New Gaming Build

[Jon55]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming primarily (FPS's, RTS's, MMO's, etc.), web browsing, etc.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000, tax and shipping included
3) Where do you live?
California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, Mobo, RAM, optical drive (DVD, not Blu-ray), case, PSU, graphics card (preferably ATI, but open to Nvidia if it's a really good deal)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
WD Black 1TB, 24" Samsung
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24" Samsung (already have)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next month or so
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
The standard stuff, SATA 6 would be nice
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 64-bit

I've thrown some parts/numbers together, but their not concrete. I'm open to any suggestions. Here's a quick list I threw together at Fry's:

Mobo: ASUS P7P55D ($189.99)
CPU: i5 750 ($205.00)
RAM: Kingston DDR3 4GB PC2000 ($129.99)
GPU: ATI 5770 or 5850 or something else (5770 was $190.00)
Optical drive: ASUS OEM DVD-+RW drive ($24.99)
PSU: Corsair 650W ($99.99)
Antec P183 ($139.99)

I'm kinda of picky about the case. I'm not crazy about random lights/etc., nothing gaudy. I liked the Antec case listed above for the large fans, simple design, lots of drive bays, etc., but I'm open to anything.

 

[Shadowssong]

Do you have a microcenter nearby?

 

[Jon55]

Do you have a microcenter nearby?

No unfortunately

Also, I just noticed on the ASUS board I listed above, it only has PCI-E 2.0. I think 2.1 is the newest, but I'm not sure if that'll even matter, or if that board is even the best choice.

 

[Dangman]

Also, I just noticed on the ASUS board I listed above, it only has PCI-E 2.0. I think 2.1 is the newest, but I'm not sure if that'll even matter, or if that board is even the best choice.

The mobo isn't the best choice.

I'd recommend this build:
$160 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 CPU
$90 - Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 Motherboard
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$320 - XFX HD-585A-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$100 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$140 - Antec P183
----
Total: $780 plus tax and shipping

Similar performance to the setup you posted but cheaper.

 

[Jon55]

The mobo isn't the best choice.

I'd recommend this build:
$160 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 CPU
$90 - Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 Motherboard
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$320 - XFX HD-585A-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$100 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$140 - Antec P183
----
Total: $780 plus tax and shipping

Similar performance to the setup you posted but cheaper.

Ah, I've had quite a bit of bad luck with Gigabyte boards in the past, and would like to stay away from them. Just a personal preference.

 

[Dangman]

Ah, I've had quite a bit of bad luck with Gigabyte boards in the past, and would like to stay away from them. Just a personal preference.

Then that's gonna up the total costs by about by another $38 since that's the next cost effective non-Gigabyte mobo that has SATA 6Gb/s:
$128 - MSI 890GXM-G65 AM3 AMD 890GX mATX Motherboard

 

[engiNURD]

yah, gigabyte hates people named jon. they love me, though. i think i've sold all my non-gigabyte boards, lol (nope, still have 2 non gigabyte out of a dozen). jokes aside, there are very few brands i actually make an effort to avoid (mostly fry's freebie junk like non-intel ecs, soyo, jetway, etc; oh, and maxtor, lol). i've learned that there are no perfect brands/parts since everything is mass produced. i also find that if i buy something with ill expectations, it will fail me in some form or another.

 

[Jon55]

yah, gigabyte hates people named jon. they love me, though. i think i've sold all my non-gigabyte boards, lol (nope, still have 2 non gigabyte out of a dozen). jokes aside, there are very few brands i actually make an effort to avoid (mostly fry's freebie junk like non-intel ecs, soyo, jetway, etc; oh, and maxtor, lol). i've learned that there are no perfect brands/parts since everything is mass produced. i also find that if i buy something with ill expectations, it will fail me in some form or another.

Oh no doubt, but we've all had bad experiences with various parts. That's what makes having choices so awesome. I've had nothing but terrible experiences with Gigabyte boards. And that could be due to a million different reasons. In any case, thank you everyone for the help.

 

[Jon55]

Just an update, I ended up getting the ASUS P7P55D PRO board, and let me tell you, it's fantastic. The days of saving a few dollars by going the Gigabyte route are over. This board is so damn nice. I also ended up getting the i5 750, and honestly after playing around with my buddies' i7 920, there wasn't a whole lot of performance difference (unless your running scientific-related apps), so anyone who's considering a new build, the i5 750 is definitely an awesome price/performance point.

 

[engiNURD]

The P7P55D PRO would be equiv to Gigabyte's UD4P/UD5; the UD3/USB3 is Gigabyte's low end, which compete's with Asus' P7P55(D-E) LX. Yah, it was even better when MC had the i5 750 for $150. I miss those days. No pics?

 

[Jon55]

The P7P55D PRO would be equiv to Gigabyte's UD4P/UD5; the UD3/USB3 is Gigabyte's low end, which compete's with Asus' P7P55(D-E) LX. Yah, it was even better when MC had the i5 750 for $150. I miss those days. No pics?

I can certainly get some up (at work right now though). Yeah, I had been using Gigabyte boards for a while because lots of people rave about them, plus they're pretty feature-rich and very well priced. But I've had nothing but problems with them. They're great at first but then a year or two goes by and something fails (after the warranty is up of course). The ASUS boards, albeit a little more expensive, have yet to ever fail me. It's as they say; you get what you pay for.

Holy crap the i5 750 was $150 at one point? Damn, Intel must really be having supply shortages or something.

 

[engiNURD]

Nope, the $150 i5-750 was just MC's loss-leader for a while, along with the i7-920 for $200 (which lasted for nearly a year until the 930 came out).

Yah, you do get what you pay for, but that extra cost for the name "Asus" never really gave me anything over Gigabyte.

 

[Jon55]

Yah, you do get what you pay for, but that extra cost for the name "Asus" never really gave me anything over Gigabyte.

RIght, but it wasn't just a name that I was paying for. As I said, every Gigabyte board I've had starts going south after a year or two. Meanwhile, all the other non-Gigabyte boards I own or know of are all working perfectly fine after many years. But again, as I also said, this is just my experience.