Budget Starcraft II Build for Christmas (Need Recommendations)

[RM - Ottawa]

Hi all,

I need to build a starcraft II computer for Christmas, and would love some recommendations to save some money and make a budget of $500. In thise case, I fortunately already happen to have in my hands a good gpu to start with (AMD 6970) and a monitor. The computer will also be used for skype/chatting web surfing and perhaps streaming videos/playing movies.

I would like to buy parts in canada asap, and have some local Canada Computer stores here in Ottawa, Ontario, as well as futureshops and bestbuys. The user of this computer is also a futureshop employee, so will be able to get discounts on select item(s) such as the power supply.

I will need to buy:

1- CPU
2- MOBO
3- Case
4- RAM
5- Hard drive (and a SSD if budget permits)
6- Power supply (likely discount one at futureshop)

I am looking for recommendations for the cpu/mobo mostly and possibly the case, as they will require the most expertise. I was thinking an i5 2500 for the cpu and an adequate relevant mobo.

Will probably going to get any basic 4GB of ram, ( 2 x 2 gb ?? ) and a standard 1TB hard drive with maybe a small 64gig ssd if budget permits (undecided).

I will go with the stock cpu cooler and hopefully the stock case fans will provide sufficient air flow. This rig will not be run that hard.

What do you guys think? Looking forward to building this little guy asap :D What prices am I looking at?

Thanks!!!!!

[YoungMan]

Even with Futureshop discounts, the stuff is still overpriced.

See if you can score a cpu/mobo bundle. Honestly, the CPU doesn't play a big role in what you need it for.
So budget for an SSD first, then your other requirements like case/ram/psu and the CPU last. Even an i3 will be more than enough.

[Kilauea]

Are you willing to go with used parts ?
You did not factor an o/s, is that a mistake or you already have one ?
On top of futureshop's ridiculous overprice, they don't quite carry the most reliable brands as far as I'm concerned. (that is the case for PSU at the very least)

[RM - Ottawa]

I am willing to consider used parts, and yes I already have an o/s. I guess I would save money and still have a decent build without the i5 2500 then?

[nasrott]

Its the $500 price that makes it hard to pick parts for, believe you should be going for a used system that one of the guys just replaced with a new one.

Or something like this:

NCIX Bundle Deal AMD Bulldozer FX-8150 8 Core Processor & ASRock 970 EXTREME3 ATX Motherboard

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS White

Corsair XMS3 CMX16GX3M2A1600C11 16GB 2X8GB DDR3-1600 CL11-11-11-30 1.5V Dual Channel Memory Kit

Corsair TX750 V2 750W ATX 12V Single Rail 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80PLUS Bronze

Add a harddrive of your choice. This was all taken from their boxing week sale page. started last night...
Intel bundles of anything relevant for gaming started at $350 and up too much for your budget.

[concinnity]

nasrott's pretty much got it