Another gaming build

[ak27]

Hey,

so a few months ago i made a gaming rig based on these forums, and i'm pretty satisfied with it!

Now i need another one, for my brother. He doesn't want to spend so much so i'd put the limit at 1000$. If it could be less that would be perfect. He wants to be gaming as well, but only aims for games like Modern Warfare 3. He's not willing to ever go SLI, and doesn't plan on overclocking.

Newegg.ca will be used. He already has the OS, keyboard, mouse and screen.

Heres what i thought about for now, i will need some helps for other parts :

CPU : i5 2500k
Newegg.ca - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

CASE : HAF 922
Newegg.ca - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

RAM : Kingston 8gb 1333 , not sure about that one.
Newegg.ca - Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9K2/8G

DVD DRIVE : ASUS
Newegg.ca - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - CD / DVD Burners

HARD DRIVE : Caviar Black 500gb
Newegg.ca - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

So now the parts that i want you guys to help me out with :

MOBO : You will have to help me with that one, i know i want asus. Heard that there are new ones out, the Z68?

GFX CARD : EVGA nvidia card please. Note that he will be playing at 1440x900 resolution. And he actually only wants to play Black Ops/Modern Warfare 3. No other games that really needs the latest graphics card.

PSU : depending on my GFX CARD.


I think that's all. Now the total is around 472$, i'm not including shipping since i'm not going to buy it from newegg.ca but from a local store that offers similar prices.

Thanks!

[jdeb]

I would drop the CPU to an i3-2100 which adds 100.00 as the game will benefit more from the GPU.

Newegg.ca - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX
Newegg.ca - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155
Newegg.ca - ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

EVGA DS SuperClocked 01G-P3-1567-AR GeForce GTX
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814130657


He can add an smaller SSD for caching in the future id he or she needs it

[ak27]

Pretty happy with what you sugested.

But i would still like to stick with a quad core. Black ops wasn't really great on dual cores. And we still have so system requirements released for MW3. And we never know, he might be tempted by Battlefield 3.

Thanks a lot!

BTW is the ram compatible??

[glc]

The ram is good, but I prefer DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance for a Z68. If you want a quad core, the i5-2300 would be fine.

Need to cut costs? Go for a cheaper case, go for a cheaper PSU such as an Antec HCG 520.

[ak27]

Thanks GLC. I will follow your advice.
i'm thinking about the 912 HAF which is like 60$. Also i will go with vengeance, i already have them set on my own pc.
But about the Z68, it doesn't appear to be available everywhere. As my local store doesn't have it.
What's the main difference between them p67 and z68? I know there is vga connectors etc... on the z68. But if i really won't be overcloking or using SLI/Crossfire, is there really any difference except for the connectors?

[jdeb]

The Z68 is the more mature chip-set. It has SSD caching, enables the GPU portion of the Sandy Bridge CPU, advanced over-clocking of both the GPU and CPU. The Z68 is going to support light peak as well. Z68 is probably what the P67 chip-set should have been but Intel rushed the Sandy Bridge to the market and got bit. The Z68 chip-set is very impressive and I can only assume it will get even better with updates in the next month or so.

Not to steer you away but to shed a little light on something impressive...I am very impressed with the new AMD A75 (Hudson D3) chip-set. I bought a few of them and the Bulldozer CPU's and have rung one through the ringer and it is like Rocky. AMD has brought some serious value and stability to the market, their integrated GPU can be cross-fired with the PCI Express card... and stable.

[glc]

If you don't want to order from newegg.ca, what about NCIX?

[ak27]

Interesting JDEB. I'll see if i can get the z68 somewhere, because even NCIX doesn't have them yet. The cheapest one they have is 180$. If ever local stores don't get them well i'll probably just order it via newegg.
Great to know about AMD, though i know intel better. So i'll stick with them for now. I see AMD is catching up!

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by ak27 Interesting JDEB. I'll see if i can get the z68 somewhere, because even NCIX doesn't have them yet. The cheapest one they have is 180$. If ever local stores don't get them well i'll probably just order it via newegg. Great to know about AMD, though i know intel better. So i'll stick with them for now. I see AMD is catching up!

well if your in a hurry, the H55 Chip-set if available, is a great and stable chip-set that will suit your requirements with the proper video card in my link (#2).

[glc]

NCIX has several Gigabyte Z68's well under $180. They don't have the Asus LE's yet, but I'd trust Gigabyte and MSI - does your local shop have any?

[ak27]

Hey GLC, i wanted to stay with ASUS because they have awesome support. I had basics questions answered by one of their technicians within 2 hours when i sent an email.
I don't know about gigabytes support though.
And you were right theres a lot of boards available take a look :

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