Need $1200 Gaming PC Build

[folterknecht]

Hey, I am new to the forums and fairly new to building computers. I would greatly appreciate any help that you guys can provide to made this happen. Thanks in advance!

I am looking the best gaming rig that this can get me to play the latest and future games on max settings. Please give a fair explanation with each build so I can better understand what you are getting at and why.




Approximate Purchase Date: This Weekend

Budget Range: $1200 After Rebates; After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming > Surfing the Internet

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Doesn't matter

Location: Waukesha, Wisconsin (USA)

Parts Preferences: Intel and Nvidia

Overclocking: Yes, in the future

SLI or Crossfire: No

Additional Comments: I want a case with good airflow. And I will be unable to use an ethernet cable so I would like to have a good reliable wireless card as well as an Optical Drive needed.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Starting to be unable to run the most recent games and am looking for a nice upgrade.


Thanks for the assistance.

 

[smorizio]

Folt I would wait till the end of June. Right now haswell is about two weeks away from dropping. Also nvidia said in June there Dropping new gpus. Some of the new haswell mb from gigabyte looks to come with soundblaster chipset. looks like the asus mb going to be using newer high end realtek sound chipset. Look into the corsair r line of cases the r200 and r300. There also the new cooler master n300 and n500 cases.

 

[TheBigTroll]

either wait a month or so, or you can pick this up now
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VwJp

 

[icypyro]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VK9k

CPU: i5 3570k
Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3
RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4 GB) DDR3 1333
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 7200 RPM HDD, 64 MB Cache
Video Card: Gigabyte GTX 680
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower Case
PSU: NZXT HALE82 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified PSU
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer
And of course, Windows 7 Home Premium for the OS.

Hopefully this works for you!

EDIT: Changed video card to GTX 680 since we had the cash. Final cost is
$1210.10. Better buy soon before that state tax law goes into effect!

 

[TheBigTroll]

above, asrock doesnt use proper mosfets until you get to the extreme6 series, thereby wasting the h100i (which incidently isnt the best given asrock boards have a thin enough pcb to cause it to crack under pressure even from waterblocks

and the thermal compound pre-applied is better than the mx-2

 

[folterknecht]

I don't believe that I will have the ability to wait longer due to personal reasons. So the best that you can give me right now would be excellent.

 

[icypyro]

above, asrock doesnt use proper mosfets until you get to the extreme6 series, thereby wasting the h100i (which incidently isnt the best given asrock boards have a thin enough pcb to cause it to crack under pressure even from waterblocks

and the thermal compound pre-applied is better than the mx-2

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VxRI

Just for you <3

I replaced the ASRock board with an MSI Z77 G43 and removed the thermal compound.

 

[TheBigTroll]

the g43 is actually just as bad. msi boards dont get good until the gd65 and above. the g43 is barely better

 

[Marcopolo123]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.16 @ NCIX US)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1132.04
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-07 06:53 EDT-0400)

 

[icypyro]

the g43 is actually just as bad. msi boards dont get good until the gd65 and above. the g43 is barely better

I don't understand what you're talking about with the PCB cracking from a CPU block...
I have a hyper 212 evo on my z75 pro3 on my personal build and There's absolutely nothing wrong. Maybe it would crack if you didn't have all the motherboard screws in, but seriously bro. I think that it's fine from personal experience. If it can handle a hyper 212 evo, then it can handle a measly watercooling block.

 

[TheBigTroll]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/02/06/asrock_z77_extreme4_lga_1155_motherboard_review/6#.UYje5aI3uuI

 

[Kingbob]

Here, try this build. It has a much better graphics card, you can swap out the SSD for a cheaper one like the vertex 4 to stay within your budget. The 8350 will beat out the i5 because most games are being writen for 8 cores (both new consoles included) plus you can upgrade the processor once before getting a new mobo and youll notice almost no difference in gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($129.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.44 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($68.66 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Green 630W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1230.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-07 11:11 EDT-0400)

 

[Kingbob]

Get this card instead:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00752QYLK/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Or this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161412

Or this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008

 

[icypyro]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.16 @ NCIX US)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1132.04
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-07 06:53 EDT-0400)

Here, try this build. It has a much better graphics card, you can swap out the SSD for a cheaper one like the vertex 4 to stay within your budget. The 8350 will beat out the i5 because most games are being writen for 8 cores (both new consoles included) plus you can upgrade the processor once before getting a new mobo and youll notice almost no difference in gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($129.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.44 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($68.66 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Green 630W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1230.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-07 11:11 EDT-0400)

Op specified he wanted Intel and Nvidia. Not sure why you two have AMD in your build...

 

[icypyro]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/02/06/asrock_z77_extreme4_lga_1155_motherboard_review/6#.UYje5aI3uuI

And? Yes it is more fragile because of the thinner PCB, but not to the point where it'll snap so easily under the weight of a water cooling block. It would have to be paper thin to do that.

 

[TheBigTroll]

why not just get a board thats stronger in the first place without risks rather than getting a board with that risk

 

[icypyro]

why not just get a board thats stronger in the first place without risks rather than getting a board with that risk

This is what I'm trying to tell you: there is very little risk about this board. I installed a Cooler Master hyper 212 EVO on that very board, and I had no issues whatsoever. Yes, it is a bit thinner. Yes it is a bit more flexy. But it works. Tom's has repeatedly recommended the board in their builds, so I don't think we need to worry too much about a little bit more flex.

 

[TheBigTroll]

well let the OP decide if he wants a stronger board

 

[icypyro]

well let the OP decide if he wants a stronger board

Agreed.