$1200 gaming build

[crackajax]

Approximate Purchase Date: Today

Budget Range: 1200 before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, video editing, surfing

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Tigersdirect, amazon.

Country of Origin: us

Parts Preferences: i5 2500k, g.skill ram

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: noise isn't my concern performance is

Mobo/Cpu:
Gigabyte UD4 i5 2500k
$380

Case/Psu:
Corsiar 600t/Corsair 850 hx (Changed to 850hx)
$285

Ram:
G.Skill 1600 CL8
$75

GPU:
Can't decide between
GTX 570
$340
6950 2g
$280

HDD:
f3 Spinpoint
$65

Optical:
Asus dvd drive
$20

CPU Cooler:
Scythe SCMG 3000 (should I try to find the 2100???)
$50

 

[mjmjpfaff]

it looks pretty good i would go with the 570 for sure

 

[crackajax]

ok, does any 1 have any info on the CPU cooler, and how much am i going to hate my self for not getting the hx over tx psu?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

at amazon it is like 47$. not a good deal. the tx 850 is a good psu but i would go with this one if you arent going with the hx: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011&cm_re=850w_power_supply-_-17-207-011-_-Product

 

[mjmjpfaff]

oh and here is a 570 for 5$ more- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125365&cm_re=gigabyte_570-_-14-125-365-_-Product

 

[z_4]

Here's a Crossfire built: (BEFORE MAIL-IN-REBATES)

CPU : $220-i5-2500K( Same)

Motherboard : $145-Gigabyte GA-Z68X (Cheap, supports SLI and crossfire at 8X/8X,etc)

Cooler : $30- Xigmatek Gaia or CoolerMaster Hyper 212 from Amazon

Case : $70 Cooler Master HAF 912 (Selected this to keep around the budget)

RAM : $75(2X 4GB)- Gskill RipjawX or Sniper if the other is sold out.

PSU : $110- Corsair Enthusiast TX750 or Silver certified power supply

HDD : $60- Samsung Spinpoint f3 1TB from Amazon

Optical Drive : $19- LiteOn

Graphic Card : ($500=2X $250) - HIS Radeon 6950 2GB ( Amazon or newegg)
Two links are given because Newegg is reporting insufficient stocks.
Here's a proof of Crossfire Scaling

Total : 1219 USD

Here's a thumbnail (total is 969 because it includes 1 card):



Add another $250 card you get amazing crossfire performance.

If you don't find the need to add another card you can add an SSD like OCZ Agility 3 64 GB($130) or 128 GB($225) based on your need.

If you go with 64GB SSD, the money left can be used to get EVGA GTX 570($340) or Sapphire 6970($350) . Both offer amazing performance.
You will remain around your budget.

 

[crackajax]

Yeah, I was planning on spending upto 1200 with 1 GPU. I really don't like the HAF cases, but that's just me. I do like the xfx PSU, but I think im going to get the HX. For the cpu cooler I had a site where the SCMG 2100 was in stock and sold for $40 but I seem to have lost it.