Gaming PC ($800-$850)

[raj00]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: soon

Budget Range: 800-850

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming,videos and browsing

Are you buying a monitor: Yes





Do you need to buy OS: no,


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any even in store pickup

Location: Chicago, IL

Parts Preferences: Intel

Overclocking: yes


Your Monitor Resolution:want 1920 x 1080 resolution monitor

Additional Comments:

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:to be able to play modern pc games


My build so far:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kdrL


I have a question regarding GPU Vram, is purchasing a 1gb card lower performance versus a 2gb videocard?

 

[malbluff]

I would go with i5-3570K, for processor. Better performance/features + better match with your mobo. Am in UK, so BioStar not commonly used, but seems OK, for the money, although crossfire support is limited by second lane only being x4. Can't comment on quality.
The 2GB version of GPU is generally regarded, as much better than its 1GB counterpart.

 

[jmsellars1]

Looks OK to me but I would go for the 2GB GPU

 

[malbluff]

nice! your build is really similar to my $800 one. The i5 2500k you have chosen is good enough for a gaming rig. The major improvement on the 3570K is about integrated graphics chipset and the smaller die architecture but those do not justify the cost over the last gen. Moreover, you actually only get a minor increase in performance to actually notice any difference. Also due to the cheaper internal thermal layer, the 3570k is a bad overclocker.

Now on the changes, you could go with an Asrock z77 Pro3 for a similar price if Biostar is not your committed choice. I do have an office who build 30 systems using Biostar motherboards and I asked them why. They said none of those boards have failed them for the last 3 years in another office not sure if I'd take their words for it because there aren't many of us use Biostar to give a solid feedback.

Lastly, why don't you consider a SSD as the main drive for now to get the best performance from the system since all other components are pretty promising? You can always add a secondary storage in the future when mechanical drive price drop a bit more. Cheer !

p.s : food for thought :

It is often to get confused that the higher count of memory can justify the real speed and power. But that is not the only one cause. The amount of memory on mainstream gaming video cards plays a relatively small role and does not make a great impact on the performance, in most environment settings.

On the flip side the type of memory does matter. On-board GDDR5 is a lot faster and more responsive than older DDR3.

You must also look in to the number of CUDA Processors (NVIDIA) or Stream Processors (Radeon) and know how fast the core clock speed is. These are the two significant elements that essentially determines the real-life performance of the video card.

source : Radeon vs. NVIDIA Gaming Graphics Cards Round-Up : Let The Right One In

To be honest, I would put the arguement the opposite way round. With only a $5 difference between i5-2500K and i5-3570K, it would be madness NOT to use i5-3570K, with that mobo. I would make the following points.
1) That board is designed for Ivybridge. Whilst it will work with SandyBridge, if you are using SandyBridge, you might as well use a 6 series board.
2) The i5-3570K has about 8% performance benefit, over 2500K, at stock, and like for like overclock. True, it is possible to overclock SandyBridge more, but you need to overclock, to at least 4.8GHz, to see any real benefit. I don't know what that particular board is like, for overclocking, but some cheaper Z77 mobos do not overclock SandyBridge well.
3) Ivybridge provides native support for 1600MHz RAM, which SandyBridge does not.
4) Ivybridge has lower power consumption, and produces less heat, with modest overclocks. Not that it's a huge gain, electric costs are slightly lower. Not a lot, but it doesn't take forever to get your extra $5 back.
5) Whilst many of the Ivybridge benefits are "fringe", for out and out gaming, they are there, and, all other things being equal, prefer newer tech.

Ivybridge doesn't make sense, as an "upgrade" FROM SandyBridge, but for a new build, definitely worth it.

 

[jmsellars1]

Agree with above, you also get PCI-e 3.0 support, among other things.

 

[raj00]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kOpW

No overclocking but i am able to fit this in and the intel i5 3450 is $150 at microcenter and i got a 7870 all under budget but, hows the monitor, good for gaming?

 

[lighter17]

If you're ready to buy right now Newegg has a special deal on the 23.6 inch version of the monitor you're looking at for only $10 more (after a $10 rebate).

ASUS VS Series VS247H-P Black 23.6" 2ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 50000000:1 (ASCR)

 

[malbluff]

Oh no, I actually agree with you if the price difference between 3570k and 2500k is only $5. By all means, go for it. I had a chance to delid the 3570k and applied the MX-4 paste for better temperature when overclocked, it ran a lot cooler in that case. I still have an impression that the price difference is over $50

Now about Microcenter deal, my bf works there and I know a bit about the current 3570k + $50 Off motherboard. So instead of i5 3450 for $150 and a full price motherboard, why not the i5 3570k ($190) and -$50 from motherboard? It is the same cost

Apart from needing an aftermarket cooler, the cost, at Microcentre for say i5-3570K + ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 is no more than i5-3450 and H77.

 

[Kamen_BG]

I made you setup that's a pretty big step up from what you've chosen so far,.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.93 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($46.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: LG IPS231B-BN 23.0" Monitor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $857.40
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

The main difference is the display.This LG monitor is pretty much the best <200$ offering right now.It's just so much better than the one you listed.

Or you might also consider this build which uses a pretty decent monitor (still not as good as the one above) and a very nice graphics card which is about 25% faster than a HD 7850.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($36.93 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($46.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor ($155.68 @ Amazon)
Total: $843.09
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[raj00]

Best answer selected by raj00.

 

[malbluff]

Don't forget cooler, for CPU, if you are going to overclock. Suggest CoolerMaster Hyper 212Evo.