Saudi Arabia: GPU for new build, crazy prices

[Banana_Joe]

High prices? In Brazil a 6770 costs about USD$230, GTX 550 about USD$250, gtx 560ti about USD$450

This is in the largest and usually MUCH less expensive retailer.

 

[wolfrahm21]

I don't think you'll have to sticky it because this should still show up on Google searches. I assumed that was how wolfram21 just kind of randomly showed up here.

But you can try Mousemonkey. Maybe they could make a separate category for international buying tips and threads could be started there called things like "Location: Jeddah".

Nah i just searched for the keyword "JEDDAH" on general forums and then this thread showed up. But Im glad that I could get more sources of information, regarding pricing. Specially in a closed country like where we are at right now.

 

[wolfrahm21]

I also went to the shop yesterday, I found Systems Computer, which as you said was a wholesaler. But they only have Sandy Bridge systems. Only z77 board they have is the gigabyte d3h. Which luckily for me, is what I needed.

Im planning to buy the 24" monitor also in Excel. Thanks for finding these places. But I still cant find an alternative for my RAM, GPU, Casing PSU and SSD's. Softland has still the lowest prices available so far as my searching has accomplished. I still am looking for TECHNO ROOF and called their line, only to find out its the same company as SOFTLAND. So Im not left with any choices but only on SOFTLAND.


Im planning on a Single GPU Ivy Build (OC in mind)

Its gonna be:

CPU: i5 3570k --------------------------------------------> $ 227
MOBO: Gigabyte z77 d3h ------------------------------> $ 153.32
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1866mhz) -----------> $ 77
Case: CM Storm Enforcer -------------------------------> $ 133
SSD: Corsair Force 120GB ------------------------------> $160
PSU: Corsair GS 700w -----------------------------------> $ 133
CPU Cooler: Corsair HL100------------------------------> $ 173

I want to fully utilize all the ivy bridge capabilities like pci-e 3.0, virtu mvp and will not upgrade for the next 5 years. Also i will not cf/SLI so I only a single GPU for my build. The RADEON 7850 which costs $ 300 or 7870 for $ 360 (think the extra $ 60 worth it??). Its sad there is no ASROCK mobo's here, as I see it mostly recommended in forums. Guys... need any advise on the build, this is my 1st time since pentium 3 era, building a PC and im not sure if this is a qualifier for a mid-range gaming rig that would last 5 years. Im open to suggestions on changes for cheaper and better alternatives. My only options is here softland.com.sa.

 

[dalauder]

I also went to the shop yesterday, I found Systems Computer, which as you said was a wholesaler. But they only have Sandy Bridge systems. Only z77 board they have is the gigabyte d3h. Which luckily for me, is what I needed.

Im planning to buy the 24" monitor also in Excel. Thanks for finding these places. But I still cant find an alternative for my RAM, GPU, Casing PSU and SSD's. Softland has still the lowest prices available so far as my searching has accomplished. I still am looking for TECHNO ROOF and called their line, only to find out its the same company as SOFTLAND. So Im not left with any choices but only on SOFTLAND.


Im planning on a Single GPU Ivy Build (OC in mind)

Its gonna be:

CPU: i5 3570k --------------------------------------------> $ 227
MOBO: Gigabyte z77 d3h ------------------------------> $ 153.32
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1866mhz) -----------> $ 77
Case: CM Storm Enforcer -------------------------------> $ 133
SSD: Corsair Force 120GB ------------------------------> $160
PSU: Corsair GS 700w -----------------------------------> $ 133
CPU Cooler: Corsair HL100------------------------------> $ 173

I want to fully utilize all the ivy bridge capabilities like pci-e 3.0, virtu mvp and will not upgrade for the next 5 years. Also i will not cf/SLI so I only a single GPU for my build. The RADEON 7850 which costs $ 300 or 7870 for $ 360 (think the extra $ 60 worth it??). Its sad there is no ASROCK mobo's here, as I see it mostly recommended in forums. Guys... need any advise on the build, this is my 1st time since pentium 3 era, building a PC and im not sure if this is a qualifier for a mid-range gaming rig that would last 5 years. Im open to suggestions on changes for cheaper and better alternatives. My only options is here softland.com.sa.

Although we can help you out here wolfram, I think it would be best if you start your own thread and post a link here--it just seems more efficient than tacking your build to the end of a thread that's 4 pages in.

Other than the case & CPU cooler, everything looks like good parts for reasonable prices. The PSU is a bit pricey and overkill for anything less than GTX 560Ti SLI setups. You should skip a CPU cooler before paying $173 for it. The Corsair water kits aren't really more effective than a good air cooler and will only save you maybe 5 degrees C over a Hyper 212+. Anyhow, the only reason to bother with that is to maximize overclocking. If that's the case, an i5-2500K will OC higher anyways. As far as the mobo, I personally don't think Z77 is much better than Z68. But the number of power phases on the mobo you choose will make a difference for heavy overclocks.

I really think you should make a new thread starting off by posting this info: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

 

[wolfrahm21]

@dalauder took your advise and opened a thread, appreciate it much, if you join in here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/362364-33-crossfire-cons. Tell me what you think...

 

[Forde3654Eire]

@dalauder took your advise and opened a thread, appreciate it much, if you join in here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/362364-33-crossfire-cons. Tell me what you think...

Broken link?

 

[wolfrahm21]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=33&post=362364&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0


There...

 

[Forde3654Eire]

I've started another thread here. I've taken my build into consideration and scaled down on it for the more budget-oriented guys out there. Let me know what you think...

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/355538-31-suggestions-good-enough-budget-gaming-build

 

[dalauder]

Well, I'm continuing your discussion Forde3654Eire. There are so many uncertainties in the concept of an optimal build that it's difficult to say anything definitive.

Wolfrahm21, gimme a minute to review the lengthy responses on your thread.

 

[dalauder]

Well, I think this thread has used itself up.

OP, PM me if you come back.

 

[Forde3654Eire]

Double post

 

[Forde3654Eire]

Hey fellas, how you all doing?

Sorry to dig up this thread of mine, but I have a few questions. I've settled in Jordan now for college (yes the desktop's gone everywhere with me haha). I have a pretty nice amount of cash saved up and thought to see if there are any worthy improvements I can do to the desktop.

I was thinking RAM. I'm just wondering if the single channel 4GB Kingston low-profile is holding me back in games and such... is it worth sticking in another 4GB? My concern is the 4GB Kingston models here in Jordan not matching the exact specifications of my own... is it worth then going for a new dual channel kit?

Another one I've been thinking of... recently the prices of Z77 motherboards came crashing down in Saudi! I mean really crashing down! What previously used to be in the $190 - $200 range is now in the $100 - $110! Its the same story with RAM, a 1600Mhz dual channel kit is now as low as $45, where previously they hovered around $70!

I'm heading back to Saudi for winter holidays in January... I've thought of selling my B75 and 4GB RAM for a good price, and spring for the killer offers on the Z77 motherboards and RAM! In the later years, I can upgrade to an i5 3570K!

What's your take on this? Good deal? Or do you advise I wait for Haswell?

Great to be back on the thread, looking forward to hearing from you guys!

NOTE: if anyone can steer me in the correct direction as to how to overclock my Sapphire 6850, that would be greatly appreciated. I understand the 6850 is quite the overclocker and can achieve quite impressive results! I'm not in any hurry, let me know all I need to now about OC'ing and how to achieve a proper and stable OC, so I don't fry my precious!

 

[wolfrahm21]

1st of all, wb man! its been a long time. If your looking for RAM, you can get g.skill ARES 8GB dual channel for 180 SAR here. I bought 1 pair and Im thinking of adding another pair, just for the looks of it...

I also got the 7950 vapor x OC version of sapphire, and OC'ed it using Trixx to 1150Mhz with 1575 memory. And im tellin you man, its sweet!

im pretty sure you can OC the 6850 as well, but maybe the bottleneck is on the i3, I too started with kingston KVR 4gb @ 1333mhz and I did not feel any speed bumps on gaming. I think 4gb is more than enough if you are just purely gaming and no virus scans or memory heavy apps on the background.

But since prices dropped to realistic levels in here. You can first try out ay brand of dual channel kits 8GB is just right if you'rre planning on a new board. I think you can get the z77-d3h of gigabyte for ~400 SAR.

the i5 3570k so far has not taken a speed hit even when im running a full virus scan doing prime95 and running max payne 3. This new 3rd gen processor is so great, I have it running lately on 4.1Ghz without any voltage increments and Im still hanging onto the stock cooler, which gives me 80C if I full stress.

I was gonna buy the corsair H100, till the H100i came out, still have to see it here in KSa though...

But, really man... Thanks again for sharing your hunting grounds here in saudi arabia before. I have finally finished my build...

 

[Forde3654Eire]

Hey wolfrahm21, great to hear from you! Glad to hear you're enjoying your rig, congrats on finally getting it done!

Yep Softland has a sale on G Skill RipJaws dual channel kit! Previously, anything below SR250 was impossible to find!

http://www.softland.com.sa/index.php?route=product/product&path=24_62&product_id=1167

Blow me down! Z77-D3H for only SR400? The least expensive I could find at the time was SR650 for entry-level Z77s! And that's a full ATX Z77 as well!

Its a shame I didn't get the chance to stick around longer in Jeddah. The good deals only arrived after I left. Jordan's a miserable place, technology here is pretty much in a primitive state, people still rocking the old Pentium 4. AMD has no recognition here.

So as I said, I'm planning to sell the B75 mATX motherboard + 4GB Kingston and go for a full ATX Z77 and 8GB dual channel kit. The problem is I don't know where or whom to sell them to... the parts are still fairly new (6 months now), I'm pretty sure I can sell them at a decent price. If you have any idea where I could possibly sell them, please let me know.

Thanks for being here man haha, I feel where are probably out of only a handful of people in the country who actually do extensive research before setting out to buy our parts... you can see I nearly drove the guys here nuts after analyzing every tiny detail out of every part of the purchase

 

[wolfrahm21]

Yeah, i bought mine z77x-d3h for 560SAR last Sept. I dont actually know where to post ads for buy&&sell items here in Jeddah, not like in Manila where I live you could probably sell your board in less than 30 minutes ! Here in saudi I think ppl here will go for a full build even if its not brand new, depends on the price.

You know how, lazy most of them here are. And they actually believe on specs that came in the box. So Im sorry man cant help you with that. But if you are willing to sell at least your whole PC without the GPU (of course). You could post it on saudi forums here I guess... Problem too is, most of those sites are in arabic. So Im lost right there...

If you are planning on changing the i3, my advise is, just wait for IVY BRIDGE-E or later cores from intel, I think this time they will fix their manufacturing error on their TIMS. IVY's are really hot cpu's.

Im keeping mine on stock voltage until the h100e arrives here in Saudi. So there you go, keep posting anytime mah friend.

 

[Forde3654Eire]

I'll try selling the board and the RAM here in Jordan. Ofcourse, I wont sell until I receive my new motherboard and dual channel RAM... I'll just see what the prices are like.

The problem is, if I sell my whole desktop, I most likely will have to sell it for a much lower value than when I bought it right? I'm not going back to Jeddah, to Tabuk instead. Whatever I buy will have to be shipped from Jeddah.

To be perfectly honest, the desktop runs great, flawless at games, heck even Battlefield 3 is a lovely experience at 1080p! With all my testing, no CPU bottlenecking thus far. I'm only ticked off because the good discounts and offers only arrived after I left the place. To add to it, the mATX board looks quite silly in there, way too small.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I'll try selling the board and the RAM here in Jordan. Ofcourse, I wont sell until I receive my new motherboard and dual channel RAM... I'll just see what the prices are like.

The problem is, if I sell my whole desktop, I most likely will have to sell it for a much lower value than when I bought it right? I'm not going back to Jeddah, to Tabuk instead. Whatever I buy will have to be shipped from Jeddah.

To be perfectly honest, the desktop runs great, flawless at games, heck even Battlefield 3 is a lovely experience at 1080p! With all my testing, no CPU bottlenecking thus far. I'm only ticked off because the good discounts and offers only arrived after I left the place. To add to it, the mATX board looks quite silly in there, way too small.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m630/Forde3654Eire/575332_4580209138237_951152838_n.jpg

Who the hell said that size doesn't matter? :lol:

 

[wolfrahm21]

BTW here's what I did on the few spare time I had...

http://s1172.beta.photobucket.com/user/wolfrahm21/library/wolf77%20PC

 

[Forde3654Eire]

BTW here's what I did on the few spare time I had...

http://s1172.beta.photobucket.com/user/wolfrahm21/library/wolf77%20PC

WOW! My humble build pales in comparison hahaha! Well, it gets the job done, and (for me) very well too! I know myself, I am most likely sticking to the i3-2100 and not upgrading beyond that. I just need to "tidy up" my build, as to me, it is still "unfinished". To me, I still don't see the need for picking a Z77 motherboard... I won't be overclocking the CPU (I can't anyway and I'm not upgrading to i5), just my GPU will be OC'd... please let me know if my opinion is valid or if I am drastically wrong and should go with Z77. The money saved by sticking to B75 goes to 8GB dual channel RAM, with still some money to spare... why go Z77?

I'm thinking of ordering these when I'm back in Saudi. Here is full-sized ATX B75:

http://www.softland.com.sa/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_122&product_id=1238

Or this if Z77, least expensive full sized one:

http://www.softland.com.sa/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_122&product_id=1139

2 of these for dual channel.

http://www.softland.com.sa/index.php?route=product/product&path=24_62&product_id=1162

Wolfrahm21 and thread viewers, please let me know if I should reconsider my options and go for something else.

 

[wolfrahm21]

go for the b75,the money saved, as I said before, can be spent if ever you will be interested to purchase the 2013 line up of whatever intel brings.

And your build is great for the bang for SAR, and spec wise your still good for the next ~3 years.

The RAM you can haggle your way out in khaled bin waleed for the same price, but with 1600mhz if there is an option for them to deliver in Tabuk.

Right now, my job is taking most of my time, I dont have much time to delve onto details on your build. But I guess for economical wise. You are in good shape...

 

[Forde3654Eire]

Alright sounds good! I've asked around the local stores here in town, they're interested in my offer. I can sell off the mATX and 4GB RAM for 50 JD / SAR 265 / $70. That's only starting price, bundle goes to highest bidder haha, not bad considering my original purchase price was 66 JD / SAR 353 / $94.

So MSI B75A-G43 full ATX board it is! Along with a couple of G-Skill 4GB to run in dual channel 8GB... very nice! Might grab a couple of case fans too, that 6850 is going to see some overclocking action soon! 4xMSAA in Battlefield 3 and you see the occasional drops to a minimum of 25 FPS at stock... if I can get that minimum value to be 30 that would be excellent!

Still working it through in my head, looking at Tom's latest $500 budget build... I can clearly see they keep cutting back on the CPU and putting more into the GPU... currently pairing the G860 with a 7850... I think that clearly tells me I have no CPU bottlenecks to worry about, with my slightly more powerful i3-2100 and slightly weaker 6850 combination.

I always keep looking to see what's on the AMD side. The new Piledriver architecture seems to be heading in the right direction. Its only unfortunate that AMD parts are expensive over here... add on top of that the need to pay $60 for an aftermarket cooler (locally ofcourse) and you lose the whole point of going with an AMD build.

 

[dalauder]

I've yet to see what the disadvantages of the B75 are so you can go with it. Although it might be worth saving money until Intel's Haswell.

I can't criticize moving from an mATX to a full ATX, although I would like to, because I recently moved up to this eATX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188098
From my old mATX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495
(There were some awesome sales.)

 

[Forde3654Eire]

Hey Dalauder! Welcome back, good to have you!

For me personally I don't see any disadvantages in the B75 chipset, or at least for its price-range. This seems to be the replacement for the barebones H61 chipset, but a good bit better, with more USB ports and USB3.0... for the price the MSI mobo I listed seems to be a good choice, and its only what $15 more than my mATX for a good bit more... not to mention I'm selling off my mobo for almost the same price I purchased it, nothing to lose.

Since I've come across this chance to sell and lose nothing, I've decided to explore my options a bit more. If anyone is interested, could you please follow up on these threads here?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=28&post=356876&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0

http://www.overclock.net/t/1338401/i3-3220-vs-fx-4300-5ghz

 

[Forde3654Eire]

How's it going fellas? Wolfrahm21 you still around man? First off, happy holidays to all you guys! Hope you're all having a good time!

New year's approaching, and the prices of computer parts will soon see a good rise here. Its quite likely I'll get a very nice price out of my mATX B75 and 4GB RAM, heck maybe even profit!

Now I've done so much speculation, spent so much time considering all my options. One of them was to sell the i3-2100 along with the MB and RAM, allowing the a lot more doors to open in terms of options. So here's a run-down of my little adventure. Boy I have to say, it has been quite an adventure haha!

The first option I looked at was getting an i3-3220, the MSI B75A-G43 and 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance. The highlights of this build: Yes basically the same performance as my original build, but an IvyBridge CPU allows for memory speeds over 1333Mhz. With my i3-2100, I'm limited to 1333Mhz.

2nd option was heading over to the AMD side. I took a look at the new Vishera FX CPUs to see what was available. The highlights of this route: Unfortunately, with AMD being sold overpriced here, there is always a better Intel option for the same price. Even when you take in the added benefit of unlocked OC'ing, the money needed to be spent on decent cooling ($60 at minimum for the CM Hyper 212 Evo) and decent 970 / 990FX motherboards sold at nearly double their original price, it just makes no sense.

3rd option, sticking with my current i3-2100 and getting a Z77 motherboard. Highlights: This at first appeared to be a very appealing option, especially since the Z77 chipset allows my to use 1600Mhz RAM with my i3-2100, thereby allowing me to plop in some sweet Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB.

However... research into several benchmarks made it evident to me that games hardly benefit at all from faster RAM... and the only reason I wanted the RAM was for... well... its some sweet-looking Corsair Vengeance.

Furthermore, even if I had plans to get an i5-3570K later and overclock, I could not simply just grab any Z77 motherboard at all... after a look into power-phase designs, heat dissipation, OC'ing while maintaining the lowest voltage... it became clear to me, that if I'm looking to get a Z77 motherboard to OC, I'd better look at getting a decent one or be sorry.

In the end of the day, I looked back at my humble, but very capable gaming machine, and reminded myself that this here you have is a great budget build, and its best to keep it that way. If I were looking into bumping up this desktop for a decent increase in performance, a lot of money would have to go into getting decent quality parts... which is really not worth it, since I am already happy with my desktop's performance.

In conclusion: I shall stick to my original plan, and complete my build to the way it should have been built: out with the ugly puny mATX board, in with the lovely full ATX B75. On the list as well, is 2x4GB G-Skill 1333Mhz RAM, dual channel, full height, black PCB, nice

So there's the little adventure I had fellas Venturing out into the wild of PC computer parts, searched all alternative possibilities, ruled them all out, which leaves me very comfortable and content with my planned purchase? No more what if this, what if that, its all been ruled out I shall be purchasing my parts at the beginning of the new year, will have already arrived by the time I get back to Tabuk.

Once again, happy holidays and a happy new year fellas!