Advice on new value gaming system build

[Otrant]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to put together a new value gaming PC for the holidays. I live in Canada and have had good experiences using a local vendor for my last few builds, so would like to use them again.

My budget is around $800-900 CDN before tax. I already have dual 24"/22" inch monitors, OS, input devices, and speakers, so don't need any of that.

The vendor I use offers pre-configured systems, but can also put together custom builds. I have my eye on one of their pre-configured systems as a starting point, but would definitely like to add a SSD.

How do these components look? Are there other options that they offer that deliver better value? I've never owned a Seagate hard drive so I'm not too sure about that. The vendor offers a WD 7200rpm drive at the same price point and storage so I could swap them if it's worth it.

Vendor: http://infonec.com/site/DIY/pre_config.php?user=HO

"Game 101 System"

CPU: Intel BOX CORE I5 2500 3.30GHZ
Mother Board: ASUS P8Z68-V LE
RAM: CORSAIR DDR3 CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Video Card: Asus HD7770-DC-1GD5-V2 Radeon HD
Hard Drive: Seagate ST500DM002
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two
DVD Drive: LITEON DVDRW SATA IHAS124-04
Power Supply: CoolerMaster eXtreme 600W PSU

Price: $714.97

+ $120 for SSD Drive: OCZ VTX4-25SAT3-128G Vertex 4 SATA III 2.5" SSD 128G (VTX4-25SAT3-128G)

Total Price: $834.87

Thoughts?

 

[mfenn]

Seems kind of expensive for a system based on out of date components like an i5 2500 and a Z68 motherboard and straight-up bad components like the Cooler Master eXtreme. You can do better for yourself:

i5 3570K $235
MSI Z77A-G41 $81 AR
G.Skill DDR3 1600 8GB $35
7850 2GB $165 AR
Crucial M4 128GB $103
Seagate 1TB $75 AP
Lite-ON DVD Burner $19
XFX Core 550W $64 AR
Antec Three Hundred Two $50 AR
Total: $827 AR AP

That gets you a better CPU, GPU, PSU, and bigger HDD for less money.

 

[Sleepingforest]

It looks like you want the vendor to put something together for you rather than building your own. I would recommend you do it yourself you are comfortable putting it together because you will get a much better price/performance and price/quality ratio. As long as you use an anti-static wrap and keep well organized it's not very difficult.