Small sized Power Efficient Gaming Rig

With an $800 budget, you won't be touching a GTX680. However, most new components are very power efficient at idle. It is when you are running heavy apps or games that they suck the power. Power supplies are also rated for efficiency, but getting a Gold or Platinum 80Plus power supply is pretty costly as well. Overclocking also tends to kill your idle power efficiency. You can get a nice system for $800, do you need an OS as well? Your best bet is to follow this sticky thread and fill out the "form" that asks all the usual questions. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgra...

Looks like Crysis 3 want a 680 for "hi-performance mode" and appears to recommend SLI   Not good for SFF.

I forgot to mention, the 800$ budget is only for the tower. I have a Monitor, Keyboard, mouse etc already. Also I could. . take the MSSD out of my laptop and substitute that in for a hard drive. El Cheapo people call me.

Micro ATX mobo + GTX 680 not too ambitious? I don't plan on overclocking so I'm planning on either an i7 or i5 Ivy.

Soo you are looking at intel that you do not intend to OC? Where are you located, US, Canada, etc? is Newegg an option?

An i5 with gtx680 will probably run you well over $1000.

You will need a copy of windows which is $100 alone.

Located in Hong Kong. So I can get Newegg prices on the street + have someone build it for me, I just want to make sure I make good parts decisions.

Yup, don't intend on OC-ing.

I have a spare copy of 32-bit Win7. But would that limit me too much in terms of RAM?

Yes, 32bit can't address more than 4GB and some of that will be eaten up by your video card addresses. So you may see as low as 3GB.

Thanks Jay! You've been really helpful! I'll probably revise my budget/try to grab a few things second hand maybe.

Best answer selected by dead2k1.

If you are in Hong Kong grabbing stuff on the street, we don't really have a good grasp on prices and what not. We can, however, help you out if you start us off with a list of what you were thinking of and go from there.

I wish I could just walk up the street and buy electronic stuff. I live in Amish Country, PA. (US) I can go across the street from work and grab some fresh product, a quilt, or a hand made basket. They also have some mean home-made pies.
Shoofly pie is the best.  

so how did your list go keep us updated too wanted to know what you will be using for your build ^_^

Haha well, HK has 3 or 4 big 'computer centers' each one about twice the size of your average Microcenter or Fry's (Lived/visited in Missouri and California). We also have an online 'listing' that various retailers will post to, so they can advertise their prices.

I've managed to buy a desktop 2nd hand off a guy on a forum here (minus CPU and GPU) for 1500HKD (about 200US) which includes:
CX600 PSU
Asus P8P67 Pro Mobo LGA 1155
4GB 1333Mhz DDR3 ram
Windows 7 64 bit

I'm going to be using a GTX 670 (GIGABYTE GV-N670WF2-2GD) I believe. My options are limited to (Asus, Inno3D, Leadtek, Gigabyte) and while it's the least OC-ed, it's about 70-80$ cheaper some reason. (375USD)

As for the CPU I'm going to be grabbing an i5 3570k for 240USD.

I'm scavenging the SSD from my laptop (Msata/Mssd, so will need to buy a 10$ adapter).

Total cost to me will be just about 800$   but I'll probably be throwing in another 70$ for a Bluray combo drive at some point.

Never had a Shoofly pie. Are you allowed to have computers in Amish country? <-quasi-serious question.

Jon

[EDIT]
Going to try bargaining down the i5 processor to Newegg price (good thing about not only having Microcenter and Fry's is you can actually bargain). GPU is already just a tad cheaper than Newegg price. Plus no shipping and no Sales tax in Hong Kong.

Sorry for the late post, have been hunting down parts.

[Second edit]
Since you mentioned shoofly pie... I'ma let you finish, but Gooey Butter Cake is the best cake ever.

Change: Getting a PNY GTX 580 for 170$