler master and scythe sell some pretty good value CPU coolers.

 

[macgreen]

If you're not overclocking (and you aren't, not with a i5-2400), then there's not need for the Z77 motherboard. Unless you plan to upgrade to one of the -k series chips (like the 2500k or the 3570k, for example). Try an H77 board, you'll save a few bucks if you do, and you could put that toward a 3450 or 3550, if you'd like. That'd probably let you (so long as the board has PCI-E 3.0) have somewhat better performance from the video card as well, thanks to Ivy Bridge's compatibility with the PCI-E 3.0 slot(s). Of course, if you plan to upgrade the CPU in the future, no need to worry about changing it.

 

[Crescens]

Thank you two for the feedback, but due to a gross miscalculation on my part (and a nicer reimbursement than expected) - my budget has jumped up considerably.

Approximate Purchase Date: Today/This weekend if possible

Budget Range: $800-1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, general schoolwork, surfing/movies

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon and NewEgg as they'll ship to APOs

Location: UK

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Yes, I will commit to minor overclocking until I learn more. After reading more information, it doesn't seem so terribly difficult and it's more to learn.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080p - using my television for the time being.

Additional Comments: I primarily play PSO2 now and much older games; however, I do like the option of playing newer games and occasionally multibox MMO's.

Why Are You Upgrading: My G73H is starting to deteriorate after the abuse and travel it has been through. I'd now like a solid desktop and only use the laptop when I have to travel overseas.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cBXV
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cBXV/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cBXV/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda Green 1TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: VisionTek Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V Power Supply ($57.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.65 @ Amazon)
Total: $1050.55 ($1099 using the two options available to me)
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-20 12:34 EDT-0400)

I chose the following parts based on recommendations and reading various topics on this forum. I upped the RAM to 16GB on the change I wake up my WoW accounts or potentially try out SWTOR or The Secret World. The 7850 seems to be the most performance for cost from what I could determine using: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html and I also based the case on a similar review from here as well as taking Vyreon's opinion on getting a nicer case that I could reuse. Will the PSU be enough for minor overclocking? I'd like to mess around with the CPU and GPU and just learn what I can for future use. I do not plan to try and push anything anywhere near it's limit. I was not able to find a solid guide on PSUs to read through (maybe somebody has a suggestion for one to browse?)