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An $ 800 Mid-range Gaming Rig

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How good is this one for me
ASUS P8Z77-V LK

Regarding mobo I have the following criterion ─

1.CrossfireX/SLI support at PCI Express 3.0/2.0 at x8/x8(for future)
2.LGA 1155 support for 2nd gen Intel i5-2500K
3.OCable upto atmost 4 Ghz(I won't cross that mark)
4.Price within $ 170
5.No bluetooth,USB 3.0 support required.
6.No Ivy bridge upgrade intended now.

As a matter of fact I have always preferred Asus for their service and warranty.

Another thing should I opt for this or 2 sticks of 4 gb ???
 
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GothAmKing said:
So,what kinda GPU do you recommend ???
Click to expand...

A HD6850 would play 1280x1024 very smoothly, but I don't recommend that - I recommend buying a new monitor and a GTX 560 Ti 1GB or HD7850 2GB. I also stand by the build I recommended earlier in the thread, with the exception of the case that is out of stock now. A stock i5-2400 will have practically no disadvantage compared to an overclocked K-series processor in terms of longevity. By the time one is slow for gaming, so is the other. So, forget about the 2500K plans, the money is better spent on a new monitor.
 
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GothAmKing said:
How good is this one for me
ASUS P8Z77-V LK

Regarding mobo I have the following criterion ─

1.CrossfireX/SLI support at PCI Express 3.0/2.0 at x8/x8(for future)
2.LGA 1155 support for 2nd gen Intel i5-2500K
3.OCable upto atmost 4 Ghz(I won't cross that mark)
4.Price within $ 170
5.No bluetooth,USB 3.0 support required.
6.No Ivy bridge upgrade intended now.

As a matter of fact I have always preferred Asus for their service and warranty.

Another thing should I opt for this or 2 sticks of 4 gb ???
Click to expand...

Why do you want Crossfire/SLI support? You are unlikely to ever use it. You are already limiting yourself to the very bottom of gaming resolutions, unless you upgrade that you will never need a more powerful video card then you have in your build now. You are going to have to spend a lot more money to upgrade your monitor before you will ever need a new video card.

Which brings me to the question, why are you so attached to the 1280x1024 resolution? It is going to be a big
disadvantage in any game you play. You should be setting yourself up to play at 1080p, and looking to upgrade your monitor as soon as you can. But even if you go this route, you probably do not want to go SLI, the video cards you are looking at do 1080p pretty well, and by the time they don't the video cards you buy now will be obsolete and you will want to get the new generation with the new features.

Crossfire/SLI is almost never a good option unless you are ready to do it now, or in the next few months. Which we know you don't, because it would require a new video card and very expensive monitor to be worth it.
 
SMOGZINN said:
Why do you want Crossfire/SLI support? You are unlikely to ever use it. You are already limiting yourself to the very bottom of gaming resolutions, unless you upgrade that you will never need a more powerful video card then you have in your build now. You are going to have to spend a lot more money to upgrade your monitor before you will ever need a new video card.

Which brings me to the question, why are you so attached to the 1280x1024 resolution? It is going to be a big
disadvantage in any game you play. You should be setting yourself up to play at 1080p, and looking to upgrade your monitor as soon as you can. But even if you go this route, you probably do not want to go SLI, the video cards you are looking at do 1080p pretty well, and by the time they don't the video cards you buy now will be obsolete and you will want to get the new generation with the new features.

Crossfire/SLI is almost never a good option unless you are ready to do it now, or in the next few months. Which we know you don't, because it would require a new video card and very expensive monitor to be worth it.
Click to expand...

lehtv said:
A HD6850 would play 1280x1024 very smoothly, but I don't recommend that - I recommend buying a new monitor and a GTX 560 Ti 1GB or HD7850 2GB. I also stand by the build I recommended earlier in the thread, with the exception of the case that is out of stock now. A stock i5-2400 will have practically no disadvantage compared to an overclocked K-series processor in terms of longevity. By the time one is slow for gaming, so is the other. So, forget about the 2500K plans, the money is better spent on a new monitor.
Click to expand...

OP, both these guys are giving you very good advice. Please listen to reason.
 
Thanx for ya advice.But please do solve this for me

In SLI/CrossfireX I've a big doubt-

"Say, it's 15 th of June,2013.Pixel shader 6 is out.So does the new GTX 7xx s.Microsoft is celebrating the birth of DirectX 12.My GTX 560 ti is highly depressed 'cuz it cannot run MW4 and BF4 for me.On 16 th I come home with a blazing new GTX 760 supporting all latest features.If I SLI them will be able to use the ability and VRAM of 560 ti and 760 both simultaneously,i.e, will I be able to utilize them both ??? Imagine the same scenario for AMD too.Will crossfire utilize both 7850 and the latest 8850(say) ???"

thanx a zillion times
 
GothAmKing said:
Thanx for ya advice.But please do solve this for me

In SLI/CrossfireX I've a big doubt-

"Say, it's 15 th of June,2013.Pixel shader 6 is out.So does the new GTX 7xx s.Microsoft is celebrating the birth of DirectX 12.My GTX 560 ti is highly depressed 'cuz it cannot run MW4 and BF4 for me.On 16 th I come home with a blazing new GTX 760 supporting all latest features.If I SLI them will be able to use the ability and VRAM of 560 ti and 760 both simultaneously,i.e, will I be able to utilize them both ??? Imagine the same scenario for AMD too.Will crossfire utilize both 7850 and the latest 8850(say) ???"

thanx a zillion times
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that a new GPU generation will be out less than 3 months after the current one. Even if it was, DX12 only games wouldn't be out for another 3-4 years. Finally, no you cannot SLI cards between generations and use all the features of the newest cards.

GothAmKing said:
By the way can I use a single stick of 8GB DDR3 RAM or do I have to use two sticks of 4???
Click to expand...

A single 8GB stick will work, but you will only have 1/2 the memory bandwidth since you'd be running in single-channel mode.
 
Yes,I'm beginning to understand the things.I'm highlighting what I did and what I didn't─

UNDERSTOOD

1.No SLI/CFX needed for me.It's for them who want a great multi-monitor gaming experience at eye popping res.Also all games are not optimised for SLI/CFX.

2.In Display,the need of the hour is to get a 1080p.Seems future-proof enough.

3.500 GB has become a necessity.

4.PSU must be 80+ certified.Can't skimp on it.

5.Tower must have adequate,infact best cooling.

6.Hardcore OCing😵 is not a solution to remove sluggish performance.

7.AN UEFI BIOS is a best thing.

8.Say '"Bye,Bye":'( to AMD's Zambezi (Piledriver even).

NOT UNDERSTOOD🙁

1.Why should I opt for i5-2400 against a i5-2500K which leaves me room for OCing apart from being a pricier one??

2.Ain't people judging ASRock a little biased by simply looking at their prices ???

3.CAN I GO WITH ASRock ???

4.What is the Bronze,Gold and Platinum series with PSU s ??

________________________________________________

Also I managed to add $ 100 to my budget taking it to $ 900.My updated(and maybe final) config~

ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI

ASUS HD7850-DC2-2GD5 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1

TOTAL -------- $ 973 without shipping and rebates.

But I have problem deciding over the wattage of PSU required.I tried some calculator but I couldn't manage that well(esp. that CPU VCore voltage).Please suggest me a good PSU but not more than $ 70(remember I'm not going over the 4 Ghz mark) and a cheaper ASRock equivalent to the Asus one if u at all believe that ASRock can be relied upon.

Thanx.eager to see upcoming comments
 
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7.AN UEFI BIOS is a best thing.
Click to expand...
An UEFI BIOS hardly matters at all. At the moment, just a graphical interface and offers no real functional advantage over a traditional BIOS.

1.Why should I opt for i5-2400 against a i5-2500K which leaves me room for OCing apart from being a pricier one??

2.Ain't people judging ASRock a little biased by simply looking at their prices ???

3.CAN I GO WITH ASRock ???

4.What is the Bronze,Gold and Platinum series with PSU s ??
Click to expand...
1. Because of your original budget, $800. With i5-2400 and a H61/H67 motherboard, you can spend more on components that matter more, without going over budget.

2. A lot of people here are happy owners of Asrock boards. Of course, it is easy to recommend them based on pricing - why pay more if you get a decent quality board for less. But Asrock are really on par with Asus, Gigabyte and MSI in terms of quality and reliability.

3. Yes.

4. They are efficiency certifications. 80 Plus certification means a power supply is at least 80% efficient, 80 Plus Bronze means 82-85% efficiency, 80 Plus Silver means even higher etc. Platinum is the current highest standard offered only on the most expensive units which are capable of 90-92% efficiency. For the vast majority of users, the lowest certification (80 Plus) is good enough, though probably the majority of good quality power supplies are 80 Plus Bronze these days. Efficiency on its own has little to nothing to do with reliability.

Also I managed to add $ 100 to my budget taking it to $ 900.My updated(and maybe final) config~

ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI

ASUS HD7850-DC2-2GD5 Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1

TOTAL -------- $ 865 without shipping and rebates.
Click to expand...
Your total price seems incorrect. I checked the links, did the calculations - your total for the above parts is $973 before shipping and rebates. And your build has only 4GB RAM and does not include a DVD drive.

My recommendations? Fall back to i5-2400 (-$30) and the Asrock H61M/U3S3 board (-$45), buy 2x4GB RAM (+$15), change to this PSU (-$5), add a DVD drive (+$17) and you're looking at a $925 build before rebates and shipping.
 
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lehtv said:
Your total price seems incorrect. I checked the links, did the calculations - your total for the above parts is $973 before shipping and rebates. And your build has only 4GB RAM and does not include a DVD drive.

My recommendations? Fall back to i5-2400 (-$30) and the Asrock H61M/U3S3 board (-$45), buy 2x4GB RAM (+$15), change to this PSU (-$5), add a DVD drive (+$17) and you're looking at a $925 build before rebates and shipping.
Click to expand...

I agree. The build that the OP proposed would be very nice if you could get it for $865, but that's not the case. Unless the OP is buying from somewhere other than Newegg and just not telling us.
 
Well I'm referring to Newegg as I want to get a view of the prices.When buying I'll physically go to store and make my purchase.I got a great hassle on my previous Logitech headphone from TigerDirect which costs me $ 35 and to my surprise the mic wasn't working.That was my last online buy.Previously I bought two 320 GB xternal HDD(SATA II,USB 2.0) from Ebay but they were perfectly fine though they were used ones.

As far as my budget is concerned I think I will 've to wait for two things-
1.IB
2.Kepler

Seeing that,I was thinking of getting a Kepler in $ 200 while opting for a cheaper ASRock mobo.I know most of u are recommending the i5-2400,but I want to keep a little headroom for OCin'.Also does nyone know a site where I can get specs of the upcoming Keplers ?? I went to Lenzfire but I couldn't trust their post.
 
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aaksheytalwar said:
7850 overclocks and scales better than 560 to 448. 7850 is a no brainer
Click to expand...

Yeah,it does.but I'll not bias my decision now cuz Mid range Keplers haven't yet arrived in the party.I'm quite sure that they will simply blow out AMD if AMD doesn't cut down the prices heavily.I tell from the performance of 680,not a fanboy of nVidia.
 
i see gigabyte is having a good lineup on Z77 mobos.here are some with their rough prices-

Z77X-UD5H-WB - $224
Z77X-UD5H - $200
Z77X-UD3H - $182
Z77X-D3H - $163
Z77-D3H - $140
Z77-DS3H - $115
G1 Sniper M3 - $184
Z77MX-D3H - $133
Z77M-D3H - $117

need recommendations on them especially the bolded ones .thanx again
 
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You have $800 in total to spend and need a 23" LCD monitor?

If you game a lot you will need at least a Radeon HD7850 for 1920 x 1080 rez. So about $150 for the monitor and $250 for the video card. Thats $400 right there.

If you went with an i5 2500k + a Z68 or Z77 motherboard thats another $330+ right there. Now you're at $730.

Hopefully you have an optical drive, a case and some hard drives already.

Spend about $50-$55 on 8 gigs of DDR3 pc-1600 1.5 v ram. If you look hard you can find a decent 600 watt psu that is silver or gold 80+ rated for about $65.

Total about $830 or so.
 
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Z77-D3H can be had for $120 on newegg. Compared to the $10 cheaper Asrock Z77 Pro3, the Z77-D3H has two less SATA 6gb/s ports, only 4-pin CPU power connection instead of 8-pin (though for low power CPUs like Ivy Bridge, this hardly matters at all even with extreme overclocks), and Asrock's black paint job looks better. It also has VIA audio chipset instead of Realtek, and although I can't say for sure which is better, I know the Realtek chip is used in higher end boards like Asus Z77-V Pro. Gigabyte boards have 3 years of warranty though, that's worth something.

Review: http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/37481-intel-z77-chipset-gigabyte-z77-d3h-motherboard/?page=9

The Z77MX-D3H is a microATX board, there's no particular reason for you to buy microATX.

Upgrade Itch said:
If you game a lot you will need at least a Radeon HD7850 for 1920 x 1080 rez.
Click to expand...

No. How much you game has little to do with what graphics card you need. More important is what games you play and what are your requirements for image quality and FPS. A GTX 560 Ti will achieve excellent framerates in most games, and playable framerates in the most demanding games with settings turned down a bit. HD6850 will achieve perfectly respectable frames on 1080p as well, simply at slightly lower image quality than 560 Ti.
 
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Who doesn't max out graphic settings at the native rez? My overclocked HD5850 struggles to play todays games totally maxxed out, this is why Im buying an HD7950 or 7970 on payday (wednesday).

I stand by the HD7850 as a minimum card for 1920 x 1080 gaming. Or a 560 Ti 448.
 
Who doesn't max out graphic settings at the native rez?
Click to expand...
Plenty of people, I suppose. Personally, I'm fine with not maxing out graphics settings, usually the difference in image quality between Ultra and High has no bearing whatsoever on my enjoyment of the game.

I stand by the HD7850 as a minimum card for 1920 x 1080 gaming. Or a 560 Ti 448.
Click to expand...
You only speak for yourself.
 
I bought my X- 650 Gold+ when Newegg had the price at $109.

Imo, that was a steal. Can't ever hear it and the warranty + build quality are excellent.
 
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