Build for a Friend - $800

[dhcollegedude715]

Hello all,

I lost the link to the previous posting so here it goes again... Open to all comments.


Approximate Purchase Date: Within the month

Budget Range: Max $800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade:

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: City, State/Region, Country - CT, USA

Parts Preferences: Intel, EVGA, Cooler Master, Asus, Corsair

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments:

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Using a Mac


So here is the wish list on newegg... Need to knock it down to about $800
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15601769


Thanks again.


Edit: After some tweaking and help from pcpartpicker here's the new list

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

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P8B75-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($93.06 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VH236H 23.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Logitech Wireless Combo MK260 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($26.97 @ CompUSA)
Total: $764.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[Deemo13]

Does your friend actually want to overclock? If so, get him a CPU fan.

I would rather have a stock i5-3470, a H77 motherboard, and a much better GPU if he doesnt.

Rest looks good.

 

[dhcollegedude715]

Does your friend actually want to overclock? If so, get him a CPU fan.

I would rather have a stock i5-3470, a H77 motherboard, and a much better GPU if he doesnt.

Rest looks good.

Thoughts on the following...

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lZ1M
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lZ1M/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lZ1M/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($209.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VH236H 23.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Logitech Wireless Combo MK260 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($26.97 @ CompUSA)
Total: $814.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[Deemo13]

I would go with the 7850 to knock it down to around $800, maybe less.

 

[macgreen]

Might want to keep in mind that the Microcenter prices are walk-in only prices. And if you go there and get the mobo as well, you save $50 (from what I hear, anyway. I don't live anywhere near one). If you can't get to one, then you probably can't get the cheap price on the CPU listed there, either. Not sure about that though, you'd have to see what vendors can price-match. I'd recommend switching to the i5-3450 (if not for the fact that on newegg, the 3450 is only $5 less than the 3470. Your choice there), and getting the mobo w/ram combo here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1086808 This is basically $110, which saves you $18 there. Or, switch to a B75 mobo (if you don't need the features that an h77 supports), and you can probably save another $15-20 or so.

Switching down to a 7850 as Deemo13 suggested would probably help get the budget under control as well.

 

[dhcollegedude715]

Might want to keep in mind that the Microcenter prices are walk-in only prices. And if you go there and get the mobo as well, you save $50 (from what I hear, anyway. I don't live anywhere near one). If you can't get to one, then you probably can't get the cheap price on the CPU listed there, either. Not sure about that though, you'd have to see what vendors can price-match. I'd recommend switching to the i5-3450 (if not for the fact that on newegg, the 3450 is only $5 less than the 3470. Your choice there), and getting the mobo w/ram combo here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1086808 This is basically $110, which saves you $18 there. Or, switch to a B75 mobo (if you don't need the features that an h77 supports), and you can probably save another $15-20 or so.

Switching down to a 7850 as Deemo13 suggested would probably help get the budget under control as well.

Thank you for pointing out the Microcenter price. I didnt notice that was there. I will not be going there, so looks like some changes need to be made. Will make changes and post them for opinions tomorrow. Thank you.

Is the 7850 better than the GTX 660? I have heard nothing but problems with AMD graphics cards lately.

 

[macgreen]

The Radeon 7850 is maybe a little less powerful than the GTX 660, which tends to rival the 7870. I wouldn't say it's a worse card, however, as newer drivers come out fairly often for the Radeon 7xxx cards and continually make them more capable. I would imagine that if we have to lower the expectations of the video card in the build by $40 or so to make the build back to your budget, you'll probably have to look at the 7850 1gb video cards. If you'd like, I'll see what I can do with a build for you as well, though the one that's already been posted does look alright.

Are you pretty firm on the monitor that's already been chosen in your build?

 

[Deemo13]

That's because you never hear about the people who run just fine with AMD cards. I've never had a non-user-caused problem with any given GPU.

My 6950 has served me well, as well as my 6670, 6770, 5570, 5770, 4350, and even my Rage 128 have all served me just fine with no problems at all.

 

[dhcollegedude715]

The Radeon 7850 is maybe a little less powerful than the GTX 660, which tends to rival the 7870. I wouldn't say it's a worse card, however, as newer drivers come out fairly often for the Radeon 7xxx cards and continually make them more capable. I would imagine that if we have to lower the expectations of the video card in the build by $40 or so to make the build back to your budget, you'll probably have to look at the 7850 1gb video cards. If you'd like, I'll see what I can do with a build for you as well, though the one that's already been posted does look alright.

Are you pretty firm on the monitor that's already been chosen in your build?

Thank you for that information. Much appreciated. As for the monitor question, no I am not firm on that. I would most definitely like to see what you could do with the build. Thanks again.

 

[dhcollegedude715]

That's because you never hear about the people who run just fine with AMD cards. I've never had a non-user-caused problem with any given GPU.

My 6950 has served me well, as well as my 6670, 6770, 5570, 5770, 4350, and even my Rage 128 have all served me just fine with no problems at all.

I appreciate the experience base. Thanks for the information. I will take that more into consideration then.

 

[macgreen]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1065501
- That's an i5-3470 + MSI z77 mobo combo for $267 on Newegg. With that in mind, this listed build is actually about $819, rather than the price mentioned in the build. Sure, I had to change the monitor, but we got a better case (well, I think it's better. Opinions, eh?), PSU, and we managed to keep the i5-3470 with a z77 mobo. So if you decide to upgrade to a -k series CPU in the future, you don't need a new mobo. And you get to keep a GTX 660 as well, if you prefer (and switching out for a 7870 at that price is possible, the Power Color and XFX Double D 7870s are in that price range. When you can get them off of Newegg, that is).

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lZF2

Gotta be fast with the monitor though, to get it for $30 off before November 1st. Also, the hard drive is from Microcenter, so just look it up on another site. I'm sure you can find one within $5-10 of that listed price that's probably the same thing.

 

[Deemo13]

That's a crazy solid build right there.

 

[dhcollegedude715]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1065501
- That's an i5-3470 + MSI z77 mobo combo for $267 on Newegg. With that in mind, this listed build is actually about $819, rather than the price mentioned in the build. Sure, I had to change the monitor, but we got a better case (well, I think it's better. Opinions, eh?), PSU, and we managed to keep the i5-3470 with a z77 mobo. So if you decide to upgrade to a -k series CPU in the future, you don't need a new mobo. And you get to keep a GTX 660 as well, if you prefer (and switching out for a 7870 at that price is possible, the Power Color and XFX Double D 7870s are in that price range. When you can get them off of Newegg, that is).

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lZF2

Gotta be fast with the monitor though, to get it for $30 off before November 1st. Also, the hard drive is from Microcenter, so just look it up on another site. I'm sure you can find one within $5-10 of that listed price that's probably the same thing.

Thank you. For the case, I'm not a fan, but I shall see what my friend thinks of it. Has some good features, I just think its too bland. Thanks again and I'll get him moving towards a purchase.