new gaming build for a friend budget 700

[herfalerf]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming, exclusively. wow, cod black ops.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
700 taxes and shipping included.
3) Where do you live?
dfw, microcenter is not an option as he doesnt have a car. his dad will take him to fry's however.
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, cpu cooler, mobo, video card, HDD, PSU, case, monitor. he has his heart set on one of the new 6800 series radeons and an amd cpu, he also wants to go closed loop water cooling like corsair h50 or something, hes worried about weight on the cpu when he moves it for lan parties and such.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
mouse/keyboard
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
in the next week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
he wants to go AMD, so crossfire support would be a plus, he also wants USB 3.0 if he can get it.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
no, he needs to buy windows 7, but he can get a cheap copy through his university.

 

[Dangman]

In order to get everything that your friend wants, he's gonna have to up his budget significantly:
$130 - AMD Phenom II X4 925 Black Edition CPU
$80 - Corsair Hydro H50 CPU Cooler
$130 - MSI 890GXM-G65 AMD 890GX mATX Motherboard
$70 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$199 - Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$47 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$90 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$80 - Cooler Master CM690 II Basic ATX Case
$160 - Acer G235HAbd Black 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor
---
Total: $986 plus shipping

Unfortunately for your friend, the prices for the Phenom II X4 9xx series CPUs have gone up in price and the diminishing supply of HD 6850 cards have driven the prices of those cards by $20. Since he want to Crossfire, he's gonna need at least a 650W PSU to stay on the safe side. Most of the cheaper cases out there aren't suitable for a Crossfire setup (like the Antec 300). That was the cheapest Crossfire capable mobo I could find that supported USB 3.0.

In order for your friend to get all the parts that he needs, he's gonna have to go with the following setup:
$170 - AMD Phenom II X4 925 CPU + MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard Combo
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$132 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM + Cooler Master M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W Modular PSU
$150 - Asus DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 768MB PCI-E Video Card
$47 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$55 - NZXT M59 ATX Case
$110 - Asus VW195T-P Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
---
Total: $694 shipped

If your friend really wants the HD 6850 despite the $20 price hike, he's gonna have to pony up at least another $50.

 

[herfalerf]

k ill let him know. hes not looking for CFX right away, but more down the road. his budget may be flexible, he just got a new job and he said his dad is on board to help him pay for it since he wants to see what building a rig entails. i think 900-1000 may be within his means, we will see.

 

[hybry]

1k danny bui build looks decent,
As for 700 build I would say drop the CPU cooler and get a better GPU. You can always change the cooler and do the overclocking later down the road. It might be easier then selling old and buying a new and better graphics.

Also could go with X2 555 and hope to unlock the 2 core to get a quad essentially

 

[Dangman]

As for 700 build I would say drop the CPU cooler and get a better GPU. You can always change the cooler and do the overclocking later down the road. It might be easier then selling old and buying a new and better graphics.

Unfortunately the prices of the HD 6850 cards have jumped by $20 as mentioned earlier. The GTX 460 1GB is still around $190. So even if the HSF is dropped, it won't make that much of a difference if the OP can't spare the $10 or wants to heavily OC.

Also could go with X2 555 and hope to unlock the 2 core to get a quad essentially

70% chance unlock rate. Dunno if that's acceptable for the OP or the OP's friend.

 

[hossdaddy]

here's some nice deals to consider. On another note a water cooling setup is completely unecessary for this setup. These aeries amd series quad etc are sool running and that coolermaster 212+ will more than handle any oc. On to the deals;

Combo: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W + G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $129.98

Combo: AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz Socket AM3 + BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G $162.99

Combo: RAIDMAX Quantum ATX-798WB Black SECC ATX Mid Tower + Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA $65.98

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 $29.99 + fs


ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB $149.99 - $20 mir + Free copy of HAWX2 + free shipping

Acer X203HCbd Black 20" 5ms $119.99 + $9 shipping
This one comes with a dvi cable, not all monitors come with one so check it first or else you will need to buy one for $7-10 additionally probably plus shipping

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB $54.99 + fs

Total: $713.91 - $20 mir

He didnt list a dvd burner in the list of re-used so included one.