Mid-range gaming rig, where can I cut down?

[dmmorgan]

Hi all, I'm planning on building what I *think* is a mid-range gaming rig, and wondering where I could cut down the price from the rough plan I had below. I don't really have a hard-and-fast limit, but under AU$1000 (~US$900) would be reasonable.

I'm hoping to get current games running reasonably close to maxed-out at 1920x1080 (dunno if that's reasonable ), and to keep it for at least a couple of years - only thing that's really concerning me is upgrading the cpu while keeping the p55, don't know what the go is there. I'm not averse to a little overclocking either. Anyway, here it is:

***
CPU: Core i5 750 2.66GHz, AU$234 (US$211)

GFX: HIS 1GB 5770 AU$191 (US$173)

MB: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P AU$189 (US$171)
OR
ASUS P7P55D PRO AU$217 (US$196)

Mem: 4Gb G-Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1333 CS8 AU$125 (US$113) (also considering DDR3-2000 for an extra US$18)

PSU: Antec EA-500 Earthwatts 500W, AU$95 (US$86)

HDD: Seagate 7200rpm 500Gb, AU$64 (US$58)

OPT: Samsung OEM 22x SATA Dual Layer DVD -RW DVDRW AU$42 (US$38)

Monitor: Acer 23inch X233HB 5ms AU$170 after CB (US$153)
OR
Acer 23.6inch X243HQ 5ms AU$204 (US$184)

*ed: Case is a Thermaltake Xaser III, already bought.

TOTAL: AU$1110 (US$1000)

So there we go: been out of the loop for a while so that's just from a few hours' worth of research. Any tips appreciated! Cheers.

 

[daggs]

the only place you can cut down at is the cpu+mb, if you don't mind going amd, go with a 955 and 770 mb.
but performance will drop...

 

[batuchka]

Unless you are dead set on i5 for Full HD gaming bang for buck here is my suggestion

1. Gaming for the most part is a much misunderstood application (sadly more so in our forums w.r.t others) - people still game on golden oldies dual cores like E2xxx or even *gasp* Opteron 1xx socket 939 both heavily OCed so there is no need to sell oneself short and compromise the GPU area to splash on CPU+Mobo!

2. Full HD AA/AF eye candy is no joke now and in future!
I would look to hit a HD 5850 - or if i had to, build a workable rig with a chipset that has integrated video...due to lack of stocks

3. Perhaps a Corsair 550VX for a non CF/SLI gaming rig?

In summary

A2X3 425 - P2X4 925 (if u just have to hit a quad)
CM Hyper 212 HSF - clock as and when u want to
Gigabyte 770T-UD3P mobo (if HD 5850 in stock)
Asus M4A785TD-V EVO (if not in stock)
2 x 2 DDR3 1333 - try to hit CL7 ones
Sapphire/MSI/Powercolor HD 5850 in single configuration
80+ certified 550+ PSU

game on!

Edit: Oops Daggs beat me to it hehe

 

[jitpublisher]

Well, there is not a lot to cut out that will save you much money, but I will suggest a couple of things.
A better PSU than what you have picked out.....not so much that you need anything with more a lot more power, but you should at least go to 550 watts. I would also suggest looking at something besides the Antec Earthwatts series.
The 5770, and 5750 for that matter, are too pricey for the performance. Just because they have DX11, doesn't mean that they will run it very well.
I would agree that a 4850, or even a 4870 is a much better buy for the bang you get.