It's been about 5 years since my last build, so its time for an upgrade. I do occasional gaming, although not nearly as much as I used to. I usually wait until games have been out for a year or two before buying them. For example, the main game I'm looking to put on this initially is Skyrim. I'm mainly concerned with price per performance and longevity of the system. I don't ever plan to upgrade by replacing, but am fine with upgrading by adding on (for example getting 8 gb of ram now and then 8 gb later). Also do some video ripping/converting for my HTPC, basic photo editing, and other general tasks.
I don't really have a budget. Price really isn't an issue beyond bang for my buck. I'm not saving up for components or anything, I've just been waiting until I felt like my old PC was starting to feel sluggish. In other words, I'd be fine spending $2k on a pc if it meant I'd have a system that would last 20 years. As I know that isn't the case, I'm really looking more in the range of $550 - $700, although as I said, I'm fine going above that if it will really improve the system.
I'm reusing most of the components/have extras laying around for everything but the following:
MB
CPU
RAM
GPU
I already have the OS purchased, so I'm not counting that in the budget.
I'm in the US, although in a very rural area, so I'll be buying everything online. Sales tax isn't an issue (I'm in Oregon).
No brand preference.
Usually game at 1080P, but its not the end of the world if I have to drop the resolution.
I don't mind overclocking, but I'm not going to go out of my way to do it. It just seems like you lose all your savings once you start buying the better PSU, the better MB, the better aftermarket coolers, and on and on you go (no offense to those that do).
I plan to build during the coming month sometime, but am fine to wait a bit for better deals. So now that you have the story, here is what I'm thinking.
GPU - MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 OC Boost 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2Mini DisplayPorts PCI-Express Video Card $192 after $30 rebate plus 3 free games from AMDs current promotion. Superbiiz
Realize its only a single fan, but I usually game with headphones on, so if it gets loud while I'm gaming it probably won't matter. If it is too loud, I figure I can pick up an aftermarket cooler and still be cheaper than most of the dual fan setups. It's ordered right now, but is out of stock, so would still be easy to cancel if people think this is a bad call (I have an email from them asking me if I want to cancel or wait).
CPU - Intel Core i5 -4670K $219 Amazon Seems to be the go to CPU for system builders.
MB - GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-D3H LGA 1150 Intel Z87
RAM -Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (plan to bump up to 16GB eventually)
Newegg combo deal - $155
Total = $567
I plan to also pick up an SSD at some point, but I have an extra hard drive I can use for now while I watch for a good deal on one (I've been hoping they'd hit $.50/gb for awhile now, but they seem to have plateaued for the moment), but if people have a recommendation I'd still be interested.
Anyways, that's the story, tell me what you think.
I don't really have a budget. Price really isn't an issue beyond bang for my buck. I'm not saving up for components or anything, I've just been waiting until I felt like my old PC was starting to feel sluggish. In other words, I'd be fine spending $2k on a pc if it meant I'd have a system that would last 20 years. As I know that isn't the case, I'm really looking more in the range of $550 - $700, although as I said, I'm fine going above that if it will really improve the system.
I'm reusing most of the components/have extras laying around for everything but the following:
MB
CPU
RAM
GPU
I already have the OS purchased, so I'm not counting that in the budget.
I'm in the US, although in a very rural area, so I'll be buying everything online. Sales tax isn't an issue (I'm in Oregon).
No brand preference.
Usually game at 1080P, but its not the end of the world if I have to drop the resolution.
I don't mind overclocking, but I'm not going to go out of my way to do it. It just seems like you lose all your savings once you start buying the better PSU, the better MB, the better aftermarket coolers, and on and on you go (no offense to those that do).
I plan to build during the coming month sometime, but am fine to wait a bit for better deals. So now that you have the story, here is what I'm thinking.
GPU - MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 OC Boost 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2Mini DisplayPorts PCI-Express Video Card $192 after $30 rebate plus 3 free games from AMDs current promotion. Superbiiz
Realize its only a single fan, but I usually game with headphones on, so if it gets loud while I'm gaming it probably won't matter. If it is too loud, I figure I can pick up an aftermarket cooler and still be cheaper than most of the dual fan setups. It's ordered right now, but is out of stock, so would still be easy to cancel if people think this is a bad call (I have an email from them asking me if I want to cancel or wait).
CPU - Intel Core i5 -4670K $219 Amazon Seems to be the go to CPU for system builders.
MB - GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-D3H LGA 1150 Intel Z87
RAM -Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (plan to bump up to 16GB eventually)
Newegg combo deal - $155
Total = $567
I plan to also pick up an SSD at some point, but I have an extra hard drive I can use for now while I watch for a good deal on one (I've been hoping they'd hit $.50/gb for awhile now, but they seem to have plateaued for the moment), but if people have a recommendation I'd still be interested.
Anyways, that's the story, tell me what you think.
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