Need a new gaming rig $1000 budget. Critique my build.

ewoksrule

Active Member
Goals are :
  1. Price under 1k shipped w/taxes and rebates included.
  2. 100% for gaming, no other considerations but the best bang for the buck.
  3. Will sit under a big desk,
  4. Don't need monitors or optical drive. Have large storage HDs already.

Please beat my build if you can, so I can buy the best build on Monday!


Here is my attempt:
PCPartPicker part list
/ Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.30 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($132.98 @ Mac Mall)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($377.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Zalman Z9 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $979.22
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-23 14:24 EDT-0400)
 
Looks like a pretty good build. I have built a computer before for my father-in-law using the Zalman z9 and really liked the case. Airflow was great and it already had something like 2 cases installed already. Maybe even 3. Can't really remember. Newegg has the graphics card you are looking at for 399.99 but there is also a $30 rebate on it making it 369.99. Also, you get Bioshock and Crysis 3 game vouchers for free with the purchase. The brand of the card is xfx. I have always used that brand of card and always been satisfied. Power Supply should be adequate. Regarding your hard drive, the Seagate, I don't know if you prefer those but I have always heard from my father-in-law (he has his own business fixing/building computers) that seagates often have issues. He isn't the only one I have heard that from either. They are a bit more, but I know they are rated very well and people like them. The Western Digital Black with the same specs you are looking at goes for 99.99. G.Skill is great RAM. Love the stuff. Rosewill is really good for their power supplies also. They have the same price from the looks of it on newegg. The more stuff you get from one supplier, the better. Better shipping rates (some stuff on newegg, like the gc, has free shipping) and you won't have to wait for multiple packages from all these different suppliers and tracking and such. Don't know if that all helps.
 
Also, if you have some hard drives already...why are there 2, a hard drive and a solid state, in the list?
Honestly the Seagate is a placeholder, I will only be purchasing a SSD and reusing my old HDs, but I need it to be reflected in the price for personal reasons.
 
Looks like a pretty good build. I have built a computer before for my father-in-law using the Zalman z9 and really liked the case. Airflow was great and it already had something like 2 cases installed already. Maybe even 3. Can't really remember. Newegg has the graphics card you are looking at for 399.99 but there is also a $30 rebate on it making it 369.99. Also, you get Bioshock and Crysis 3 game vouchers for free with the purchase. The brand of the card is xfx. I have always used that brand of card and always been satisfied. Power Supply should be adequate. Regarding your hard drive, the Seagate, I don't know if you prefer those but I have always heard from my father-in-law (he has his own business fixing/building computers) that seagates often have issues. He isn't the only one I have heard that from either. They are a bit more, but I know they are rated very well and people like them. The Western Digital Black with the same specs you are looking at goes for 99.99. G.Skill is great RAM. Love the stuff. Rosewill is really good for their power supplies also. They have the same price from the looks of it on newegg. The more stuff you get from one supplier, the better. Better shipping rates (some stuff on newegg, like the gc, has free shipping) and you won't have to wait for multiple packages from all these different suppliers and tracking and such. Don't know if that all helps.

Yes I saw that XFX on newegg, it got a slew of bad reviews recently, sounds like the last batch had serious mfg flaws so I want to hold off on that model. I would not have chosen powercolor in the past but it sounds like this card is doing well and the price is competitive. If I can get a HIS for just a few dollars more, I might jump on that.
I used PCpartpicker for the pricing and those prices include tax/ship. When I went all Newegg/Amazon the total came to $1021 so at the moment, buying from multiple vendors gets you a better total price. That being said, I might try go to all Newegg/Amazon in the end for the ease of any RMAs.
 
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Yes I saw that XFX on newegg, it got a slew of bad reviews recently, sounds like the last batch had serious mfg flaws so I want to hold off on that model. I would not have chosen powercolor in the past but it sounds like this card is doing well and the price is competitive. If I can get a HIS for just a few dollars more, I might jump on that.
I used PCpartpicker for the pricing and those prices include tax/ship. When I went all Newegg/Amazon the total came to $1021 so at the moment, buying from multiple vendors gets you a better total price. That being said, I might try go to all Newegg/Amazon in the end for the ease of any RMAs.

hhhhmmmmm....maybe that is why they are giving 2 games for free with purchase. I see what you mean about the shipping all w/newegg. I totaled mine up and it came to 1074 and change but that was before rebates. Granted, the hard drive was almost double the price though because it was a western digital black.
 
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The free games is a AMD deal. This round of GPUs AMD is owning NVIDIA.
First the price/performance, AMD is killing it.
Next is the free games. AMD offers Crysis 3 + Bioshock Inf. or Farcry3 + TombRaider (depending on the card models) NVIDIA gives $150 in-game for Hawken, World of Tanks, and PlanetSide 2 ($50 for each game) ummm real hard choice there, unless you LOVE those free2play games, the AAA titles for free is smoking hot.
 
The free games is a AMD deal. This round of GPUs AMD is owning NVIDIA.
First the price/performance, AMD is killing it.
Next is the free games. AMD offers Crysis 3 + Bioshock Inf. or Farcry3 + TombRaider (depending on the card models) NVIDIA gives $150 in-game for Hawken, World of Tanks, and PlanetSide 2 ($50 for each game) ummm real hard choice there, unless you LOVE those free2play games, the AAA titles for free is smoking hot.

I would agree on that one. I used to run nvidia on my system but the card went caputs. Looked like the matrix on my screen. Switched to amd and love the catalyst system and everything else about it. I would definitely say that I went amd with my second card because of the price. That definitely helped in the decision. Same specs from nvidia were quite a bit more.
 
I don't know about Intel machines, but I do know I would go with a Gigabyte motherboard.

Admittedly, getting a Gigabyte motherboard from Newegg would put you over budget. I don't know what else to axe other than one of the HDs because you're already skimping on the other parts. Perhaps you could re-use a case from an old build?
 
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I don't know about Intel machines, but I do know I would go with a Gigabyte motherboard.

Admittedly, getting a Gigabyte motherboard from Newegg would put you over budget. I don't know what else to axe other than one of the HDs because you're already skimping on the other parts. Perhaps you could re-use a case from an old build?

I would like a Gigabyte board as well, but these asrocks are really picking up steam in the gaming community and I just don't see the need to spend $50 more on a MB. Don't have another case and losing a HD for a different brand MB doesn't make sense to me.
 
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OK some small fine tuning and an all Amazon+Newegg build for the free 2 day shipping.

PCPartPicker part list
/ Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($137.55 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($392.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $943.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-24 00:38 EDT-0400)
 
Yes I agree as well, but I can't find one as well recommended at the price range. Got any suggestions?

I'm fine with putting the 8gb into a server and putting in 16gb later if there are no current options and knowing that going in.
 
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I just put this together a couple weeks ago, my first desktop build in almost 9 years :-D.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LSmt
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LSmt/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LSmt/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.98 @ Amazon)
Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-I DELUXE/WD Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($182.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($309.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Silverstone 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Other: SilverStone PP05 Short Cable for PSU Set ($19.99)
Total: $1467.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-24 13:20 EDT-0400)

My total build cost was about $100 less than what it's showing now. Like you, I also chose to shop at different stores in order to get the bet prices and rebates. It's my first mini-ITX bild which was a lot of fun but also pretty challenging getting it all to fit in there and still maintain good airflow. I chose Nvidia because of the lower power draw (and thus heat dissipation) for the smaller case. I also chose the water cooling so it would actually fit with some space in the case and allow for OC.

My only real opinion for your build is as nice as the Samsung 840Pro is, 128GB is pretty small; you'll potentially have to uninstall and install fairly frequently with only that much space. You can get much better value and real world wise not much perceptible difference going with a Crucial M4 or the Samsung 840. I had considered the 256 GB 840 Pro but decided for the cost, the performance and the potential better reliability weren't worth it. I've seen the 256 GB Crucial M4 on sale several times the last month for $140-$160. Same with the 250GB 840 (Non-Pro).
 
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I haven't had an active PC in almost 4 years. I'm starting the process of getting back into it. I was looking for an effective starter for about $700.
Although this goes against my core instinct to build - I found www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229364 on newegg. The issue is the weak graphics card, which can be easily updated in the future (with a 700w power supply).

The sum of the approximate parts (without the case / accessories) was about 750$
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Mq6B

Thoughts on cyberpowerpc?
 
Hate Cyberpower, don't do it. I will help you find a good build for $700, just did for Tarsis last week actually, let me get his build one sec.
 
Here is ans AMD one for under $700 that beats that I buy power. (remember that gaming is ALL about the GPU not the CPU)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks


CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($229.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $659.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-26 21:17 EDT-0400)
 
here is a Intel one:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks


CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman Z9 ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.97 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $689.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-26 21:19 EDT-0400)
 
At the $700 price point I don't think you can go for the SSD nor the high end i5, you really have to cut on those so you can boost the video card. I assume this is for gaming primarily.
 
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