Advice on $1100 build this week

N

New Oddity

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 9, 2005
Messages
79
Finally got my bonus check, and it is time for a sizable upgrade. Been waiting 6 years to upgrade the rig. Though in those 6 years I have been married. So the good news is, new rig for me! And a cannibalized frankenrig for the wife. What do you all think I should do for myself?

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Big time gaming. Skyrim, EQ2, modern FPS
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1100 shipped
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Knoxville, TN. Yay taxes!
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, Mobo, CPU, Cooler, Ram, GPU, HDD and Power Supply
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Starting from scratch. Wife get's old gaming machine.
6) Will you be overclocking?
I would like the option to.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1- 32" 1920x1080, 2- 19" 1440 x 900
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Making hte purchase this week and building the moment it comes in. Yay sick day!
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)? etc.
Would like the best on board audio as possible. Other than that, it's all gravy.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Would like to find a decent price on Win7, else I can stick with Vist Premium.

Thanks guys!
 
I refined my build a tad.

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition 2GB
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (24 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Low Profile
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III
LG DVD Burner Black SATA
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2
CORSAIR H80 (CWCH80) High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Before rebates: 1084.15
After rebates: 1054.15

Take out the 8gb and use a 212 EVO

Total would be: 954.00

Which you could add a 2600K or a 6970.
 
Do not want to start a brand fight, but what is the driver for a Radeon over an nVidia?
 
Don't really understand the question.

As far as a brand fight, I think it is completely stupid. Whatever component gives you the best bang for the buck. Drivers do vary but there will always be updates.
 
New Oddity said:
Do not want to start a brand fight, but what is the driver for a Radeon over an nVidia?
Click to expand...

6950s can be found for a little cheaper than the competing Nvidia card (usually), and they support 3 monitors on one card. Performance-wise there isn't a whole lot of difference in that price range.

Be advised that ASRock does have a year shorter warranty (in the US) than the other major manufacturers, if that is important to you.
 
Slufa111 said:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Click to expand...
No. AsRock's Z68 mobos have been shown to be of fairly low quality in addition to their shorter warranty:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/07/asrock_z68_pro3_lga_1155_motherboard_review/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/09/asrock_z68_extreme4_gen3_motherboard_review/

Plus your build is missing a case, which the OP needs.
New Oddity said:
Do not want to start a brand fight, but what is the driver for a Radeon over an nVidia?
Click to expand...

Better bang for the buck value really. AMD cards are typically cheaper than Nvidia cards while offering the same or higher performance. With that said, there are certain price points where Nvidia wins and others where AMD wins. So it's largely dependent on how much you're planning on spending on the video card.
New Oddity said:
Would like to find a decent price on Win7, else I can stick with Vist Premium.
Click to expand...
So you have a legal Vista key that you can transfer onto the new PC? And is the 32bit or the 64bit key?
 
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For a few more dollars you can add a case which will bring it up his budget range.

Usually if you have a motherboard issue you will see it within the first few hours of operation. But yes I see your point. I went with asrock because of price point and reliable from reviews that I have seen...and no not Newegg.com reviews lol

http://www.hardwarelook.com/reviews/asrock-z68-extreme3-gen3-review_125_5.html
Not the best....but very distinguished

I don't use vista. Windows 7 ultimate baby
 
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The question on the video card was indeed which one is better. So know that at my price point AMD runs better than Nvidia. In the past I have been diehard Nvidia because of brand pride, but in my old age I'll go for the better quality at my price point.

For the OS, it's Vista Prem. 64bit. I have the 32bit disks also.
 
All right then, since you live in TN, I'm gonna recommend a build from Amazon.com since they don't charge TN residents tax like Newegg does last I checked.

$230 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
$180 - Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
$40 - Patriot Gamer 2 Series Division 2 Edition PGD38G1333ELK 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$270 - MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$98 - Hitachi Deskstar 0F10383 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard drive
$21 - LG GH24LS70 DVD Burner
$80 - Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU
$25 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
--
Total: $944 plus tax and shipping.

I did not include a case. Choose your own. However I do recommend these cases (buy from Amazon.com if possible if I linked to Newegg):
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$130 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$125 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$170 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
There is a bundle deal I see on Amazon. For $75 more I can get an Intel Core i7-2600K Processor. Would that be a good upgrade for the $75 and would it fit with the mobo?
 
New Oddity said:
There is a bundle deal I see on Amazon. For $75 more I can get an Intel Core i7-2600K Processor. Would that be a good upgrade for the $75 and would it fit with the mobo?
Click to expand...
For gaming, little to no difference between the Core i5 2500K and Core i7 2600K. So not really worth the $75 extra unless you're planning on doing a lot of video, 3D or audio editing/rendering in the future. Otherwise, that $75 can be spent elsewhere like a small SSD for the OS like this Crucial:
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-64-2-...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329161683&sr=1-1
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Outstanding! Thank you for the sage advice everyone. Especially DB. I think I have together what I will get. Once the bonus check clears and I order everything I will post here what i ultimately got. Most likely not far off from the suggestions. Thanks again!
 
Good luck!

Though I recommend posting your final build list before you buy for a final onceover.
 
Definitely good idea. Here is what I have.


http://amzn.com/w/1DQTCSHLGIK5H

Modo: ASUS LGA 1155 - Z68
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series Division 2 Edition DDR3 8 GB PC3-10666
Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1
GPU: MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6950 2 GB 256-bit
Primary HDD: Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2
Scondary HDD: Hitachi Deskstar 3.5" 1TB 7200RPM SATA II 32MB Cache Internal Hard Drive 0F10383
Optical: LG Electronics 24X SATA Super Multi DVD+/-RW Internal Drive Bulk with Lightscribe (GH24LS70)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case with SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (RC-932-KKN5-GP​)
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply


1178 Before tax and shipping.

So I am going a little above, but I think the SSD will provide a good bit of performance.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I updated my list. I am checking my bank account three times a day waiting on the check to clear. =)
 
Forceman said:
It seems like any decently priced RAM on Amazon is 1.65V. I don't know why they have such high RAM prices when they are fairly competitive on everything else.
Click to expand...

Check the RAM link I provided the OP earlier: It's one of the few RAM sets on Amazon.com rated at 1.5V for a reasonable price.
 
Ok, it's officially on. I have the money, but it looks like the window of "I'm buying this week" has passed and prices have changed. I'm digging around, but does anyone have suggestions on deals that are on now or tomorrow. I will be positively ordering all my parts in the next 36 hours. This afternoon hopefully. =)
 
It has been done. Thank you for the last minute feedback DB, again, I greatly appreciate it. I'll post invoices and pictures when it comes in and I build it.

Final total with shipping from Amazon was 1217.46 with shipping and all.
 
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