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$1000 Gaming Rig

T

tonytnnt

Gawd
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
871
As a preface, what I'm going for is a gaming machine that will play the games listed below at acceptable frame rates (for FPS preferably 60 fps) and moderate to high graphical quality, preferably at my display's native resolution. If my budget is insufficient to meet those goals please let me know what is realistic -- my hardware knowledge is rusty.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming and rarely transcoding video. Games I currently play are Eve Online, TF2, BF:BC2, Starcraft 2. Games I am looking forward to are Portal 2, Diablo 3, and Battlefield 3. Infrequently I use Handbrake to transcode video. I will do the bulk of my web browsing on my Macbook.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Approx $725, tax and shipping included, but I do have Amazon Prime which saves me from both. Newegg also doesn't charge taxes.
3) Where do you live?
Omaha, NE (68154) No Microcenters or Fry's nearby.
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.
CPU, GPU, HDD, motherboard, power supply, CPU cooler (not opposed to stock), DVD or BD-ROM.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Antec 300 (got it for $20 with combo codes after MIR, I couldn't believe it), GSkill Value Series 2x4GB 1333 DDR3, Logitech G500, old Logitech wireless keyboard
6) Will you be overclocking?
I have not overclocked systems in the past, but I'm not opposed to doing moderate air cooled overclocks.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
NEC 23" IPS EA231WMi 1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Between now and the middle of April.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Firewire 400 might be helpful for a few legacy items, but isn't required. 6 Gb/s SATA and USB 3.0 would be nice, but not necessary.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I do not have a reusable license. Please include any license costs in the budget.

I'd like this computer to be unobtrusive since it will likely be put under or beside a desk in my den. While silence isn't required, I also don't want to be sitting next to a leaf blower that illuminates the entire room.

I don't have any allegiance to Intel, AMD, or nVidia. I'll try Crossfire/SLI, but I would prefer to get a GPU that is good enough now and then upgrade with a new single card solution when required.

Items I have yet to buy are:
CPU: Intel i2500k $220 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Motherboard: ????
GPU: XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB $180 after MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506
HDD: ???? 1 TB
PSU: XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W $50 after MIR and coupon http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207002
DVD: ???
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM $90 after coupon http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
Total: $540 before undecided items. Also, I need to jump on the PSU very, very soon and I'm ordering the OS tonight since I'm fairly certain it won't go lower than $90 outside of a combo deal. I'd like to get the CPU soon because of the Shogun 2 combo (effectively saves me $40 versus buying it seperately.)
 
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Do you actually need all of the features of Windows 7 Pro? In other words, what about Pro makes it worth the extra $30 to $40 to you?

Oh and ditch that case and go with this better case:
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case

RAM wise, ditch that A-Data RAM as its max voltage of 1.75V exceeds normal Core i7 and Core i5 RAM voltage. Aim for RAM that uses 1.5V. Since you're going with a Core i5-2500K setup, you'll be just fine with DDR3 1333 RAM:
$41 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
 
Any thoughts on $55 G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ? http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1580788 It's the afternoon shellshocker.

My main reason for going Pro would be to have the ability to do network backups. I'm hoping to get a NAS up and running in the near future and hopefully have my Time Machine backups for my laptop and Windows 7 Backup and Restore on there.
 
Just updated my thread with what I've done thus far. I'm still waiting on Sandy Bridge motherboards to come back in force but my next step is jumping on this power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207002 (the XFX I included above) which has an extra $10 off coupon code. I'm also considering the 2500k with the Shogun 2 combo since that effectively makes the 2500k cost $180. I think I can get a decent 1 TB HDD for $55 to $65, and a DVD drive for $18, which leaves about $120 to $130 for a motherboard. Any ideas? Is that PSU a pile of crap that isn't worth $50?
 
The Asus P8P67 LE rev 3 looks like a good board, unlike the biostar it supports USB 3.0, firewire, and sata 6gb. And I have always had good luck with asus when it comes to stability, reliability, and overclocking.
 
shawnmramsey said:
The Asus P8P67 LE rev 3 looks like a good board, unlike the biostar it supports USB 3.0, firewire, and sata 6gb. And I have always had good luck with asus when it comes to stability, reliability, and overclocking.
Click to expand...

The Asus p8p67 LE rev 3 is also 15 bucks more & out of stock. And if you really want Firewire it can be added to the biostar for less then the 15 dollar difference.
 
I like both of those options. Any opinions on the MSI or Gigabyte boards? I can stretch the budget up another $30 (to about $150 for the motherboard) if it means the difference between doing it right and scraping by. So far I think the Biostar will meet my needs, especially since I have an old firewire PCI card somewhere. The major things I'm concerned about are stability and minor overclocking while staying within the budget. Maybe it would be better to get the Biostar and spend a little more on a heat sink?
 
bastage said:
The Asus p8p67 LE rev 3 is also 15 bucks more & out of stock. And if you really want Firewire it can be added to the biostar for less then the 15 dollar difference.
Click to expand...

True, but I have always had the best luck with asus, that's why I suggested it, also I did not see anywhere that he was exclusively purchasing from newegg. It's available here.
 
shawnmramsey said:
True, but I have always had the best luck with asus, that's why I suggested it, also I did not see anywhere that he was exclusively purchasing from newegg. It's available here.
Click to expand...

I have had good luck with Asus as well. Very good infact. That said the price gap becomes even larger when you order from that link you posted due to over 10 bucks in shipping. And to be honest about it I have been rather impressed with biostar as of late. They have been making some solid boards at very attractive prices.
 
Still haven't gotten a motherboard. I've been watching a thread in the motherboard forum about OCing on an MSI P67A-GD55 and it's very appealing for its price point. I just jumped on this deal (links to the [H]otdeals forum today though. I just need the motherboard, hard drive, and dvd drive now (I'll probably order them over the weekend.)
 
$220 - Intel Core i5-2500k with Shogun 2: Total War
$140 - MSI P67A-G45 Motherboard
$189 (before $30 MIR) - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870
$80 (before $30 MIR) - XFX XXX Edition P1-650X-CAG9 650W
$55 - G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$55 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
$23 - LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer
$90 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
$30 (before $10 MIR) - Antec Three Hundred

Subtotal: $882
Shipping: $8
Total: $890
Total after MIRs: $820

I built it this weekend, pictures to follow.
 
Nice! Im looking at a similar build and that motherboard looks ideal! Let me know how that works out for you!
gl!
 
Well, here are a couple shots. I'll try and get some screen shots of benchmarks and the like soon. I've honestly been having too much fun playing Bad Company 2 and having it run smoothly to perform any benchmark tests. :D

I'm not crazy about how the cable management turned out. The EPS 12V cable isn't long enough to reach without going over the video card, and the Antec 300's front audio cable isn't long enough to tuck away either. A 4" SATA cable to run from the motherboard to the HDD would help too, but I can't seem to find any. Also the preinstalled fans use 4 pin Molex connectors and the back fan's cable is just barely too short to run behind the 3.5" drive bays.





Overall I thought the PSU was good (but not great) for cabling. I don't know why they would have both an 8-pin EPS12V and a 4/8-pin ATX12V on the permanent set of cables. Since they did, I'm left with some cables that I have to tie up at the bottom. Otherwise the modular portion works pretty well.

I'm very impressed with the MSI P67A-G45. Right out of the box it's a pretty good-looking motherboard (not that aesthetics are terribly important in a non-windowed case.) The PCIe x16 slots are arranged well. You'll never block all of your PCI or PCIe x1 slots, for example. An advantage I discovered the G45 has over the G43 is an internal USB 3.0 header (and a Firewire 400 header.) It even comes with a 2-port USB 3.0 bracket should I ever need another two ports in the back. I haven't tried overclocking yet (expect that later.) The manual covered everything I needed during assembly and explains things fairly well.

The UEFI BIOS is pretty good, but could be better. I had to read the manual to make sure I was navigating it correctly. Eventually I realized I needed to "Load the Optimized Defaults" to get through to the desktop. (Before I screwed with any settings I wanted to do a BIOS update, which was very easy using the MSI desktop utility.) Unfortunately some of the programs piss off UAC at startup (e.g. the Supercharger utility, which increases the amperage on the appropriate USB port when iPads/iPhones are connected.)

Obviously there's room for improvement, but that's what next time is for right? I'll try to get a few benchmarks run in the next few days or get some FPS readings from some games.
 
Yeah thats why we recommend the Coolermaster HAF 912 over the Antec 300 due to the very cable management issues you're having.

But good to see the build is working.
 
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