Budget Gaming System (<700) w/ Tiger Direct Barebone

[horby]

Approximate Purchase Date: Thanksgiving or Sooner
Budget: - <700 after rebates/taxes/shipping
System Usage: Gaming, General Browsing.
Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor, Speakers
Preferred Website: Tiger Direct, New Egg
Country of Origin: US
Parts Preference: Not partial to any. I've used AMD in the past and been happy with it. Leaning towards Intel this time around.
Overclocking: Probably Not.
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: Nothing crazy at first, going to have to buy a better monitor down the road.

Additional Comments:

Will be using the to primary play Eve Online, and Diablo 3 when it comes out. Been playing eve online (slowly) on my old 6.5 year build so I'm sure anything remotely modern will be fine for that. So Diablo 3 is my primary concern. I've been out of the building game for a while now and have been reading the forums so just wanted some verification. Haven't done a very good job on keeping up with the technology changes workstation wise in the past few years.

I was inspired by this thread.:

This is the barebones kit I saw on TigerDirect that seemed similar and a little cheaper than new egg.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=603193&sku=B69-1335

I was thinking of adding this GPU.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1155979&sku=D10-6872

Let me know if I'm heading down the right track or if I need some work!

 

[Outlander_04]

I think you are on the right track

But I would price the components seperately , and look for combos on Newegg .
There are definitely Radeon 6870's cheaper than that .
And the power supply in the case is a little suspect .

 

[rex000]

I on the other hand, do not think you are on the right track. Mostly due to quality issues? Personal Preference though. Wanna know?



CASE/PSU - not recommended at all. Go choose a better PSU (80Plus Certified at least) and a nicer case.

MOBO: Biostar.... not recommended. Try ASUS, GIGABYTE or MSI.

RAM: Patriot... not my favorite either. Try Corsair or Kingston? Maybe even G.Skill...

HDD: The Seagate 1TB HDD they give you is a very low-power, low performance HDD... choose an HDD with at least 7200RPM. I like Western Digital (Caviar Blue or Black).

CPU: If you have the choice, go for the Intel i5-2500K over the i5-2500. It's a couple dollars difference now, but gives you much more value when you decide to overclock, even just a little bit.

GPU: This is a tough choice. RADEON 6870 is great, but I think the AMD RADEON 6850 is a much better option in terms of value "bang for buck". 6850 will cost much less but perform almost as well as the 6870, and I'm sure it'll suit your needs. Again, brand quality is always an issue. I would choose either XFX, Gigabyte, Asus, or MSI.

ODD: Sure.


With quality in mind, you can buy the cheapest options from any of these brands and they would be more adequate that what was in the barebone. I am still willing to bet that you can build a PC with my suggestions that will cost you much less than the $470+$185 you initially proposed.

Goodluck,

 

[rex000]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1336899&CatId=332

+

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1368436&CatId=7005

+

A decent HDD ($50) / ODD ($20).

And you're good to go. I'll leave it to you to calculate how much that you cost. Keep in mind though, this setup is MUCH better.

 

[Outlander_04]

Rex the 2500k is pointless on that motherboard since overclocking would not be possible

Biostar is not a tier 1 brand but they do work .

And since the graphics card is the single most important item in a gaming build in determining image quality and frame rates this is not a place to cut corners . Buy the best that fits the budget

 

[rex000]

I agree with you completely.

I was suggesting he get the i5-2500K, assuming he went along with my other suggestions too. (ASUS for overclocking, Gigabyte for features, MSI for price)

Isn't the 6870 just a TINYtiny bit better than the 6850? Is it worth another $30-40 for just 1 or 2 FPS?
^
I could be completely mistaken, my apologies if I am. I don't own a 6870 so I'm just basing it off what others have said.


EDIT: How about a 6950? : D
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7203653&CatId=7005

 

[Outlander_04]

you can always improve a build , I guess , by spending more money on it .
But for most of us its a matter of prioritizing what is important so we get value for money .
the 2500 is an awesomely powerful processor , and overclocking is fun .....but it wont increase gaming performance much , or even at all, for a gamer using a 1080p monitor .
Even 3 years ago that was totally different , but in 2011 games have become so graphically intensive [ and cpu's so much better ] that they are always the limiting factor for resolution and image quality .

6870's game well at 1080p . I have one and it is good enough . 6850's you have to be a bit more selective about image quality to keep the frame rates up .
In general though I think the blend of arts in that kit is good . I'd prefer ASUS or gigabyte mb with a Z68 chip set . But its going to game really well even as it is .

 

[horby]

Thanks guys. Although I feel I'm a bit more torn now than I was.

I was concerned about the power supply. But I was hoping it would be just good enough to run as long as I didn't add any more components in.

That said looking at your AMD combo and video card makes me budget happy.

I actually own two older 10K WD Raptors. I might raid 1 them and load the OS on that. Then I can re-use my newish 500GB hard drive.

Getting to the graphics card...It's highly unlikely I'll be gaming on a monitor in the near term to medium term that will support 1080P. That said, does the 6850 make more sense?

 

[horby]

Ok, taking all suggestions into place I've picked out individual parts from new egg.


CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130584

GPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

Memory:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231417

Case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815004

PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817154026

DVD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151233

Total cost after rebates: 571.93

This does not include a hard drive. They seem a little pricey right now . I might just use my current hard drive for the time being.

Please scrutinize my case and PSU choice. I've never been very good at picking them out so I also just went overboard and bought expensive ones...but then I got married and I can't do that anymore.

Also, the only thing I can see I'm losing with my mobo choice is USB 3.0 support. Not a big deal right now. Maybe in the future. But by that time I'm sure I can replace the mobo fairly cheap.

 

[rex000]

Nice improvements. 3 things to note.

1. Your memory runs @ 1333Mhz, not a big deal, but if you could upgrade to 1600Mhz you would see a difference in performance. (you can find some for the same price, I saw 1600Mhz snipers for $39.99 two weeks ago).

2. Your case, is fine actually. BUT the Zalman Z9 plus is better bang for buck as it comes with FOUR (4) LED case fans, which you should buy anyway, and a temperature monitor. (It's a little pricey off newegg, but only like $45 on other sites so maybe you can price match?) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235027&Tpk=zalman%20z9%20plus

3. I do not recommend that PSU still. It's poor quality and will kill your PC, slowly. I recommend these ones for the price range, for 500W. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

With this being said, the only thing you NEED to switch it the PSU. You won't regret if you do, but you will if you don't.

 

[horby]

Thanks Rex. You have been most helpful. I was able to add the corsair power supply for the same price after the $20 mail in rebate. I've upgraded the memory as well for about $5 more. Still considering the case but I think I'm good to go.

 

[horby]

Best answer selected by horby.

 

[rex000]

You're very welcome horby. I would say you've made very wise decisions, so good for you.

In regards to the case, I'm assuming you've chosen that one because it is cost effective. If that's the situation, I think you should read these articles if you haven't already, for some other cheap alternatives (which are better in my opinion).

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/antec-three-hundred-enermax-staray-cooler-master-elite-430,2707.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nzxt-gamma-rosewill-challenger-silverstone-precision,2723.html

Personally, I had the exact same thinking as you. I wanted the cheapest so I bought the NZXT Gamma Black (for $25 after $10 MIR). I like this case ALOT because it has a lot of space to hide all your cables. ** Proper cable management is very important for good airflow and keeping the temperatures down. The only downside is that it only came with only one free 120mm fan (versus the Zalman Z9 plus which comes with 4 LED fans + temperature monitor).
Thinking back, I still made a mistake choosing the case based solely on price, I didn’t look much at the features (ex. free case fans, which cost approx. $5-10 on their own). This is why I would have preferred buying the inexpensive Zalman Z9 Plus, or the other cases listed in the articles.

Since you’re running such a powerful CPU and GPU (they produce lots of heat), you will need to keep your case temperatures down. The easiest way to do that is to have proper airflow, which is why I think you should buy a case which comes with at least a few fans pre-installed. This will save you money, and more importantly, running your computer at lower temperatures will increase the life of all your PC components.

I’m not trying to change your build, just trying to help as much as I can by providing you with more information so you won’t have any regrets later.

Good luck,

 

[tigerb2b]

Hey Guys,

Sorry I am seeing this kind of late in your discussion.
Is there a way I can assist?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=603193&sku=B69-1335

Let me know if you are still in the deciding process or already finalized.

I will make you an offer you can't refuse.

Dennis Winkowski
Coporate Account Manager
dennis.winkowski@tigerdirect.com
866-310-8183

 

[rex000]

Hey Guys,

Sorry I am seeing this kind of late in your discussion.
Is there a way I can assist?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=603193&sku=B69-1335

Let me know if you are still in the deciding process or already finalized.

I will make you an offer you can't refuse.

Dennis Winkowski
Coporate Account Manager
dennis.winkowski@tigerdirect.com
866-310-8183

Hi Dennis,

I am from Canada so I am interested in purchasing from your Canadian website www.tigerdirect.ca, do you have any jurisdiction there?

Thanks,