[Homebuilt] $1200-1400 Gaming PC Advice Please

[DirKel]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2-3 weeks

Budget Range: $1200-1400 Before Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Music + Movies

Are you buying a monitor: Yes - although this is not as important to me right now, can get by with the one I have for a little while.

Parts to Upgrade: Start from scratch.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.msy.com.au (using http://staticice.com.au/ to compare prices in Aus)

MSY's List of available parts + Prices


Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia

Parts Preferences: Read that the AMD 7950 shines in terms of anti-aliasing settings; I would also like to include an SSD in this build.

Overclocking: Maybe further down the line.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (?)

Your Monitor Resolution: Once I upgrade my monitor I would like to be able to run games on 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 on high settings.

Additional Comments: I would like my computer to be fairly quiet, a green LED here and there wouldn't go astray either.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My laptop decided it wanted to stop working about 6 months ago - I am currently using a 10 year old stock Dell and it's driving me up the wall - can hardly watch youtube, forget about playing games on this thing!

On a side note, I was looking at some of the "Bestconfig" polls, and I had the thought that one of the top voted ones would be a good benchmark to work from - what do you think?

 

[DirKel]

Thanks for the reply. I was leaning more towards one of the AMD GPU's over the Nvidia ones. I can get the 7950 for $10-20 more than the 660 and I have read that they are better for games especially when you have the AA settings turned on.

I was also wondering what the difference between me getting 2x4GB RAM or 1x8GB would be?

 

[smorizio]

http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8921
100.00 (case).
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9376
187.00 (cpu).
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9761
98.00 mb.
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8476
75.00 1tb hd.
http://msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9948
99.00 ssd.
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4990
112.00 ps.
http://www.skycomp.com.au/item/Corsair-8GB-kit--2x4GB--DDR3-1600MHz-Unbuffered-CL-9-DIMM-Memory-for-AMD-and-Intel-Core-i3--i5-.aspx
57.00 ram.
http://www.skycomp.com.au/item/HIS-ATI-HD-7950-PCIE-3-0--3GB-384-bit-GDDR5--800-5000MHZ--DL-DVI--HDMI--2x-Mini-DP--DX11-1--Fan.aspx
300.00 video card.
http://www.jw.com.au/coolermaster-hyper-212-evo-cpu-cooler-p-8300
cpu cooler 60.00
1088.00

if you go higher go with the 3470k and or a better gaming 7zz mb or a larger hard drive.

 

[smorizio]

by only a small margin it come down to cost of the ram where you are. and the computer store the newest ram here in the us is low profile ram that runs at 1.35v.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148662
these newer low profile ram is great to fit under after market heat sinks.

 

[DirKel]

1TB HD should be enough - can always throw in an external if I feel I will need it.

Could not find a 3470k on msy.com.au - did you mean a 3570k?
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8967

It is not out of my price range - do you believe that would be a suitable option?

Could you explain what you mean when you say a better gaming 7zz mb please?

Thanks again for the replies everyone.

 

[smorizio]

with the 3570k it an unlocked cpu. if needed you can change a few setings in a z77 mb and have the max speed of the cpu be at 4.2 (called over clocking.) the two chips are almost the same speed if your not going to over clock go with the locked chip.
when you go up in price on mb they get thicker..better parts and more ports.
http://us.msi.com/product/mb/Z77A-G45.html
http://www.asus.com/Motherboard/P8H77M_PRO/
http://www.asus.com/Motherboard/P8Z77V_LX/
some have wifi built into them. the pc web page for your parts dont show there full images and lists there spec. some board like asus have a nice clean easy bios to read and features like usb flash back.

 

[DirKel]

I have taken in what you guys have told me and this is what I have come up with - let me now if you think it will all be compatible please.

CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked 4-Core 3rd Gen Processor $227-229.00 on MSY & mwave.com.au
MOBO: MSI Z77A-G41 http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9761 $98.00
RAM: G.SKILL Trident X 2x4GB http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9269 $79.00
GPU: Sapphire SA-7950-3GD5-OC-V2 3GB 7950 OC http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8938 OR
MSI R7950-TF-3GD5OC-BE 3GB DDR5 7950-OC TwinFrozer http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=10180 both @ $324.00
CASE: http://www.mwave.com.au/product/sku-ab48001-zalman_z11_plus_high_performance_gaming_mid_tower_case_black $109.00
HDD: Hitachi 3.5" Desktar 1TB SATA3 HDD 7200rpm http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8476 $79.00
SSD: Samsung 120GB http://msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9948 $99.00
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit http://msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=5823 $136.00
CD Drive: LG SATA Black DVD RW http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=5540 $19.00
PSU: Corsair VS650 650W http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9919 $79.00

TOTAL: $1250.00

also - I will be needing the ability to connect to wireless internet - any suggestions?

 

[risso]

I have owned this one for over a year now: http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7822

Excellent speeds and range and never given me any problems.

 

[risso]

Build looks pretty good though. However, I don't think you need that high MHz for your ram based on the primary uses that you mentioned earlier. I would think that 1866 max would be fine as long as you get lower timings. If this can save you money, then you're better off because you really won't see any difference in performance unless you're planning on OC'ing the crap out of your rig and aiming for personal best benchmark tests.

As far as your video cards go, I've used two Sapphires in a row on my last two builds, with no problems whatsoever. But, I must say that I'd probably go with the MSI based on it's cooling designs, slightly lower noise (based on reviews), and it just looks so much NICER!

That Zalman case looks pretty nice, especially for the price. I've never seen or had any experience with Zalman cases, so I can't say much either way. Just make sure that there's enough room in there for that card and your CPU cooling choice (which it seems like it does based on specs). Speaking of that, have you decided on a cooler?

 

[camohanna]

How are you only geting a 7950 on a $1250 build?

EDIT: didnt see was australia.

 

[DirKel]

I am planning on putting my order through at the end of this week. Think I will get the MSI - although they would be very similar cards. What do you guys think - am I good to go with that build?

 

[camohanna]

Yes it looks good.

 

[risso]

You look good to go, buddy. I still recommend going with lower mhz ram that has tighter timing speeds though.

 

[TenPc]

650 watts is not going to give you great performance with this build especially for the video card, better to go with a Cooler Master 850 watt PSU. A 650 watt PSU usually won't have the required power connectors for the support power of the motherboard and/ or the video card (if required).

The graphics card requires 2 x 8 pin power connector, make sure that your PSU has those connectors and don't use molex cable extenders.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1841&psn=&lid=1&leg=0#


Themotherboard also requires an 8-pin power support connector so make sure you have the correct connector and not just use 4 pin connector, it will short out the motherboard and GPU, and could cause problems for the ram

http://msi.com/product/mb/Z77A-G41.html

 

[camohanna]

650w is more then eonugh for the build.

 

[smorizio]

i go with windows 8 64 bit ome for the os. if your running a newer mb and ssd. you get 6-10 sec boot times with windows 8.
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=9816
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdOAvlncCOw

 

[camohanna]

But remEmber. If you choose win 8 you will have to adjust to the new layout.

 

[DirKel]

Risso - I am pretty set on the G.Skill Trident X for my RAM, just because I don't want to have to upgrade my RAM in 6-12 months when I decide to start OCing.

Smorizio - Don't want to get windows 8 at all.

TenPc - the 650W corsair PSU that I have chosen has this listed on its specs - - 1x 24pin, 1x (4+4) pin EPS, 2x (6+2) pin PCIE, 4x SATA, 4x 4pin Molex, 2x 4pin Floppy

For the GPU, the 2x 8 pin connectors would be the "2x (6+2) PCIE" connectors yes?

For the motherboard, there is the "1x (4+4) pin EPS". Correct me if I am wrong but is that what you were talking about?

Thanks once again for the help everyone!

 

[camohanna]

For the GPU, the 2x 8 pin connectors would be the "2x (6+2) PCIE" connectors yes?
!

Yes

 

[syed shah]

650w is more then eonugh for the build.

Hi..
Guide me gamming PC $1400

I5 4670
8gb corsair 4x2
Evga gtx 780 3gb acx
Asus z87 k
750 GB hdd WD
Cooler master 212 plus

Corsair CX 750w PSU
Is it good hamming pc