$600-$700 Build

[IllIlIXIl]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming and some converting camcorder tapes to DVD
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600-$700
3) Where do you live?
Maine. If it isn't Best Buy or Walmart, it isn't around here.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
I'll need everything other than what's listed below.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Do not need monitor (have 19"), keyboard/mouse or DVD/CD drives.
6) Will you be overclocking?
I'd like to if it lets me get the most bang for the buck.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next couple of months
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Depends on what's recommended
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yep

I've been out of the gaming loop for awhile and would like to get back in and try to catchup or at least sample what I've missed. As far as newer games go, I'd like to be able to play Dragon Age.

I was thinking of going with an Intel E5200 with some sort of 3rd party HSF to overclock with an ATI 5750 or 5770.

I've been out of the sync with the PC gaming build side of things for awhile and would appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[lt_shiro]

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor Model HDZ720WFGIBOX - Retail and GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Combo $194

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail and Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail Combo $110

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail $94

HIS H577FN1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail $165

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $55

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM $27


Total before S&H $645

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ... - Retail $30

 

[IllIlIXIl]

Though I mentioned an Intel chip in my first post, I'm not again AMD, just not familiar with their current offerings. I haven't had an AMD since a Thunderbird..

But... with that AMD chip mentioned, would I intend over clock it or would that not really be necessary for my given uses?

 

[kopfeldjager]

I build nearly this exact build recently, and it is working pretty well, only with mATX MSI-785 board. The only thing I would recommend is different RAM.
Get some ram that is not quite so "optimized for p55"
I ran into some funky timing issues, and basically advertised timing are only guaranteed with the P55 chipset boards. It worked out alright in the end, but was not exactly plug and play. Depends how much you are willing to work on it...

 

[lt_shiro]

Intel has nothing below $200 price point worth buying for gaming as it would be socket 775 system and that has enter its end of life cycle with intel.

19" display you wouldn't need overclocked CPU but I would still get the Hyper 212+ as it would help to reduce over heat and noise from the computer.

@ kopfeldjager - i have never run into an issue with ripjaw memory. Problem you talk about is with the board not detecting correct setting timings and voltages. Which can be easy done with the bios.

 

[kopfeldjager]

This particular memory will not run advertised timings on my MSI 785 board, in fact, G.SKILL support has the same thing to say. Just because you have not experienced issues, doesn't mean they do not exist. I still believe it to be very good deal on very good memory and am a G.SKILL fan.

 

[engiNURD]

9-9-9 are standard JEDEC timings for DDR3-1600, IIRC. If MSI can't get those timings to work right, thats MSI's problem, IMO. I have nothing against MSI -- I just haven't heard of this issue with any other brand. So, if it were revealed that these timings don't work right with multiple brands, then I'd blame the RAM manufacturer for not setting the SPD tables properly. However, it could just be the kit you received had defective SPD values.