Budget Gaming computer help

[Outlaw]

Hi there. It's been a while since I built a computer for myself (last time was Athlon XP pre-barton era). I'm out of the loop and would love some help with finding a build that will work without breaking the bank. I'd like to aim for about $800 or so in the budget, but I realize that at this price point adding a bit of extra money can really improve the overall performance, so the price has a bit of wiggle room.


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming primarily. Also storing some media (family photos and videos), perhaps 50Gb at the most
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$800-$900. Please include tax and shipping.
3) Where do you live?
California, Orange County (close to a Fry's and Micro Center if that matters)
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
I'll need a processor, motherboard, ram, hard drive, optical drive. Possibly case and power supply if the ones I plan on reusing aren't up to snuff (see next question).
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have a brand new Antec True power v2.0 480 Watt power supply. It was given to me from a friend back when AMD just came out with socket 939 processors. Here's the Antec's page for it: http://www.antec.com/specs/TPII480_spe.html
Case is an Antec SLK3700. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article76-page1.html
Monitor is a 20" dell LCD with a native 1600x1200 resolution. It may be upgraded at a later date.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not necessarily. I'm not opposed to it though.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
20" dell LCD, 1600 x 1200 resolution. When my budget permits it'd be nice to get a 22" - 24" wide screen LCD and use the 20" as a secondary monitor.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
in the next month or two.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
crossfire would be nice. I don't think a 2nd video card is in my budget though, so it isn't a 'must have' for me.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, I have a new Windows 7 upgrade license, 64 bit.

I'm hoping to save some money by reusing the case and power supply, but I'll buy new if either of those components are holding back the rest of the build.

 

[Dangman]

Yeah, you're not reusing that PSU. It's not of good quality. Case wise, I'm not 100% sure if that case has enough room for a modern PC.

Prelim build:
$150 to $170 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU or Core i5 760 from MC
$125 - ASRock P55 Extreme Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$200 - eVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 768MB PCI-E Video Card
$90 - Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A XMS3 2x2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$45 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$26 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$75 - Seasonic S121II 520 520W PSU
$40 - Cooler Master Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP ATX Case
----
Total: $771 shipped

 

[i2abid]

definitely look at the fry's cpu/mobo adds in the coming month or two for some nice cpu/mobo combos to potentially save yourself some cash and Danny Bui most definitely has quality picks for components with the $800 budget.

 

[E4g1e]

Yeah, you're not reusing that PSU. It's not of good quality.

Typical old Antec-branded CWT PSU quality that uses a combination of low-quality capacitors and an inadequate cooling system. The very same reason why I have retired all of my CWT Antecs early before they had a chance to melt down due to overheating.

 

[xcetera]

The suggested build is good. I agree that the PSU should not be recycled but a new PSU would be best. I have the CP-850 but it only fits certain Antec cases and I think the Corsair HX620 would be a good PSU for your build

 

[Outlaw]

Thank you for the quick information, I'm especially glad I asked before trying to use that power supply.

My local Micro Center is out of stock on the i5 760. They do have the i7 930 for $200 though, is that a fair price, would it change much? That's about as cheap as I can find the i5 listed for elsewhere.

 

[tiraides]

The i7-930 is a Socket 1366 processor, and it requires a different, more expensive motherboard.

See if you can find the i5-750 at MC.

 

[i2abid]

Yep, the 1366 platform is pretty pricey but if you can fit it into your budget go for it imo.

 

[tiraides]

An Intel Socket 1366-based setup (Core i7/X58) isn't really needed for gaming. Plus, you'd need at least $1000 for a decent 1366 rig.

 

[Outlaw]

Thanks for all the great info, everybody's been real helpful and I appreciate it.

 

[bastage]

I know that case well.. I have one (housing a system on loan to my sister). Other then being ungodly heavy its a good case & airflow is decent enough. It should have either 2 or 3 120's total

 

[Dangman]

My local Micro Center is out of stock on the i5 760. They do have the i7 930 for $200 though, is that a fair price, would it change much? That's about as cheap as I can find the i5 listed for elsewhere.

What about the i5 750? If your MC still doesn't have either the i5 750 or 760 CPUs. just buy the i5 750 from Amazon.com for $195. You still have enough room in your budget.

 

[Outlaw]

They were out of both the i5 processors, I'll give them until mid week to see if they get more in stock, otherwise I'll order online like you said. They do have an i5 655k in store: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0337972

I'm not sure if that's for me or not.

Do you have another suggestion for the power supply? Amazon is out of stock of it or something, shipping time is sometime between 2 to 5 weeks.

 

[bastage]

Do you have another suggestion for the power supply? Amazon is out of stock of it or something, shipping time is sometime between 2 to 5 weeks.

Try This.. Not sure why they have it listed more then once, but here ya go