$1200-1300 Gaming PC

[Namieo]

First off, hello.

I've been working with a friend of mine to create a new build to replace his current, weak computer. We've been working on this for a while (seven months) and he feels he's ready to buy the parts and build it himself. I should note that he's new to building computers and I'm not that great either; so I've decided to have what we've compiled checked out to see if what we have should work and not choke itself to death upon first boot.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within a week from now

Budget Range: Up to $1600 but would prefer to spend $1300 at the most

System Usage: Gaming, web browsing

Games Played Team Fortress 2, Dwarf Fortress (CPU intensive game), ARMA 2, Dark Souls, Tribes Ascend, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas

Are you buying a monitor: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Parts to Upgrade: Everything besides the mouse, keyboard and monitor

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: USA - Friend didn't want to share his city/state (according to him there's no computer shops by him anyways)

Parts Preferences: Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs (mainly due to AMD's microstuttering problem on crossfire)

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (might be too expensive for now)

Additional Comments: Would prefer a somewhat quiet computer due to using speakers instead of headphones, recommendations for a computer building guide would be helpful for him too

Why Are You Upgrading: Current computer is a cheap, prebuilt one that's not designed for gaming or upgradable


LIST OF PARTS (Sorry if the extra info isn't needed):

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128545 (GIGABYTE LGA 1155/z77 / 3 PCI-e 3.0 (x16, x8, x4)/3 PCI-e x1/1 PCI slot / 12.0" x 9.6" / Realtek ALC898 Audio Chipset [Model GA-Z77X-UD5H]) - $189.99 ($8.50 shipping)


Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127592 (NVIDIA GTX 560 (Fermi) / 1 GB/256-bit/GDDR5 Memory / 810 MHz clock / Supports DirectX 11/OpenGL 4.1 / 1x mini HDMI/2x DVI / Requires two slots/9.37" X 4.41" X 1.57" [Model MSI N560GTX-M2D1GD5] - $169.99 ($149.99 with $20 mail-in rebate (expires on 7/31) [IIRC rebates almost never work])


Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182133 - (Rosewill HIVE Series 750w / >82% efficiency (Bronze)/ SLI/Crossfire Ready [Model HIVE-750]) - $89.99 ($15 off with promo code [expires on 7/30])

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504 (Intel i5 3570k / LGA 1155 / Quad-Core / 3.4 GHZ / 64 bit support / Supports SSE4.1/4.2, AVX [Model BX80623I52500K]) - $229.99

CPU Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223 (Zalman 2 Ball / Supports LGA 1155 / 1350 ±10% - 2600 ±10% RPM / 18.0 ±10% - 27.5 ±10% dBA / 85x112x125mm / 3 Pin power connector [Model CNPS9500A-LED]) - $44.99

Thermal Paste: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007 (Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound) - $9.95


RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311 - (G.SKILL Ripjaws Series / 2 x 4 GB / DDR3 1333 [Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL]) - $43.99


Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 (Cooler Master HAF / Mid Tower / ATX/Micro ATX Support / 1x 120mm rear fan/1x 200mm front fan w/Red LED/1x 200mm top fan / 5 external 5.25" Drive bays/ 1 external 3.5 drive bay/5 internal 3.25" Drive bays / 22.10" x 10.00" x 19.70" [Model RC-922M-KKN3-GP] - $109.99 ($9.99 shpping)


DVD/CD Reader: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276 (LITE-ON 18x DVD-ROM / 48x CD-ROM SATA [Model iHDS118-04]) - $18.99 ($6.98 shipping)


Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697 (Seagate Barracuda / 3.5" / SATA 6.0 Gb/s / 1TB storage / 7200 RPM / 32 MB cache [Model ST31000524AS]) - $99.99 ($1.99 shpping)


SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236 (Mushkin Enhanced Chronos / 2.5" / 120 GB storage / SATA III interface / Mean time between failures of 2,000,000 hours [Model MKNSSDCR120GB]) - $95.99

OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 - Windows 7 Home Premium (x64/OEM) - $99.99


Added together, including shipping and promo codes, the total cost is $1,216.30 with a potential $20 mail-in rebate.

(Spoilered are the prices compiled together for quick calculation for your convenience)

Spoiler

189.99 + 8.50 + 169.99 + 89.99 - 15 + 229.99 + 44.99 + 9.95 + 43.99 + 109.99 + 9.99 + 18.99 + 6.98 + 99.99 + 1.99 + 95.99 + 99.99

I'll be occupied for the next few days and might not be able to reply in a few hours; my friend's been linked to this topic and will reply if he needs to. Thank you for your time.

 

[g-unit1111]

For $1300 you can get a way better GPU. You don't need the thermal paste - get a fan that comes with MX-4, that's better than that Silver 5. I'd try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ Newegg)
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 F4 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($409.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower Case ($109.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On DS-8A8SH DVD/CD Writer ($31.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1371.87
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-26 19:50 EDT-0400)

 

[cranked]

Try this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/d5Bp

$1240 at Newegg

 

[Namieo]

I don't feel he'll need something as beastly as the 670 for quite a while, plus that build goes $70 over the limit. I'll look at the cooler, case and hard drive though.

 

[g-unit1111]

I don't feel he'll need something as beastly as the 670 for quite a while, plus that build goes $70 over the limit. I'll look at the cooler, case and hard drive though.

You could drop it to the 7950 and then save $50 there, or drop to the 7870 and save $100 and still get a pretty killer GPU.

 

[cranked]

Take G-unit's build and drop to a 7850. That's basically the build I posted.

 

[Namieo]

G-unit's build seems the best with a small exception:

The SSD that I chose seems to be faster overall. I might be completely wrong about that, but I'm not sure how much the extra storage will matter to my friend.

Also, my friend doesn't need a DVD burner.

EDIT: Ok, I think I'll make the following changes:

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard - $114.99
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB - $299.99
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler - $30.99
RAM: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory - $43.99
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower Case - $109.98
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $79.99
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive - $99.99

Which puts the total at $1,250.86.

 

[nafoni]

+1 for g-unit's build.

Your pick on the 670 vs 7870 vs 7950

 

[Namieo]

The price feature at pcpartpicker (which I didn't know even existed up until now) is pretty useful.

By filtering the selection down to newegg, amazon and ncix (which is apparently reputable enough), the price dropped down to $1,115.50. I'm quite tempted to add on the 670, seeing as that now only costs $1,235.50.

Or should I forget about it and stick to one retailer?

 

[g-unit1111]

The price feature at pcpartpicker (which I didn't know even existed up until now) is pretty useful.

By filtering the selection down to newegg, amazon and ncix (which is apparently reputable enough), the price dropped down to $1,115.50. I'm quite tempted to add on the 670, seeing as that now only costs $1,235.50.

Or should I forget about it and stick to one retailer?

I personally find it's better to stick with one retailer - it makes keeping track of your system easier. Staying within budget though - that's where it gets a bit tricky.

 

[Namieo]

I personally find it's better to stick with one retailer - it makes keeping track of your system easier. Staying within budget though - that's where it gets a bit tricky.

Would only using two retailers instead of three make that easier? Chopping amazon off only raises the price by $24.34.

 

[g-unit1111]

Would only using two retailers instead of three make that easier? Chopping amazon off only raises the price by $24.34.

It's your call - if you want to save money that way that's fine.

 

[Namieo]

Alright, my friend decided that he'd be ok with buying from three retailers and that the 670 would be better in the long run, so that's all!

Thank you for the help everyone.

EDIT: Except that pcpartpicker's price for the case is wrong and that the case that's supposedly $42.98 on ncix is actually $99.98; which is ironic considering they're still the cheapest by $10.

He decided to stick with it anyways, bringing the total cost to $1,292.50, which seems reasonable for the sheer power of the 670.