Need a hand bringing cost down a little on new build

[Goti]

Hi all,

This is a new build I'm doing for my brother, his cost range is $1500 Canadian (preferably under, I'm paying half of the shipping costs, and live in Ontario), and I have to admit, I've been out of the loop the last couple years on hardware and only did my reading yesterday in figuring out this build.

The system will be used for gaming, and will be going into a computer room that gets extremely warm in the summer.

Noise isn't much of an issue, as there's generally 2 - 4 systems running at the same time, it's keeping the temps down that is more concerning to me.

The system will be only slightly over-clocked at this point in time, so I'm hoping the stock cooler will be adequate to handle the minor tweak (really not sure if it is a good stock cooler or not), so going to go with your suggestions on whether I should grab up an after-market cooler.

I've looked at similar builds (which helped in the information gathering greatly!) just can't really decide on where costs can be brought down a little. I plan on ordering from NCIX using price matching and will be ordering sometime this week.

On too the system, and prices:

Components.....................................|@N CIX |@Newegg.ca| @ Canada Computers
Win 7 Pro 64 bit - OEM.......................| 160.30 | 144.99 | 163.99
i5 750.............................................| 227.99 | 208.99 | 229.99 (204.99 w/instant rebate)
Asus P7P55D-E Pro............................| 205.77 | 194.99 | 197.99
Sapphire 5850 (Game Edition or similar).| 329.99 | 389.99 | 324.99
G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 mhz 4 gig.............| 129.99 | 109.99 | 124.99
Cooler Master HAF 932.......................| 149.99 | 169.99 | 142.99
Corsair HX850w................................| 229.99 | 179.99 | 189.99
West. Dig. Cav. Green WD10EARS........| 82.99 | 89.99 | 80.99
CoolerMaster Hyper 212.....................| N/A | N/A | 19.99
DVD Burner......................................| 29.99 | 28.99 | 29.99

Totals............................................ | $1547.00 | $1517.91 | $1505.90 ($1485.90 w/rebate)

Price matched (if all prices accepted w/o CPU Heatsink) - $1417.91 ($1397.91 w/rebate if applicable)

I realize this doesn't get much more dead on too the alloted amount then I could ever ask for. Just wondering where I could/should trim it down some.

My understanding is that the intel socket 1156 is likely not too be a long lived socket, which is fine, as more often then not I've always just given him my old systems when I've upgraded, but I'm atleast a year away from upgrading my own system, and he is in serious need of a new system that will last for approx. 3 years (I have him set-up on an old 3.2c system right now).

Any and all input is more then greatly appreciated, and I'll answer any questions on particular component choices as best as I can.

Thanks for reading!

Edit notes - Changed P7P55D-E Premium to Pro version.
Added Hyper 212 to the list, but seeing as it's not available from either Newegg or NCIX the cost is not added in the final total, still researching on CPU coolers for this socket aswell.

[Patramix]

ive been using the same cpu and ram, but on a Asus P7P55D-E PRO, its under 200$ and as the main important options of the premium, i think the biggest difference would be the phase power design. i can OC my i5 750 to 3.8g with only air with my pro. and unless your going crazy OC not shure about the premium price on that board.

and from recent news, none of the current cpu sockets (1156/1366) wont last long, so i wouldn't worry about that too much.

btw if your worried about heat, get a Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus cpu heatsink, 22$ and is the best for the price and worth it, if heat is a concern even if your not oc'ing

you can get dvd burners for 20$ also, every little bit help's

[Squeetard]

Second that, about the only place to cut with a build of that calibre is the mobo.

[Goti]

Thanks for the info Patra, I'm going to do some reading on that board now.

And I did start thinking about the heat in this room, I'll be adding an after market cooler in regardless. Live in a house which is over 100 years old, no airflow, and really really bad insulation!

I'll adjust prices after reading up on that board.

[Rescue119]

i would recommend the CM Sniper Storm BE case...you can get it for 150 shipped from NXsource. somethign to look at. Maybe a used powersupply?.....different mobo. besides that not sure.......oh and you dont have ram listed

[_dangtx_]

if its gaming and its got that budget...hmm...

start with a 5870 and then work your way down. a nice amd quad(or hexa core but that would be overkill for gaming now) will even the price out a bit(amd mobos can be had for 100$ and cpu's the same)


edit case wise price match the haf922 at 90$

[Goti]

@ Rescue119 - I'll have a look at that case. The ram is listed, it's the G.Skill Ripjaws, and a used PSU wasn't really something I considered. Good thought, but not sure I would want to go that route.

@ Dangtx - I had started out looking at an 5870 to begin with. But for now I think that's a little over-kill when more or less they're $450+.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Paganitzu]

That looks quite nice, although I have a few suggestions.

Like _dangtx_ said, definitely look at the HAF 922. The 932 is quite big and more suitable if you have a lot of hardware going in it or planning on watercooling.

Next, if you don't actually need any of the features of Win7 Pro you can get Home Premium for around $100.

Looking around, the Sapphire 5850 can be found for $300, so you could probably pricematch it down.

I don't think you would need an 850-watt power supply, not sure if you need a 750-watt either. Corsair HX650W can be had for around $100, and even the non-modular 750-watt can be had for $100.

For a main drive I would consider a Caviar Black as opposed to a Green, the equivalent drive is slightly more expensive but you could opt for a smaller sized one.

Like Patramix said, NCIX has DVD burners on sale just about every week for around $20, so there's a little savings.

[Zero82z]

Power supply: NCIX.com - Buy Antec Truepower New 650W Modular Power Supply ATX12V V2.3 Active PFC 80 Plus SLI Ready 120MM PWM Fan - TP-650 In Canada. or NCIX.com - Buy Antec Earthwatts 650W Power Supply ATX12V V2.2 EPS12V Active PFC 80PLUS 120MM Fan - EA650 In Canada.

Motherboard: NCIX.com - Buy ASUS P7P55D Pro LGA1156 P55 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 PCI SLI CrossFireX 6SATA GBLAN 1394 Motherboard - P7P55D PRO In Canada.

Hard drive (a WD Green is not the best choice for a gaming rig's main HD): Newegg.ca - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

DVD burner: NCIX.com - Buy ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black - DRW-24B1ST In Canada.

[xilocient]

I got a similar system with a 5870 and no OS for under $1500 after tax (only thing different was the case and the GPU), and i even got free shipping from NCIX. PM using pricebat.ca or pricegrabber.ca for the best prices before ordering and you'll save a lot.

+1 for the black over the green. Here's a link for a special at NCIX NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM - WD1001FALS In Canada.

As for the cooler, you can get the 212+ at NCIX w PM from bestdirect for $22. Can't say what the difference between the two is off the top of my head though.