$1000-$1200 build , Canada

[kanishka]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
A:Gaming and some other programing work. Looking for powerful machine.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
A:around $1000 , can increase to $1200 or something. Tax and shipping excluded.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
A:Canada . Toronto
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
A: Well i have monitor and speaker, mouse , keyboard. so i need CPU , GFX card , Motherboard , RAM , Hard drive, Blueray reader and other things which are important things power supply , cabinet..
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None.
6) Will you be overclocking?
a: Maybe not sure. But most probably.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
A:1920x1080 , 24" Samsung Sync Master SA350
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
A:These holidays. So ASAP.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
A: USB 3.0 would be good , also is if i can have Wifi card for as well.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
A: I'm gonna buy it seperately.

Please help me build the machine. I'm not sure if there is sale during the boxing week in the hardware parts so please let me know that as well. Also I'd prefer recent 6 core CPUs in i7 series. Please suggest me good one in the budget.


Thanks alot.

 

[Forceman]

Are you looking for a true 6 core processor (which will put you well over $1000 for your build) or is a 4 core with hyperthreading okay?

How about:
$329 Intel i7-2600K
$159 Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3
$74 Antec High Current Gamer 620W
$44 G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3-1600
$279 XFX HD6950 2GB
$133 Hitachi 7K1000.D 1TB HDD
$56 SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-/+R 48X CD-ROM
$36 CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ CPU cooler

Which is $1100 before shipping/tax/MIRs, and then you choose a case of your choice (Danny Bui has a nice list). You can save $100 if you drop from the 2600K (4 core / 8 thread) to the 2500K (4 core / 4 thread), which performs the same in games.

 

[Dangman]

Zee case list is here:
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$98 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$133 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$137 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

 

[kanishka]

Are you looking for a true 6 core processor (which will put you well over $1000 for your build) or is a 4 core with hyperthreading okay?

How about:
$329 Intel i7-2600K
$159 Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3
$74 Antec High Current Gamer 620W
$44 G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3-1600
$279 XFX HD6950 2GB
$133 Hitachi 7K1000.D 1TB HDD
$56 SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-/+R 48X CD-ROM
$36 CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ CPU cooler

Which is $1100 before shipping/tax/MIRs, and then you choose a case of your choice (Danny Bui has a nice list). You can save $100 if you drop from the 2600K (4 core / 8 thread) to the 2500K (4 core / 4 thread), which performs the same in games.

Hey ,
thanks for reply. Thanks danny too for the cases.

I'd go for this , as it looks cool . NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case

which makes my budget $1250 , which is ok for me. If i increase the budget to $1400 would it be possible to increase RAM to 24 GB and gfx card to HD6970.. I'm just wondering if it there is much difference between 6950 and 6970.

Also pleas suggest me some wifi card.

and one more question , is there sale on hardware parts during the boxing week(week past 25th dec) in canada.

 

[Dangman]

I'd go for this , as it looks cool . NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case

Good choice.

which makes my budget $1250 , which is ok for me. If i increase the budget to $1400 would it be possible to increase RAM to 24 GB and gfx card to HD6970..

Not enough room at all for the 24GB of RAM. You would have to significantly increase your budget by another $500 to $700 for 24GB of RAM. Did you mean 16GB of RAM? If so, then yes that's enough money to cover that upgrade. More than likely you won't need more than 4 to 8GB of RAM but considering how low RAM prices are and that adding more RAM rarely hurts PC performance, might as well go for 16GB if you can.


But for the video card and 16GB of RAM, yes that should be enough to cover the costs of the HD 6970. However, I wouldn't go for the HD 6970 right now considering that AMD is supposedly releasing their new HD 79xx series video cards in late January. Hell the HD 6950 2GB is pushing it as is when it comes how much you should spend before the new cards comes out IMO.

I'm just wondering if it there is much difference between 6950 and 6970.

Also pleas suggest me some wifi card.

Best ask that over in the Networking and Security subforum.

 

[kanishka]

But for the video card and 16GB of RAM, yes that should be enough to cover the costs of the HD 6970. However, I wouldn't go for the HD 6970 right now considering that AMD is supposedly releasing their new HD 79xx series video cards in late January. Hell the HD 6950 2GB is pushing it as is when it comes how much you should spend before the new cards comes out IMO.

So you suggest me to wait for 7xxx series or buy HD6950??... as from my previous experience. the series may increase by 1000 lol , but the cards specifications remains almost similar. Do you expect any price cuts after the release of the 7xxx series??

 

[Forceman]

So you suggest me to wait for 7xxx series or buy HD6950??... as from my previous experience. the series may increase by 1000 lol , but the cards specifications remains almost similar. Do you expect any price cuts after the release of the 7xxx series??

There should be price cuts on the current crop of cards, but hard to tell when they will happen - the new cards themselves may not release until late Jan (no release date yet, though rumor is they are being announced tomorrow) and availability might be bad enough for a while that 6950 prices don't drop much. If you want to buy now, probably best just to go ahead and get the 6950 2GB - you can always add a second one cheap in a couple of months if you think you want more power (you'd need a beefier power supply for that though). The 6950 is a pretty solid card for 1920x1200, you can run most games at high or ultra with it, so it's not going to be holding you back much.

Might be worth waiting until tomorrow to see if there is any news.

 

[Tsuyoi]

So far the 7xxx series is mostly hype and rumor from AMD, and the last time they did that (Bulldozer) things got ugly. In all probability, if it really is as amazing as they claim (performs better than similar priced Nvidia chips, runs cooler, runs quieter, better compatibility, new nifty tech) then they'll demand a huge premium (probably over 1k for the 7990, and at least 500 for the 7970). If you don't need a new computer anytime soon, you can wait for it and see what it does to prices on their older lines, but in my opinion it'll be months before you see any effects.

As for the 6950, it is actually the exact same chip as the 6970, just locked. There are many guides online on how to unlock a 6950 to a 6970, you just have to do some research and find out which 6950s allow this. But if you do go through the trouble, you get a brand new 6970 for the price of a 6950.

 

[kanishka]

hey danny ,

cam you suggest me from where can i get the same case in canada. because i saw that if i ship it from US it's gonna cost me $280. thanks alot man!

 

[Hobman27]

So you suggest me to wait for 7xxx series or buy HD6950??... as from my previous experience. the series may increase by 1000 lol , but the cards specifications remains almost similar. Do you expect any price cuts after the release of the 7xxx series??

The thing why everybody's so hyped about the 7000 is that it's on a new die size (28nm), and the high end on a new architecture. The 5000 and the 6000s were on the same die size (40nm) and similar architecture, so performance improvement were lack luster. And since the 7000 skipped the 32nm, people are even more excited about it.

6950's still a great card either way, but with the rumours flying around how AMD is to reveal their cards end of this week, why not take a look. If that happens and they are worthy (justify the cost), find a z68 motherboard that can utilize Sandy Bridge's internal graphics, and use it for a couple weeks until you can get your hands on a new card in mid-late Jan (hopefully).

You should give your local computer stores a visit, I lived in Toronto for 4 years, they have some nice ones there. And since Boxing Day's coming up, make sure you go through their boxing day sales flyers, you'll find good deals (whether or not you'll get it, is another question)

http://ncix.com/
http://www.canadacomputers.com/
Memoryexpress is in Western Canada, but they have a price match feature that matches any Canadian competitor plus an extra 25% reduction of the difference. Their shipping policy is not bad (6 bucks flat rate, or free after $250 which is easily done), so you might think about using them too.

Edit:
Almost forgot, the most important thing you should try.
Use Shopbot.ca
It's like a search engine for products (mostly electronics) in Canada. It gives you the price and the store that offers it (price is not always 100% accurate as retailer still updates faster than them, so double check)
It is a great tool when you want to price match items against one another at stores that offer price matching services.
Search NZXT Phantom there, and NCIX is selling it for 114.99 after mail in rebate

 

[pendragon1]

take a look at www.memoryexpress.com they are based out of Calgary but have good prices and free or flat rate shipping in canada. and they ALWAYS have good deals on, like this: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/BDL_2500K_Z68XUD3

 

[kanishka]

Hey people,

Thanks alot for suggestion. I ordered this configuration and it has come too.

Intel i7-2600K

Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3

Antec High Current Gamer 620W

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

XFX HD6950 2GB

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s

$56 SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-/+R 48X CD-ROM

$36 CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ CPU cooler

NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case


Now after assembling i am facing a strange problem , i've connected all cables properly inside the cabinet , but when I press the power button or reset button , the computer starts for a sec and then automatically swtiches off then again I have to press power button and same thing continues. please help me with this problem. I mean I've put all the wires properly then why am I facing this problem?? Is it that i have to have better PSU or something??

 

[Tsuyoi]

Have you gone over the wiring very carefully? Make sure everything's in the right place, nothings loose backwards etc?

Unplug your gpu, remove 3 rams, unplug your HSF and your BD-ROM. Try booting it with only the cpu+integrated graphics, one ram stick, HDD and psu.

 

[kanishka]

hey , I tried it .. still same thing. I'm so confused now!! Shall i take it to some computer shop or something??? Is there any way to check if my psu is in good condition??

 

[Forceman]

It's probably nothing serious. If you've already tried reseating all the power connections (most importantly the two going to the motherboard), then you might want to try unmounting the board from the case, and just running it on the motherboard box or a wooden desk - in case there is something in the case shorting out the board. You might also want to try clearing the CMOS using the jumper on the motherboard (or button - not sure on that board).

 

[Tsuyoi]

Could either be your PSU or MoBo.