1080p gaming box, $1000

[neit]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
This will drive my HD projector, will be used as a HTPC/file server and 1080p gaming: WoW (pandas!), SC2, D3, TL2, EvE online, GW2 at at 60fps on high settings when not networked lagged.

2. What YOUR budget is.
$800 - $1000; order of preferences: minimum gaming performance > quiet > price > size (prefer smaller). This will be in my bedroom and I'm a bit light/noise sensitive, so the fewer lights/windows/noise the better!

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA, prefer amazon and microcenter (St. Louis B&M), then newegg.

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
No, though I am thinking of using a fractal design core 3000 as the case

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I have the display, speakers, keyboard and mouse, and an external HDD.

I want a bluray drive and SSD, will get large internal HDD in the future

*

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Default, once I set it up I don't plan on tweaking until year+

8. What resolution will you be using?
1080p only.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
My only days off are Sunday and Wednesday for the next while, would like to order Sunday and build Wednesday the 31st if all parts are here.

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
Will need windows 8, I believe I have an old xp/vista license I can put on and upgrade for $40, I'll look for the disc. As for BD playback, I think there's a way around buying software using VLC/ripping for the time being, is that correct? BR playback not urgent, can get software down the line.

I don't need a capture card or storage drive yet, I have external ones that'll tide me over until at least the spring when price per GB on the big drives comes down some more.

 

[riversend]

So you will eventually overclock? Or do you say that you might overclock, but will probably do another upgrade before you ever get around to it? Not a huge deal, but it means aftermarket cooler right up front rather than stock. Since you like quiet, this might be the way to go anyhow.

Did you look at mfenn's stickied build (midrange buyer's guide)?

Also, you did not say how much storage you need for the file server portion of your uses.

 

[dmoney1980]

since you live near a Micro Center...

CPU- i5 3570k / Motherboard - ASROCK z77 Extreme 4
Combo price $255

RAM $39 -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Case- nice pick! and it's cheaper at micro Center - $55

SSD- I'd recommend you stay with Samsung, Crucial, or Intel. The Samsung 830 is a great performer, or you could pick up a Crucial m4 for a few bucks less. The m4 is "statistically" slower, but nothing that you would notice. Do you need a 256GB SSD? If so, the 256GB Samsung costs $1790 at amazon


BluRay - http://www.microcenter.com/product/..._DVD-CD_Writer_Combo_-_Bare_Drive#tab-reviews

Power supply - good deal on newegg today. Corsaid 600w for $48 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...028-_-Homepage

 

[neit]

I was actually looking at mfenn's thread and was planning on ordering the next set that came up. My only concern was I wasn't sure how loud one of them would be, and if the gpu that I'd pick would end up fitting in a core 3000. I'm really out of the hardware loop and it's hard for me to judge if something would be too loud vs incompatible if I was to shop around on my own.

Also, his posts don't consider microcenter deals 😀

 

[mfenn]

The midrange gaming PC build isn't very loud at all, but its also not as tiny since it uses an ATX case. Since you live near a MicroCenter, you can get the i5 3570K + Z77 Pro4-M for $230. The rest of the build would fill out like this:

i5 3570K + Z77 Pro4-M for $230 @ MC
Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 8GB $26 AP - this has tall heatspeaders, so only get this if you plan to stick with the stock cooler
Twin Frozr GTX 670 $370 AR
Samsung 830 128GB $110
Hitachi 7K1000.C $70
ASUS BD-RW $60 AR
XFX Core 550W $60 AR
Fractal Design Core 1000 $40
Total: $966 AR AP

That leaves just enough for the Windows 8 upgrade. I should also point out that the games you've listed aren't terribly GPU intensive, so you could knock $200 off the build by going with a 7850 2GB instead.

 

[neit]

The midrange gaming PC build isn't very loud at all, but its also not as tiny since it uses an ATX case. Since you live near a MicroCenter, you can get the i5 3570K + Z77 Pro4-M for $230. The rest of the build would fill out like this:

i5 3570K + Z77 Pro4-M for $230 @ MC
Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 8GB $26 AP - this has tall heatspeaders, so only get this if you plan to stick with the stock cooler
Twin Frozr GTX 670 $370 AR
Samsung 830 128GB $110
Hitachi 7K1000.C $70
ASUS BD-RW $60 AR
XFX Core 550W $60 AR
Fractal Design Core 1000 $40
Total: $966 AR AP

That leaves just enough for the Windows 8 upgrade. I should also point out that the games you've listed aren't terribly GPU intensive, so you could knock $200 off the build by going with a 7850 2GB instead.

Wow, all that in a mATX setup! I'm tempted by the 7850 downgrade, but curious about what benefits I'd be missing for that $200? Mostly higher resolution or also more intense games? Could I reasonably expect the framrates in my mentioned games to be 60fps at 1080p most of the time at high (not necessarily ultra) settings?

If I'm getting the K processor and z77 mobo, can I expect to reasonably overclock at all with the stock cooler? It's OK if I can't, I just want reasonable expectations.

Also, can I just get the SSD on amazon?

Thanks mfenn for the help, I'll pull the trigger in the morning and hope I get stuff mid week!

edit: forgot to ask, with such a big gpu and the small case/mobo, will I have expansion and heat tolerance to add a ceton card in the future? What about a wireless card?

 

[riversend]

Yes, you can get that same SSD on Amazon, if you are a Prime user then shipping is free I believe. THe 256GB model is only $170 on Amazon, just to throw that out there. :biggrin:

 

[neit]

Yes, you can get that same SSD on Amazon, if you are a Prime user then shipping is free I believe. THe 256GB model is only $170 on Amazon, just to throw that out there. :biggrin:

I saw that, I think I might do the bigger SSD and get a mechanical drive later that will be bigger and cheaper 😀

I'm getting excited, I'm trying to dig up some benchmarks and I think I'll be happy with the HD 7850. Now to find the windows disk for a cheap upgrade!

 

[neit]

This is what I ended up buying

ASRock Pro4-M motherboard
Intel i5 3570K
Samsung 830 256gb SSD
Asus Bluray Burner BW-12B1ST
Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 8GB
XFX Core 550W
Fractal Design Core 1000
XFX Radeon HD 7850 2gb
cheap usb microSD card reader

$348.76 at newegg, $258.99 at amazon, $265.21 at microcenter
Total: $872.96 out of pocket and a big grin heading out of microcenter with the mobo and cpu

It's been a decade+ since I put together a computer, I hear I don't need to deal with IRQ settings anymore!

 

[riversend]

Great, hope you enjoy! That's a great CPU/mobo combo price.

 

[mfenn]

Great, hope you enjoy! That's a great CPU/mobo combo price.

Agree :thumbsup: Make sure to post here and let us know how the build goes.

Wow, all that in a mATX setup! I'm tempted by the 7850 downgrade, but curious about what benefits I'd be missing for that $200? Mostly higher resolution or also more intense games? Could I reasonably expect the framrates in my mentioned games to be 60fps at 1080p most of the time at high (not necessarily ultra) settings?

Here's the comparison between the GTX 670 and 7850. As you can see, the GTX 670 is 50% - 100% faster than the 7850 depending on the game. That being said, the 7850 can comfortably break 60 FPS in your style of game.

If I'm getting the K processor and z77 mobo, can I expect to reasonably overclock at all with the stock cooler? It's OK if I can't, I just want reasonable expectations.

A little, but it'll be loud.

Also, can I just get the SSD on amazon?

Yep 🙂

edit: forgot to ask, with such a big gpu and the small case/mobo, will I have expansion and heat tolerance to add a ceton card in the future? What about a wireless card?

The GTX 670 is actually not all that big of a GPU in the grand scheme of things. Obviously the 7850 is even smaller. You should have no problem putting a Ceton card into the bottom physical x16 slot of the Pro4-M.

 

[neit]

Going to pick up some UPS packages later this afternoon, but a couple things came up:

PSU Wires + case: it looks like it might become a mess, can I pull the extra wires towards the 5.25" bay and wrap them behind the mobo tray, or is that verboten?

SSD : When I left MC I got an ad that showed the samsung 256gb SSD at 149, I emailed amazon and they said when it comes I can refuse it, but they won't price match. Which is OK with me. MC said none in stock right now but may get a shipment later this week. I normally don't fret too much about prices, but it's a $19 difference after tax and I can help a B&M store. This was the first time I went to a MC and it feels like back when I was first building PCs in the 90s!

OS: I actually have a full win7 license, so not sure I should upgrade to win8, I wonder if the media center update there is worth it if I want to setup mostly as an HTPC. I have some time to consider it, MC has the physical upgrade for $39 for the 2 weeks and I can do the digital upgrade through january at least, right?

Edit:
Regarding the BD drive, is this able to to do BD RW? I wasn't sure if rewritable was considered the same as writing these days. And the "disk encryption" that it supports, is this a feature of the drive that's helpful to have, or something I need software to take advantage of? I'm starting to feel old and uninformed 🙁

 

[DSF]

As long as the wires aren't in danger of actually connecting to anything or majorly obstructing airflow you can get pretty creative with them. Empty drive bays and behind the motherboard (if there's room) are pretty common cable management spots.

If you already have the Win7 license I wouldn't upgrade just yet. Maybe go to a store that's doing a demo or see if it's still possible to download a demo (it was at one point) and see how you like it first.

 

[mfenn]

As long as the wires aren't in danger of actually connecting to anything or majorly obstructing airflow you can get pretty creative with them. Empty drive bays and behind the motherboard (if there's room) are pretty common cable management spots.

If you already have the Win7 license I wouldn't upgrade just yet. Maybe go to a store that's doing a demo or see if it's still possible to download a demo (it was at one point) and see how you like it first.

Agree.

Regarding the BD drive, is this able to to do BD RW? I wasn't sure if rewritable was considered the same as writing these days. And the "disk encryption" that it supports, is this a feature of the drive that's helpful to have, or something I need software to take advantage of? I'm starting to feel old and uninformed 🙁

Technically there's no such thing as BD-RW. The term to look out for is BD-RE (recordable erasable). The BW-12B1ST does support BD-RE.

 

[neit]

It's alive! Yesterday I got everything but the BD drive and SSD. I told myself I would do it all in one go, but decided against it. I did a bunch of cable management with zip ties, but ended up forgetting to plug in the 8pin cpu cable, and had to start from scratch.

Anyway, it goes to bios and I was able to boot into xubuntu jump drive. I spent last night getting my windows installer on the jump drive so install should go quicker vs disk!

 

[neit]

I picked up the SSD and BD drive today, got it all hooked up and about to install win7. Are there any specific things I need to do in the bios for my components (SSD settings, etc) or a special order of installing drivers I should do when I do finally get it going? I usually never use the included driver disks since I imagine they are out of date by the time they get shipped.

 

[Ken g6]

Be sure AHCI is turned on in the BIOS before installing Win7. Getting it set up after install is difficult - though not impossible.

 

[mfenn]

Did you end up getting an HDD? If so, you will want to leave that unplugged during Windows install and plug it after the install is done. This is to keep the bootloader from accidentally being put on the wrong drive.

 

[neit]

I didn't get the HDD, but I'm watching newegg's sale and most likely waiting until black friday before I do anythign.

I'm having the hardest time getting my radeon drivers working without a standard computer monitor, maybe you guys can help:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=34183761