Build Advice: $1200 Gaming PC

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danneskjold4

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Sep 25, 2010
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18,510
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next few weeks (before 10/15/2010)

Budget Range: $1200 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming/productivity/internet/movies

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: see parts list

Overclocking: Probably not

SLI or Crossfire: Probably (but I only have only Graphics Card for my initial build)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I am shooting for a powerful yet reasonably priced gaming PC. I hope that the parts I have picked out are compatible and will work well together.
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Here is what I have picked out :

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873

ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167025

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,comes with Three Fans

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052

Total Shopping Cart Price: $1091.90 (After instant rebates)
 
Solution
wielander

Yeah, 4GB should be plenty; none of the applications you mentioned are memory intensive. You won't benefit from having more ram than you need. Look at these kits instead:

Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 CL7 1.5v Desktop Memory (Basic memory, low voltage DDR3 doesn't need heatsinks)
$70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748&cm_re=ddr3_1333_4gb-_-20-146-748-_-Product

Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CL7 Desktop Memory (Top shelf brand, higher speed, lower latency)
$85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226154&cm_re=ddr3_1600_4gb-_-20-226-154-_-Product

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Yeah, 4GB should be plenty; none of the applications you mentioned are memory intensive. You won't benefit from having more ram than you need. Look at these kits instead:

Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 CL7 1.5v Desktop Memory (Basic memory, low voltage DDR3 doesn't need heatsinks)
$70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748&cm_re=ddr3_1333_4gb-_-20-146-748-_-Product

Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CL7 Desktop Memory (Top shelf brand, higher speed, lower latency)
$85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226154&cm_re=ddr3_1600_4gb-_-20-226-154-_-Product


This isn't a very powerful graphics card. A Radeon HD 5850 would give you a more balanced build. If you choose an Nvidia card instead, you won't be able to add a second one without one of the dated and overpriced SLI motherboards.


This motherboard uses an older chipset and doesn't come with the latest features (USB 3.0 & SATA III). Consider these instead:

ASRock 880G EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
$113
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157191

GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
$138
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128435

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard
$140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131633


This is a really dated SSD. The Sandforce 60GB SSDs are much faster and not much more expensive:

G.Skill Pheonix Pro 60GB SSD
$135
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231377&cm_re=60gb_ssd-_-20-231-377-_-Product

OCZ Agility 2 60GB SSD
$128 after $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227542&cm_re=60gb_ssd-_-20-227-542-_-Product



New 1TB drives should be faster, and don't cost much more.

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB (One of the fastest hard drive models)
$75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=1tb-_-22-152-185-_-Product


This power supply is overkill for a build with one or two HD 5770s or any other single graphics card. I would go with an OCZ ModXStream 600W power supply instead. It's decent quality, 80 plus certified, and modular. They cost you almost nothing in combo deals.

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W 80 PLUS Certified Modular Power Supply
$50 after a $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017&Tpk=modxstream%20600w
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
4 or 6 gigs of DDR3 bro, not 8

NZXT Lexa S, have a look at that case, just freakin beautiful and extremely good airflow, VERY cheap as well but NOT flimsy

I would also recommend a Samsung Spinpoint F3, not WD and instead of a 640GB, just pay a few bucks more for a 1TB, more than worth it
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
didos on case, get somthing a wee bit more roomy and cool, haf 912 is good for the price, and investing a bit more to keep things roomy and cool i would look at the haf 922, 690 ii or the nzxt.
 
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Also, here are the changes I've made here:

New memory:

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231310

New graphics card:

XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150477

New motherboard:

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131631

New solid state drive:

G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-60GBP2 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231377

New internal hard drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

New case:

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066



I hope this build will be much faster and more balanced with these changes. Any further comments from the experts?
 
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