Need Advice on Budget gaming PC ~$1000

[nj777]

Hi,
i am looking to buy a new gaming PC for around $1000.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Beginning of July 2009.

BUDGET RANGE: $900-$1000....max $1200(really need this 200 for a new desk and a good chair).

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, general use, bla bla...

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I need everything!!!

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, zipzoomfly and any others welcome if there is cheaper

PARTS PREFERENCES: : Ok, so this are prices from zipzoomfly.(I choose it because all items have free shiping )

1. Keyboard - OCZ OALKLUMUS Standard Keyboard Black Retail --$31.99
2.CPU- AMD HDZ955FBGIBOX Phenom II X4, Black Edition 3.20 --$245.00 ---or equal.
3.GPU- 4870 or 4890 or a equal nvidia card------------------under $200. ---or equal.
4.Monitor ASUS VH226H 22in Widescreen LCD Monitor 2ms----$178($159 after mir) ---or equal.

OVERCLOCKING: Most No but Maybe.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe later.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050 and higher. A LCD 21.5" and more.


So here is what i made from zipzoomfly :

Keyboard OCZ Illuminati—------------$31.99 + Free Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010125

Mouse Ocz Eclipse--------------------------$22.99 + Free Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010338

Power Source OCZ OCZ700MXSP 700W ---$89.99 ($59.99 after MIR) + Free Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009502

MotherBoard—MSI 790FX-G70--------------$165.99+ Free Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010173

Case Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Mid Tower Case Retail -- $108.99 + Free Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=140146&prodlist=celebros

CPU-AMD HDZ955FBGIBOX Phenom II X4, Black Edition 3.20 GHz AM3 8MB--$245.00+ Free Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010385&prodlist=celebros

GPU MSI R4890-T2D1G-OC Radeon HD 4890 1GB GDDR5---$189.99 (169.99 after MIR)+Free Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010282

DVD Burner-Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW--$26.9+FREE Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

CPU COOLER-OCZ OCZTVEND Vendetta Aluminum ---$33.99+FREE Shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007053&prodlist=celebros

Monitor ASUS VH226H 22in-----------$178.99 ($158.99 after mir)+ free shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009786

HDD WESTERN DIGITAL Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB----------$67.89+ free shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010083

RAM Memory--OCZ OCZ3X13334GK 4GB PC3-10666----$68.99 (58.99 after MIR)+free shipping
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008949

Total $1231.7+$95.85TAX=$1327.55

As you see i need to go down $300.


Feel free to change anything you want if its better and cheaper only!

 

[Why_Me]

That psu won't push two of those cards for the reason it lacks the PCI-E connectors needed, so change up your PSU to this one down below if you plan on running just one card. Also you might think about changing your case to something like an Antec 300. Your case and psu are killing that build atm with your budget.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009795 $74.99 ($49.99 after MIR) Free Shipping
OCZ OCZ550FTY 550W Active Power Supply Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that psu

 

[nj777]

Booth OCZ 550W and 700w have same connectors :
PCI-E Connectors 1 x 6Pin, 1 x 6+2Pin
1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 12V(P4)
1 x 12V(8Pin)
4 x Peripheral
6 x SATA
2 x Floppy
2 x PCI-E

And only 10$ difference. Plus i did a Power Supply calculator for this build especially AM3+4870(90) and it said that i need more than 600W. Correct me if i am wrong please!
As for Antec 300, is ugly isn't it? No blue led fans? But price is better, more than $35. So i will consider that.
Thank you.

 

[Why_Me]

Booth OCZ 550W and 700w have same connectors :
PCI-E Connectors 1 x 6Pin, 1 x 6+2Pin
1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 12V(P4)
1 x 12V(8Pin)
4 x Peripheral
6 x SATA
2 x Floppy
2 x PCI-E

And only 10$ difference. Plus i did a Power Supply calculator for this build especially AM3+4870(90) and it said that i need more than 600W. Correct me if i am wrong please!
As for Antec 300, is ugly isn't it? No blue led fans? But price is better, more than $35. So i will consider that.
Thank you.

My bad on the psu call. I was thinking of the $124 newegg price when I saw the 700w. That and I didn't realize they recommend a 600w for that card....yikes.

 

[nj777]

Why_Me thank you for your time.


So no one else ? any other advice to cut 300$ and still keep a good system?

 

[jgurzell]

That is a decent cost for the system and there isn't much room to cut stuff out for cash. If you really want to lower the price of the system I think you can save the most cash in the processor department. I built a really solid system for about 800$ the main difference was the 3ghz core 2 duo, you are looking at saving over 100 on the processor itself, I think the stock fan that it comes with works fine so knock off another 40 bucks and I think you could find a motherboard for a core 2 system with comparable onboard features for another 20-40 less than the msi you were looking at.
Changing all that will save you about 200, right now quad core is a little over kill, nothing is really programmed to use all those cores at once. If you want the bragging rights to say look I am running wow on these two cores, and then alt tab and open crysis on another two cores than stick with the quad but in reality there are not many situations where the extra cores are going to come in that handy (for now) . Where that extra 200 bucks really comes in handy is 2 years down the road when more games and applications are designed to take advantage of a higher number of cores, at that point your processor will get a second wind and have some lasting power, but frankly by that time you will be working with an ageing video card and you will start to scale things back based on the gpu far before the cpu becomes your ceiling.

To save the other 100 drop the case with the blue lights and the see through panel you can find a solid black case with 500-600W power supply included on new egg for less than 70 I think I paid 59 for mine and it was a very plain looking case with a 550w power supply which should be adequate if you made the above changes.

I bought the same monitor, I am playing everything out on maximum settings without a hitch, I already know by next year I will be on high settings, and another year later I will be running medium and in 3 years I am sure I will be running on low, I will turn around and give the computer to a relative for like 200 bucks and then buy another 700-800$ computer. An extra 3-400$ now will really just mean that in 3 years when I am playing with shadows disabled and low particle effects you will get to keep the settings on medium for an extra couple of months until we both need to break down and buy some video card that supports direct X 13 and god know what ever new features they come out with.

 

[nj777]

That is a decent cost for the system and there isn't much room to cut stuff out for cash. If you really want to lower the price of the system I think you can save the most cash in the processor department. I built a really solid system for about 800$ the main difference was the 3ghz core 2 duo, you are looking at saving over 100 on the processor itself, I think the stock fan that it comes with works fine so knock off another 40 bucks and I think you could find a motherboard for a core 2 system with comparable onboard features for another 20-40 less than the msi you were looking at.
Changing all that will save you about 200, right now quad core is a little over kill, nothing is really programmed to use all those cores at once. If you want the bragging rights to say look I am running wow on these two cores, and then alt tab and open crysis on another two cores than stick with the quad but in reality there are not many situations where the extra cores are going to come in that handy (for now) . Where that extra 200 bucks really comes in handy is 2 years down the road when more games and applications are designed to take advantage of a higher number of cores, at that point your processor will get a second wind and have some lasting power, but frankly by that time you will be working with an ageing video card and you will start to scale things back based on the gpu far before the cpu becomes your ceiling.

To save the other 100 drop the case with the blue lights and the see through panel you can find a solid black case with 500-600W power supply included on new egg for less than 70 I think I paid 59 for mine and it was a very plain looking case with a 550w power supply which should be adequate if you made the above changes.

I bought the same monitor, I am playing everything out on maximum settings without a hitch, I already know by next year I will be on high settings, and another year later I will be running medium and in 3 years I am sure I will be running on low, I will turn around and give the computer to a relative for like 200 bucks and then buy another 700-800$ computer. An extra 3-400$ now will really just mean that in 3 years when I am playing with shadows disabled and low particle effects you will get to keep the settings on medium for an extra couple of months until we both need to break down and buy some video card that supports direct X 13 and god know what ever new features they come out with.

Thx for information and introduction in all this specifications. But it turned out that I dont have money right now to buy a new system. Unemployed and all this economy thing .... barely paying bills. So cant save anything for now. I hope I will find a job soon.
God bless you all.

 

[theblc84]

Hey this is a computer I will be building soon. Everything is from newegg.com it also includes windows vista with free windows 7 upgrade.
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=10329945

 

[theblc84]

Actually I just realized(newbie mistake) the processor and Mobo is not compatable. I am looking at them now. You could either choose a new processor or new mobo to fit. I will probably change the processor.

 

[theblc84]

Here is the change I made... about $45 more for the processor, but the price is $1071.91 and like i said that is with the OS which if you have one already puts it below your $1000 budget.
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=10329945