Sub $900 Gaming PC for First Time Builder

[Spiker101_15]

Hello,

I am a first time PC Builder. I been doing research for days on this. I am trying to cash in some discounts and get a gaming PC this thanksgiving. This is what I have found so far. If there is any weak link/incompatibility for this system or if there is a better deal/cheaper alternatives out there I would really appreciate it if you can let me know.


CPU:
Intel Core i5-3570K
[169.99] Microcenter

CPU Cooler:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
[26.29] NCIX or $30 (Microcenter)

Motherboard:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
[74.99] Microcenter (buy with CPU)

Memory:
Patriot Viper 3 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600
[24.99] Newegg

Storage:
Crucial M4 256GB SSD
[169.99] Microcenter

Video Card:
MSI GeForce GTX 670 OC PE
[359.99] NCIX

Case:
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer
[69.99] Amazon (I think this case is kind of childish but I cant find anything else with the combination of USB 3.0/Price/Execllent review)

Power Supply:
SeaSonic G Series 550W 80+G
[59.99] Newegg

Total: 955.23

 

[djangoringo]

Why dont you switch for a 128 gb ssd and buy a 670 gtx ?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9dj2
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9dj2/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9dj2/benchmarks/

Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $429.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[koudou]

128 GB is probably too low to use as the main disk for everything. Your 7950 is fine OP and I would suggest adding on a mechanical hard disk for additional storage as well.

 

[Spiker101_15]

Yea. I got the 128gb M4 In my laptop (the only computer I use). It is just barely enough for all my school need plus 1 game. So I figured 256 is enough for everything. I got a 1 TB external drive for backup. If I can find my old laptop drive, I will put that in the PC as secondary

 

[djangoringo]

The 670 gtx is far better than the 7950, it beats even the 7970 and tops the 680 gtx when oc.
But if it doesn't fit your budget then go with the 7950.
After your last comment it seems that you dont need to change nothing else.

 

[Spiker101_15]

Do you guys think the power supply is good enough for the 7950? It states that it needs a MINIMUM of 500 and my psu is only 550?

 

[djangoringo]

Yes will be fine with that psu for the 7950 or 670 gtx.
Like i said the price of the 670 gtx is closing in price to the 7950 and it offers more performance and less power demanding.

 

[aznshinobi]

Don't even go for the GTX 670 with the 7970 costing this cheap. The 7970 when overclocked to only 1GHZ beats even the GTX 680: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/toxic-hd-7970-eyefinity-6gb,3264-3.html

Here's the 7970:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150596

Check out my $650 build if you want another opinion:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore#module146695821
Switch the FX-6300 for the FX-8320 (+$30): http://www.microcenter.com/product/401796/FX_8320_Black_Edition_35GHz_AM3_Boxed_Processor
Switch the HDD to the 256GB of your choice (+$110)
Swap the 7870 for the 7970 (+$130)
Total: $890


Not saying you have to go for this build but it is a great build even though many people would disagree with the FX as an option. Again I'm just giving the option to here's my evidence:
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1598/pg6/amd-fx-8350-processor-review-battlefield-3.html
At 1080P the FX-8350/8320 simply performs the same if not better than the i5 3570K in gaming. The gaming aspect the GPU is always more important.
Course, F1 is an opposite
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1598/pg7/amd-fx-8350-processor-review-f1-2012.html
but again most demanding games like Metro 2033 will have the FX-8350 vperforming better/similar. Plus you can always overclock just as well.

 

[Spiker101_15]

I am not really comfortable spending 350+ for the 570 or the 7970 right now. What do you guys think about buying 7870 instead of 7950, saving about $60-70, that I can use on a better monitor? How much performance drop is that going to be? I was originally considering 7870 anyways but I thought I could try to sell the 4-1 game thing for maybe $40 making the price difference only about $20.

 

[aznshinobi]

If you're not comfortable dropping $350+ for a GPU, I don't see how it's bad when you can fit it into your budget... You know? I'm not dissing you by any means OP, I just think if the GPU can be fit within your budget, why not go for it?

On the otherhand, if you plan on spending less as I'd assume that's WHY you don't want to spend $350 on a GPU, check out my $650 again here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore#module146695821
Just swap the 7870 for the 7950 (+70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414
Swap the fx-6300 for the FX-8320 (+30):
http://www.microcenter.com/product/401796/FX_8320_Black_Edition_35GHz_AM3_Boxed_Processor
Total: $720

Saves you about $200 for similar performance, you don't get your SSD, but personally I wouldn't recommend spending that much for an SSD to be your main storage. Why? Space is expensive, another reason is why spend that much when there are SSDs out there with software to cache and act like a Hybrid SSD/HDD combo. You get all the space of an HDD with the boot times and general performance of an SSD.

Proof: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1893/5/
Faster than SSDs at boot times and cheaper route for more space.

 

[bigcyco1]

If your willing to settle for playing games on medium settings http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121651&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL111912&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL111912-_-EMC-111912-Index-_-DesktopGraphicsVideoCards-_-14121651-L010B

 

[Spiker101_15]

Hey, what is your guys thought on PhysX? Borderland 2 does look better on it and I may also play Plantside 2. Are there going to be more or less big titles coming out using PhysX? I wont get 670 just for 2 games but if there are alot more big title comes out using it I would defiantly consider spending more for the 670.

On the side note I have an almost new GTX460 (used for external graphics card for my laptop...) that I heard can be used as a dedicated PhysX engine. Can the powersupply support 2 graphics cards? Or is this just too much work..?

 

[aznshinobi]

Games don't look better with Physx.

They just have a better/cooler tiny details:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y69_hLzTg9Y

Not the best example, but you get the idea. It's not really needed, I don't feel like I lose any gaming experience from a game by not having it. I use the 7870.

IF, you were going to do Physx, then yes, I would opt to get dedicated card, like using your GTX 460 as the Physx card and using the 7870 or 7950 for your main.
At this point, I'd recommend at least a 650w. The 460 wasn't a TDP EATER, but it's still a little more power consuming that current gen cards.

 

[bigcyco1]

I am not sure but there is already quite a bit of games PhysX works with so i assume there will be more.Blizzard games such as WoW and Starcraft 2 favor Nvidia
Batman AA and AC favor Nvidia if you use PhysX.A lot find it useless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_hardware-accelerated_PhysX_support Plantside 2,Borderlands 2,Max Payne 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and Assassin’s Creed III,Mafia II,the godfather 2,ghost recon advanced warfighter 1 and 2 and GTA4 favor NVIDIA.And games such as Deus Ex, Sleeping Dogs, Hitman, Far Cry 3,The Witcher 2,Crysis2,Aliens vs. Predators,Metro 2033 Sniper Elite ver. 2, Dragon Age II favor AMD Graphics Card.Nvidia has CUDA,PhysX, TXAA, FXAA, ADap. Vsync. AMD has - Eyefinity Fullscreen SSAA which uses DirectCompute fullscreen AA DirectCompute Accelerated DOF MLAA GPGPU.

 

[Spiker101_15]

Here is my price breakdown after factoring in the bonus gift.

7950
290
4-1 Game Pack: Ebay for ~40
Final Price ~250

670
320-350
Borderland 2: $60 (I am actually going to play this one)
Assassin Creed: Ebay for ~15
Final Price: ~245-275

7970
330-360
4-1 Game Pack: Ebay for ~40
Final Price ~290-320

So in the end it seems like 670 is not that expensive in price (and don’t have to risk as much on ebay), and I am getting PhysX without having to mess with installing my 460/getting new PSU. I don’t plan on overclocking too much.

Now there is a very important question:
What do you guys think about the brands?
From what I heard/Past experience:
MSI, Galaxy, asus, evga, asus, gigabytes are bigger brands
PYN HIS XFX POWERCOLOR seems to be cheaper brands.

Which brands are quality and which brand sells a lot of junk?

Now here is a deal. I am professional student who is in school for 80+ hours a week and also most of the weekends. I really need something that is very reliable. I cant spending little free time I get trying to tinker with OC or fixing the computer.

 

[bigcyco1]

#1 I would be all over that Asus TOP for its high factory overclock, cool temps, and really, really quiet fans.heavily modified PCB, with an efficient VRM design to produce low temperatures, improved voltage regulation circuitry, much better ChiL controller , specially binned chip and voltage control and monitoring support that you won't find on most other non-reference cards. It looks aggressive to me and indeed is monster let's keep it on the real. TechPoweUp gives the 670 TOP an 10.0 rating, the only 10.0 rating ever
Asus 670 TOP - 10.0 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html





Quote :


Yes, you've seen correctly, the ASUS GeForce GTX 670 Direct CU II TOP is the first graphics card ever that I gave a perfect ten score. The stock GeForce GTX 670 provides already great performance, but ASUS has topped that by boosting it with a large overclock out of the box which catapults it beyond GTX 680 performance levels. Averaged over all our testing we see the card 1% faster than GTX 680 and 8% faster than GTX 670. The card does so without massive power consumption increase thanks to an efficient VRM design and low temperatures. ASUS has done away with NVIDIA's cheap voltage regulation circuitry and put a much better CHiL controller on the card, which also supports voltage control and monitoring.
The ASUS DC II cooler is a revelation on the GTX 670, it provides incredibly low noise levels. In both idle and load the card emits almost no noise, it is actually quieter under full load than most other cards on the market are at idle. Not only noise is low but temperatures are great, too. With only 74°C under load the card is cooler than most other GTX 670 cards tested today.
Manual overclocking works well too, especially memory, which is not overclocked out of the box, performs exceedingly well. We see well over 100 MHz extra memory overclocking potential compared to the NVIDIA reference design, thanks to the revamped PCB design. In the end the card reaches 1890 MHz memory, which is just 5 MHz shy of the highest memory clock ever recorded in a TPU review.
Overall the ASUS GTX 670 Direct CU II is the best card I ever tested. I simply can't find anything wrong with it. ASUS has sucessfully addressed all the shortcomings of NVIDIA's reference design, yet asks only a moderate $20 price premium for their card. This means that you can get faster than GTX 680 performance at $420. And the card manages all that with a dual slot cooler, that just screams "put me in SLI".
#2 MSI's GTX 670 Power Edition uses the famous Twin Frozr IV cooler from the MSI Lightning and comes with a large clock speed boost out of the box, making its default clock speed even higher than GTX 680 stock clocks. MSI is asking a $389.99 it's actually $369.99 AMIR price for their card, which doesn't look unreasonable, given the improved cooling and higher clocks.
ASUS GTX 670 TOP = Silent.
MSI GTX 670 PE = Better Overclocking.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/56546-msi-gtx-670-power-edition-oc-review-20.html (670 PE OC)

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/55270-asus-gtx-670-directcu-ii-top-review-20.html (ASUS 670 TOP OC)

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_670_directcu_ii_top_review,23.html (ASUS 670 TOP Overclocking)

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_670_power_edition_oc_review,24.html (MSI 670 PE Overclocking)

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_670_directcu_ii_top_review,9.html (ASUS 670 TOP Temperature)

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_670_power_edition_oc_review,9.html (MSI 670 PE Temperature)

Pick which you care more about. Nothing is Perfect between those 2 card. If you care more about silent, I would choose ASUS, but if you care more about Overclocking. Both are Excellent card.

 

[Spiker101_15]

I am not going to overclock at all. So my priorities are reliability, price, noise in that order. The Asus does look nice, but I think at $430 it is over price.

I will defiantly consider the MSI Power Edition. Are there any other card cheaper than MSI PE that you would recommend? The reason I am asking is because I am hoping that I can catch a deal over blackfriday

 

[bigcyco1]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121638

 

[Spiker101_15]

UPDATE

1. Found out that I can buy the Motherbord for 75$ at microcenter when buying CPU!! so that saved about 30$
2. Added in the GTX 570 to reflect current cost.


Now here is another tough decision..

At microcenter they are selling
Antic Three Hundred Two ATX Mid-Tower Case
Basiq 550 Plus 550W ATX modular PSU
For $80

My
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case
SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
For $130

For $50 I loose 2 USB 2.0 in front (and I dont think the antic case as nearly as good review/quality as the CM), and instead of 80Plus GOLD it is just 80Plus. I dont know if it is worth it because I would really miss the USB. I usually connect my phone, external HDD and mouse (to be shared with my laptop).

 

[Spiker101_15]

What do you think about getting 2*128 for Raid0 instead of the 256? They are the same price at micro center after rebate.

 

[bigcyco1]

Case and power supply are something that is actually worth investing in as they last the longer and can be reused in future i never skimp on those areas and have no regrets yet but to each his/her own either way it's up to you.

 

[Spiker101_15]

Case and power supply are something that is actually worth investing in as they last the longer and can be reused in future i never skimp on those areas and have no regrets yet but to each his/her own either way it's up to you.

Yea you are right, I said screw it to the case because I know I would be pissed about constantly having to go to the back of the case to unplug stuff.

What do you think about:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/393197/02G-P4-2678-KR_NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_670_FTW_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card

Or any other deal from microcenter?

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294966937+4294948308+4294924820+4294924817&NTX=&NTT=&NTK=all&sortby=pricelow

I think it may be better to buy from there since it is at pretty good price and if I want to return it I can just drive it to the store?

 

[bigcyco1]

The EVGA FTW!Is a good card and since your not overclocking it shouldn't run hot i would get it they have great customer service as well.

 

[Spiker101_15]

The EVGA FTW!Is a good card and since your not overclocking it shouldn't run hot i would get it they have great customer service as well.

Ha thank you! Finally nailed the GPU down. Took so so many hours of research. Had I been working instead (right now I tutor in school for 15$) I could had enough money for 680 lol...

 

[bigcyco1]

Lol!No problem.Yes i know all to well.I get stressed out my mind when i buy a video card that cost three or four hundred.