New Gaming Build, (~$900), Looking for Advice

rtakeuchi11

Honorable
Dec 20, 2012
5
0
10,510
Hello, I would appreciate it if anyone could help me decide on a desktop build for moderate gaming, under $900. Thanks in advance.


Approximate Purchase Date: By the end of the year

Budget Range: 850-900 After rebates/shipping (I have Amazon Prime)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Buy:

CPU (Intel Preferred)
RAM (8GB)
Graphics (Maybe GTX 660? Plan to game with for a while)
Hard Drive (Don't need SSD, 500GB is fine)
Power Supply
Case
Motherboard
Optical Drive


Do you need to buy OS: Yes, Windows 7

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon, any is fine

Location: City, State/Region, Country - San Diego, CA

Parts Preferences: Intel, NVIDIA

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1600x900


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Old desktop is out of date for gaming
 

butremor

Honorable
Oct 23, 2012
1,563
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12,160
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / 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: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($292.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $876.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-21 12:28 EST-0500)


Video recommended from this article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-memory-bandwidth-anti-aliasing,3283-17.html
 
Solution

DeusAres

Distinguished

DeusAres

Distinguished

They are plenty fast. I never stated they were faster than the Caviar Blacks. However, they can compete. And every Seagate drive I have owned has performed well. Never had one fail on me. Been running strong for years. There's no reason to be brand loyal; especially when you can get double the storage for less.

Why are you even talking about 7950, OP stated he wants nvidia.

That doesn't mean we aren't allowed to offer suggestions and insights of our own. The HD 7950 is a worthy contender. However, for his resolution, it isn't necessary.
 

jonjonjon

Honorable
Sep 7, 2012
781
0
11,060

blacks are loud as hell. id take double the storage. id actually consider to go down to a 7870 or 660 and add a ssd but i know he said he doesnt want one.
 

jonjonjon

Honorable
Sep 7, 2012
781
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11,060

how much speed are we talking about? will you be able to notice the difference they are both 7200RMP and 64MB cache. and the blacks i have had are really annoying.
 

andrewcarr

Distinguished
I have a 500 GB black and the noise doesn't bother me at all. As for the size let the OP decide. If he really thinks he could use the extra space then go for the larger drive but otherwise I'd just take the faster and more reliable one.