600$ Tiger Budget Build

[mirchandise]

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next 2 months, I can wait till November for some parts (Black Friday and my birthday)

Budget Range: 600$ Preferably before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, homework, internet surfing, animation, programming

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Case(Antec 300), Optical drive, monitor.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Tigerdirect.com or Amazon, I also live 2 hours away from Microcenter

Country of Origin: California, USA

Parts Preferences: I'm open to anything, but I used Asus in my first ever build.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: If I can open it up with this budget, then maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024

Additional Comments: All I'm really trying to do is build a rig that will run BF3 at mid settings well. I'd also like some help with my Antec 300, it's incredibly noisy and my cable management is horrific, if anyone could point me in the right direction that'd be great. Thanks.

Almost forgot, I need an OS too.

 

[Rothaga]

I'll be perfectly honest. It'l be really difficult to get a good build for 600 dollars. A good OS alone is 200 dollars.
A decent graphics card, 120-200,
CPU 200-300,
RAM, 20-100,
HDD 40-80
The price REALLY starts to add up. My suggestions are to
A. Lower your standards significantly,
B. Save up more money
or C. Jump on every sale possible from Newegg, Tigerdirect, Amazon.
I know Newegg has some really nice sales, not sure about Amazon or Tigerdirect.

I guess you could also do a nice mix of B and C if you'd like. Come to think of it, mix those three together, and you win-win-win!

Anyway, best of luck to you. I hope it all works out.

 

[mirchandise]

@Rothaga
I don't know where your numbers are coming from. Windows 7 OEM 64bit is 99$, AMD 955BE is 119$, 4GB of ram is 25$. Sorry if it wasn't clear in the first post, but I am in no way trying to max BF3, I just want to play it at medium settings with playable frames.

I can use newegg, but since I live in California I have to pay tax, which eats up a bit of my budget, and at this budget range every dollar counts.

 

[saratj1]

I have around 750 in my 2600k z68 2 ssd's 6950to6970 build, I've scoured the net and hustled craigslist trading up parts for over 6months working my way up $50 here $100 there sell a couple parts buy better ones ect

 

[Rothaga]

@Rothaga
I don't know where your numbers are coming from. Windows 7 OEM 64bit is 99$, AMD 955BE is 119$, 4GB of ram is 25$. Sorry if it wasn't clear in the first post, but I am in no way trying to max BF3, I just want to play it at medium settings with playable frames.

I can use newegg, but since I live in California I have to pay tax, which eats up a bit of my budget, and at this budget range every dollar counts.

Ah, my bad. I apologize. I don't know what I was thinking. You seemed to be saying that you wanted a "1337 gaming comp" for 600 dollars. It's very possible, just difficult.

Of course, this is my opinion. I tend to only go with name brand, reliable parts.

Have a good day,
~Rothaga

 

[008Rohit]

Processor : Intel Core i5 2400 - $185
Motherboard : ASRock H61M-GE - $65
RAM : G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 - $40
Graphics : HIS H685FN1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 - $130
Storage : Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA 6.0GB/s - $40
PSU : Corsair CX430 V2 - $40
OS : Windows 7 64-bit OEM - $100

Total : $600 before rebates

 

[mirchandise]

@008Rohit
Thanks for your input! I just have some questions. Would it be wiser to get a 955BE for about 60$ less, and a 970 AM3+ mobo for 30$ more? I think I read somewhere that the H61's might not support Ivy Bridge, plus I save money. Also, how would the 6850 preform at my resolution? Compared to the 6770? Last thing: Where are your prices from? Sorry for all my questions, I just want to get this right. Many thanks in advance.

 

[008Rohit]

955BE is an old chip, hotter and performance wise worse.

You don't NEED Ivy Bridge. This processor will serve you for 3-4 yrs without any issues. Buying a 955BE at this point is a bad choice as Bulldozer is just to release.

at 1280x1040, HD 6770 is fine for maxxing out games. HD 6850 can maxx them out even at 1680x1050, so more future proof.

Prices are from newegg. (US)

 

[mirchandise]

Some more questions (no surprise ) How come you go with the micro-atx, why not this? Also, how do the onboard graphics of the i5 compare to that of a 9800gt?

 

[008Rohit]

Some more questions (no surprise ) How come you go with the micro-atx, why not this? Also, how do the onboard graphics of the i5 compare to that of a 9800gt?

Worse than a 9800GT.
Its comparable to a 6600GT.

and what about MicroATX?

 

[mirchandise]

I was just wondering why you chose to go with a micro-atx board instead of a atx board.

 

[008Rohit]

because its cheaper.

 

[aznshinobi]

i5 2400 $150
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590
MC 4GB DDR3 1333 $20
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0353218
Samsung F3 500gb $45
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0340804
Antec HCG 620w $65 ($15 MIR)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0348767
MSI P67A-G43 $135 ($20 MIR)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358172
XFX 6850 $170 ($30 MIR)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=894292&CatId=7005
Windows 7 64-Bit $100
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213932&CatId=4622
Total: $685 before rebates.
Total: $620 after rebates.

Sorry I couldn't get it below your wanted price. I got in a PSU that would allow future Crossfire though and a motherboard that supports 8x/8x also a pretty cheap F3 500GB

 

[mirchandise]

After some thought here is my proposed build:
Processor: Intel i5-2400 150.00
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3 99.00
GPU: XFX 6770 130.00 (25.00 MIR)
RAM: PNY 4GB 2x2GB 27.00
HDD: Western Digital Blue 320GB 6GB/s 40.00
PSU: Corsair CX430 50.00 (20.00 MIR)
Cooling: Masscool 120mm 9.00 (For my noisy Antec 300)
OS: Windows 7 OEM

Totals:
620.00 after tax and shipping
575.00 after MIR


Any advice?

 

[008Rohit]

Why get 320GB HDD? 500GB ones cost the same now a days. Other things look fine.

 

[mirchandise]

^
Okay, just changed to this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1083959&sku=TSD-500ST same price. Is the motherboard good for the price?