~$1500 gaming and general use build

C

cinohpa

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
288
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

This is a PC for my brother. He likes to play games and watches movies so those are the primary uses, but he's young and I want to be able to let the computer grow with his needs a little.

The last machine I built for someone lasted for 10 years. It started as a great gaming PC and then became a 'family appliance' for more basic web browsing and fileserving. I'd like to be able to achieve something similar with this machine.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

~1500 all together. +/- is OK and I can go a little over for a compelling reason.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Massachusetts, USA.

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.

I need case, harddrive, monitor, graphics card, psu, ram, mobo, cpu and operating system.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

I do have a case I could reuse if that helps me make budget. I also have cd/dvd drives and speakers.

6) Will you be overclocking?

Probably not, but I'm willing to spend a little more on a system that will allow it for playing around in the future.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

1920 x 1080. I'm thinking of a 27'' so the machine can double as a bit of a theatre. 24'' is also OK.

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

ASAP! As soon as I finalize a parts list, I will order and build.

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)? UEFI? etc.

RAID is a nice-to-have. None of the others are dire, but SATA 6Gb/s would be nice. Crossfire/sli are probably unnecessary as I doubt the machine will ever have more than one gfx card.

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

Need a new windows 7 64bit. I think Professional will be enough to use all the ram I want?


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To be more concrete here is a rough list of parts I was thinking of. It's a little over budget, but I only shopped newegg for convenience. Choosing newegg was a little arbitrary. Willing to buy from whomever, particularly to catch some deals.


150 mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
220 cpu: Intel Core i7-3570K
30 cpu cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct
74ram: G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) SDRAM DDR3 1333
85 hd : SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 ST1000DM005/HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
360 gfx card : GTX 670
90psu : SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
185 mon: Asus VE248H Black 24"
140 os : windows professional 64 bit

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1322 total

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I basically accepted all of skillz suggestions and then took some of the other suggestions people posted later on in the forum. Now I'm well enough below budget to see if one of Danny's bang-for-buck cases strikes my fancy.

@athenian, how much ram do normal people use? I have 24gb in my machine and I use it. I'm a researcher though and sometimes I have to implement very inefficient algorithms to test things. I also use linux and have ~10 desktops running which eats a surprising amount of memory. I've been very tempted to buy more!

Also, I have owned (basically) both of the monitors you suggested. The BenQ broke after about.... 3 years? The Asuses (I have 2 now) are still going strong after 4+.

Thanks again everyone for the excellent input! I think I'll pick out a case and pull the trigger.
 
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Not a fan of that case, IMHO better cases for the money and cheaper.

CPU is more than just over kill for his needs, for a gaming rig it will never get used to it's full potential. Get the 3570k, will free up money for a better GPU that will benefit you more in a gaming rig.

That heatsink is way too much money for "I might want to overclock later" budget, in fact it's too much money for "I want to overclock now" budget. Get the CM 212+ cooler for $30 or the Evo version for $35. Will free up more money for a better GPU. Something you'll actually benefit from.

Graphics card, as mentioned above with the money saved spring for the 670.

PSU is not only overkill, its way too much money. Get the Seasonic X650 for $90; it's on sale right now at a steal. It too is overkill for your needs, but it's nearly half the price. Will save money for a better GPU.


No the fan is not necessary if you aren't overclocking. Assuming you're referring to the Noctua CPU Cooler.

Depends on the GPU budget. Both AMD and Nvidia have cards that are good for various budget levels. With your budget, I'd get a 670.

Yes it's overkill even for 5 hdds, so is that X650 I recommended. IMHO, if i was going to go larger than 24" I'd go higher than 1080P as well. Just my personal preference though.

Not really. People are still rocking W7 for the most part.
 
Here's a list of better bang for the buck cases:
$65 - Corsair Carbide Series 300R ATX Case
$80 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002GR Black Finish w/Green Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White ATX Case
$126 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black ATX Case
$123 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$125 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$168 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$168 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case
$240 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case
$245 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW ATX Case
 
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I would do a 24 in 16:10 1920x1200 screen instead of a 1080 screen personally. Asus makes an amazing IPS 24 in for a really good price (heh, i even own it).

Also, jump on a gtx670 or gtx660ti cuz they are as low as ever.
 
cinohpa said:
180 case: cooler master haf x
Click to expand...

http://store.antec.com/Product/benclosure/nine-hundred-two/0-761345-45005-8.aspx

I would get this one... even NEW at Newegg, it's cheaper than what you had picked out, and Antec's B-stock/refurbished stuff is fine.

80 cpu fan: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
Click to expand...

Wow, you don't need an expensive fan like THAT just to overclock a little. Maybe if you're going for something like 4.8GHz, but then you'd need a way better motherboard. For a cheaper ASUS like that, this fan should be sufficent for getting most of the OC potential out of it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

74 ram: 2x G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Click to expand...

$74 for 16GB of CAS 9 DDR1333, seriously?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231609

Why not just get this kit? Same price, better performance... if you're serious about going 16GB.



330 monitor : ViewSonic VX2703MH-LED Black 27" 3ms HDMI Widescreen LED
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's... not a great deal at all.

I'd get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014299

Or this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236102

Depending on your preferences.
140 os : windows professional 64 bit
Click to expand...

Windows 8 is a lot more forgiving with 64-bit systems, but here are two choices that will save you $40-$50.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...la-_-NA-_-NA&gclid=CMTWyfe_urQCFQinPAodfFYAxg

If you go with this, you can only use 16GB RAM. If you don't plan to upgrade to 32GB in the future, it's fine... but if you DO, then go with this.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...kwCjCV1-CjCE&gclid=CObS1LPAurQCFeiPPAodMxoAxQ

It's just like Windows 7 under the hood, except it supports 128GB on x64 architecture. If you don't like Metro, there are free programs to reinstate the start menu and tweak it back... but it's not unbearable. It's not worth spending $40 to avoid Metro. There's a lot of FUD going around about Windows 8, but every Windows 7 program I've used on it has worked, at worst it requires a little tweaking.

Besides, they're raising the prices next year, and you'll probably have to get it eventually...
 
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Thanks everyone. I've amalgamated your suggestions and input and updated the op.
 
Wait hang on: How far are you away from this Microcenter location?
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/cambridge.aspx

cinohpa said:
@athenian, how much ram do normal people use? I have 24gb in my machine and I use it. I'm a researcher though and sometimes I have to implement very inefficient algorithms to test things. I also use linux and have ~10 desktops running which eats a surprising amount of memory. I've been very tempted to buy more!
Click to expand...
Roughly 4GB of RAM. If you're on this site, you probably need around 8GB of RAM on average. Yes your RAM usage is definitely beyond "normal".
 
I am close to that microcenter. I've been there a few times.

Yeah... I guess I believe the ~8 gb for enthusiast use. I've written programs which have >16gb in one C array studying these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laver_table and if you do anything in python, the memory overhead can be significant for scientific stuff.
 
Then don't buy the CPU and mobo from Newegg then if you can buy before the 31st. At Microcenter, you can get that same CPU and mobo for a combined total of ~$290 plus tax. Also, I would order that PSU today as well. You won't get many intelligent reasons why you shouldn't buy that Seasonic.
 
cinohpa said:
@athenian, how much ram do normal people use? I have 24gb in my machine and I use it. I'm a researcher though and sometimes I have to implement very inefficient algorithms to test things. I also use linux and have ~10 desktops running which eats a surprising amount of memory. I've been very tempted to buy more!
Click to expand...

Gamers and enthusiasts usually use around 8GB, and it's been that way for a couple of years... some of them have found a use for 16GB now, and that is slowly becoming the new standard. Probably will be by some time in 2014. However, there are certain applications, like stuff researchers do, running several VMs, etc, that could probably go over even that.

You should keep in mind that Z77 boards in general can't use more than 32GB (4 x 8GB) of RAM... if for any reason you wanted to go over that, you'd need a server class motherboard.

You should also keep in mind that if you're running highly threaded applications, You may actually want to go with a Core i7. i5 is more enough for gaming, but it lacks HyperThreading which may have an impact on research/development/design applications. I mean, it's still a quad core, and will probably be enough, but an i7 might show an advantage in those kind of applications. It will have none in gaming, though.

For gaming, though... anything over 8GB and an i5 is too much. THIS year, anyway.

Also, I have owned (basically) both of the monitors you suggested. The BenQ broke after about.... 3 years? The Asuses (I have 2 now) are still going strong after 4+.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've heard a lot more good things about the Asus monitors.
 
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athenian200 said:
For gaming, though... anything over 8GB and an i5 is too much. THIS year, anyway.
Click to expand...


Sadly Hyper Threading is nothing new, it's been around for YEARS now and games still do not take advantage of it; I don't foresee that changing anytime soon either. Games seem to be starting to take advantage of more cores than HT. So if I was to bet on which technology would see a better benefit in future games it would be more cores over HT.
 
Skillz said:
Sadly Hyper Threading is nothing new, it's been around for YEARS now and games still do not take advantage of it; I don't foresee that changing anytime soon either. Games seem to be starting to take advantage of more cores than HT. So if I was to bet on which technology would see a better benefit in future games it would be more cores over HT.
Click to expand...

That statement was more directed at 8GB RAM than at HyperThreading. I'm sure games and other applications will find a way to use more RAM long before they find a way to use more cores or HyperThreading, if only because programmers are getting sloppier and programs ever more bloated.
 
My personal preference goes out to Corsair cases due to my great experiences with building in them.

I've also cut some pretty hefty costs by opting for an i5 and putting the extra bucks towards a better GPU (potentially aftermarket coolers).

Just my two cents...
 
I definitely agree that it should be easier to take advantage of more ram than more cores. Big companies still get multithreading wrong in their programs..... To be fair, multithreaded programming is very difficult and I think the right way to do it is to bake it in to smarter complier rather than leaving it in the hands of the average programmer.

I'll opt for the higher ram but an i5 core and put the savings towards a better video card than what I suggested when I put up the first version of the build. Getting the extra 8gb doesn't cost that much anyways.

I actually think I saved enough for a decent case. After looking at the case I wanted to reuse it looks like it will be a pain to work with. I still can't figure out how I ever got the power supply in their when I first built the thing.

Does anyone have any case suggestions outside of the list DannyBui suggested? Or does anyone want to second his recommendations?
 
Go with a AMD 8350. Nice pretty mb. 8gb ram. Decent name brand psu. Couple ssd or sshd. And crossfire/sli gpus. Nice case. You can build a very kick ass computer for even $1000 nowadays. If your lazy dont feel like building yourself check out http://www.digitalstormonline.com, they have some nice builds for sale.
 
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