Gaming PC On A Budget! *$1000*

[JoeOnePack]

Originally Posted by miggs78

While I agree with Perineum that RAM is cheap, +1 for 8GB.. Imo in reality you don't ever use 16GB, so I would really use that extra bit of money else where...

Also that RAM, is fast, though is expensive.. Even something like Kingston Hyper X Blu 8GB 1600MHz should be enough juice for average overclocking and plenty for gaming, that will only cost you around $50-55ish, maybe even as less as $40-45ish if you PM...

SSD - Crucial M4 128GB, good drive, and I think is the cheapest (could be wrong), but the price:performance ratio is great, even the Mushkin Chronos, I think NCIX recently had it on sale $100 (instant discount, no mail in rebate crap)

Case - While the 600T is an awesome case, you could save even more money and go with something like the Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced version, still one of the top mid towers around

Yea.. almost forgot, PSU - 650-750W should be plenty for a single card config, you can find for around $75-90, so again savings there

That leaves you to get a quality Z77 chipset board.. !! Again those are my personal opinions, I'm though almost in the same boat as you for a build around the same budget..

You could do is buy a z68 board for much less, and use the extra funds to buy a GTX670 card, beast of a card really..

edit: To your question, I was looking at the LX version today, seems like it doesn't have 6 channel audio, and other features, so not sure if I would take that much of a price cut to get that board.. In comparison, a gigabyte ga-z77m-d3h is a nice board, I really don't understand why Asus has their boards priced higher than the other manufacturers..

Well I was going to buy a p8z68 for $95. That Gigabyte is only about $30 more.

May I ask what someone looks for when they shop for a motherboard. The mobo is the only pc component that I consistantly get confused about.

[Dzzope]

The z77 board brings a few new features over the z68, check out the z77 review for a run down..

Beyond this, it's about features that the manufacturer puts into the board or the quality of the components.

Would love to see a run down of boards, cheap, mid and expensive price ranges.
Not the full monty reviews but more a run down of what your getting for your money.

[miggs78]

I agree there, so far we've only seen 1 Z77 board review, I hope SKY and crew are planning something..
As for features, for me, I'd like to have a CMOS clear button (it's not that I'm lazy, but one click rather than setting jumpers, just on the fly really).. Apart from that it looks overall all the low, mid and high end boards are coming with at least 4 USB 3.0 ports (on the Back Panel connectors), 2 from Intel chipset and 2 from ASmedia), so the back panel connectors seems to really cut down going from high to low end boards.. I haven't looked the Z77 in much depth, so I cannot say much unfortunately..

[JoeOnePack]

Originally Posted by miggs78

I agree there, so far we've only seen 1 Z77 board review, I hope SKY and crew are planning something..
As for features, for me, I'd like to have a CMOS clear button (it's not that I'm lazy, but one click rather than setting jumpers, just on the fly really).. Apart from that it looks overall all the low, mid and high end boards are coming with at least 4 USB 3.0 ports (on the Back Panel connectors), 2 from Intel chipset and 2 from ASmedia), so the back panel connectors seems to really cut down going from high to low end boards.. I haven't looked the Z77 in much depth, so I cannot say much unfortunately..

Just to add context. I could care less where the USB3.0 ports are. I don't need one up front. I am more of a beginner gamer pc builder than anything. All these extra features I doubt I could really utilize as I wouldn't know where to start.

Where would I find the Z77 review?

[Dzzope]

Motherboards | Hardware Canucks

[JoeOnePack]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

Motherboards | Hardware Canucks

Thanks a bunch.


Well I think I may just got with the P8Z68-V LX for now. A few months down the road when money permits I will upgrade anyways.


Now I just have to figure out what graphics card to use. I am looking around for Nvidia options now.

It seems I can get a 560ti for about $40 cheaper than a 6950. Any other recomendations?

[Dzzope]

There is really no point in upgrading until at least nahlam (next intel release) in a yr or so.. What your buying will be good for gaming for at least a few years.

The only thing that you should possibly consider upgrading would be the GPU..

If you can stretch to $400 then a 670 will do for at least 2 -3 years.. but a 560ti will be a good filler if you can't.. Go second hand there should be plenty available (especially if you'll def be upgrading in a few months.)

[JoeOnePack]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

There is really no point in upgrading until at least nahlam (next intel release) in a yr or so.. What your buying will be good for gaming for at least a few years.

The only thing that you should possibly consider upgrading would be the GPU..

If you can stretch to $400 then a 670 will do for at least 2 -3 years.. but a 560ti will be a good filler if you can't.. Go second hand there should be plenty available (especially if you'll def be upgrading in a few months.)

Aw sweet. I always wondered when the next release will be. That certainly helps to put things into perspective.

I can grab a Zotac 560ti 1GB for about $160 or a Sapphire 6950 2GB for about $200. What would you recommend, assuming I don't go with a better card.

[Dzzope]

The 6950 has slightly better raw performance... BUT my personal view is that nvidia has better drivers (though both these cards now have very mature drivers)

For me the 560ti is the better buy, especially at $40 less.. it really depends on the games you play and if they are both stock versions and the resolution that you play at..
At 1080, the 560ti is a good choice.. Higher res and the 2GB on the 6950 comes into play..
Also depends on the games you'll be playing.

If possible, stretch the budget or buy second-hand.. you'll lose quite a bit of money buying either of these cards new and then replacing in a few months.

MSI Radeon HD 6950 1GB Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC Review
Look at the stock versions of the 2 for comparison as they will both oc, the 560 oc's very well, not sure about the 6950.. There are plenty of reviews a few pages back in the video card section of the reviews.

[Dzzope]

2500k PC 2TB/16GB/Bluray/6870/750w - 735 shipped