Cutting costs for a Gaming Build

[sitreth]

So I am putting together a gaming build in preparation for FFXIV. Currently I'm around $1,200 but I'm trying to cut down. This is my first build so I'm just looking to see if there are any places I can cut back or what I can cut back without losing too much gaming performance.

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-750 2.66 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1156

Motherboard: * [CrossFireX] GigaByte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 2 x SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1, & 3 PCI

RAM: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module (Corsair or Major Brand)

GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

PSU: 700 Watts - XtremeGear SLI/CrossFireX Ready Power Supply

Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Hard Drive)

other:

Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)

Hard Drive Cooling Fan: Vigor iSURF II Hard Disk Drive Cooling System

LCD Monitor: 19" Widescreen 1440x900 TFT Active Matrix LCD Display [+141]

[David M]

Who are you getting your prices from? Check Amazon and PriceGrabber as well. If you order from an out of state vendor you will not get charged sales tax. You are technically supposed to pay state sales tax though.

Please list the prices you have been quoted for each item and from who.

You don't need a hard drive cooling fan. If your case was designed well, the fan in the front will blow air across your hard drive cage. Hard drives can survive without any fan unless they are stacked together in a ridiculously hot case....but you have only one hard drive.

You will need to add an optical drive to your parts list.

I know you are trying to cut costs but bump the size of your monitor up to 21 inches. 19 inches is awfully small for a gaming computer...or better yet find an inexpensive used monitor on Craig's List. I would not do the EBAY thing.

[orbrit]

If you're buying a rig just to meet the specs of that game you can cut back quite a bit.

Specs for FF XIV:

Windows XP/Vista/7
Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2GHz
2GB of RAM
15GB HDD space
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 512MB or ATI Radeon HD 2900 512MB
DirectX 9

You may want to look at an AMD AM3 Motherboard with an Athlon II X4 635 CPU
Something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131656
with this CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103702


You could also probably make do with an HD 5770 as well.
I'd recommend a Corsair 550VX or 650TX PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005


You could save a little, but personally I'd put that money right back into a bigger monitor, like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236053

Any reason you need cooling fans? You plan on OC'ing?

[sitreth]

I am looking at Newegg, Amazon, and PriceGrabber currently. Here are the prices I have:

$195 (Amazon & Newegg)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-750 2.66 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1156
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-215-_-Product

$130 (Newegg after rebate)
Motherboard: * [CrossFireX] GigaByte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 2 x SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1, & 3 PCI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-412-_-Product

$120 (Newegg after rebate)
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-296-_-Product

$290 (Newegg)
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-494-_-Product

$70 (Newegg after rebate)
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

$50 (Amazon)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 16 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD5000AAKS
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita...7&sr=8-1-fkmr0

$38 (Newegg)
Cooling Fan: Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm Shuriken Rev. B 3 Heat Pipes CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%26%20Heatsink

$150 (Newegg after rebate)
LCD Monitor: ASUS VH222H Black 21.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236053

I scratched the hard drive cooling fan. I do not plan on OC'ing. That was one of the places I had though I could cut back as well. I changed the monitor and power supply according to orbrit's advice.

Do you think the Athlon II X4 635 will be enough to run FFXIV in the highest settings?

[orbrit]

The benchmark I just downloaded gave me a 2449 score on high settings (1080p) and 4200 on low res 720p with my setup listed below in my sig.
http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/media/benchmark/na/

hard to know how that will really translate with the actual game - here is their guide.

[8000 and over] Extremely High Performance
Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.
[5500–7999] Very High Performance
Easily capable of running the game. Should perform exceptionally well, even at higher resolutions.
[4500-5499] High Performance
Easily capable of running the game. Should perform well, even at higher resolutions.
[3000-4499] Fairly High Performance
Capable of running the game on default settings. Consider switching to a higher resolution depending on performance.
[2500-2999] Standard Performance
Capable of running the game on default settings.
[2000-2499] Slightly Low Performance
Capable of running the game, but may experience some slowdown. Adjust settings to improve performance.
[1500-1999] Low Performance
Capable of running the game, but will experience considerable slowdown. Adjusting settings is unlikely to improve performance.
[Under 1500] Insufficient Performance
Does not meet specifications for running the game.

this site shows other benchmark results. Looks like very few will fall into their "highest settings" scores.
http://ffxiv.zam.com/forum.html?game...e=1&howmany=50

[orbrit]

interestingly enough I turned off Crossfire and ended up getting a better score - 2572 on high resolutoin.

Benchmark must not be optimized for Crossfire.

[David M]

Where are you price wise now? Were you able to get it down some?

I don't see an optical drive or a case listed.