My new PC...

[smartydix]

I really need a new PC! If you check my current configuration you'll figure out why...

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

Gaming, photoshop...enough said.

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

I don't understand what you meant by 20% spread... 800$

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

Serbia, or Montenegro (doesn't matter since you probably haven't heard of any of them)

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.

I'm not a fanboy of any but I really prefer Intel processors and AMD(or ATI, which one makes Radeon graphic cards) graphic cards.

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

I was thinking using the current case but it's probably too old by now...so not the case..
Maybe my hard-drive, since they're to expensive right now so I'll wait.

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

No, I haven't, sorry...

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

I don't plan on overclocking, until I'm sure that I won't break anything by doing that.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

January 2012 maybe...

9. What resolution do you use?

I think you wanted to say which resolution I'm going to use , if so 1920x1080


I was thinking about:
Intel i5 2500 3.3Ghz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870
2x4GB 1600Mhz

So, can I play new games with this configuration?

Now the problem is which motherboard, case and power supply should I get to match my price (without the hard-drive). That's where I need your help. Also, I found a 2TB 7200RPM 64MB hard-drive for 120$, should I buy it?
I saw all of your configurations and I really freaked when some of you mentioned price tags of 1500$ and 2000$, I hope mine will work for gaming..
P.S. All the prices I noted here are converted from Euro to Canadian dollars at Oanda currency converter

[clshades]

That's a pretty hard budget to meet considering you need just about everything. I reckon you need to find another 2-400 dollars if you truly want to game.

[shane_p]

thats a nice cheap gaming rig if ur at a 1080p resolution

[frontier204]

I don't game at 1920x1080 so I can't really give much advise on the GPUs.

For motherboards, anything that supports the CPU will work if you don't overclock. Otherwise get a P67 board cheap - my cheap Intel P67 can overclock an i5 2500k to 3.7 GHz on the stock cooler for instance. Never cheap out on power supply - for that system I'd recommend anything in the 500+ watt range by a good OEM (Delta, Seagate, SuperFlower). Brands include Antec, Corsair, Silverstone in North America but I know there are a few more manufacturers/rebranders from Europe and Asia that you may have access to. For the case, look for anything that accepts multiple fans where you have an INTAKE and an EXHAUST. Good inexpensive cases like that include the Cooler Master Elite or Antec Three Hundred. The only Power supply + Case combo I'd ever trust is something from Antec or Silverstone - everyone else seems to throw in cheap power supplies that will explode.

For that "2TB 7200RPM 64MB" drive, what are you using it for? If it is a "green" series drive (e.g. Seagate GreenPower or WD Caviar Green) then it can only be used for storage (don't put your OS or games on it). If it's a Caviar Black then it would work for whatever use in your system.

[CoolHandL]

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

Serbia, or Montenegro (doesn't matter since you probably haven't heard of any of them)

Keep in mind you are talking to a forum from a developed country/nation not some "under a rock country", we are well aware of the countries you hail from.

[Silent_Avenger]

Originally Posted by CoolHandL

Keep in mind you are talking to a forum from a developed country/nation not some "under a rock country", we are well aware of the countries you hail from.

Don't you mean not some "inside an igloo country"? I know that was horrible.

Anyways, I think a comp on the $800 side is more than capable of gaming just don't expect to run smoothly at 1080p with all eye candy at max. You mentioned photoshop as well and 8GB should suffice but depending on what you're doing with photoshop you may want to spring for another 8GB(at least later on anyways) since ram is getting much cheaper. Also like frontier204 has said don't use that HDD if it is a "Green" HDD for anything other than just storage. The mobo since you only have a 2500 not 2500k I guess you aren't going to OC much if at all so any basic 1155 board should do just quickly go over any customer reviews.

Something like this --> Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H-B3 mATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 3PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 HDMI DVI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard - Gigabyte - GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3

May be an option if you can get one shiped to Serbia ofc there are a lot more motherboards out there. Do you have a preference between mATX and ATX?

The case depends if you have a space limitation or not.

If you want to stick to mATX something like this would suffice --> Coolermaster Elite 343 Black mATX Mini Tower Case 2X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS - COOLERMASTER - RC-343-KKN1

However unless you're concerned about space I recommend a mid tower for upgradability.

Coolermaster Elite 350 ATX Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5INT 6X3.5INT Front USB2.0 Audio *No PS* - COOLERMASTER - RC-350-KKN1

It doesn't have cable management but unless you populate all the 5.25" bays you can just stuff extra cables there. It can also accommodate 7 hard drives or 6 and a card reader.

For the PSU 500W should be enough but doesn't allow a lot in terms of being able to upgrade in the future(750W+ for being better future proofed). Stay away from the "no name" power supplies. Again read customer reviews.

[smartydix]

Thanks everyone for replying :)

I read all your suggestions and I guess I'll be going with i5 2500K (Can I just ask what's the difference between 2500 and 2500K?)

@frontier204 The "2TB 7200RPM 64MB" is sold out, and it was Green... But I found a "WD Caviar Black 3,5" SATA HD, 1TB, 7200, 64" for 115$. I think it's nice deal considering the hard-drive prices now..

@CoolHandL Online a lot of people ask me where I'm from, and when I said I am from Montenegro they would ask "where the hell is that?"..so I got used to it...

@Silent_Avenger I don't want all eye-candy, like super high ultra definition...high or medium is enough... I may lower down the resolution. Whatever I do it's better then what can I do on my current PC
So I'm going with the 2500K, how does it affect the mobo? Can I go with the "P8H61 PRO"(66$-discount) or "P8H67"(108$).
I don't have any space limitations...
Ok, I'll go with the elite but I'm not sure it's that cheap here..
How about the 600W?

I'm a total newbie to Crossfire or SLI.. I'd only like to know do I have to have two same graphic cards and how will it affect my other spec?

P.S. My budget just got increased by 50$ , more to come maybe :)
Thanks again

[frontier204]

See this for difference between "K" and non-K processors: AnandTech - The Sandy Bridge Review: Intel Core i7-2600K, i5-2500K and Core i3-2100 Tested
On a non-K processor you are limited to overclocking with Turbo Boost to +400MHz (assuming you keep the reference clock at default). The K processors allow overclocking to reference clock x 57 or 5.7 GHz at default reference clock. The 2500K and 2700K also have a better integrated graphics (IGP) chip than the non-K variants.

You completely defeat the purpose of a 2500K if you use an H-series chipset (unless you want the IGP?). You need P67 or Z68 to overclock.

For SLI the graphics cards have to have exactly the same chip - e.g. putting a GTX 460 1 GB and a GTX 460 SE 1 GB in SLI won't work. Crossfire is a little more forgiving - AMD has a bunch of charts that tell you what works and what doesn't. In either case you CAN mix manufacturers as long as you respect the other "criteria" for SLI / Crossfire. To use either SLI or Crossfire you need a motherboard that supports that technology and more than one PCI-E x16 slot. You also need a bigger PSU because you're powering two cards. At your budget and resolution, you're better off buying a single powerful graphics card - dealing with the extra heat and driver mess (e.g. REDUCED performance in some games) that goes with dual GPU configurations isn't worth it with a single monitor / no 3D Vision configuration. My 1 venture into Crossfire (4870 + 4850) ended with a crash when I overheated the 4870

Any good 500W or 600W power supply will be fine. The key word is there "good" as there are a lot of fakes that have a 500-600W label but will actually explode if you try to draw 250W from them. What manufacturers of PSU do you have access to?

[smartydix]

I do need a good cooler to overclock right? And...is there a program that can automatically overclock the processor without overheating it because I have not got a single clue how to do that...

How about P8P67-M?

I was thinking of Sapphire (or Visiontek) Radeon HD 6870, can that be called a "single powerful graphics card"?
So no crossfire for me than...
You could of at least overheated the 4850 not 4870

I'll take a 600W one, just in case...
Here are the manufactures
Antec
Blueberry
Chieftec
Codegen
Cooler Master
Digitus
Frontier
Hantol
Hewlett Packard
Hipro
iG-Max
Intex
JNC
KME
LC Power
MS Industrial
NZXT
Recom
Seasonic
Silverstone
Spire
Thermaltake
Trust
Xigmatek
Xilence
Zalman
Zito

I got them from a famous website about computers in Serbia, pcberza. Here is the of the translated version of the website. Just to note, some prices are in euro, some in dinars so... 100 din ≈ 1 eur

[martin_metal_88]

In your list, trust Antec, NZXT Seasonic, Silverstone. Stay with these and you will be good almost sure :)