Help Building a $1000 Gaming PC

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deekayex

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 7, 2006
Messages
298
I am looking to replace my Mac Mini and Xbox 360 with a gaming PC. I would like to use an aluminum case similar to the LianLi PC-AO5B for reasons of limited desk space and aesthetics.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, web browsing, listening to music.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000 +/- $100
3) Where do you live?
Chicagoland. I prefer to order online to avoid taxes, though.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything except keyboard (can I use an Apple bluetooth keyboard with a PC?), mouse, and monitor.
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 am EE-MU 0404 external sound card setup that I would like to reuse if it will not hamper performance of the PC.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not. I'd like the system to be as cool and quiet as possible.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
37" 1920 x 1080. Westinghouse lvm-37w3.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next month.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
None of that.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I will be buying Windows 7. What package do you recommend?

I have been out of the PC scene for over 5 years, so I need some good advice.
 
Home Premium would probably fit your needs best. For your budget, you're probably looking at something similar to this...

$200 - XFX or VisionTek HD 4890 (unless you can spring for the HD 5850)
$200 - Intel Core i5 750
$130 - P55 Mobo (eg. GA-P55-UD3L)
$85 - 4GB DDR3-1600 1.5v (g.skill or mushkin)
$80 - Samsung F3 or Seagate 7200.12 1TB
$80 - Lian Li PC-A05NB or PC-A06FB
$80 - Antec EA650
$30 - SATA DVDRW w/ free shipping
$30 - CM Hyper 212+ CPU HSF (quiet)
=========
$915 + tax and shipping + OS cost... If you're a student, you can get 7 Pro for $30 + tax and shipping. If you can find a BF or CM deal, they typically sell 7 Home Premium for $80. Regular price is $107.
 
Thanks for the input. I am now in the process of searching for the best prices on these components.
 
Ok, here is what I have picked out so far:

LIAN LI PC-A05NB Black Aluminum ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
MSI P55M-GD45 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Reader
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7
GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Adapter

Total excluding shipping is $1102 from Newegg.
 
The motherboard is the only sticking point for me. I am looking for something with good onboard audio that can output via optical or coax to my EMU 0404 USB; I prefer not to connect via USB due to the decrease in performance that incurs. With that in mind, what motherboard would you guys recommend? Thanks for all the help so far.
 
Yah, but he wants a smaller case. So an alternative would be something like the Silverstone SG02 or similar. The PC-A06FB is only $80, but no free shipping. :(

The HAF922 was on sale for $60 during BF/CM... wish I got that instead of the Scout, lol.
 
Here is what I ordered this morning (changes in bold):

LIAN LI PC-A05NB Black Aluminum ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Reader
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7
GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Adapter
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
XFX HD-585A-ZNDC Radeon HD 5850
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2

Total with shipping & tax came to $1177. Can you think of anything I'm missing?
 
I can think of lots of things...
  • An Intel X25-M 80GB SSD
  • A storage drive, like the F3 1TB
  • A UPS unit
  • etc...
I could go on, but I think you got most of what you needed. Do strongly consider getting a UPS, though. ;) Otherwise, it looks good. Please post pics.
 
So I received all the parts yesterday and assembled everything. It is running pretty cool and silent so far. I have a few questions, though:

1. Windows experience score is 5.9 due to the hard drive. Processor, memory, and graphics scores are 7.2 and above. Does this sound correct? During boot I get a message telling me that the HDD is running in IDE mode. Do I need to fix this?

2. There's no onboard bluetooth on this motherboard, right?

3. Memory was running at ~1300 Mhz by default. I switched to "profile 1" under the bios memory settings and it is now running at 1600. Should I do this some other way?
 
1) if you want to fix it, you'll have to re-install the OS. The fix is to go into your BIOS and switch the SATA mode to native and AHCI, then install the OS.

2) Nope. You can get a bt dongle from meritline for $5 (or $1 on sale) shipped.

3) No. You won't notice much real world performance difference between either setting, though, since you're not OC'ing the CPU.
 
I've read a few recent build posts and notice that more often 1156 / i5-750 is being recommended for the $1000 & gaming application. Under what circumstances would that change to 1366 / i7-920?

Was leaning towards 1366 / i7-920 for my $1000 build in a couple months... you might ask me why? Seems like it would be faster and would last a few more years... Is this fantasy on my part?
 
atreidesgoldenpath said:
I've read a few recent build posts and notice that more often 1156 / i5-750 is being recommended for the $1000 & gaming application. Under what circumstances would that change to 1366 / i7-920?

Was leaning towards 1366 / i7-920 for my $1000 build in a couple months... you might ask me why? Seems like it would be faster and would last a few more years... Is this fantasy on my part?
Click to expand...

If the OP was doing any sort of heavy multimedia editing such as Photoshop, video editing, audio recording/editing or doing extensive work with Virtualization, then a i7/920/1366 rig would be recommended. Basically anything that involves heavy CPU usage and the possibility of using more than 8GB of RAM would be cause for a Core i7 920/X58 setup. In addition, if the OP was planning on doing a Crossfire or SLI setup for gaming right from the start, then a Core i7 920/X58 would be recommended. But for a single GPU gaming system, a Core i7 920/X58 setup isn't really needed. However, if the price difference between a planned Core i7 920/X58 setup and a Core i7 860/P55 setup less than $50, then the Core i7 920/X58 setup would be the better deal.

As for the i7 920 lasting a bit longer, not really. It's the socket itself that would last a bit longer since it would be better compatible with future Core i9 CPUs.
 
atreidesgoldenpath said:
I've read a few recent build posts and notice that more often 1156 / i5-750 is being recommended for the $1000 & gaming application. Under what circumstances would that change to 1366 / i7-920? ...
Click to expand...

For gaming? When playing games at 2560x1600 with 2 or more vidcards in SLI/CFX.

atreidesgoldenpath said:
... Was leaning towards 1366 / i7-920 for my $1000 build in a couple months... you might ask me why? Seems like it would be faster and would last a few more years... Is this fantasy on my part?
Click to expand...

For gaming, unless its with SLI/CFX, it most likely won't matter if its a GPU bound game, which include mostly all newer games. Whether the platform lasts longer or not depends on your needs, and being able to foresee those changes in your future needs.
 
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