Gaming PC

[Dugger_929]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, streaming video, college work
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000-1200
3) Where do you live?
Southeast VA
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything besides monitor for now.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
nothing is being reused
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes, but not initially
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
plan on getting a 22" or 23" but not part of this build.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I plan to have it together within 3 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
would prefer the option of Crossfire for future upgrades
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No, plan on buying 64

I am looking to build a new PC to replace my 4+year old Dell XPS Pentium D. I do not run any particularly graphics intensive games or apps. The games I mostly play are WoW and Sins of a Solar Empire. I plan on trying out Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Supreme Commander 2. I also tend to run iTunes or streaming audio while playing and would like a computer that can easily perform these tasks at the same time, my previous PC lags a good amount when running a game and iTunes at the same time.

I am considering an i7 860 and a Radeon 5770 for now. I am looking to have the PC for about 3, possibly 4 years with the need of adding a couple of upgrades here and there to keep it running smooth. Would a 5770 allow me to run the games I listed on high settings or should I go for a 5850? I do not plan on running multiple screens.

I live in Southeast VA but there is an MC in Northern VA that I can go to since I have family up there as well.

 

[event_horizon]

Since you want the PC to play games at high settings for the next few years a 5850 should be your bottom of the barrel.

 

[bastage]

as for wow its more CPU intensive then video. It played fine on my old 9600gt, 8800gt & I am sure will on the 5750 I have now. SC2 I just played tonight (thank you blizzard gods for the beta invite) & it was fine with everything maxed on my 5750. Diablo 3 should also be fine as blizzard does a pretty good job of keeping there requirements low. The others I cant speak for, but it doesnt sound as if your going to need a super high end graphics card. I Would save the money & just get a 5770 and invest the money saved into the rest of the system & then on one of the "couple of upgrades" do another video card at a later date if you need more power.

 

[lt_shiro]

OOLER MASTER ELITE 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $50

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $210

Patriot Gamer Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGS36G1600ELK - Retail $170

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $55

VisionTek 900297 Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video ... - Retail $300

Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $85

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $20

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $100

 

[tiraides]

Take a look at Micro Center's web site and see whether or not you could take advantage of a few deals. IIRC, the Core i7 930 is available for $200, and MC will give you some sort of discount (if not the ability to price-match a few components) if you buy the majority of your parts there.

 

[depraved]

Two Options: Option 1 with tax and shipping 1,200.90

$20: Lite On Burner
$70: CM690
$55: Samsung Spinpoint f3
$330: MSI 5850
$85: Antec NEO Eco 620W
$106: G.Skill RipJaw 4GB(2x2gb) DDR3 1600
$160: MSI P-55 GD65
$99: Win7 OEM
$35: CM 212
$240: Intel Xeon X3440


Option 2: Everything is the same except processor/mobo/HSF - Total is $1,160.90 after Tax + Shipping

$314.98 Combo: Mobo + CPU: GA-p55a-ud3 + i5-750
$80 HSF: h50

Benefit of option 1: get a processor with 4 cores + Hyper threading. Mobo is also really good and a good overclocker. Case is good and will keep everything cool. Also inclused a good basic after market HSF that performs very well for its price

Benefit of option 2: a little bit cheaper, better aftermarket cooling solution. If you don't mind spending a little bit more money, i would add the h50 to the first build if you can stretch the budget by 20-30. If not its ok. Downside is the processor has no HT, but for your needs either option is going to be awesome!

I like shiro's build too but chnage that vistontek 5850 to the MSI one. Better cooling and better over clocking.

 

[lt_shiro]

vistontek has lifetime warranty .

 

[Dugger_929]

I originally was planning on buying most of it from newegg which is why I was considering the i7 860 but after looking at the MC flyer I may go with the 930 instead. Since I can save with their specials but also not worry about shipping helps out with going the 5850 as well.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I will have to make sure to post my build on the gallery when I am done.

 

[tiraides]

One more thing, since you're going the MC route... most of the DDR3 RAM kits that are sold at MC run at 1.65V. We often recommend RAM that runs at 1.5V, especially for those who plan on overclocking. If you can't find a 1.5V DDR3 kit at MC, you may have to get it from NewEgg instead.