Help building a computer 800-900 USD budget

[IlluminatiRex]

Ok, so this would be my first build. I recently won 1000 dollars in a Greek History tournament (AHEPA District 7's Hellenic History Trophy if you are curious), and now I have the money to be able to build a decent gaming rig. That said, I know basically nothing in regards to hardware.

I was thinking of basing it off of the "mid-range" build featured here, with modifications based on what others suggest.

http://www.build-gaming-computers.co...-computer.html

Any help is greatly appreciated and I know it is not something to rush into, but to take your time with

[Love Mountain]

Are you willing to build by yourself? Is there anyone who can help you with the assembly?

[Bolkonsky]

That mid-range one is OK:

Mid-Range Gaming PC Build

Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H Intel 7 Series ($155)

CPU

Intel Core i5-3570K ($230)

RAM

Patriot G2 Series 8GB (DDR3 1600 Mhz) ($40)

Video Card

EVGA GTX 560 Ti 1GB ($225)

Sound Card

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1 ($30)

Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB ($85)

Optical Drive

Lite-On Internal DVD Writer ($18)

Case

Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid-Tower ($60)

Power Supply

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700 Watt ($50)


Total Cost: $893 (USD)

Some things I'd change on it though. One, drop the sound card. It's a complete waste of money, truth be told your on board sound will sound exactly the same. Always prioritize good speakers over a good soundcard, because even if you have a good soundcard, you probably won't be able to hear the difference. Also that one doesn't say anything about a headphone amp, so it's more or less useless.

Instead of the Patriot RAM, get G.Skill. It's just as cheap and has a lifetime warranty. (And it's really good.)

Where are you located? I'd recommend buying from Newegg instead of Tiger if you can, Tiger has slow and expensive shipping, Newegg's is either free, or really cheap, and usually gets to me in RI next day.

[IlluminatiRex]

I'm in CT, so that would probably be a good idea.

Searching NewEgg for G.Skill I found these two

A 16 GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231556

And an 8 GB for a similar price of the Patriot - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

Since I'd have the extra money saved on the Sound Card, would you recommend me getting the 16 GB as I'd have more than enough comfort room, or is it a bit too much?

I was also reading the customer reviews on that Harddrive. It seems 60 GB are partitioned off, and in reality it is only 930 GB. I also was reading that it was hit or miss, do you have any other recommended brands? I'm also worried that the Power supply isn't going to be enough.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

bolk at somepoint link to the build list i did awhile back and just tweak it on price the $1000 rig should fall right into place with a bit of tweaking. and combo deals i dont have time to dig it up and do the work too busy testing parts that have arrived for the new review job.

[PoleCat]

bolk at somepoint link to the build list i did awhile back and just tweak it on price the $1000 rig should fall right into place with a bit of tweaking. and combo deals i dont have time to dig it up and do the work too busy testing parts that have arrived for the new review job.

$600 $800 $1000 & $1500 Build It Yourself PC Parts Lists

Easiest 30 seconds of my life....

[Bolkonsky]

If I can find the damn thing lol.

Also, can you build this yourself?

[IlluminatiRex]

Yeah, I'll be able to build this on my own. It'll take some patience, compressed air (when absolutely necessary), a clean workspace (away from all the pets, that shouldn't be too hard to do), a non-magnetic screwdriver, I'll make sure not to take the parts out of the box until it's time to actually put them in, and even more patience.

Though, I'll look for some basic outlines in building it.

[Love Mountain]

Yeah, I'll be able to build this on my own. It'll take some patience, compressed air (when absolutely necessary), a clean workspace (away from all the pets, that shouldn't be too hard to do), a non-magnetic screwdriver, I'll make sure not to take the parts out of the box until it's time to actually put them in, and even more patience.

Though, I'll look for some basic outlines in building it.

I5-3570k
ASRock Extreme 4 Z77
Nvidia 660 Non-Ti 2GB
Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Model# CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Cooler Master 212 Evo or Plus
NZXT Vulcan
Corsair HX850(Ill pay premium for good Customer Service any day)

The total is in the neighborhood of your budget. Slightly less actually I think.

[IlluminatiRex]

Ok, so here is my part list. I still have to wait for the check to come by mail, but it should be within the next week or so.

The total price will be 942.77$, that's with the shipping and the rebates in the equation.

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H (154.99$+7.87$)

CPU
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (229.99$)

RAM
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) (67.99$)

Videocard
EVGA GTX 560 Ti 1GB (254.99$ [with a 30$ mail in rebate card it will be 224.99$])

Harddrive
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 (89.99$)

Optical Drive
Lite-On Internal DVD Writer (17.99$)

Case
ZALMAN Z11 (69.99$+4.99$ [59.99$ after 10.00$ mail in rebate card])

Power Supply
CORSAIR CX Series CX750 750W (89.99$+3.99$ [79.99$ with 10.00$ rebate card])

[Bolkonsky]

I would say just go with the 560, but AMD has dropped their prices dramatically recently, so instead of that 1GB 560, you might be better off with the 2GB 7850.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150609

Slightly cheaper, plus three free games. Also one generation newer, despite being a tier down. In terms of power per watt, the 7850 is the better card, and in practice the 7850 is about equal give or take a few fps. However, for $30 less and an extra gigabyte of memory to future-proof, and with free games, I think it'd be worth it.

[atraps]

I would dump the hard drive for a solid-state drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148442

[Bolkonsky]

That's a terrible idea, you will have no storage space for anything.

[IlluminatiRex]

Yeah, that sounds like a solid deal. I'll go with that then, that will be good too, because I still have money for a new monitor or ACIII. Depending on whether or not my mom gets a new monitor when she buys her new setup. I'll just use my current monitor, my bros will get this computer and our older monitor and my mom will have a newer one. Works out perfectly.


EDIT: I'm avoiding SSD's like the plague. I want to have room, not break my budget, and not really buy into some hype... Just my .02

[atraps]

I'm avoiding SSD's like the plague. I want to have room, not break my budget, and not really buy into some hype... Just my .02

The SSD I linked is only $10 more than the hard drive. Sure it's 1/10 the capacity, but it's much faster. Below are some tests I ran when I upgraded from Samsung F3s to Crucial M4s. Both were in RAID 0.

Sequential

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Random

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[IlluminatiRex]

The SSD I linked is only $10 more than the hard drive. Sure it's 1/10 the capacity, but it's much faster.

$10 more...1/10 the capacity

How about no?

[Bolkonsky]

I have an F3, I know what the speeds are. I also know the 128 GB can hold about 3 games and a Windows installation. It's not worth the price as a main storage drive.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

ssd is only effective if you have a 1tb hdd to compliment it otherwise their really isnt enough space.

cheaper option would be to look out for a 60gb drive grab 1tb and use the 60gb as a cache drive to improve the HDDs performance, just a week ago i managed to get a 60gb OCZ Vertex Plus (nothing special mind you its sata II 180mb read 70-90 write its the access times that matter, regardless it only cost $10 to get off newegg due to paying attention to deals.

[Totalheadache]

ssd is only effective if you have a 1tb hdd to compliment it otherwise their really isnt enough space.

cheaper option would be to look out for a 60gb drive grab 1tb and use the 60gb as a cache drive to improve the HDDs performance, just a week ago i managed to get a 60gb OCZ Vertex Plus (nothing special mind you its sata II 180mb read 70-90 write its the access times that matter, regardless it only cost $10 to get off newegg due to paying attention to deals.

yeah i'd say you could just about get away with a 300gb ssd main drive +games. that's what I'm after anyways...

maybe for xmas

(or poss just a 60gb ssd for os and then a larger one for games).

[IlluminatiRex]

Just an update, ordered the parts today, check came yesterday. Really happy .

Order Summary


1 x ($219.99) XFX Double D FX-785A-CDFC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
1 x ($219.99) Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
1 x ($144.99) GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 x ($89.99) CORSAIR CX Series CX750 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
1 x ($79.99) Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM
1 x (FREE) AMD Gift - FARCRY3 / MOH 2-in-1 Game Coupon
1 x ($69.99) eMachines E180HV Black 18.5" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 200 cd/m2 5000:1
1 x ($67.99) G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9D-16GAO
1 x ($64.99) ZALMAN Z11 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
1 x (FREE) XFX Gift - DEUS EX Game Coupon
1 x (FREE) XFX Gift - DiRT SHOWDOWN Gift Coupon
1 x ($17.99) LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
1 x ($14.99) 1 Yr Service Net Replacement Plan For Item#N82E16813128544
1 x ($-14.99) DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #1133401
1 x ($-159.97) DISCOUNT FOR AUTOADD #68289

Subtotal:$975.91Tax:$0.00Shipping and Handling:$14.45Total Amount:$990.36