BestConfigs Poll - Budget Intel-Based Gaming PC

[genghiskron]

its a shame you didnt post your build than cknobman, the whole world loses when you fail to share your infinite wisdom.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

the case+cpu combo in the last build is no longer available. I wonder what will happen when that build wins & prospective buyers click that link which goes on to NOTHING.

ill make some changes to my build right here if you want....i thought the voting would never happen so i gave up updating my build

 

[genghiskron]

i think we all did. the combos generally go away at the end of each month, so starting the votes on august 1st was a great way to have a fail bestconfigs.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

MJMJ'S REVISED 1000$ GAMING GREAT

i5 2500k- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 220$

Asrock p67 extreme4- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265 160$ i just stumbled across this and damn it looks good

antec 750w psu- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=1s62a1lvddl3i 70$

Galaxy gtx 560 ti- http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=GX-560_1G&title=Galaxy-nVidia-GeForce-GTX560-Ti-1GB-DDR5-2DVI-Mini-HDMI-PCI-Express-Video-Card 187x2=374$

Gskill 4gb 1600mhz- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231427 35$

seagate barracuda 500gb & lg dvd burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696157 52$ the lg burner and the same hdd bundle was still there it was just more expensive

Antec 300 illusion- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 50$

hyper 212 plus- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312413824&sr=1-1 27$

Total=988$

 

[mjmjpfaff]

i think we all did. the combos generally go away at the end of each month, so starting the votes on august 1st was a great way to have a fail bestconfigs.

i thought the same thing....

 

[mjmjpfaff]

All of these builds suck so I just chose the 6950 build.

I just configed a build yesterday on newegg for under $1000 and it had a 96gb ssd on it.

I would not build a gaming pc today without an SSD in it.

what gpu do you have in it?

 

[genghiskron]

techmo's build for $134 less:
i5-2500k+z68xp-ud3 - $280 after bundle savings and rebates
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0366193
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?sku=200121
gskill ripjaws 8gb 1600 cl9 - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
sapphire 6950 2gb: $245 AR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945
seagate 1tb + lite on dvd: $74
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696126
antec hcg 750w: $70 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049
haf 912: $50 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf%20912
total: $770

 

[mjmjpfaff]

techmo's build for $134 less:
i5-2500k+z68xp-ud3 - $280 after bundle savings and rebates
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0366193
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?sku=200121
gskill ripjaws 8gb 1600 cl9 - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
sapphire 6950 2gb: $245 AR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945
seagate 1tb + lite on dvd: $74
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696126
antec hcg 750w: $70 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049
haf 912: $50 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf%20912
total: $770

so his build is really a solid 800$ build?

 

[genghiskron]

well prices change. it WAS a $1000 build. im just bored. and its obviously questionable whether its fair to count rebates and microcenter deals.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

well prices change. it WAS a $1000 build. im just bored. and its obviously questionable whether its fair to count rebates and microcenter deals.

ya i could afford 8gb's of ram if i went with a i5 2500k from microcenter...maybe they should set some rules to this

 

[ksampanna]

Maybe Newegg will honor the combo price, IDK. In my build I just put in any decent combo's that were available at the time. There are plenty of other combo's out there too that are present now, but weren't present when I did my build. Most of the time you can get a decent combo and the next week/day you get a different one that you didn't have on the other part of the build, so it seems to work out one way or another in general. I'm not making any excuses for Mjmj's build or anyone else's build, but I'm just stating what I think is common with these builds.

imo, ideally, best configs should have no combos. We should just list out the parts separately within the budget. Then whichever build wins, one can check out if there are any combos available amongst its components.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

thats where tomshardware needs to come in they should set some rules like no mail in rebates, buying from microcenter (because you need to pick it up), i think combos are fine just dont add any mail in rebates. also dont start the voting right at the start of the month. whos great idea was that?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

has there been talks like this years before? or is it just because this ones voting started on the 1st of a month?

 

[ojas]

hmmm wouldn't the 912s need more fans? they just have 2, though they're great cases btw.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

here is a build using the gtx 460 2win which is more powerful than the gtx 580

i5 2500k- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 220$

Asrock Pro3- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230 110$

EVGA GTX 460 2win- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130626 320$

Antec 750w PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049 65$

GSkill 4gb 1600mhz- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231427 35$

LG DVD Burner & Seagate 500gb hdd- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696157 52$

CM Hyper 212 Plus- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312390604&sr=1-1 30$

Corsair Force 3 60gb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233194 120$

Antec 300 illusion- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 50$

Total=1002$
you can easily bring this under 1k

 

[Proximon]

My vote goes with the no-combo CPU cooler included build

But it never registered Sorry Leo I guess noscript turned it into a "blank vote".

 

[mjmjpfaff]

My vote goes with the no-combo CPU cooler included build

But it never registered Sorry Leo I guess noscript turned it into a "blank vote".

oops! haha

 

[ojas]

here is a build using the gtx 460 2win which is more powerful than the gtx 580

i5 2500k- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 220$

Asrock Pro3- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230 110$

EVGA GTX 460 2win- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130626 320$

Antec 750w PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049 65$

GSkill 4gb 1600mhz- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231427 35$

LG DVD Burner & Seagate 500gb hdd- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696157 52$

CM Hyper 212 Plus- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312390604&sr=1-1 30$

Corsair Force 3 60gb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233194 120$

Antec 300 illusion- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 50$

Total=1002$
you can easily bring this under 1k

This is very similar to the build i had entered in this (friendly) competition...editors didn't pick it lol. Though that may be because it kind of exceeded the budget by i think $100 without MIRs if i remember correctly...or maybe bacause these seemed better...can't tell.

 

[ojas]

^though i notice all my builds with caviar blacks got rejected, and my spinpoint entry got selected. Any thoughts? Are caviar blacks bad or something?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

well they are not bad just slower and more expensive (the 1tb hdd).....a lot of people say they are much more reliable but i dont buy it. the samsungs are just as reliable.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

This is very similar to the build i had entered in this (friendly) competition...editors didn't pick it lol. Though that may be because it kind of exceeded the budget by i think $100 without MIRs if i remember correctly...or maybe bacause these seemed better...can't tell.

you used the gtx 460 2win?

 

[ojas]

^agreed on the expense, even the 500GB ones are more expensive. But i thought they're supposed to be "performance" drives with very low access times?

I used these charts for reference:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/h2benchw-3.12-Read-Access-Time,1007.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/h2benchw-3.12-Write-Access-Time,1008.html

 

[mjmjpfaff]

^agreed on the expense, even the 500GB ones are more expensive. But i thought they're supposed to be "performance" drives with very low access times?

I used these charts for reference:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/h2benchw-3.12-Read-Access-Time,1007.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/h2benchw-3.12-Write-Access-Time,1008.html

well the spinpoint loses in access times but wins in many other categories. dont ask me what they are i am not an expert on hdd's

 

[Proximon]

It's just the forum culture. Used to be very pro-WD and lately has swung away to Samsung and Seagate. WD does usually come up as the leader in reliability, especially in enterprise drives. I prefer WD myself as a long time user.
I always get the expected HD Tune scores on them and haven't had a problem with one since about '94. The problem I had in '94 was resolved instantly by WD, as they rushed me a new drive and I just mailed back the old one once I got the new one. All free of shipping charges.... but that was '94, they probably don't do that these days.

I have used Samsung drives in builds and also found them to be good.

 

[genghiskron]

they are fairly comparable drives, and the samsung frequently goes on sale for $50. that makes it a huge winner for build junkies because $30 here and there goes a long way.