Need help building a gaming pc with about $1050 budget

[anong05]

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 2 weeks

Budget Range: $1050-$1100 Max without the monitor. Looking to spend between $150-$200 for a monitor

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Streaming, and web browsing

Are you buying a monitor: Yes at a later date. Will take any suggestions or recommendations

Parts to Upgrade: Everything

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, ncix, amazon, tigerdirect. I also have microcenter about 40 minutes away from me

Location: South Jersey

Parts Preferences: Intel cpu. Everything else I’m open to

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: I have a Samsung tv right now. The model is ln26a450c1d. Screen resolution is 1366 x 768. I’m looking to get either a 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 depending on the price.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I’m coming from a laptop that was bought over 5 years ago. It’s time to upgrade. Looking to play games such as GW2, BF3, and COD BO2 when it comes out on the highest resolution.

The only things I have right now are a keyboard and case. The case I have is the rosewill gear x3 and keyboard is the Logitech g110.

What I’m looking to get right now are:

Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor-$189.99 at MC

GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard-$99.99 at MC if bought paired with the CPU

G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB -$39.99 at newegg

Western Digital WD Blue WD1002FAEX 1TB -$84.99 at newegg

Corsair TX650 V2 650W ATX 12V Single Rail 53A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS Bronze -$89.99 at newegg. $69.99 after rebate

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5"-$99.99 at microcenter. $79.99 after rebate


Total right now $609.94 without a gpu. Not sure what to get here. I've been looking at the 7950 670 or 660 ti. Any help picking out a gpu would be appreciated

 

[Someone Somewhere]

OP's build looks good. I would suggest the 7950 or 670 over the 660Ti, as it performs more like a 7870 but is priced like a 7950.

Only other suggestion is getting an SSD - they speed up your system a huge amount.

 

[Nw333]

I wouldnt get a Black drive. There isnt much difference between Black and Blue drives, save some money there.

Get the 670 if your playing games like BF3 or Borderlands 2, otherwise, AMD is the wayto go.

 

[wr6133]

Stick with your mobo the one jrgong lists has been known to have quality issues (VRM issues due to crap mofsets) that will bite you in the backside if you go for aggresive overclocks.

You may want to look at RAM with low profile heatsinks so theres no HSF clearance issues

 

[anong05]

thanks for your input. I changed out the hd to a wd blue and the ram to the ares series. is there a certain 670 i should look at? Also when COD BO2 comes out i'll probably be playing that more than bf3.

 

[naf]

I wouldnt get a Black drive. There isnt much difference between Black and Blue drives, save some money there.

Get the 670 if your playing games like BF3 or Borderlands 2, otherwise, AMD is the wayto go.

The Black drives have a 5 year warranty, which, for some people, ends up being the money-saving option.

 

[lichloathe]

the MSI OC one is nice and it sells for around $400 unlike other OC 670 plus nearly as fast as the top 670s
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-n670pe2gd5oc

 

[anong05]

is the 670 worth the extra 70-100 dollars compared to the 7950 or 660 ti? i keep reading the 7950 is the best bang for your buck and can match or is better in performance when overclocked

 

[stormweaver1983]

is the 670 worth the extra 70-100 dollars compared to the 7950 or 660 ti? i keep reading the 7950 is the best bang for your buck and can match or is better in performance when overclocked

670 is generally going to be better than the 7950. However, the 7970 can be found at prices very comparable to the 670 now, and the 7970 wins that battle. Just checked pcpartpicker and a 7970 can be found for $10 more than the cheapest 670.

 

[Nw333]

the MSI OC one is nice and it sells for around $400 unlike other OC 670 plus nearly as fast as the top 670s
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-n670pe2gd5oc

Despite the OC and all, it might fail earlier than other cards because of recent over volting issues.

 

[anong05]

i did look at your build jrgong. you can take out the case since i already have one that was given to me. and I'm not set on any gpu yet. I'm still trying to figure out what would be best. as far as the motherboard goes there doesn't seem that much of a difference between that one you chose and the one i picked. it looks like i can get either for the same price at mc. But I'm seeing your board get recommended more often. Is there anything I'm missing that makes the asrock better than the gigabyte board