Gaming Build ~$1500 after tax

[bakasam]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming/Fraps and Video Editting/School/General Usage

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

My price budget is ~1500$ after tax obviously the lower would be better but I'm willing to spend the money if the part im getting is significantly better than the next level down

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

Canada NCIX (i live like 10 mins away)

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.

None in particular but a friend of mine recommended me some parts but did not go in too much detail for other parts so hopefully you guys can help me fill in the gaps.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

I have a GTX260 which is still fairly new and hope to put it to use. I was told to either SLI it with a GTX460 OR get an AMD card and use the 260 for just physx or something (something about a driver tweak or whatever you can do). My DVD rom in my current computer is still functioning so i guess i'll save myself like 30$ or so from there

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Yes

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

Could go with either

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

2 weeks - 1 month+ from now depending on GPU recommendations

9. What resolution do you use?

1920 x 1080


So I'm having some issues with my comp im not sure if its RAM or hard drive but I don't really want to spend the time to diagnose the problem and then either replace the ram nor do i want to go through the trouble and reformat if i have to replace my HDD. So I guess I'll use this as a bad excuse to get a new rig :P my comp is pretty old anyways (around 5-6 years)

A friend of mine recommended me some parts but did not go in too much detail for other parts so hopefully you guys can help me fill in the gaps. Also feel free to make suggestions/changes if you feel some parts might be better or more bang for the buck etc

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T or the 1055
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Sandforce 60GB SSD (for OS couple of frequently used apps)
HDD: 640GB or 1TB Caviar Black
CASE: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid-Tower Case

PSU: Could use Recommendations
MOBO: A 890FX or GX Mobo (Could use recommendations)
RAM: 6GB/8GB (Could use recommendations)
GPU: Video card dilemma between 5870, 5850, 2x 5770, gtx 460 or wait for the new 6000 series (probably a 6850 or 6770??)

[xlilmissmjx]

PSU: Corsair HX/TX 650W max for single cards or CFX 5850's/SLI 460's. Higher rated psu for higher dual cards.

MOBO: Gigabyte 890FXA, Asus M489TD PRO/USB3, if not planning on dual/tri/quad cards, then go for the Giga 870A or Asus P7H55/USB3

RAM: G Skill, Corsair, Mushkin or Patroit are preferred. DDR3-1600 is the sweet spot atm

GPU: Since this is an AMD rig, Single card: nVidia. Dual/Tri/Quad: ATi

[martin_metal_88]

Welcome to the forum

Get the AMD 1055T,put a nice air cooler on it and OC the hell out of it. Also, for the memory, 4GB will suit your need. No need to spend more right now on this. Look at the G.skill Flare since they have been made FOR AMD. Now the mobo, these are some board I recomend.
NCIX.com - Buy MSI 890FXA-GD70 ATX AM3 890FX DDR3 5PCI-E16 CrossFire 1PCI-E1 1PCI eSATA SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard - 890FXA-GD70 In Canada.
NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 AMD890FX ATX AM3 DDR3 3PCI-E 3-WAY CrossFireX 2GBLAN SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard - GA-890FXA-UD5 In Canada.

And finally, videocard. I would get a 5870. waiting for 6XXX would be a little useless since a 5870 can play any game almost maxed. The only game that will keep you back is Metro 2033 but this is probably the worst game ever so we don't really mind:P

[rjbarker]

I'm actually enjoying Metro very much.....why do you say worst game ever Martin? Curious is all......I think folks that don't like it are simply trying to play it without the right amount of "poop".... ;) .......graphics are amazing..
btw ..I remember this same complaint when Crysis was released... "terrible game...poorly coded" ...on the right Rig it was was of the best games I've played...amazing graphics....some games simply aren't designed with "Budget Build" in mind at high Res...nor single GPU in mind at high Res....doesn't necessarily mean they're bad games ....I ould call them "Enthusiast /games" for "Enthusiast Rigs"..

....maybe all you need to do Martin is drop a 2nd 5870 to open up that "Enthusiast Games" door...you've certainly got the PSU for it..

[martin_metal_88]

I say that it's a crap because it's the same thing that most of the shooter are. Why enjoy a game when you already play it 10 time with different look over the year. And seriously Rj, you are one of the first I heard that love the game, seriously. Ho and, Crysys 1 IS poorly coded that's not a secret for any one XD

[fishingfanatic]

If you intend to use xfire or SLI, then you'll want to make sure the board is capable. As another member pointed out, AMD boards generally only xfire. There are a few that will do SLI, so choose carefully if you decide to go Nvidia. As said b4, the 460 is a great card, recommended by most.

For psu, definitely Corsair imho. Get the modular one, you'll thank the experts later. The case seems a bit small, nothing wrong with it, perhaps look at the 922. A little roomier and great air flow.

If you're going to use a 32 bit OS, then 4 gbs is all you'll need, as only 3 gbs are used if I remember correctly.
For 64 bit, go 8 gbs if you can afford the extra $. To me, it really is a lot faster. I would recommend Mushkin 1st, but any lifetime warranty ram is fine. Patriot, G Skills & Corsair are 3 good brands.

I would seriously look at the Intel X 25 80 gb SSD for your OS, as it is a bit bigger and is considered one of if not the best for that purpose.

The 1 tb WD black is a good choice, look at the Samsung as well as it's a bit faster. Either drive are a great choice.

As suggested by another member, I would get the 1055T and oc the heck out of it. If you want to spend the extra $100 for the 1090, then that's your choice, np.

Your friend did give you some decent recommendations, with a little tweaking, it can be awesome for the $.
Good luck with the build and enjoy the new system!!! Welcome to HWC btw!

[bakasam]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Placed my order today and this is what I came up with

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan 80PLUS Power Supply
$79.99 (25$ MIR so $54.99)

Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
$79.99

OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Sandforce 60GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD
$139.99 (20$ MIR so $119.99)

Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C7 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 7-8-7-20 Core i5 Dual Channel Memory Kit
$119.99 (20$ MIR so $99.99)

Coolermaster Haf 922 Mid Tower ATX Case
$89.99 (Being pricematched to Newegg)

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 DDR3 ATX AMD 890FX 4PCI-E16 2PCI CrossFireX 6 SATA 6GB/S Motherboard
$229.99 (Being pricematched to Newegg)

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 6 Core Processor 3.2GHZ Socket AM3 Retail Box
$297.99 (Being pricematched to Newegg)

Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50 High Performance CPU Cooler System LGA775 LGA1366 LGA1156 AM2 AM3
$64.13 (Being pricematched to Bestdirect.ca same company as NCIX)

Using my GTX260 and plan on using it until I get some more money to get a some crossfire cards.
Already have my own DVD-Rom also already have a copy of Win7 64 bit.

Decided to go with the 922 instead of the 912 when i saw it on newegg for 90$. NCIX had theirs at like $125. Also gonna try to OC the 1090T to about 4.2 so about 1.0ghz i think should be reasonably fair

Assuming the price matching goes well
Subtotal: $1080.06
Total After Tax(12%): $1209.67
Total After Tax(12%) with Rebates: $1144.67

[rjbarker]

^^^ Nice HW...but is that a good PSU...or a cheapie?..$79...hhmmmm..

[_dangtx_]

pretty much so. not a bad unit, but with that build in mind? i beg to differ, sir!

call them up and change the cpu to a 1055, psu to a corsair/seasonic 600-700w if you are going to run dual cards,swap that black for a 2tb seagate or wd still since you have a fast boot drive, h50 for 212+ cooler master or v6gt if you need more oomph or if you insist hr-02 from thermalright, fanless monster, 870a or ud3 from gigabyte, this way youll have a more balanced system that costs less as well :)

[bakasam]

This is the PSU i got heh it was on sale so maybe i might have cheaped out
NCIX.com - Buy OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan 80PLUS Power Supply - OCZ700MXSP In Canada.

Thinking about changing it to this one though
NCIX.com - Buy OCZ FATAL1TY Series 750W ATX 24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Red Fan 80+ Bronze Power Supply - OCZ750FTY In Canada.

I don't have a lot of "stuff" to say so I dont think a 2TB HD is necessary.

and hopefully ima try to clock it to 4-4.2ghz heh