Need Advice For Building A Gaming Rig (800-1000)

[_strive_]

Approximate Purchase Date: (Early November-ish, or whenever I get my extra grant money)


Budget Range: (800-1000) Before Rebates


System Usage from Most to Least Important: (gaming, recording game play, music)

Parts Not Required: (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, considering re-using my Corsair 750TX PSU[however it will be 3 years old])


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (newegg.com)


Country of Origin: (United States)


Parts Preferences: by brand or type (Intel CPU Build)


Overclocking: Maybe (Like the easy stuff that is do-able with a UI not actually going into the BIOS and tweaking sutff)


SLI or Crossfire: No


Monitor Resolution: (1680x1050 right now, but I wouldn't mind upgrading to 1920x1080[since 1080p is the norm now right?])


Additional Comments: (I can handle noise. I'd like an easy case to maneuver/install around since this is my first time building a PC)


Here are some parts that I have looked hard at:

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

VGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

I have never built a PC from the ground up before. However the last to "pre-built" ones I have bought only lasted 3-4 years. I'm thinking if I build and design this one I'll save money and be able to efficiently upgrade in the future. I'm kind of lost on where to go, which cases, mobo, etc. Outside of CPU, RAM, and GPU I'm not very experienced.


I hope I gave enough information. Thanks in advance.

 

[cutebeans]

Ask again in november, A lot of things are coming out this october and any suggestions will surely change by november

 

[_strive_]

Hmm. Alright. Thanks. Do you think my PSU is re-useable though, despite it's age?

 

[cutebeans]

IT really depends on the luck of a person but quality PSUs tend to last longer . It's still good.

 

[_strive_]

Best answer selected by _strive_.

 

[_strive_]

Alright thanks.

 

[_strive_]

Didn't want to create a new thread, so I decided to bump this one

I was bored and was messing around on Newegg. I came up with this build. I've never built a PC before, so advice/tips/insights/etc would be greatly appreciated. I plan on recycling my 750 Corsair TX from my current rig.

HDD
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
60$

CPU
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
220$

CASE
Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
160$

MOBO
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
135$

MEMORY
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
52$

GPU
EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
250$

HEATSINK
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7
30$

cheap cd/dvd drive
20$

Total 926-ish$ I rounded some #s up to make them more even. My game plan was a 1000$-ish pc that could be upgradeable. I'm not much of an OC-er. I can google and read the guides to change the values in an add-on UI(like Afterburner stuff), but I would probably never venture into the BIOS and tinker with things. I'm not a big fan of SLI/X-FIRE, and I'm worried of the heat and power problems because I plan on recycling my Corsair 750 TX. Plus I don't know if I could get adequate cooling without investing another 50-100$. I've also tried to design this build around having an easy upgrade path. Like I would probably be looking to upgrade it again March next year(CPU/GPU) if needed for all that nice eye candy when playing Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, The Old Republic, etc. I'm not a big fan of BF3 well I liked the game, but not battlelog and Origin, so it is unlikely I will purchase it.

Anyways any tweaks/suggestions would be great.

 

[phamhlam]

Don't get the Hyper 212. Get the Hyper 212 Evo. Better design and only just $5 extra. Also, go with MSI twin frozr cards. They have better cooling then EVGA and a better overclock.

 

[_strive_]

Don't get the Hyper 212. Get the Hyper 212 Evo. Better design and only just $5 extra. Also, go with MSI twin frozr cards. They have better cooling then EVGA and a better overclock.

Will do on the fan. I'm not going to buy another MSI Twin Frozr. I've had a horrible experience with it. One of fans quit working a couple weeks after purchase and the card dies a couple months later. I've spent like 75$ in shipping trying to get it fixed. Would a 6950 be another viable option? Aren't they like 5 fps worse than the 560 Ti? I play on 1680x1050.