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1300-1500 dollar build

S

slayer9019

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
1,599
A co-worker is asking me to help with a new build. He's got a massive 1300-1500 dollar budget....I've never had this much to start with to build a new rig so have no idea where to start....what you guys think?

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Internet, word, games (fallout 3 NV, Far Cry 2, Crysis,ect)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
1500 max but would like 1300

3) Where do you live?

North Jersey

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.

Case
PSU
Mobo
CPU
RAM
GPU
HDD(s)
Optical Drive

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Monitor (32" 1080p), keyboard, mouse

6) Will you be overclocking?
Not right now at least

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
32" 1920x1080

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

By December
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.

Just eSata

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes (win x64 Ultimate)

 
Come back in a week. By then Newegg's combo deals will be fully fleshed out and we can really get your friend some good parts for the money.
 
slayer9019 said:
I was thinking something 9XX or 8XX since my 860 has been pure bliss for gaming (see specs). I did no research on the i5 series. Whats the benefits?
Click to expand...
Furystrike said:
You lose HT. +1 vote for an overclocked 930/950
Click to expand...
The Core i5 750 has a significantly better price to performance ratio. Simply put: despite that lack of HT, the Core i5 750/760 still performs as well as the Core i7 920/930/950 and the Core i7 860/870 in games.

The 2.8Ghz Core i7 930 only provides about a 2 to 5FPS difference over the Core i5 750 as shown in this review:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gaming_the_core_debate,1.html

Additional proof: The $1040 3.3Ghz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU is only 15% to 30% faster than the Core i5 750 with only a specific set of games and video cards:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpus-and-games-2010.html

So considering the the i7 975 is faster than the i7 930 and i7 950 and yet only provides 15% to 30% under the most ideal conditions, the Core i7 930/950 is definitely not gonna be that much faster than the i5 750 or i5 760. At least fast enough to justify the higher costs anyway. In addition, there's very little real world difference between triple channel and dual channel RAM in real world apps and games.

So platform wise, you can save around $150 to $200 if you switch to the Core i7 750/760 route and still get very similar performance in games. Dunno about you but $150 to $250 is too high for minimal gains in gaming. It'll only extend the life of your PC by 2 months at most.

So unless your friend wants a triple Crossfire or SLI setup, he's better off with a Core i5 setup that'll allow for a SSD and faster GPU within budget
 
i did a quick check

Lian Li PC-7FN
Raptor 150gb
Sapphire HD 5850 Cypress Pro
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 6GB (3 x 2GB)
EVGA X58 FTW3
Intel Core i7-950

1394ish
 
Danny Bui said:
The Core i5 750 has a significantly better price to performance ratio. Simply put: despite that lack of HT, the Core i5 750/760 still performs as well as the Core i7 920/930/950 and the Core i7 860/870 in games.

The 2.8Ghz Core i7 930 only provides about a 2 to 5FPS difference over the Core i5 750 as shown in this review:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gaming_the_core_debate,1.html

Additional proof: The $1040 3.3Ghz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU is only 15% to 30% faster than the Core i5 750 with only a specific set of games and video cards:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpus-and-games-2010.html

So considering the the i7 975 is faster than the i7 930 and i7 950 and yet only provides 15% to 30% under the most ideal conditions, the Core i7 930/950 is definitely not gonna be that much faster than the i5 750 or i5 760. At least fast enough to justify the higher costs anyway. In addition, there's very little real world difference between triple channel and dual channel RAM in real world apps and games.

So platform wise, you can save around $150 to $200 if you switch to the Core i7 750/760 route and still get very similar performance in games. Dunno about you but $150 to $250 is too high for minimal gains in gaming. It'll only extend the life of your PC by 2 months at most.

So unless your friend wants a triple Crossfire or SLI setup, he's better off with a Core i5 setup that'll allow for a SSD and faster GPU within budget
Click to expand...

thanks for the very informative post!

I guess since he doesnt need SLI/CF, or do the things I do which I like the HT for. I do understand that the extra virtual cores arent used, but i guess I'm thinking about as if I was buying it. Oh well, I guess that's why its best to ask a 3rd party.
 
Your proposed build looks good enough, except for the hard drive. I notice that your list only contains one 150gb velociraptor drive. I don't know about you, but I think for your coworkers budget of 1.3-1.5k you can do a lot better storage wise than one 150gb drive. The velociraptor 150gb isn't even that much faster than a quick 7200 rpm drive, and two quick 7200rpm drives in raid 0 will give you way faster speeds while giving you a lot more storage space. I personally have two WD 640gb blacks in raid 0 and it smokes the results I've seen for velociraptors while giving me 1280gb storage vs 150gb.
 
Almighty ODST said:
Your proposed build looks good enough, except for the hard drive. I notice that your list only contains one 150gb velociraptor drive. I don't know about you, but I think for your coworkers budget of 1.3-1.5k you can do a lot better storage wise than one 150gb drive. The velociraptor 150gb isn't even that much faster than a quick 7200 rpm drive, and two quick 7200rpm drives in raid 0 will give you way faster speeds while giving you a lot more storage space. I personally have two WD 640gb blacks in raid 0 and it smokes the results I've seen for velociraptors while giving me 1280gb storage vs 150gb.
Click to expand...

Yea like I said I was flying through that config, I just wanted to throw something up with the rough idea I have on paper.

When I asked him what kind of storage he wants, he told me he uses half of his 80gig now! WTF!?!? All of his media storage goes on a few external eSata drives, but even then it is almost minuscule, and not his. (gf)
 
slayer9019 said:
i did a quick check

Lian Li PC-7FN
Raptor 150gb
Sapphire HD 5850 Cypress Pro
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 6GB (3 x 2GB)
EVGA X58 FTW3
Intel Core i7-950

1394ish
Click to expand...
Not a good build at all. You can definitely get more performance out of that budget. The only items worth salvaging from that list is the case and PSU. Everything else has got to go.
 
Danny Bui said:
Not a good build at all. You can definitely get more performance out of that budget. The only items worth salvaging from that list is the case and PSU. Everything else has got to go.
Click to expand...

no i7 or corsiar DDR3, or EVGA mobo???

I have 2 EVGA boards and love em. They are really solid hardware.
 
slayer9019 said:
no i7 or corsiar DDR3, or EVGA mobo???

I have 2 EVGA boards and love em. They are really solid hardware.
Click to expand...

IMHO the i7-950 is worth it only if you're buying from Microcenter. Otherwise, that CPU by itself costs $100 more than an i5-760.

Second, that EVGA FTW3 motherboard costs at least $100 more than a relatively high-priced LGA 1156 P55 motherboard.

Third, spending the extra $200+ on a platform that will only see one new CPU for it before being officially EOL'd is pound-foolish.

Fourth, the Dominators cost way too much money for so little RAM, especially since you can get the XMS3 kit for significantly less.

Fifth, the 150GB Raptor is not even a Velociraptor, so its sequential performance is slower than even a current-generation 5400 rpm hard drive.

Finally, the 5850 is no longer cost-effective considering the newer 6870 is priced at almost the same price point.
 
E4g1e said:
IMHO the i7-950 is worth it only if you're buying from Microcenter. Otherwise, that CPU by itself costs $100 more than an i5-760.

Second, that EVGA FTW3 motherboard costs at least $100 more than a relatively high-priced LGA 1156 P55 motherboard.

Third, spending the extra $200+ on a platform that will only see one new CPU for it before being officially EOL'd is pound-foolish.

Fourth, the Dominators cost way too much money for so little RAM, especially since you can get the XMS3 kit for significantly less.

Fifth, the 150GB Raptor is not even a Velociraptor, so its sequential performance is slower than even a current-generation 5400 rpm hard drive.

Finally, the 5850 is no longer cost-effective considering the newer 6870 is priced at almost the same price point.
Click to expand...
QFT.

I already explained very clearly earlier that an i7 setup doesn't provide that much of a performance increase over a i5 750 setup. In addition, even if you were going for a Core i7 950 setup, the RAM and mobo you chose was still a piss poor choice for the money. As stated earlier, Dominator RAM are rarely worth the money. They're very overpriced. The eVGA mobo was also overpriced compared to other socket 1366 mobos. It wasn't a question of quality at all: it's simply that eVGA mobo is overpriced for what it offers.

A quick example build:
$195 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$140 - Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$134 - 2 x G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$480 - 2 x PowerColor AX6870 1GBD5-M2DH Radeon HD 6870 1GB PCI-E Video CArd
$70 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - LG GH22NS40 DVD Burner
$120 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 750W PSU
$85 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
----
Total: $1242 plus tax and shipping.

It's ~$150 cheaper than your planned setup but has:
- Equally fast CPU for gaming
- The above mobo is slightly overkill but still a better bang for the buck than other mobos
- 2GB more RAM
- Significantly faster GPU performance
- Significantly faster hard drive
- Better quality PSU
- Better case for dual-GPUs setup.

So yeah, your planned setup is crap for the money. And the above setup isn't even taking into account combo deals that'll either drive the price down even further or get you better parts for the money.
 
Last edited:
Danny, might want to add a 2 x before the ram. But totally agreed with what Danny and E4g1e have said. Also, it seems like you live in Jersey, so hit up that Microcenter in Paterson!
 
wonSR4 said:
Danny, might want to add a 2 x before the ram. But totally agreed with what Danny and E4g1e have said. Also, it seems like you live in Jersey, so hit up that Microcenter in Paterson!
Click to expand...

Yes, and even at Microcenter, the i5-760 ($170) still costs $60 less than the ($230) i7-950 (and that's for the CPU alone).
 
Last edited:
nice build. i will show him...i might tweak it a little. After asking him he was kinda dead-set on the i7 simply because everyone here in the office has one (or two).
 
slayer9019 said:
nice build. i will show him...i might tweak it a little. After asking him he was kinda dead-set on the i7 simply because everyone here in the office has one (or two).
Click to expand...

Well a middle ground would be the i7 860 or i7 870 and seeing if either are discounted at Microcenter. i7 + socket LGA 1156 is less of a waste of money than i7 + socket 1366
 
Since the build that Danny suggested is below the proposed budget BEFORE combo deals, why not spend an extra 30 or so and get a more efficient power supply? Just an idea, it's not absolutely necessary, seeing as the Antec he linked is good, but it would make for more efficient use. The HX-750 from corsair is an excellent choice and after MIR @ the egg right now it is 129.99+5.99 shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&Tpk=hx-750

A review that shows the hx-750 is better than aforementioned Antec TP-750:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-HX750W-Power-Supply-Review/775/10


edit:didn't see TP is modular too so I erased that from the paragraph above.
 
$30 for efficiency? Unless this dude is worried about saving a few pennies a month on his electric bill, wasted money IMO.
 
sugosugita said:
$30 for efficiency? Unless this dude is worried about saving a few pennies a month on his electric bill, wasted money IMO.
Click to expand...

Actually, it would be dimes worth of difference. Still, at $30 higher it would take two to three years for that PSU to pay for itself through energy savings.
 
E4g1e said:
Actually, it would be dimes worth of difference. Still, at $30 higher it would take two to three years for that PSU to pay for itself through energy savings.
Click to expand...

lol yeah I think we're on the same page here:p
 
Two big issues here. First, it doesn't look like the computer will be doing anything to keep four cores occupied. I'd make sure it had four, if only to avoid the huge hit in performance on oddballs like GTA4. At least look at the AMD PII series.

Second, why two 6850s? Check the review: 3/4 times they were using 2560x1600 or higher, the other 1920x1200 with all visual options at maximum. As long as you are using a 1920x1080 display, you won't see much improvement, if any, going past a single 6850.

Finally, now that you've stopped spending money to get the computer to hurry up and wait faster, where to put it? Most likely, a SSD (get the computer to stop waiting for mechanical parts to finish moving before doing anything). Which one is your choice, deals change faster than I can post. Personally, I'd also look into some sort of RAID system for the hard drives. Buy 3 somewhat smaller hard drives and get both higher performance and the peace of mind that a hard drive failure doesn't mean data loss.

E4g1e said:
Actually, it would be dimes worth of difference. Still, at $30 higher it would take two to three years for that PSU to pay for itself through energy savings.
Click to expand...

Personally, I would happily break even (I keep my machines longer than 2-3 years) if that meant I didn't have to deal with a computer acting as a space heater in the summer. Unfortunately, this only lets me break even to let the computer act 10% less like a space heater, but it still might be worth it.
 
Wumpus said:
Two big issues here. First, it doesn't look like the computer will be doing anything to keep four cores occupied. I'd make sure it had four, if only to avoid the huge hit in performance on oddballs like GTA4. At least look at the AMD PII series.
Click to expand...

Umm, the Core i5 750 CPU I recommended is a quad-core CPU. And there are plenty of current games that takes advantage of quad-cores like BF:BC2, ME2, SupCom 2, etc


Wumpus said:
Second, why two 6850s? Check the review: 3/4 times they were using 2560x1600 or higher, the other 1920x1200 with all visual options at maximum. As long as you are using a 1920x1080 display, you won't see much improvement, if any, going past a single 6850.
Click to expand...

Which review? Oh and I used two 6870s, not 6850s. In any case, even if you were right, I merely placed two HD 6870s in the build to showcase how poor of a setup the OP had originially made from a price to performance standpoint. The OP's origninal planned setup was so horribly priced and chosen for the money. I had to show him that a much better setup for the money.
 
E4g1e said:
Actually, it would be dimes worth of difference. Still, at $30 higher it would take two to three years for that PSU to pay for itself through energy savings.
Click to expand...

Who doesn't keep their PSU for longer than that? I realize that short term the savings seem negligible but seeing as the HX 750 has a 7 year warranty, unless you upgrade past the point of 750 watts, you're going to get many years of use out of it. Like I said though, the Antec linked is good enough, but AR and shipping the hx750 is technically only ~$15 more and you're getting less heat and money savings on the bill over time.
 
So i am more of a newb for the price-point on new full ground-up systems than I thought.

After reviewing all the posts and talking with my co-worker I am going to make up a new list and see what it looks like. Im not much of a gamer so I'm not up to snuff with what plays better with what.

He also said he doesnt want to spend money much on a case since its going into a desk slot.

Possible AMD Build:

AMD Phenom X4 965 Black 3.4ghz - 159.99
Asus M4A89GTD PRO - 149.99
Sapphire HD 6870 x2 - 479.98
G.Skill Ripjaws 8gb 4x2 DDR3 1600 - 179.99
Kingston SSDNow V Series 64gb - 159.99
Samsung Ecogreen 1tb x2 - 119.98

Tax+Ship = 1320.02
 
Last edited:
You can still do better than that:

$290 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AMD 890GX ATX Motherboard Combo
$134 - 2 x G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$480 - 2 x Asus EAH6870/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$140 - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SSD
$140 - 2 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - LG GH22NS40 DVD Burner
$130 - Corsair 850TX 850W PSU
$85 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
---
Total: $1417 plus tax and shipping

Some notes:
- Since you're going AMD, zero reason to get DDR3 1600 RAM. DDR3 1333 RAM will be just fine.

- Asus provides better support and a longer warranty than Sapphire

- The OCZ Vertex 2 SSD is faster, better quality, and is backed by a more reputable manufacturer when it comes to SSDs than the Kingston 64GB SSD.

- I know your friemd said he didn't want to spend too much on a case but the Coolermster 690 II case is the minimum I'd recommend for a dual-GPU setup. If your friend wants to be cheap on the case, then ditch the second HD 6870 and go for a single card. After that, get this case:
$40 - Cooler Master Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 ATX Case

- Went with the Corsair 850TX for a little extra headroom for overclocking.

- That CPU + mobo combo provides you with an updated version of the mobo you chose but for $20 less.

- More than likely you'll have to install some apps on the 1TB drives, Hence why I went with faster hard drives just in case.
 
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