$1200 build - need suggestions -

enyownz

enyownz

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hey guys,
I Really need some suggestions on what to buy for my new build. My budget is $1200 and i was hoping to go core i7. Anything you guys can suggest would be awesome. I can buy i7 920 for $200 from my local microcenter, so i guess $1000 would be left for everything else.
 
Uh, you'll need to provide a lot more information than that for us to help. See sticky.
 
1) I will be using it for gaming (Left 4 Dead 2 and Modern Warfare 2).
2) $1200 (tax and shipping included)
3) New York City
4) I need basically all parts except OS.
5) Not reusing any parts.
6) I will not be overclocking as soon as i get my system, however i will down the line 5-6 months.
7) I have a 23" Samsung 1080p monitor.
8) Before end of January.
9) Nothing really specific but might want to Raid 0 couple of SSD's and crossfire/sli later on.
10) Yes i have legitimate copy of windows 7 waiting on this build.
 
Next step would be to pick out a case you like. If you picked a gigantic monster vs a tiny SFF - your options could be dramatically different.

Also, if you want an SSD and a good GPU, that would tough to fit into your budget as it would cost probably 1/2 of it right there.
 
no ssd is needed. Might be an upgrade down the line. The case i have in mind really takes a huge portion of my budget. I had my heart set on the lian li pc-p60 which is like $250 with shipping from frozencpu. If you have any other suggestions let me know.
 
That case seems to be deactivated on Newegg. If you can find it elsewhere, and you have your mind set, then you might as well get it.

That case supports ATX mobos, so you have the full breadth of motherboard options. Do you have a Microcenter nearby? Intel or AMD?
 
If this is just for gaming, I'd suggest dropping down to a P55 based build instead...

$360 - XFX HD-585A-ZNBC HD5850
$150 - Intel Core i5 750 @ MC
$135 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 USB3.0 SATA600
$100 - TP-650 650W 80+ Certified
$95 - 4GB F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
$80 - Samsung F3 1TB
$30 - SATA DVDRW
$30 - CM Hyper 212+ HSF
========
$980 + tax and shipping

And add whatever case you decide on. The PC-P60 looks like an Antec 1200 knockoff, except all aluminum, hehe.
 
enginurd said:
If this is just for gaming, I'd suggest dropping down to a P55 based build instead...

$360 - XFX HD-585A-ZNBC HD5850
$150 - Intel Core i5 750 @ MC
$135 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 USB3.0 SATA600
$100 - TP-650 650W 80+ Certified
$95 - 4GB F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
$80 - Samsung F3 1TB
$30 - SATA DVDRW
$30 - CM Hyper 212+ HSF
========
$980 + tax and shipping

And add whatever case you decide on. The PC-P60 looks like an Antec 1200 knockoff, except all aluminum, hehe.
Click to expand...

This looks very good.
 
enyownz said:
yeah, its available on frozencpu.com.
Click to expand...

Oops, didn't see you had a Microcenter nearby. So here's the rest of your $1k budget:

i7 920 - $200 @ MC
Asus Rampage II Gene or Asus P6T/ EVGA X58 SLI/Micro- $210-$220 lots of places (EVGA would be my choice)
Corsair HX750 or Seasonic M12D - $140ish Newegg
Samsung Spinpoint F3 or WD Caviar Black - $55+ Newegg
XFX 5850 - $309 Newegg
Gskill Ripjaws DDR3 - 4GB for $100 @ Newegg, faster modules and up to 6GB up to $200.
Sony Optiarc DVD-RW - $27 Newegg

Total = $1041,
 
MJZ said:
Oops, didn't see you had a Microcenter nearby. So here's the rest of your $1k budget:

i7 920 - $200 @ MC
Asus Rampage II Gene or Asus P6T/ EVGA X58 SLI/Micro- $210-$220 lots of places (EVGA would be my choice)
Corsair HX750 or Seasonic M12D - $140ish Newegg
Samsung Spinpoint F3 or WD Caviar Black - $55+ Newegg
XFX 5850 - $309 Newegg
Gskill Ripjaws DDR3 - 4GB for $100 @ Newegg, faster modules and up to 6GB up to $200.
Sony Optiarc DVD-RW - $27 Newegg

Total = $1041,
Click to expand...

That's not a good build, because you're paying $140 extra for LGA-1366, and you don't even have enough money left to take advantage of the 6GB ram and the extra memory bandwidth. Plus, the i5 build has a future-proof motherboard with USB3 and SATA 6.0 Gbps.

Why bother going i7, when the i5 build above spanks it in features and matches it in gaming? Sure, there's the possibility he might go CrossFire, but not likely at 1080p resolution.

But I will agree, there's no reason to spend more than $309 on the XFX 5850 (when it's in-stock, I might add).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150442&cm_re=5850-_-14-150-442-_-Product
 
Last edited:
defaultluser said:
That's not a good build, because you're paying $140 extra for LGA-1366, and you don't even have enough money left to take advantage of the 6GB ram and the extra memory bandwidth. Plus, the i5 build has a future-proof motherboard with USB3 and SATA 6.0 Gbps.

Why bother going i7, when the i5 build above spanks it in features and matches it in gaming? Sure, there's the possibility he might go CrossFire, but not likely at 1080p resolution.

But I will agree, there's no reason to spend more than $309 on the XFX 5850 (when it's in-stock, I might add).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150442&cm_re=5850-_-14-150-442-_-Product
Click to expand...

Well, he wants Intel and i7 (based on his first post) & Crossfire/SLI capable so..

I would also argue USB3 and SATA6 are completely useless features for the most part, especially for a gaming system. LGA 1366 offers cheaper and faster future Quads and Hex Cores later on as well.
 
True, but how much advantage does an LGA1366-based system have over an LGA1156-based system while gaming with a single GPU?

Then the OP has to decide if that minimal performance difference is worth the price difference. $140 may or may not be negligible to some people. :p

MJZ said:
... I would also argue USB3 and SATA6 are completely useless features for the most part, especially for a gaming system. ...
Click to expand...

SATA600 will improve not only gaming, but overall system performance when paired with some fast SSDs. Your computer is as fast as your slowest component, and in most modern systems, thats a mechanical HDD.
 
enginurd said:
True, but how much advantage does an LGA1366-based system have over an LGA1156-based system while gaming with a single GPU?

Then the OP has to decide if that minimal performance difference is worth the price difference. $140 may or may not be negligible to some people. :p



SATA600 will improve not only gaming, but overall system performance when paired with some fast SSDs. Your computer is as fast as your slowest component, and in most modern systems, thats a mechanical HDD.
Click to expand...

SATA 6 will improve sequential read and write, which is useless for overall speed of a system for most people. We are talking about 2nd generation SSDs like the future X25-M G3 or whatever.

Random read and writes will not saturate even close to 250mb/s of current SATA. Hey, if anyone can comes out with a drive that does 250mb + Randoms, that would be sweet. And it would be the year 2020.

Sequential read and writes are for a very small portion of people who move large amounts of data. The current Intel SSDs for instance pretty much suck at doing this. To realistically take advantage of high speed Sequentials, you are talking about Multi-thousand dollar RAID arrays of very large SSDs - completely inapplicable to most people.
 
Indeed, but it does not cost multi-thousands of dollars to saturate SATA300. :rolleyes:
 
Lot of great arguments on both sides, but right now i am looking for gaming machine (only for l4d2 and mw2) and some good speed in booting up and opening programs. I was just looking at some stuff and since 5770 can play both games at my res on full details, then it's perfect for me and with the money i save i can buy a good SSD, while staying under my budget and if i need a little more gaming performance i can get a second 5770 down the line (couple of months). What do you guys think?
 
Depends on what how much you spend for the 5770. I'm not a fan of the 5770 at the current overpriced $175+ as it's basically 1/2 the speed of a 5850.

If you're running 5770s, you don't need the PSUs I've listed. You can go with much cheaper 650 or 550W supplies.
 
Not all games scale well with SLI/CFX, and a dual card setup adds more complexity to a system. No, its not a huge issue, but personally, I'd prefer to keep systems as simple as possible, so I'd opt for a single, more powerful card instead of two lower power cards in SLI/CFX -- this allows you to save on the PSU, and sometimes the mobo.

If the HD 5770 plays the games you need at the settings you like, then I'd simply drop the HD 5850 from my list, add the 5770, and add 2x OCZ 30GB SSD's for $100AR:
$130 - OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA300 MLC SSD [FS] ($30 MIR)
$130 - OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA300 MLC SSD [FS] ($30 MIR)

That would put you at $1065 w/ two SSDs in RAID0 and the HD5770 -- still under budget.
 
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