$700 GAMING RIG!

H

helluvagood

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 5, 2011
Messages
93
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming #1 (Mainly Dota 2 and SC2)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700 total

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Canada. Only buy from memoryexpress.com

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.

MOBO,CPU,GPU,RAM,PSU, CASE



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

1)case HP p6211f http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01892905&cc=ca&dlc=en&lc=en&product=4041202#N96 I will probably need a new one since this most likely does not fit ATX mobos.
2) HDD- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
3) DVD drive -SATA



6) Will you be overclocking?
No, probably will stick to stock cpu fan

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
20" 1600x900

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

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.
HDMI, USB 3.0, WiFi enabled

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


I'll be building a gaming rig to play mainly Dota 2 and Sc2. I need all the parts except for the case. I'm not sure when Memoryexpress.com will have haswell in stock, but im not sure if haswell is really a step up for gaming with a dedicated gpu.
Aiming to get a i5 with the 700 price range.


I'm planning on using this mobo+cpu bundle
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/BDL_3470_Z77HD3



Preliminary build so far

Mobo+CPU i5-3470 w/ gigabyte GA-Z77-HD3 (280)
GPU XFX Radeon HD 7870 Double D 1000MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 (230)
PSU Corsair Builder series CX600 (65)
RAM ValueSelect 8GB DDR3 1333MHz CL9 DIMM (60)
Case Corsair carbide 200R (60)



Total 695






Thanks
 
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Do you know if that HP case will even accept an ATX motherboard? Looking at the pictures, it doesn't look as if it has the cooling capacity to cool a modern gaming rig.. with that being said, you should replace it as well. You can get a cheap, good preforming, not bad looking case for like $50, so it wont eat at your budget too bad if that's the case.

What exact HDD are you reusing?
 
SC2 aside, why do you need a quad-core? $700 in Canadian dollars don't allow you to buy much compared to U.S. dollars.

Is your optical drive a SATA drive or an IDE drive?
 
Check out NCIX.com

With your case you're limited to mATX and you might be stuck with whatever PSU HP decided to put in there. I'd recommend replacing both.
 
The case is HP pc is 2 years old. If the case doesn't fit atx then I will buy a new case.
I'm not sure what the exact HDD is, this build is for a friend. Why does it matter?
Optical drive is sata.
quad core for a better and faster experience.
I'm only buying from memoryexpress.com cause they price match
 
helluvagood said:
The case is HP pc is 2 years old. If the case doesn't fit atx then I will buy a new case.
Click to expand...
Yeah you're gonna have to replace the case then.
helluvagood said:
I'm not sure what the exact HDD is, this build is for a friend. Why does it matter?
Click to expand...
It matters because if the drive is old enough, there's no point in doing any sort of upgrade as an old drive will severely impact the performance of the system to the point where it will feel the same as the older PC. So please find out what hard dive is that.

helluvagood said:
quad core for a better and faster experience.
Click to expand...
None of the games you've mentioned requires a quad-core though. Those games would perform just fine on a solid dual-core Core i3 CPU. Nor have you mentioned any other use where a quad-core would actually be a good buy.
 
Danny Bui said:
Yeah you're gonna have to replace the case then.

It matters because if the drive is old enough, there's no point in doing any sort of upgrade as an old drive will severely impact the performance of the system to the point where it will feel the same as the older PC. So please find out what hard dive is that.


None of the games you've mentioned requires a quad-core though. Those games would perform just fine on a solid dual-core Core i3 CPU. Nor have you mentioned any other use where a quad-core would actually be a good buy.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the confusion he also wants to play the newer games too =p
I will get back on the HDD model when I know it
 
Preliminary build so far

Mobo+CPU i5-3470 w/ gigabyte GA-Z77-HD3 (280)
GPU XFX Radeon HD 7870 Double D 1000MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 (230)
PSU Corsair Builder series CX600 (65)
RAM ValueSelect 8GB DDR3 1333MHz CL9 DIMM (60)
Case Corsair carbide 200R (60)



Total 695
 
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"

drive is not actually refurbished, its new! link fyi!
 
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Not a very reliable drive it seems. Do you want your friend to take that chance?

Also, where did you get that Windows 7 64bit from? Your last thread noted that there was no reusable OS and now you suddenly have one? Whats up with that?
 
Danny Bui said:
Not a very reliable drive it seems. Do you want your friend to take that chance?

Also, where did you get that Windows 7 64bit from? Your last thread noted that there was no reusable OS and now you suddenly have one? Whats up with that?
Click to expand...

my friend has a new copy of windows 7 so we have that covered. my last build was for myself. h

drive is not actually refurbished, its new! newegg link fyi lol!

what do you think of my build? its ok if it goes up to 750
 
Where are you getting your prices from? I'm not seeing the same prices in the Memory Express website.

I believe that the following would be a better bang-per-buck system for your friend:

$280 - Intel Core i5-3470 and Gigabyte GA-Z77-HD3 bundle
$60 - Corsair ValueSelect 8GB DDR3 1333MHz CL9 DIMM
$280 - ZOTAC GTX 660 Ti 2GB
$25 - Asus PCE-N15 Wireless N PCI-E Adapter Card
$45 - Corsair CX430 430W PSU
$50 - Antec Three Hundred ATX mid-tower case
=====
$740 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

I broke a few of my own rules (and nearly busted your budget) to fit in the GTX 660 Ti, but the sale price made it a better choice than a "high end" HD 7870. I also added in a wifi card, which was missing in your "preliminary" build.

To cut costs, I went with a cheaper case and a cheaper power supply. Yes, the CX430 can handle the GTX 660 Ti.

Danny Bui hates the Antec Three Hundred due to its smaller volume (especially compared to the Corsair 200R) and lack of cable management features. For best performance, you also need to buy two 120mm case fans for the front -- and adding those to this build will exceed your budget.
 
tiraides said:
Danny Bui hates the Antec Three Hundred due to its smaller volume (especially compared to the Corsair 200R) and lack of cable management features. F
Click to expand...
Welp no chance of me getting to vent my hatred of that case today. :D
 
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