64 replies to this topic

[Zakatak]

This little laptop of mine is good for old games, but playing at 25FPS on Skyrim or Mass Effect 2 isn't really going to cut it. It has a 1.7GHz processor and an AMD 5650, which isn't enough processing power (imo) for Mass Effect 3/Mechwarrior Online/A-10C (games I plan on playing quite a bit this year). So I think I might want to buy a new PC.

So far, my list looks something like this. I haven't really gone on NewEgg.ca and filled up a cart of supplies, however. I don't have a job at the moment, mainly due to Math destroying me (I suck at Math, staying above 70% is tough for me, don't laugh) this year. Also, pilot schooling takes up time aswell. Anyway:

- Nvidia GTX570
- Intel i5-2500k (3.3GHz)
- Harddrive between 320-640Gb, 7200RPM preferred
- Monitor between 1024x768 and 1440x900
- "Good" RAM, 6GB preferred

I play on a small desk with the monitor close to my face, so resolution isn't a problem at all. I'll take 1024x768 all day. Is there any changes you would make my choice of GPU/CPU, any recommendations on things like cases/power supplies/harddrives/etc?

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Zakatak, 04 March 2012 - 11:30 AM.

[FACEman Peck]

That's about what I have, except my graphics card is an AMD 6000 series(I's have to look up my number again, but don't want to).

Oh yeah, with this I can play Battlefield 3 with graphics at high.

[Vincent Vascaul]

Actualy I would go higher res, as I find when I am closer to a screen I apreciate 1080p more plus witht hat GPU theres no reason not to and it will be well within your budget. I built my buddy a gaming rig with almost exactly the same specs as your proposing but with a 23 inch 1080p and he plays on a small desk up close as well and we did it all for well under a grand (but that was with my parts connections so it should be right at about $1k for anyone else)

[Bluey]

thats a good pc way abouve avarage

[Zakatak]

Way above average, huh? Well, I guess having a great computer that will be good for 4 years is better then a good computer that will be good for 2 years. So I should go with the 1440x900 monitor if I can? I have a pretty small desk and I don't want the edges of the screen being blocked by my big honkin' Saitek X52 Pro.

Vincent, I live in Canada so your rig might have added up to 1200$ or so if you built it up here. But thanks. If you can play Battlefield 3 on High with a rig like this, that is fine by me.

Edited by Zakatak, 04 March 2012 - 12:29 PM.

[Catamount]

The standard resolution for all monitors these days is pretty much 1920x1080, even comparitively cheap monitors. Maybe if you get a really small screen, you'd get 1600x900 (or if you're lucky, and find a good 16x10 screen, you can get 1920x1200 or 1680x1050).

[FaustianBargain]

$1000 will buy you a lot of computer if you're buying it in parts. I spent around half that a year ago and can still play Skyrim and BF3 at high settings. I'm going to strongly suggest you get a 1080p monitor, they're not terribly expensive (Newegg had a 23'' one for about $100 earlier this week) and I promise you'll like the added screen real estate. As for cases, most mid and full tower cases will have all the slots and bays you'll need and then some so it'll really come down to what you're gonna want to look at and pay for. With the components you're getting I'd say you need at least a 600W power supply, much more might be overkill unless you want to do SLI.

Protip: Newegg gives W x H x D dimensions for its monitors so if you're worried about it not fitting your desk take a measurement to see what your max dimensions can be.

[Sp12]

Of quesitonable forum legality, but I feel Anandtech has some of the most informed and actively helpful system-builders.

http://forums.anandt...d.php?t=2192841

I like thier current build.

i5 2500K $210 AP
ASRock Z68 Pro3 $105
Patriot DDR3 1600 8GB $38
GTX 560 Ti 448 $270 AR
Crucial M4 128GB $175
Seagate Barracuda 1TB $110
Lite-ON DVD Burner $18
XFX Core 650W $75 AR
HAF 912 $50 AR
Total: $1051 AR

Unfortunately, you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, so probably drop the SSD ( ) to help cover those. Even budget monitors are 1920*1080p today.

[Vulpesveritas]

Well, here is what I would recommend given your budget;
Case; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811147144
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157253
CPU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115072
GPU:
http://www.superbiiz...name=PC-6950_1G (Unless you want to buy Nvidea for the sake of buying Nvidea.)
or
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125401
or
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102969 X2 in crossfire (If you decide to, one of the above is a better decision, though this will get you similar performance while using less power, not all games like crossfire. In crossfire friendly games you won't see much of a difference, however the 6950 or 560ti is a better idea.)
PSU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817182068
RAM: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820103001 X2
HDD: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822145531
ODD; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827135204
Cooling:
Heatsink- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103099
TIM- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835426020
Monitor: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824116512
OS: Win8 Preview (I believe it should work for gaming, if you can put up with the UI)
Should come right around ~$1000

[Catamount]

Keep in mind guys that he apparently lives in Canada (as indicated by the Newegg.ca remark), so US part lists are of no use.

Selection and pricing are not as good in Canada.

Here's a Newegg.ca build that slightly exceeds the budget (I think with shipping it'd be like $1030-$1040). I tried to shave where I could, but further shaving might be required if that's still unacceptable.

Case: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16811133094

PSU: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16817182131 (normally I'd say no modular on a tighter budget, but all around this is a great price for a good unit)

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16813131781 (Z68, but cheaper than any ATX P67 board I could find)

CPU: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16819115072

RAM: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16820231426

Video Card: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16814500231 (448 Core version )

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16822152181 (prices still jacked up; I just grabbed the cheapest thing with decent capacity)

Windows 7: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16832116986

Edited by Catamount, 04 March 2012 - 02:36 PM.

[Zakatak]

I went with the 560TI (I like Nvidia's interface more).
990$
Now I just have to do the same thing on Newegg.ca (I assume going Canadian = less shipping costs). Question, what is that Thermal Paste tube you linked me to?

EDIT: ninja!

Edited by Zakatak, 04 March 2012 - 02:40 PM.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

I like that build cata, however he could drop the windows 7 for 8 preview for the time being, get a 570 instead.

[Catamount]

Zakatak, on 04 March 2012 - 02:34 PM, said:

I went with the 560TI (I like Nvidia's interface more).

990$

Now I just have to do the same thing on Newegg.ca (I assume going Canadian = less shipping costs). Question, what is that Thermal Paste tube you linked me to?

EDIT: ninja!

Yeah, you'll have to modify any US build heavily, since our prices are considerably different. Hopefully mine will suit you.

DV^McKenna, on 04 March 2012 - 02:36 PM, said:

I like that build cata, however he could drop the windows 7 for 8 preview for the time being, get a 570 instead.

Hmm, for the moment that's true, though he'd have to buy retail later most likely (I assume MS disables beta copies eventually?).

Also, isn't the Core 448 560TI just about the same as the 570? I'm not sure what I'd do with that extra money...

Edited by Catamount, 04 March 2012 - 02:41 PM.

[Zakatak]

I'll stick with Windows 7, since I have found it by far the best Windows thus far. This isn't a dedicated gaming-only machine, I still want my Word/Excel/Powerpoint and such for school. I don't think Windows 8P would have that.

Thanks for the build Cat. A tad over 1100$ when I added in the monitor/keyboard. I'll give it a go and if my build gets the thumbs down, I'll likely go with yours. Also, I might torrent Windows 7 because I am a disgusting, awful person that is ruining the economy.

[Catamount]

Zakatak, on 04 March 2012 - 02:44 PM, said:

I'll stick with Windows 7, since I have found it by far the best Windows thus far. This isn't a dedicated gaming-only machine, I still want my Word/Excel/Powerpoint and such for school. I don't think Windows 8P would have that.

Thanks for the build Cat. A tad over 1100$ when I added in the monitor/keyboard. I'll give it a go and if my build gets the thumbs down, I'll likely go with yours. Also, I might torrent Windows 7 because I am a disgusting, awful person that is ruining the economy.

An alternative thought if you're strapped for cash:

You could always grab the edu email account of anyone who doesn't need it for this purpose, and get a student discount, legitimately. It's certainly legitimate (I really doubt MS cares who gets it, since they only give one per email), and should cost $60 instead of $120.

Because, you know, we DEFINITELY know you were absolutely kidding about your comment on a public forum to steal Windows *nudge

Edited by Catamount, 04 March 2012 - 03:10 PM.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Catamount, on 04 March 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Yeah, you'll have to modify any US build heavily, since our prices are considerably different. Hopefully mine will suit you.




Hmm, for the moment that's true, though he'd have to buy retail later most likely (I assume MS disables beta copies eventually?).

Also, isn't the Core 448 560TI just about the same as the 570? I'm not sure what I'd do with that extra money...

Yes, but its free till release.

560 TI yes/no, you'd overclock heavily to get it to a 570, and then obviously the 570 overclocks too. I'd pimp for the 570 for the longer term.

[Catamount]

DV^McKenna, on 04 March 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

Yes, but its free till release.

560 TI yes/no, you'd overclock heavily to get it to a 570, and then obviously the 570 overclocks too. I'd pimp for the 570 for the longer term.

The original 560, yes, but the Core 448 revision is within a few percentage points of the 570 out of the box. The biggest differences get to be like 5-7% from reviews I'm seeing (for a card that's $60 cheaper).

Edited by Catamount, 04 March 2012 - 03:31 PM.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Catamount, on 04 March 2012 - 03:31 PM, said:

The original 560, yes, but the Core 448 revision is within a few percentage points of the 570 out of the box. The biggest differences get to be like 5-7% from reviews I'm seeing (for a card that's $60 cheaper).

I would pay the extra for the best performance i could get within budget, and its a bit closer to 9% difference, now if we talk of standard OC of cards 10% would be considered a big gain, so a 9% difference at stock is surely worth the $60.

And also the Gainward 570 Phantom...just looks so much better than anything a 560Ti can offer ;p

You can also get an EVGA 570 on amazon for $329, so thats what 50 $ more
And im sure with more knowledge of US sites you could find one cheaper still.

Edited by DV^McKenna, 04 March 2012 - 04:12 PM.

[Zakatak]

Ya, Catamount's setup pretty much works perfectly. Another forum gave it the thumbs up. I added a Coolmaster 120mm fan that'll slap on top. I imagine the hot air blowing out of the PSU will push hot air from the GPU along with it, and putting a fan on top will help suck it out. If I can sell my PS3 and Laptop on Kijiji, I might put in the extra money for a 570GTX. Also, some thermal paste because it's 8 frakkin' bucks.

Ya, I TOTALLY kidding about torrenting Windows 7. I would never cheat Microsoft out of 200$.

Edited by Zakatak, 04 March 2012 - 03:56 PM.

[Joe3142]

I have got a CoolerMaster HAF922 Case, its awsome!
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119197