• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Gaming PC $1500 budget

  • Thread starter Deleted member 88227
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 88227

Guest
Building this for a friend, so I'm answering these questions to the best of my ability.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming will be the most strain this system should see. Word processing and other things a college student might need a PC for
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500, tax nor shipping need to be included but I'd like to keep it under $1500 total if possible
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Ocean Springs, MS (Will be ordering from Newegg)
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.
For this budget this is what I'd like to include...
CPU
Motherboard
GPU
RAM
HDD
SDD
Case
PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Will not be reusing any parts
6) Will you be overclocking?
He doesn't know how to over clock, but does want to experiment with it.
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
So far no monitor has been purchased and he probably wont include it with this budget, but it will be a 1080P monitor most likely in the 22 - 23" size range.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
By this time next week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
He doesn't really need anything special, but I want him to have CF/SLi capability.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
He does not have a W7 license, but I'm gonna get him the student discount W7 Home; can someone provide me with a link I can't find it? :eek:


Here is the prelim build I setup for him:
$89.99 - COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced
$201.99 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB
$139.99 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ
$349.99 - XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit
$94.99 - Antec EarthWatts Series EA-750 Green 750W
$94.99 - MSI H67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67
$219.99 - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
$25.99 - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
Total shipped: $1,237.74

Few notes about this build.
  • He likes my case, so this is why I went with the 690 II Advanced, though I will show him the other cases recommended by Danny in case he wants to change.
  • I went with a 128Gb SSD for his games/OS installs to increase loading times
  • I went with the F3 instead of the Hitachi model because it's $10 cheaper and it'll be primarily used as storage.
  • I know the 6970 is over kill for a single 1080P monitor, but he does plan to have two monitors hooked to this system and possibly a third, especially after he sees my tri-display setup so I want to make that move as easy as possible. I know I can easily go with a 6950 and add a second one later if it required, but the 6970 can fit in his budget so I went with it.
  • 750W PSU, nothing special will get the job done. That's all it needs to do.
  • Went with this motherboard simply because it has a 3 year warranty and two x16 slots.
  • Its the best CPU money can buy at that price point.
  • He wants to experiment with over clocking.

What he also wants to do, which I am not sure how feasible it will be is use the system as an HTPC as well. He intends to have a 35 - 42" TV in his room where the PC will be and he'd like to have it connected to the PC so he can record shows on the PC and watch them later on the TV, he also likes the idea of having a second monitor to watch TV on as well when he is gaming since the TV will be at the other corner, behind him. My computer doubles as an HTPC with dual monitors and he wants a similar setup. However, the problem I am facing is the fact that I use Cable, he has DirectTV. I am not 100% sure on how all that will work, since the DIrectTV receiver is needed to change channels. So I'm thinking I can just hook his receiver to the PC, then from the PC to the TV. Thus he will still use DirectTV's remote to change channels, but will use the PC to record shows. Although the PC can't really change the channels to the show he wants to watch, so... I'm not sure on what to do. Which is why I'm mostly making this topic for advice.

If it can be done, the hardware to get it done needs to fit within' that $1500 budget.
 
Can you overclock on the H67 chipset? I thought that was one of the significant differences between the P67 and H67 (and why Z68 was such a big deal since it supports both IGP and overclocking).
 
You can't OC with the H67 chipset. I recommend this CPU + mobo combo since it's only $12 more once you factor in shipping but should allow for overlocking and Crossfire:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.764352

I went with a 128Gb SSD for his games/OS installs to increase loading times
Click to expand...
You mean decrease loading time, right? :)

HDD wise, spend the extra $10 for the Hitachi. The performance difference is pretty significant and there's always a chance that he may need to install something on the hard drive

I'd spend the extra $10 for this higher quality Antec 750W PSU:
$105 - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W PSU
 
Thanks for the eagle eyes.

Build updated with the combo, hitachi and PSU. Also made a mental note that the ssd is faster than the hdd. *sighs*
 
Anyone got the student W7 license link?

Also how does this work as I've never done it. I know he will need his .edu email address, so they'll email him the license key and a location to download the media? If that's the case, can't I just use my legit W7 DVD with his license and not worry about downloading/burning the operating system?
 
munkle said:
Honestly I would go to best buy and buy a hdd, their prices are half what newegg is. Or any retail store, they don't seem to price gouging nearly as bad as online stores.

You can get a WD black drive at best buy cheaper than the samsung, or a seagate for less than half.
Click to expand...

Yeah but none of those drives are anywhere near as fast as the HItachi drive and still slightly slower than the Samsung model as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top