Diablo 3 Gaming Build

[Marduk77]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming mainly for Diablo 3 and WoW, Web Browsing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$800-$900 includes tax and shipping
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Los Angeles, CA
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.
CPU, RAM, PSU, mobo ATX or micro ATX, disc drive, hard drive, video card, wireless card
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Lian Li mid tower case, keyboard and mouse
6) Will you be overclocking?
no
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
46" Sony TV 1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
now
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.
wifi would be nice but not sure any boards have onboard wifi.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
no, needs windows 7 64 bit

 

[K1tty]

I used Amazon since you won't have to pay taxes.


i5 3550 - $210
Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H - $110
Corsair 8GB DDR3 1.5v kit - $42
Corsair TX650 - $80
Hitachi 1TB 7k1000 Hard Drive - $99
Samsung SATA DVD-RW - $20
Windows Home Premium 64-bit is usually around $100

That leaves you around $240 for a wireless card and video card.
I've had good experience with this wireless usb adapter. It's $25 now but works great plus has Linux support (was why I needed it in the first place).

At the $200 price point for video cards you're looking at an older generation Radeon 6870, 6950, or maybe Nvidia 560ti 448 if you can hold out for a good deal (they were hovering around $200 not long ago).

If you want newer gen then you're looking at a Radeon 7770 ($140-ish) or 7850 ($250-ish) sadly Nvidia hasn't released their new cards for this price point yet...

Diablo 3 and WoW aren't very graphically demanding. I've played both maxed out flawlessly with a 6870. The 7870 and 560ti 448 would be even better. I'm not sure you'd be well off with the 7770. Were you looking to play any other more graphically demanding games?

 

[Marduk77]

Diablo 3 and WoW aren't very graphically demanding. I've played both maxed out flawlessly with a 6870. The 7870 and 560ti 448 would be even better. I'm not sure you'd be well off with the 7770. Were you looking to play any other more graphically demanding games?

Thanks K1tty. No, he only plays Diablo 3, WoW and LFD2 on occassion. Not graphically intense games.

 

[Dangman]

I would recommend the HD 6870 as it's the cheapest alternative to the HD 6950 2GB

 

[chockomonkey]

Do you even need that much of a video card though? People are saying it runs on intel HD4000...

I'm working on the cheapest possible build for a friend for D3 as well... just curious, sry if i derail!

I mean, i have a gtx 460 which runs WoW and d3 fine, and you can get those for 120ish. HD 6870 is like 170...

 

[Dangman]

Do you even need that much of a video card though? People are saying it runs on intel HD4000...

Key word is "run". Doesn't mean that it can play the game well. Remember that the OP has a high resolution of 1920x1080. No way can the HD 4000 handle that well. With that said, I just read that the HD 6850 should be able to provide 60 FPS with D3 at 1920x1080 at high quality. So to amend my earlier recommendation, the HD 6850 isn't too bad of an option at $140 shipped:
http://www.amazon.com/PowerColor-Di...7AD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337635243&sr=8-2

 

[chockomonkey]

Key word is "run". Doesn't mean that it can play the game well. Remember that the OP has a high resolution of 1920x1080. No way can the HD 4000 handle that well. With that said, I just read that the HD 6850 should be able to provide 60 FPS with D3 at 1920x1080 at high quality. So to amend my earlier recommendation, the HD 6850 isn't too bad of an option at $140 shipped:
http://www.amazon.com/PowerColor-Di...7AD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337635243&sr=8-2

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Marduk77]

Thanks K1tty and Danny Bui for your suggestions, the parts have been ordered.