Building gaming rig $800-$1200.

[karapet]

Hi everyone,

last year I made threads where i required info on HTPC builds. I still didn't build one. Plans has changed. Now I would like to get rid of my 3 years old (ASUS Essentio CG5290-BP007 Core i7-920 2.66GHz 9GB 1TB DVD±RW DL GeForce GTX 260): Asus Essentio CG5290-BP007 Review - Desktops - CNET Reviews
and to build new one from ground up.

My budget is around $1K +- $200.
I definetely will need an SSD along with conventional internal hard drive, I think GTX 660 ti is what I need unless I can get something better for my budget and most importantly is the motherboard. I would like to have one of the best mobos for later upgrades and boostable good i7. As far as case, I just can't have this ginormous case anymore, I would like to have something more compact and prefferably horizontally positioned.

Thank you everybody and especially moderators for the help last year with my imaginary HTPC, I have learnt a lot. I will appreciate your help on this one, hopefully this build will see the world as it is.

Thank you.

[David M]

Put together a parts list with links to Newegg. That helps in seeing the big picture.

An i-7 I think is overkill for a HTPC. HTPC's do not need multi-threading nor that amount of processing power.

Smaller boards can work quite well for HTPC's, which keeps the case smaller.

Is your existing graphics card lagging or noisy? If it works then keep it. In general, the more powerful a graphics card, the more fan noise that it is going to make. You only need enough graphics process power to put a moving image on a television screen and not have it lag. In relative terms this does not require all that much power.

Going with a SSD will of course be quiet, but storage is limited. HTPC's do not need to have super fast read/write times. Once the computer boots, the vast majority of the time is spent watching the movie or other media. With a WD AV drive you will have quiet and significant storage for terabytes worth of media, costing a few pennies per gigabyte. SSD's are roughly around one dollar per gigabyte. Having all your files on one drive means you will never have to designate on which drive your files are to be stored.

[karapet]

I am sorry for misleading you, I meant that I wanted to build HTPC in the past but not anymore.
I want to put together a gaming computer. That was my bad...
Anyway I will try to select parts, present it here and I guess maybe then you'll correct mewhere I am wrong.

Thanks

[David M]

No problem. I look forward to seeing your build.

[karapet]

PNY VCGGTX660TXPB GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card Newegg.com - PNY VCGGTX660TXPB GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Newegg.com - Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

That is all I can think of. i would appreciate your recommendations for the rest.

[David M]

I will leave the board, processor and card up to the experts but this is what I would get otherwise.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9B or you could double the amount but the chances are good that you will never need more than 8 gigs.

The case is mostly a choice of what you think looks good. They all vent adequately unless you have two massive high end graphics cards that vent into the case.

Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - CD / DVD Drives

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986 I don't know if you want Windows 8. Many people like it and many people hate it. Read the reviews. Personally, I am sticking with Windows 7 indefinitly because I like it, it does everything I need it to do and I am used to it.

I would get a different brand of graphics card, Asus, EVGA, Sapphire and HIS are all good. Get a little more powerful card for gaming if it is in the budget. Even a 680 is not overkill for a single monitor.

Do you want just a basic CPU heat sink? Or do you want to overclock?

[karapet]

Thanks,

all the hardware you have suggested looks like on discounts right now and I definetely would go for them, but I think it would be better to see the whole picture to assemble my new gaming rig.

Originally Posted by David M Do you want just a basic CPU heat sink? Or do you want to overclock?

I am sure overclocking is something more advanced than basic and would love to overclock my future CPU, I just don't know if I would be capable of doing it. i never dealt with overclocking.

[David M]

Definitely wait until the experts have had a chance to review your entire parts list and then purchase everything at the same time.

Overclocking is one of those things that is not necessary but can be fun. These days it is relatively easy with overclocking features that are built into many motherboards that automatically overclock. You don't really need to know how to do it from a traditional BIOS except for extreme overclockers who manually make all the different overclock settings.

[karapet]

That's great . i just need to have CPU which can be overclocked wright? Well thatnks David.
It has only left to wait for experts to look in my post. I'll be around, waiting.

[David M]

Yes, some CPU's can be overclocked and some cannot, at least not significantly. The Intel's ending in a K have unlocked clock multipliers. With the locked CPU's you can only change the turbo-mode multiplier which only gets you an insignificant performance increase.

[karapet]

I just now found last year thread by someone, which i am going to copy slightly. I think it will make things easier for the experts to advice me on parts i need.
There we go:
Approximate Purchase Date: 1-30 days
Budget Range: $800-1200
System Usage: Gaming
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: GPU (nVidia), CPU (Intel)
Overclocking: yes

Motherboard: ? (fast chipset and as much advanced as possible for future upgrades)
CPU: ? (i7 with overclocking)
GPU: ? (nVidia)
RAM: ? (more than 8 GB)
Case: ? (I want it to look like something like this: Newegg.com - Fractal Design Node 304 FD-CA-NODE-304-BL Black Aluminum / Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case)
HDD: Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
SSD: ? (120 GB)
PSU: ?
Optical Drive: Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - CD / DVD Drives


I think that's it, unless I forgot something. I am sure you will correct me.

Thank you

[glc]

No, you can't build a gaming computer with a mini-ITX case. However, if you want a "box-like" case we can do this - but this is a bit over $1200:

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF XB RC-902XB-KKN1 Black Steel body, Front Mesh, Plastic bezel ATX Desktop Computer Case

Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML16GX3M2A1600C10B

Newegg.com - Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - LITE-ON 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 iHAS124-04 - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P4-3660-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Hydro Series H55 Quiet CPU Coolers

I can get you under $1200 if you can forego overclocking.

[karapet]

If you don't mind, I would like to compare 2 rigs.

[glc]

I have no alternates for core components, but I can get the price down some. What 2 rigs do you want to compare? I can cut the CPU to an i5-3350P, I can eliminate the CPU liquid cooler, I can cut the ram back to 8gb, I can suggest cheaper tower-style cases. You can eliminate the SSD.

[David M]

Maybe sweet talk jdeb into coming up with an AMD rig?

[jdeb]

Oh I can put one together, no problem if he want's an AMD build. PErsonally, I think glc's build is great. I don't think he needs 16gb of ram or that closed loop cooler.

$1199.00

Here is the same components as glc's but replaced the motherboard, ram, cpu, and GPU

Newegg.com - ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Newegg.com - AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX

Newegg.com - ADATA XPG Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model AX3U1600GW8G9-2G

Newegg.com - HIS H795F3G2M Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

[glc]

The reason I specified the closed loop cooler is there is not enough room in that case for a tall air cooler such as a Hyper 212 Evo. If you are going to overclock, the stock cooler isn't good enough.

Video card: The 7950 jdeb suggested is a stronger card than the 660Ti.

[karapet]

Thank you guys, I still prefer intel product rather than AMD. I know it cost a little more, but I am sure there is more benefits to it.
Glc, as far as the case, yeah I just wanted compact box alike case, I am certain you know better which case to chose to cut the cost and increase the quality of parts performance.
The only reason why I wanted to have a SSD, is to speed up OS booting along with booting of any soft or games from SSD. I am also fine without overclocking CPU, but would prefer GPU overclocked or somewhat advanced rather than standard GTX 660 ti (what I am trying to say is something simular to GTX660 ti overclocked or other way advanced in it's nature). I don't care if there is only 8 GB of RAM, as far as there are empty slots in MOBO for future update.

If I would tell you to tweak it as if you would be building it for yourself, could you do that for me (still with box alike case)?

Thank you

[Jbc223456]

I'm not sure about everyone else, but I'd stick with what glc recommended if you want a case that is more like a box and not a tower. Since you don't want to overclock, you might as well look at getting a more powerful card, such as the Radeon 7950. This is a stronger card than the 660ti. You really don't want to overclock the GPU, seeing as the performance gain you would get in doing so is very minimal.

You can forget the Corsair Hydro Series H55 CPU cooler, and just stick with the stock heatsink that the CPU comes with. I also downgraded to 8GB of memory, leaving you two open slots in the motherboard if you wanted to add RAM in the future.

After all is said and done, I've got a Newegg cart total of $1126 before shipping and tax (if tax applies to you). Keep in mind that this total is hardware only. You will still need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and OS.

[karapet]

Thank you,

I'll stick with nVidia GPU. I know it works the best for gaming.

Thank you

[glc]

Originally Posted by karapet Thank you, I'll stick with nVidia GPU. I know it works the best for gaming. Thank you

Not necessarily - read this article:

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: January 2013 : Best Graphics Cards For The Money, January Updates

Take my build, eliminate the hydro cooler, replace the CPU with an i5-3350P, replace the ram with a single 2x4gb kit of Vengeance low profile, and make a video card decision. Before finalizing the case choice, load up the link for that HAF XB, look at the pics, read the reviews, and look at the published dimensions.

For a gaming rig, you need the strongest video card your budget can handle. Raw CPU speed is a very minor factor, the 3350P is the most bang for the buck because it doesn't have onboard video and is priced accordingly.

[karapet]

Hmmm, not convincing. I still prefer nVidia.

[Nucious]

Originally Posted by karapet Hmmm, not convincing. I still prefer nVidia.

he said make a card decision. he didn't say no nVidia.

[David M]

Originally Posted by karapet Thank you, I'll stick with nVidia GPU. I know it works the best for gaming. Thank you

Not necessarily. Both brands can work flawlessly or have their problems.

[karapet]

Originally Posted by Nucious he said make a card decision. he didn't say no nVidia.

well, than it's GTX 660 ti