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1500$ Gaming PC

D

DanManJ

n00b
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Messages
6
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
1500$

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

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 CPU, Mobo, Ram, Case, Power supply, SSD for windows, and video card.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I will be reusing a 1tb seagate drive for storage and a 24in asus 1920x1080 monitor

6) Will you be overclocking?
no

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
24in asus 1920x1080

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

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Depending on what video card is recommended I might need SLI.

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


I Have been doing my own research but am not quiet sure what rout to take so I wanted to ask you guys your opinion on this build. I appreciate the help.
 
Which games are you playing now? Which games do you want to play within the next six months?

What's the model number of the Seagate HDD? (Yeah, it's irrelevant, but I'm curious.)

Outside of gaming, what will you use this computer most often for?
 
tiraides said:
Which games are you playing now? Which games do you want to play within the next six months?

What's the model number of the Seagate HDD? (Yeah, it's irrelevant, but I'm curious.)

Outside of gaming, what will you use this computer most often for?
Click to expand...

The only games I am playing right now are dead island and league of legends. I am building this pc to get ready for skyrim, battlefield 3, diablo 3, SWTOR, dota 2 etc.

Outside of gaming I like to do a little video editing and web design as a hobby.

The Seagate is being given to me so i do not have it at this moment so I am unable to give you the model number.

Thank you for responding so quickly.
 
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2500k
nvidia gtx 570 (personal preference, I have had bad drivers experience with my 6850)
You could do a 6950 and save money.
8gb 1600mhz ram, or even 16gb with how cheap it is right now.
120gb ssd (crucial or intel)
ASUS P8Z68-V (personal choice, has intel nic, and wider spacing for sli so first card doens't over heat, also the z68 boards seem to have less problems than p67)
seasonic x750 or x850 (personally preference I like seasonic)
That's roughly 1000-1200 right there, if you want sli add in more for the second card, then pick your case and that will put you about $1500
 
$219.99 - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
$121.99 - GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155
$47.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$104.99 - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W
$199.99 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III
$339.99 - XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB

Total: $1034.94 minus case

Choose your own case:
$60 - NZXT Source 210 Elite ATX Case
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case
$60 - NZXT Source 210 Elite ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$113 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$110 - Fractal Design Arc Mini Tower
$120 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case

(edit, I just seen that you are being given a 1TB seagate drive, while the drive I recommended is faster, not really necessary since it'll mostly be for storage so I'd go with the 256GB SSD option)
Alternatively, I set you up with a 128GB SSD, this isn't all that large but it will hold a few games and applications. However, I do recommend going with an HDD for added storage and this is the drive I recommend:
$59.99 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM

Total with above hard drive: $1094.93 minus case

Otherwise, you have enough in your budget to get a bigger SSD such as this one:
$390.99 - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III

Total with above SSD, minus the 128GB SSD and the 1TB hard drive: $1225.94 minus case

Also I will mention that you'll see no real world performance increase when going with DDR3 1600 over DDR3 1333, so go with the cheaper DDR3 1333 to save a few dollars.

No need for CF/SLI with this setup as it will power your single display just fine. CF/SLI is really better suited towards multiple monitor setups. So save your money.
 
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Skillz said:
Also I will mention that you'll see no real world performance increase when going with DDR3 1600 over DDR3 1333, so go with the cheaper DDR3 1333 to save a few dollars.
Click to expand...

I would stay with the 1600, its like what $5 more? It will have more usability in the future if you use it in another rig and better resale for a tiny bit more upfront cost. ddr3 can't stay this cheap for much longer, ddr 2 went up after it bottomed out.

Edit: its actually like $2 more, for $2 you get to say you have 1600mhz and better resale value/reusability.
 
munkle said:
I would stay with the 1600, its like what $5 more? It will have more usability in the future if you use it in another rig and better resale for a tiny bit more upfront cost. ddr3 can't stay this cheap for much longer, ddr 2 went up after it bottomed out.
Click to expand...

But what guarantees are there that newer processors in, say, a year or two from now will stick with DDR3 1600 speeds? Or even DDR3 RAM?

I know we're long overdue on a price increase on RAM, but let's focus on the here and now. For this build, DDR3 1600 isn't needed, regardless of the relatively meager "premium."
 
tiraides said:
But what guarantees are there that newer processors in, say, a year or two from now will stick with DDR3 1600 speeds? Or even DDR3 RAM?

I know we're long overdue on a price increase on RAM, but let's focus on the here and now. For this build, DDR3 1600 isn't needed, regardless of the relatively meager "premium."
Click to expand...

It's $2... The resale value of 1600 over 1333 in a couple years will make up for the difference at very least. Also you will gain some minimal performance benefits. For only $2 there isn't much reason to go with the 1333 over the 1600. Id take the minimal performance benefits and better resale for only $2 more, and you don't get that super ugly red heatsink. I mean its $1500 he is planing to spend why skimp on ram for $2.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/6
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/5
 
It doesn't really matter how much money it costs, unless it's the same price or cheaper you wont notice a difference between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600.

So if $5 doesn't mean anything to you, you can paypal me some right now. :D I mean, it's just $5 right?
 
OK, a $2 premium and a functional heatspreader are logical reasons for DDR3 1600 over DDR3 1333. But those reviews give me the (IMO) mistaken impression that much faster RAM is necessary.

I'll amend my original point to say that you shouldn't spend a lot on RAM these days.
 
I have a couple questions.

Question 1- I dont see many people recommend the 580. Is it not enough of a performance boost for the price?

Question 2- Would it be alright to pick the 570 over the 6970 for cuda or is the 6970 just that much better for gaming that I should get that card?
 
1) Not enough of a performance boost to justify the price increase
2) Yes if you're actually going to be taking advantage or use of the CUDA feature.
 
If I was to be running a double monitor setup would the gtx 570 be able to handle that or would I be better off going up to the 580. Or is there another card that I should look at if I was to be running multiple monitors.
 
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Nvidia can't do three monitors on a single card, so if you want triple monitor you'll either need to do SLI or swap to an AMD card.
 
DanManJ said:
If I was to be running a double monitor setup would the gtx 570 be able to handle that or would I be better off going up to the 580. Or is there another card that I should look at if I was to be running multiple monitors.
Click to expand...

Both cards can handle dual monitor setups as is. Though performance starts to go down if you try to game on both monitors at once.

Unless you are making full use of CUDA technology, as Danny said, then I wouldn't bother with a Nvidia based card as the cheaper AMD card will perform better. (Better than a 570 and on the heels of the 580 but a lot less)

By the way, a "gaming" rig will not use CUDA. The only software that I know of that makes use of it is some of Adobes software, so unless you plan on using that CUDA means nothing to you.
 
what amd card would you recommend?

Also if you could link me some video card benchmarks I would appreciate it. Thank you.

*Edit* nm Just saw that you recommended the 6970 earlier in the thread. If you could still link me to some benchmarks though that would be awesome.
 
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I already linked the AMD card I recommended. The XFX 6970.
 
For a single 1080p monitor the 6950 is plenty for most games (and the 2GB version runs under $250). If you want to go Eyefinity then the 6970 becomes more of a player.
 
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