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$700-800 Gaming Build Help

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Approximate Purchase Date: Within This Month

Budget Range: $700-800 (after shipping, including taxes and shipping costs)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes, should be minimum 23", preferably from a mainline company such as HP, Dell etc..

Parts to Upgrade: Building From Scratch

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Anyplace online as long as the price is good (newegg, tigerdirect etc.. preferably from the .ca domain websites) Also if possible from local stores located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Parts Preferences: Intel, but AMD if need be. Unpopular brands will suffice in some cases (decreasing the price)

Overclocking: Looking for an intel i5 2500k with overclocking compatible mobo (ONLY if price is within budget) I dont want to rule out the option of overclocking though.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: Preferably playing games on 1080p on a 23" monitor

Additional Comments: Wireless wifi card required (if within budget). If possible, id like to make it future proof to some extent where upgrading wont be as hefty (also, it highly depends on parts fitting within budget). A decent DVD Burner should be included. Once again: Cheap, and not very reputable parts are fine in some/most cases where they wont be a problem.

Looking forward to suggestions. Thanks!
(P.S preferences might change as I come across opinions by other people, in that case il be sure to make updates and be active on this thread)

More about : 700 800 gaming build

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intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge-220$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus-30$

asrock z77 extreme 4-135$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W-110$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Western Digital Caviar Blue-75$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB-45$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Acer G235HAbd 23-140$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HIS H687FN1GD Radeon HD 6870-170

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This brings you about 125$ over budget but, it was the best i could do for your price range and your limits if you want a 2500k that can overclock like a beast, a 23 inch monitor and all that for 800$ its going to be hard/impossible to do i did my best
Gaming Expert

700-800 CAD is going to be hard to get a system that is going to comfortably run 1080p especially if you need a 23' monitor in that budget and you want a 2500K, but I'll give it a shot.

CPU- i5-2500K $235
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Mobo- Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 $140
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Video card-

RAM- G.Skill 8GB $41
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

Power- Corsair TX650v2- $80 with rebate
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

HDD- WD Caviar Blue 500GB- $70
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

Case- CM Elite 430- $60
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Monitor- Asus VH242H- $170
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

---See I haven't even gotten the video card in there and I'm already hitting your budget limit.



--------------------------------

Phenom II build, (which is the way I would go)


CPU- Phenom II 965$110
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Mobo- Asus M5A97- $98
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Video card- Sapphire 7850 OC $260
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

RAM- G.Skill 8GB $41
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

Power- Corsair TX650v2- $80 with rebate
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

HDD- WD Caviar Blue 500GB- $70
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

Case- CM Elite 430- $60
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Monitor- Asus VH242H- $170
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

Total: $889 Little over budget here, but it should give you what you want. You can overclock the P II to 3.7GHZ on the stock fan, that would essentially give you a Phenom II 980 model at the price of the 965. And optionally, you should be able to push it to 4.0 with a CPU cooler. And this setup should give you decent 1080p gaming. No the Phenom IIs are not as powerful as 2500Ks, but they're still respectable gaming CPUs.

At 880$ i would definitly just go all out and get the intel system because it is only a little bit more and IMO will do you better and here is why, the Phenom 2 is old, It doesn't come near the cpu power of the intel, However if you cannot find that little bit of extra money then you may be hard pressed to go with the amd, Otherwise you can just leave out the gpu and just pick one up once you get some more money...
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Gaming Expert

Spicy_benie said:
At 880$ i would definitly just go all out and get the intel system because it is only a little bit more and IMO will do you better and here is why, the Phenom 2 is old, It doesn't come near the cpu power of the intel, However if you cannot find that little bit of extra money then you may be hard pressed to go with the amd, Otherwise you can just leave out the gpu and just pick one up once you get some more money...



Actually, you are incorrect. My overclocked Phenom II outperforms my i5-2300. Kinda funny huh, that "old" CPU can keep up with that brand new shiny Sandy Bridge?


For gaming, CPUs are not nearly as important as the graphics. While the 2500K is a better CPU, it doesn't really matter as much as you think. Don't bring the fanboy games here, you'll get buried. :heink: 
Gaming Expert

And I'm not really trying to flame you, merely trying to give you some information, so that you can avoid dispensing advice that is not completely accurate. I see you yourself have a 3570K with a 6870. You do realize that your gaming performance would be much better had you had of gone with a Phenom II and a 7870? Both would have cost you about the same.

The point is, a stronger CPU cannot make a weaker video card perform better. Now I did try to do a build with a 2500K that includes a monitor in that budget range (in Canadian dollars), its just not happening. Pay attention to what components are included not the final dollar amount.

I say get this monitor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

It's around $270 (including shipping), so that leaves you with around $500 to spare. I say just get this month's $500 SBM - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-pc-overclock...

If you have more budget, consider these upgrades:
GPU (most important):
Nvidia GTX 560 Ti (around $30-$50 extra).
AMD HD7850 (better, around $75 extra).

CPU:
Core i3-2120 cpu (additional $35).

RAM (least important but least expensive, I would suggest getting this upgrade anyway):
2x4GB of ram (additional $15).

I believe that input / output devices are the most important part of the computer, so I would always try to get the best monitor I can afford while still having enough extra budget for a computer that can handle the resolution. As you can clearly see in the SBM, this machine handles most games at the highest settings.

the only viable setup i'm seeing possible is the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

its around $790 yet idk what the shipping to Canada is

the rig is a bit off in terms of overclocking (both the CPU and mobo are not great overclockers) and the GPU is alright, nothing brilliant, yet will run most games at decent qualities and fps (i have one of the same tier and im quite pleased given the price).

if you didn't want a Monitor (like others have mentioned) your budget should be able to buy you some top-notch rig.

hope i helped

p.s. i haven't picked a DVDRW, just go to some local store and get the cheapest you come across. many NEC,LG, Samsung, LiteOn cost like $20, no big deal.
Gaming Expert

perishedinflames said:
the only viable setup i'm seeing possible is the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

its around $790 yet idk what the shipping to Canada is

the rig is a bit off in terms of overclocking (both the CPU and mobo are not great overclockers) and the GPU is alright, nothing brilliant, yet will run most games at decent qualities and fps (i have one of the same tier and im quite pleased given the price).

if you didn't want a Monitor (like others have mentioned) your budget should be able to buy you some top-notch rig.

hope i helped

p.s. i haven't picked a DVDRW, just go to some local store and get the cheapest you come across. many NEC,LG, Samsung, LiteOn cost like $20, no big deal.


Its not overclockable at all lol. But yea, thats the only way you're getting an i5 in there, and you're still taking a pretty big hit on the video card with only a 6850.

Thanks for all the replies guys. For now, il be taking out the Monitor as i can get a pre-owned one locally for less than 100$. So that should be about 100$ more on parts.

Also, is the i5 3570k better than the 2500k? Because the price difference is only 10$.

And what are you guys' opinion on the following build: http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore#module14708687...
for 850$, and if the build is good, is there anything that i could downsize in terms of quality such as RAM, or a case, or mobo (perhaps a cheaper overclockable mobo but with a lesser known brand)

Thanks once again!
Gaming Expert

Quote:

Also, is the i5 3570k better than the 2500k? Because the price difference is only 10$.

For gaming, no, theres no real measurable difference between the Ivy and Sandy. Save your 10 bucks to order a pizza to celebrate a job well done when the computer is built. Yes Ivy Bridge has PCI 3.0, however, by the time this actually shows a gainful improvement over PCI 2.0, it will be time to start thinking about a new CPU/motherboard anyway.

Native USB 3.0 isn't really a selling point either, all that means is the USB 3.0 ports on the motherboard don't work until you install the drivers for them. Big whoop.



That build actually isn't bad that you linked. I think I know the guy who wrote it.. hes a member here on the forums. I'd make a couple tweaks to it, but, no you really don't want to go cheap on the motherboard if you're overclocking, your CPU's potential is only as good as the motherboard its sitting on.. And the Z77 Asrock Extreme 4 is a very good board.

You can chop the budget on the case a little bit and go with a CoolerMaster Elite 430, but I wouldn't go too cheap on the case either.

The RAM, doesn't get much cheaper than that for an 8GB kit.

You can probably get a decent power supply for less than 80, even in Canadian dollars.
In a pinch, this one would do fine, but I'd still prefer the TX series Corsair, at your budget level
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

nekulturny said:
Actually, you are incorrect. My overclocked Phenom II outperforms my i5-2300. Kinda funny huh, that "old" CPU can keep up with that brand new shiny Sandy Bridge?
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/198/i52300vphenomiiat4ghz.jpg

For gaming, CPUs are not nearly as important as the graphics. While the 2500K is a better CPU, it doesn't really matter as much as you think. Don't bring the fanboy games here, you'll get buried. :heink: 


Ok so im sorry i came out as a fanboy because im pretty sure i mentioned if your short on money go with amd... And if you go with a intel z77 based build you can upgrade to ivy bridge intel.... Where on amd even at phonem 2 overclocked maybe it is a little better then 2500k but if you want to upgrade well then looks like your spending more money on a cpu+mobo. bottom line a 6870 is perfectly fine for gaming it gives 50+fps on high bf3 1980x1080 thats pretty dang good for most people unless you are totally cocky and needed of ultra...
Lastly how hard is it to get a new graphics card? i mean sell your old one which is dang easy these days, craigslist, ebay etc and you have 3/4 of your money back and get a better card...

IM not a fanboy of any type :bounce: 
Gaming Expert

Quote:
And if you go with a intel z77 based build you can upgrade to ivy bridge intel....


You'll never convince me that buying any computer part that you know doesn't really meet your current performance goal with the intention of upgrading it later on is a good idea though. It ends up costing you more money in the long run vs just saving up to buy something that does what you wanted to do in the first place.

Quote:
Where on amd even at phonem 2 overclocked maybe it is a little better then 2500k but if you want to upgrade well then looks like your spending more money on a cpu+mobo. bottom line a 6870 is perfectly fine for gaming it gives 50+fps on high bf3 1980x1080 thats pretty dang good for most people unless you are totally cocky and needed of ultra...


Eh, depends on the game. Yea, the 6870 is a good card, still, if you want a Ford Mustang today, don't buy a Chevy Cavalier and hope that you can recoup most of the lost money in order to put it towards what you wanted in the first place later on. You're never guaranteed to get that 3/4ths back.

Quote:
IM not a fanboy of any type


Me neither, but I am known to do a hell of an impression of one at times :lol: 
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