$900 Gaming PC

[Zayxic]

Hey everyone! So a friend has asked for some help with building a PC but I haven't really been following since building my own with everyone's awesome help before I've done some basic research but still not sure about some things.

So once again I call upon the knowledgeable HC community to help me out once more. Many thanks!


1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
He wants it mainly for gaming, but he doesn't play anything too demanding. He mentioned he was looking mainly to play FF14 when it comes out.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
He said about $800 after tax, but was willing to push to $1000 if it was worthwhile. (not including monitor)

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.


4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
He doesn't have any definite preferences, but would prefer Intel over AMD (unless it made more sense cost wise to go for the other).

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
None.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes, I've gone over some similar threads.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Default.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
By the end of the month.

9. What resolution do you use?
He mentioned using two monitors.

Based on my research and his preferences, I was recommending going with:

CPU: i5 750/760
MOBO: I've looked at Asus P7P55D-E Pro and Asus P6X58D-E based on other threads, but they're a little pricey. Are there any cheaper, but just as reliable alternatives? Gigabyte ones?
RAM: G Skill or Mushkin 4GB ram (He said, if possible triple channel 6gb...)
HD: 640GB WD Black
PS: I'm hoping to get him a modular one. Recommending Corsair or Silverstone for him.
GFX: I was initially thinking 5770, but started looking at NVidia alternatives.
Case: He has shown interested in the Antec 900... hoping to keep below 100. Any other good choices?

He was wondering if it is feasible to go for an i7 build with this budget, as he was slightly concerned 1156 was being phased out.

Thanks for reading! Your help is greatly appreciated.

[jcmaz]

Triple channel ram will not work to its maximum capacity in the P55/H55/AM3 chipsets.

Get the GTX 460, way better than the 5770.

Drop the Antec 900. Rather cramped and offers no cable management.
I would get the Azza Solano 1000. Very similar to the Antec 900 in style, but cheaper and with more fans.

[_dangtx_]

forget the antec, look for a 922 maybe coolermaster or a 690 II?

not sure what the game demands, also what resolution?

for small-er i always suggest amd builds. best bang per buck. people here got tired of me saying get a 240/250 duallie and matching am2+/3 mobo :)

either way a decent 50 0watter corsair or such will be more than enough

[xlilmissmjx]

Even the 1366 is being phased out as Intel is bringing out the 2011 to replace it.

Anyway, stay with the 1156 setup, here my suggestions for you for a $1000 taxes included build...

PSU: Corsair TX650 - Plenty of power and headroom for future upgrades.
Mobo: Gigabyte GA H55 USB3 ATX or H57M USB3 mATX, only get the Asus P7P55D-E Pro if you don't need to get the OS.
CPU: Intel Core i3 530 - awesome little dual core, can OC to 4GHz on air!
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - Excellent cooler for the price ($25ish Price Matched)
RAM: G Skill or Mushkin 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 - 1600 is the sweet spot for pricing atm.
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 or WD Caviar Black 500GB drives or up to 1TB if on sale for same price as the 500's. Get a 2nd HDD for backup storage later on.
GPU: Radeon HD5770 1GB - Great 1920x1080 performance for the price.
OS: MS Win 7 Home Premium 64Bit OEM - Don't forget about it, unless you've already got it or have xp/vista instead, though I would still heavy recommend it over both of those!

Leaves you about $100 for the case. I've suggested the 650 to allow you to upgrade the gpu as high as a ATI HD5970 or nVidia GTX480 later on, besides doing a mobo, cpu & possible ram upgrade.

Good luck with your build

[Luay79]

Motherboard: You don't need need the Asus P7P seeing you won't be using SLI. I never tried the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2, but it has all the basics and it's worth a look.
Memory: Dual channel, and seeing that there won't be any tweaking or overclocking, get the 1,333MHz memory, not the 1,600MHZ
HD: Samsung 1TB SpinPointF3
450 wat PSU is what you need.
Xigmatek Utgard Case
If it's just for games on a tight budget, you can increase the value and get a cheaper CPU like the Phenom II X4 945, 955 or 965 and spend more money on the GPU. The 460 is a nice upgrade from the 5770.
as xlilmissmjx said, the i5 530 is an even cheaper option (almost same gaming performance minus the cores)
Good luck!

[Zayxic]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Have passed on what has been mentioned.

Right now I'm telling him to grab the CM Storm Scout case on sale at Newegg for $60 (free shipping) - Newegg.ca - COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Good move?

[Linus]

Might I suggest this system from NCIX?

YouTube - NCIX PC Vesta i3 3050 $899.99 Value Gaming System First Look & Silence Evaluation Linus Tech Tips

[Zayxic]

Did a little more research and based on what has been said in the thread, I came up with:

MOBO Asus P7P55D-E Pro -------------- 159.99
CPU Intel i5 760 ------------------------ 199.99 <-- 760 as he wants to quad core for excel work
GPU EVGA GTX 460 Superclocked -------- 229.99
RAM G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL ------- 92.16
HD Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB ---- 59.79
PSU Seasonic M12II 620W --------------- 93.99
Case Coolermaster Storm Sniper --------- 99.99
DVD Samsung SH-S243D ---------------- 19.99
Total --------------------------------- 955.89

Price wise it's a little on the high end, so I've found some alternatives:
Gigabyte P55A-UD3--------134.79
XFX Radeon HD 5770-------174.99 <--- not as powerful as 460, but provided for possible savings
Seasonic M12II 520W-------84.99

Looking at an AMD alternative:
Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3-----102.96
AMD Phenom II X4 955------162.90

I'm gonna give him all these options and see what he says. Any input on what I've put together?

Thanks all!

[_dangtx_]

giga 870a,winner
1055t, winner
gtx 460, winner especially 1 gig version

try to find a special or better pm price on the seasonic .