$1,200 Build Help

horrorshow

horrorshow

Lakewood Original
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
9,909
1) What will you be doing with this PC?

Gaming
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2) What's your budget?

$1,200
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3) Where do you live?

Dallas, TX 75214
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4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?

Complete box.
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5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?

KB/Mouse
Speakers
Monitor
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6) Will you be overclocking?

No.
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7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

19" Samsung (might get a 22" later on)
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8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

12/22/09
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9) What features do you need in a motherboard?

Reliability.
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10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

No. I need Windows 7 64bit.
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When are you planning on buying the 22" monitor?
 
horrorshow said:
Probably late next year. I'm in no real rush etc.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Well that does change things a bit as it means that you don't really need to spend that much on a video card due to the low resolution of your current 19" monitor.

This build would more than fit your monitor and gaming needs.
$200 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$105 - Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 Intel P55 mATX Motherboard
$84 - Crucial CT2KIT25664BA1339 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$140 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$75 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$30 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$75 - Antec Earthwatts 650W PSU
$65 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$105 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
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Total: $879 plus tax and shipping.

Even then I think the CPU is a tad overkill.
 
with that price, it does leave him some room in his budget for a new monitor if he wants it :)
 
Fail said:
with that price, it does leave him some room in his budget for a new monitor if he wants it :)
Click to expand...

... but then he'd need a better vidcard, like an HD5770 or HD5850 (depending on the games he plays), lol.
 
sounds like a moral dilemma now, do we advise him to stay within his budget AND get the monitor but have a video card that doesn't perform up to the monitor's spec's or do we advise him to increase his budget beyond his means and tempt him to the dark side of spending a little over budget to get a video card AND monitor that both pair together well?

I wear black robes and a hooded cowl.
 
Fail said:
sounds like a moral dilemma now, do we advise him to stay within his budget AND get the monitor but have a video card that doesn't perform up to the monitor's spec's or do we advise him to increase his budget beyond his means and tempt him to the dark side of spending a little over budget to get a video card AND monitor that both pair together well?

I wear black robes and a hooded cowl.
Click to expand...

How about a grey robe?

He's getting his monitor next year, so a 5770 should help him get better frames while cranking every setting to max on his current lower res monitor.
 
well I see what you're saying, but he is under budget enough where he could spend a little more and get a decent vid card and a monitor for a little bit more over his budget

see what i'm saying?
 
Well, if it is just for gaming, he can even drop down to a Ph2 X4 or X3, which should give him a bit more in his budget for both a new monitor and better vidcard, unless I guessed my math wrong. :p
 
he'd save $100 more by going AMD, and then subtracting $140 by taking way the 5750, he has $240 he didn't have before to play with, which according to my complex calculations, puts him at $639 without a video card or monitor, which leaves him $561 under budget

If I were him, I'd honestly keep the i5 combo and be $461 under budget and just buy a 5870 and buy the monitor in Feb/March when I got my tax refund check. That's just me though, or I'd set aside whatever cash I got for Christmas and save money for a few months and then buy a decent 24 incher

that's just what I'd do though.

That's the problem here, he has many possibilities open to him if he chooses to either stay under budget but go for the 5870, or if he chooses to drop down to AMD and settle for a 5850 and maybe save the money from being under budget and trying to save money over the next 2-3 months and pay the difference on a 24 inch monitor

it's really up to him and his financial situation at this point.
 
Why was DDR 1333 suggested instead of 1600? (Does it have to do with the motherboard recommendation?)
 
So Danny's build - HD5750 - WD6401AALS = $665. Wait for the F3 500GB to get back in stock, putting the total at $720...
$55 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA300 16MB Cache [FS]

hm...

$310 - XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
$170 - Acer P235Hbmid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD 1920x1080 (Samsung is $30 more)
$1200 + tax and shipping

$180 - XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
$170 - Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD 1680x1050
$1070 + tax and shipping
 
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well I can't knock you for your choice since it's within his budget, but you seriously get what you pay for when you buy an Acer. My RL friend has the Acer in your second recommendation and it doesn't have anywhere near the visual quality of my 22" Samsung monitor.

I'd spend a little more on a better quality money, within your means of course, good sir.

Here's what I'd recommend

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001309&cm_re=samsung-_-24-001-309-_-Product $299 and 1920x1200 resolution

paired with that 5850 that'd be seriously kick ass, you have to shell out some more cash though

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001319&cm_re=samsung-_-24-001-319-_-Product $10-$20 more than the other recommendations, it's $199, but has a better picture than the Acer's.

also the resolution for this one is 1920x1080
 
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Well yah, I personally don't like some Acer models, as they look like bleh; though, I've seen some newer ones that are actually decent compared to the 19" I bought a few years ago. However, my father can't tell the difference between that 19" Acer and any other panel, so it's now his, lol. My point is, monitors are subjective. I'd highly suggest going to a B&M store to check them out in person, or even buy it there for easier return and probably a better return policy than newegg, if needed.
 
That's how I bought mine, I looked up reviews and looked at the specs on Newegg then I went in person to Best Buy and got mine when they were having a sale on it, never hurts to wait for a sale. I also think we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Dell has good monitors and also has some awesome deals on their monitors as well, you could buy a high quality monitor for cheap from Dell online.
 
... at stock speeds, you'd be at DDR3-1066 anyhow (133x8; 133x20 = 2.66Ghz cpu speed). ;)

btw danny, your cpu link is actually to the ripjaws, lol. (was clickin it to verify the cpu speed, lol)
 
Danny, I'm curious, given his budget of $1,200 why were you recommending a $879 build?

Not questioning your judgement, just curious why you did that
 
No need to spend that much if his only intensive need is gaming on a 19" monitor.
 
that's true I suppose, and there is a rather long time between this build and when he plans to upgrade his monitor, it would make more sense for him to buy a balls out GPU at that point.
 
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