discussion Light To Moderate Gaming and Entertainment Build. $750 Budget

[geokilla]

Hello all. I'm enjoying my vacation here in Boston and need some help with computer parts as I've been out of the loop a bit, though not to the point where I'm completely clueless haha. Anyways, thanks in advanced for your help and time!

1. I will be using my computer to play mainly SC2. Will also play Diablo 3, FPS games such as Counter-Strike, and any other games that I come across. I'm not a hardcore gamer as I don't spend nearly enough time playing games as I should. Of course I'm in school so I'll be using it to do homework.... Need to work hard and play hard!

OH! I'm running Folding@Home too, but I do not leave the computer on 24/7 just to run it. However Folding@Home is not a priority in regards to the best GPU to buy. I want the best bang for buck.

2. Budget is about $750 not including tax. This includes the cost of the CPU and Motherboard that I bought from Micro Center, meaning $750 - $300 or so. See point 8 to see what I bought. Note I haven't looked into price matching yet. Btw, cheaper is better, as always.

3. Canada and USA. As I said, I'm in Boston right now so I'm actively looking for deals both in Canada and USA, closely monitoring SlickDeals and RedFlagDeals. Because I'm a Canadian, warranty and DOA is an issue I have to keep in mind.

4. No brand preference. Only want the best bang for buck. Though I do know that there are certain brands to avoid because of bad customer service and/or warranty police.

5. Will be reusing my BenQ E2420HD, Logitech X-530 speakers, mouse and keyboard (got separate budget if required), printers, etc. etc. Basically, this is a core computer tower build. Oh and I'm also reusing my Corsair M4 128GB and possibly my Western Digital 1TB Black. Though the chances of me reusing the 1TB HDD is not probable because I'm running out of space on it. Probably also going to reuse my NVIDIA GTX 460 768MB, though the upgrade cries for that are pretty strong

6. I have not searched threads in detail because it is somewhat of an impulse buy thanks to Massachusetts tax free weekend. That and I have been itching to build a new computer for over a year.

7. I do plan to do some overclocking but nothing too crazy. I have pretty much killed my Phenom II, the motherboard, and/or RAM as Windows is going haywire even though I've formatted. System instability even at stock speeds, etc.

8. I plan to build it just before school starts in September. Need to game!

I already bought the Intel Core i5-3570K and Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H for a total of $330 USD. However I also bought the Intel Core i5-3570K and AsRock Z77 Extreme4 for a total of $275 USD. Should I keep the Gigabyte? Or is the AsRock good enough? I'm going to flip a CPU and motherboard when I get back to Toronto.

I also have a set of Kingston Hyper X 8GB DDR3 RAM I bought a long time ago. Not sure which ones they are and if they work or not, so I'll hope for the best :biggrin:

Also got the Corsair AX650 that I will be reusing. Hopefully.... As I don't have any intentions of keeping my AMD Phenom II rig.

9. I will be gaming in 1080P. Having everything maxed is not a must as I do not mind gaming at a slightly lower quality. Plus again, I don't spend enough time gaming anyways so I have to keep it reasonable.

And now for the parts that seems to be a good buy and/or considering.

CPU, Motherboard and RAM: See point 8 please.
Graphics Card: EVGA GTX 560 or ASUS GTX 560 Ti 448 or XFX 7850 1GB.
Case: Corsair 300R or similar in this price range
Cooler: I think I can reuse my Hyper 212+, but let's assume I can't. What's a good cooler? Not water cooling. I know there are some CPU water cooling only kinda coolers...

Assuming I'm not missing anything.... I'm going to be able to build an awesome computer for roughly $750?!

 

[Bond007]

I would go for the gigabyte board, as long as you have a use for the added features it provides. Good choice on the Cpu. Both your hdd and ssd are great, so I would keep them. Power supply is great. And I would still recommend your cooler as a great bang for buck. Given your uses I also think the gtx 460 will suffice(I run very similar games on he same and still feel it is adequate). Realistically I could recommend products to spend your money, but if it was my money I would use the new CPU and motherboard and reuse everything else. If you find your gpu is limiting you too much once it is built wait out for a gtx660 once they hit the market. The jump to a 560ti would be noticeable, but not night and day. As for the case it's really a personal call.

 

[Dzzope]

Personally I'd go with the ASrock (thats actually the board I'm going to get for my Bro's new build)... but I'm biased against Gigabyte and their woeful track record on RMA's of dead motherboards..

All the rest look good but as said above I wouldn't go for a 560ti.. wait and get a 660 as they are ohh so close to release and look ohh so sweet for 300 -330..

If you want something with great cooling and whisper quiet the noctua is great but pricey... the CM is sufficient for a decent OC.

 

[geokilla]

I would go for the gigabyte board, as long as you have a use for the added features it provides. Good choice on the Cpu. Both your hdd and ssd are great, so I would keep them. Power supply is great. And I would still recommend your cooler as a great bang for buck. Given your uses I also think the gtx 460 will suffice(I run very similar games on he same and still feel it is adequate). Realistically I could recommend products to spend your money, but if it was my money I would use the new CPU and motherboard and reuse everything else. If you find your gpu is limiting you too much once it is built wait out for a gtx660 once they hit the market. The jump to a 560ti would be noticeable, but not night and day. As for the case it's really a personal call.

Just read the review by AnandTech and definitely don't need the power of the Gigabyte motherboard... Probably going to flip it along with a Core i5 3570K. No point in returning it and getting the AsRock again because it's no longer tax free.

Well I need a good case because my temperatures are horrible under the desk. Temperatures go up by as much as 10C to 20C inside the desk compared to outside the desk. Probably another reason why I'm having so mnay problems with my current build.

Personally I'd go with the ASrock (thats actually the board I'm going to get for my Bro's new build)... but I'm biased against Gigabyte and their woeful track record on RMA's of dead motherboards..

All the rest look good but as said above I wouldn't go for a 560ti.. wait and get a 660 as they are ohh so close to release and look ohh so sweet for 300 -330..

If you want something with great cooling and whisper quiet the noctua is great but pricey... the CM is sufficient for a decent OC.

Ya I'm considering keeping the GTX 460 too like I mentioned. It's still a great GPU and definitely don't want to dump $300 on a NVIDIA GTX 660. Most I want to spend is $200.

 

[Griezz]

Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 is what I recommend keeping for yourself
CPU: the 3570K is interchangeable with 2500K, although the second is better for high overclocking.
Cooler: I can't say for sure, but I think the Hyper 212+ may be underpowered.
Memory: you say you have some already
Hard Drives: dude, you need to look into burning DVDs for offline storage then clear some space! XD
Optical Drive: Got one already?
Graphics: for the price range you cite, the GTX 560 TI would be best, if you can find one under $200. Alternative - see if you can find anotherGTX 460 and SLI them for decent boost in power.
Power Supply: yours will do.
Case: Corsair seems good for the price. Also check out Antec One or Antec Three Hundred Two cases for same price or lower.

Okay then, if what you need is motherboard, cpu, cooler, graphics and case, and you already have the Asrock + CPU for $275, that leaves $425 for the cooler, graphics and case. Say $210 for graphics, leaving $215. If you get the case for $70, that leaves $145, more than enough for a great cooler. I would recommend either the Noctua or the Corsair H60 lines. That will leave you a few bucks extra for safety.