My First Build - Budget Gaming Downunder

[Andreas Amba]

G'day, first time poster looking for some advice on my first PC build (well, practically the first. Last one was 10 years ago, sooo....) Kind of importantly, and in this case sadly, I live in Australia; an infertile island nation yet to be graced with the joys of newegg. Stuff is more expensive here, basically. I'd preferably like to gather most of my parts from the one site I'm going to link to here, but if there's a significantly better option available, I'm willing to scrounge around ebay or whatever.

Given the shrivelling value of the USD (AUD: USD is nearly 1:1) I'd also be willing to import if I can recoup a decent amount of value after shipping. It's an off chance, but I'm fine to try it if someone has a recommended retailer. Otherwise, please keep in mind that the prices linked are all on the lower end for what these parts cost here and, if possible, use them as a comparative reference for recommendations based on value. Thanks!

What I'm looking to build is a stable desktop, fairly well future proofed, that will also give me the most graphical bang-for-buck to play games. Hoping to come in at around $750-800 AUD sans peripherals which probably translates roughly to a sub $600 USD rig. I've added an option 2 (or 3) for most parts. Option 1 is my first choice, but 2 is usually the slightly more expensive road I'm willing to take if someone sees a significant performance/cost benefit there. Also willing to take recs outside of those options as well, of course.

Mobo (really undecided here. Cheaper would be better, but not sure about mATX and crossfire support would be nice.):

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 - $139.00
Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 - $139.00 - Scorpion Technology

ASUS M4A89GTD-PRO-USB3 - $179.00
ASUS M4A89GTD-PRO-USB3 - $179.00 - Scorpion Technology

ASUS M4A88TD-M-EVOUSB3 - $135.00
ASUS M4A88TD-M-EVOUSB3 - $135.00 - Scorpion Technology

CPU:

AMD HDX840WFGMBOX - $125.00
AMD Phenom II 840 3.20Ghz, 2MB Cache, 667Mhz FSB, Quad Core
AMD HDX840WFGMBOX - $125.00 - Scorpion Technology

RAM:

Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, XMS3, 9-9-9-24, Dual Channel Kit $59

or should I get 1333MHz?

HDD:

Western Digital WD10EALX - $75.00 - Scorpion Technology
Western Digital 1TB, Caviar Blue, SATA-III, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache,NCQ $75

PSU:

Antec BP500U Basiq 500W ATX Power Supply, Universal Input with Active PFC, ATX12V version 2.2, Dual +12V Ouputs, 120mm fan, SATA connectors $75
Antec BP500U-PLUS - $75.00 - Scorpion Technology

Antec EA-430D Green EarthWatts ATX Power Supply (No power cord included), 80 PLUS Bronze, 80mm low noise cooling fan, Dual 12V outputs $75
Antec EA-430D - $75.00 - Scorpion Technology

can't really see a difference except the above comes with a power cable

VIDEO CARD:

PowerColor Radeon HD6870 (900Mhz), 1GB GDDR5 (4200Mhz), PCI-E 2.1, Fan Cooler, Dual DVI, HDMI, Dual Mini DisplayPort - $229.00 - On Special! (While stock lasts) Was $299.00
PowerColor AX6870-1GBD5-2DH - $229.00 - Scorpion Technology

Alternatively, I could pay $20 more for an AUSUS version, but not sure it'd be worth it... ASUS EAH6870DC2DI2S1GD5 - $255.00 - Scorpion Technology

CASE:

Antec THREE-HUNDRED - $69.00
Antec THREE-HUNDRED - $69.00 - Scorpion Technology

Just looking for something that's cheap and reliable here. It'll be under a desk so the cosmetics of it aren't important. Alslo, it's a computer case lol.

Hoping to get the parts this week and assemble it on the weekend since I have to get some surgery done on Monday and it'd be nice to come home to a new PC. (Typing these words on the a generously lent, but hopelessly ancient laptop.)

Thanks in advance for any help. Cheers!

[glc]

In a nutshell:

I prefer Asus to Gigabyte. If 1333 ram is cheaper, get it - that's all you need. Caviar Black is preferable to Blue. A 6870 card requires at least a 500 watt PSU, even more if you are contemplating Crossfire. Asus is preferable to Powercolor, but at that price I'd grab the Powercolor. You are missing an optical drive.

[Andreas Amba]

Originally Posted by glc In a nutshell: I prefer Asus to Gigabyte. If 1333 ram is cheaper, get it - that's all you need. Caviar Black is preferable to Blue. A 6870 card requires at least a 500 watt PSU, even more if you are contemplating Crossfire. Asus is preferable to Powercolor, but at that price I'd grab the Powercolor. You are missing an optical drive.

Hi. Thanks for the response.

1. It's a $4 difference on the RAM, so yeah.

2. The first PSU listed is 500W. I'll go with that. If I add another graphics card it'll be down the road and I'll buy a new PSU along with it.

2. ASUS M4A89GTD-PRO-USB3 - $179.00
ASUS M4A89GTD-PRO-USB3 - $179.00 - Scorpion Technology

ASUS M4A88TD-M-EVOUSB3 - $135.00
ASUS M4A88TD-M-EVOUSB3 - $135.00 - Scorpion Technology

How do these compare? I'm tempted to choose the cheaper of the two unless there are some clear benefits in not doing so. Also willing to take any outside recommendation here.

3. I'm going strip the logitech DVD RW from my old (dead as a door-nail) computer.

Also, I didn't ask this speciffically and I'm not sure if it's implied, but how do the parts look for compatability?

Lastly... ahem... how would you rate this build in general? Not sure whether I should take the lack of criticism as a full endorsment or not...

[glc]

I'm not knowledgeable enough in AMD boards to comment on which exact one to get, I'm strictly an Intel builder. Everything "looks" compatible, there are no obvious issues. It appears to be a decent "budget" gamer.

[Andreas Amba]

Thanks GLC. I've finalised parts to:

CPU:
AMD Phenom II 840 3.20Ghz, 2MB Cache, 667Mhz FSB, Quad Core
AMD HDX840WFGMBOX - $125.00 - Scorpion Technology

RAM:
Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, XMS3, 9-9-9-24, Dual Channel Kit $59
Corsair Micro CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - $59.00 - Scorpion Technology

HDD:
Western Digital 1TB, Caviar Black, SATA-III, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
Western Digital WD10EALX - $75.00 - Scorpion Technology

PSU:
Antec BP500U Basiq 500W ATX Power Supply, Universal Input with Active PFC, ATX12V version 2.2, Dual +12V Ouputs, 120mm fan, SATA connectors $75
Antec BP500U-PLUS - $75.00 - Scorpion Technology

Video Card:
Asus Radeon HD6870 (915Mhz), 1GB GDDR5 (4200Mhz), PCI-E 2.1, Fan Cooler, Dual DVI, HDMI, Dual Mini DisplayPort
ASUS EAH6870DC2DI2S1GD5 - $255.00 - Scorpion Technology
Switching to the ASUS because I read some reports of the power color running too hot and it's also factory overclocked

Case:
Antec THREE-HUNDRED - $69.00
Antec THREE-HUNDRED - $69.00 - Scorpion Technology


All I need to decide on is the motherboard. It's difficult because the newegg reviews are really up and down on both boards. I really can't choose. If anyone is able to help or recommend a good board for this build it'd be appreciated.

UPDATE: I looked up some of the intel recs made recently and for about $100 I could switch the mobo/processor for this combo:

Asus P8P67 LE P67 [MBDASUP8P01G] $174.06
+
Intel CORE i5 2400/3.10GHz/6MB CACHE/LGA1155 [BX80623I52400]
CORE i5 2400/3.10GHz/6MB CACHE/LGA1155 (B,F) $213.97

Nearly all of that $100 is going to the processor. Yay or nay? Any ideas?

[dale_t44]

I have the M4A89GTD Pro in my new build. It seems to be a great board. As far as I can tell from the spec, both the North Bridge and on board video chips are up grades from the M4A88. If you are planning on trying to OC in the future, you would probably be better off with the higher priced board. There are a lot of goodies on board for overclocking, and, they seem geared for people without a lot of expertise. Most can be done with a few mouse clicks from inside windows with the way the board is set up.

[Andreas Amba]

Thanks Dale. The ASUS motherboard there was around as the same price as its Intel chipset sister board on the site I ordered from so I ended up going for some sandy bridge action (weird weird name.) I also completely blew my budget, ha. Oh well, no doubt this feeling of having gotten my money's worth will last right up until I plug the wrong connector into the wrong socket and burn my house down.

Incase anyone's interested the final build is this:

Asus P8P67 LE V3 MB, Socket 1155, Intel P67 Chipset, 4x DDR3, SATA3, SATA2, ATA133, RAID, USB3.0, Firewire, 8CH Audio, GbLAN, CrossFire

Intel Core i5 2500K (3.30Ghz / 6MB / LGA1155 / Quad Core, Overclocking Enabled)

Corsair Micro - CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB), PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3, XMS3, 9-9-9-24, Dual Channel Kit

Asus Radeon HD6870 (915Mhz), 1GB GDDR5 (4200Mhz), PCI-E 2.1, Fan Cooler, Dual DVI, HDMI, Dual Mini DisplayPort

Antec EarthWatts 650W ATX Power Supply, 80 PLUS certified , 120mm low noise cooling fan, Dual 12V outputs, 2 x PCI-Express, 4 x SATA, 6 x IDE

Western Digital 1TB, Caviar Black, SATA-III, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache