1000$ gaming build

[tt74Rocky]

Hi!

I havnt been around for a few years. My laptop is outdated, I need something faster. Any help is very much welcome.

thanks!

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Mostly gaming,I would like to play diablo, starcraft 2, battlefield on highest possible res. Nothing else.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I could afford 1000$ or a bit more.

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

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
Best bang for the buck

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I do not have a desk computer at the moment.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I havnt been around for a few years now. I browsed trought a couple threads... A little help would still be very much welcome.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I do not plan on OC right now.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Now

9. What resolution and settings do you use?
I would also like to purchase a 24" monitor.

10. Are there any specific technologies you want?
Usb 3.0 would be nice but its not necessary.

[tt74Rocky]

Can you give me some advise/suggestionson that build?
ANY help is very very welcome.

thank you very much


The basics
Windows 7x64 152,99 (is there a way to get it cheaper?)
Cd/dvd reader/burner (samsung, asus, lg) 16,99
Case ~60 (any advise is welcome)
Microsoft mouse and keyboard 15,88

hard drive
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive - OEM 89,99

Graphic card
EVGA GeForce GTX 480 700MHZ 1536MB GDDR5 2xDVI Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card 209,99

Powersupply
XFX 550W PRO550W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 44A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze 62,02 (is this enought?)

Processor
AMD FX-4170 Quad Core Processor Socket AM3+ 4.20GHZ 4MB L2 Cache 125W Retail Box 136,99 (is there better for ~same price?)

Motherboard
Gigabyte 970A-D3 AMD970 ATX AM3+ DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI RAID SATA3 USB3.0 CrossFireX Motherboard (GA-970A-D3) 80,42

Memory (16gb)
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9 Vengeance 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1866 CL9-10-9-27 Memory Kit X2 126,16

Monitor
Acer V243H Ajbd 24IN Widescreen LCD 1920X1080 2MS 80000:1 VGA DVI Black 164,99

total price 990,26$

Also, is it possible/profitable to add this?
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5IN SATA3 Sandforce SF-2281 SSD Solid State Disk Flash Drive 49,99

[great_big_abyss]

Avoid the bulldozer quad-core. As much as I'm an AMD fan, this generation of AMD processors isn't very good.
(the 4100series performs lower than the previous generation Phenom quad-cores).


ASUS P8Z77-V lk - $138.55
Intel i3 Dual Core - $142.60
Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz 2x4GB RAM - $60.91
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Heatsink - $30.98
XFX Radeon HD 7870 Double D - $299.99
Corsair TX650M 650W Powersupply - $104.99
Crucial M4 128Gb SSD - $121.99
Bitfenix Shinobi - $69.99

Total: $970.00 before tax and shipping, AFTER MIR.

This is a NON-overclocking build, as the processor is not unlocked, and the motherboard doesn't have the necessary VRM heatsinks to handle increased voltage. I used an i3 dual core since benchmarks show that framerates will remain similar from the i3 to the i7 processors. You want to focus mainly on video card.

I replaced your 1TB harddrive with a 120GB SSD. 120GB SSD should be enough for a Windows install and up to 6 large games installed simultaneously. You'll have to purchase a second HDD for media storage purposes a little later when you have more money saved up.

The only current generation (28nm) video cards at the $300 mark are currently the AMD 7800 series. Which is unfortunate, because they're a little overpriced for the performance they give you. However, the next level of video cards (GTX670, 7950) are in the $400+ range. If you wait a couple of weeks, Nvidia may release their GTX660 which should drive down the price of the 7870.

[tt74Rocky]

Thanks you very much for the reply

Would AMD Bulldozer FX-8120 8 Core Processor 3.1GHZ Socket AM3+ 125W be better?

Or do you have any other cpu in mind?

[great_big_abyss]

I suppose for posterity sake, we could look at an AMD build.

The same build as above, but with an AMD processor/board:

ASUS M5A97 - $99.99
AMD FX8120 Bulldozer - $169.99

This brings the total price down to $958.83.

The biggest difference is you could overclock this combo the 4Ghz+. Compared to an i5 setup, this processor pales in comparison, but I think compared to the i3 that I spec'd, this would actually be a step up.

[tt74Rocky]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

I suppose for posterity sake, we could look at an AMD build.

The same build as above, but with an AMD processor/board:

ASUS M5A97 - $99.99
AMD FX8120 Bulldozer - $169.99

This brings the total price down to $958.83.

The biggest difference is you could overclock this combo the 4Ghz+. Compared to an i5 setup, this processor pales in comparison, but I think compared to the i3 that I spec'd, this would actually be a step up.

I read great things about this setup. Might aswell give it a shot.

[great_big_abyss]

I have that motherboard, and so far it's a great piece of kit. I'm using it with a previous generation Phenom II processor, but it still works great. The only feature I find it's missing is an internal USB3 header. But, since my case doesn't have USB 3 anyway, it's really a non-issue. Honestly, I don't see why some people spend $300+ on high end motherboards when a $100 motherboard retains 95% of the functionality of those more expensive boards. Hell, the M5A97 will even do a x8 crossfire build, which is more than enough bandwidth for most video cards (GTX690 excluded, maybe).

One thing you have to keep in mind though is if you want to ever do an SLI build (2x Nvidia cards) you'll have to step up to the M5A99 motherboard. The M5A97 will run a single AMD or Nvidia card, or 2 AMD cards, but does NOT support SLI.

[tt74Rocky]

So, 20$ more to futur proof?

ASUS M5A99X Evo ATX AM3+ DDR3 AMD 990X 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 1PCI USB3.0 SATA3 GBLAN Motherboard - DirectCanada

Seems resonable

[great_big_abyss]

Well, not necessarily. Think about it. Are any of the 9-series motherboards truly futureproof?

The next AMD Cpu's will most likely use a different chipset (10series?) than what is on the current gen motherboards. If you ever want to do SLI config in the future, you'll probably be due to upgrade your processor at the same time, which will mean you'll need to get a new motherboard anyways.

For your purposes (single monitor), a single card, be it AMD or Nvidia will be more than enough, so in other words, go with the M5A97. I was just making you aware that the board was not SLI compatible, so that if by some stretch of the imagination you every buy a 2nd Nvidia card and it doesn't work, you don't get a nasty surprise.

[tt74Rocky]

Im quite unsure that psu has all the required wires to handle that GPU, can anyone confirm if they are compatible or not?

tyvm