Good deal?

[Jaxor]

I want to build my own PC before the fall semester starts and there's a Micro Center about 20 min away from me. I just filled up my shopping cart with all the parts that I want and it seems like a reasonable price but I want to make sure that I'm getting the most bang for the buck. The other thing is that I've never built my own PC from scratch before so I'll just basically be following guides...

Anyway does this look like a decent gaming machine for the price of $1259?

Motherboard: Asus P8P67-M Pro R3 LGA 1155 P67 mATX Intel Motherboard $119.96

Processor: Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor
$179.99
Memory: XMS 8GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit $74.99

Video Card: Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x16$319.99

Sound Card: XONAR_DS PCI 7.1 Audio Card $57.99

Hard Drive: Barracuda 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5 $59.99


CD/DVD: Lite-ON 24X SATA DVD Burner - OEM $19.99

Tower: Cooler Master HAF 922M mid-Tower ATX Case $109.99

Power: Cooler Master GX Series 650W ATX Power Supply $99.99

Monitor: e2043Fk 20" Class LED Backlight Widescreen Monitor $119.99

Total: $1259

 

[Arkadrel]

1) The CPU price is pretty good.

2) Id go with a cheap(er) motherboard though (pocket ~50$).

3) Id get a 6950 instead, and overclock it, and pocket the ~110$ differnce.

Is 110$ worth ~15% at most performance (stock vs stock)?
50% more cost, for less than 15% performance? get the 6950 instead

4) Sound card.... Onboard is enough for general use (unless you do like professional work, onboard sound cards nowadays are so good you dont need to spend money on one) (save 58$)

5) Case: Dokker VM600M1W2Z ATX Mid Tower (44$ save ~66$)
(think its a better case, and alot cheaper)

6) PSU: meh

7) Monitor: meh


total cost: ~970$

 

[4ghz]

I would get a z68 board. P67 are obsolete and z68 boards are about the same price. Also not sure why you would get a matx board if you plan on using a atx case.

Paying too much for the ram. You can find better(ddr3-1600) on sale for $50 or even under $40 after rebate.

Gtx 570 price is a bit high. Can probably do better but again with a rebate attached.

Way too much for that power supply. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371049 . Antec 750w for $59 after rebate. Superior product for less.

You can usually find a 23" monitor on sale for $130ish on sale.

 

[Fallengod]

There are better deals out there for much of that stuff.

I was just about to recommend that 750 ANtec psu myself. Thats better and less money and has a 5 year warranty.

The video card wouldnt be my first pick. Id go with a better brand like evga that is also cheaper AR with a lifetime warranty. http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1313268344&sr=1-4 I dont hear too many good things about zotac.

That monitor is junk too. You are going to buy a $300 video card but run a monitor with 60hz. That makes sense.

 

[mnewsham]

What microcenter is closest to you? (so we can see what they have in stock)

 

[Jaxor]

What microcenter is closest to you? (so we can see what they have in stock)

The one in Dallas.

 

[Nebor]

The one in Dallas.

Well then you'll need to factor in getting robbed. Spring Valley & 75 is freakin' hood!

 

[mnewsham]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0364087

Cheaper motherboard.

 

[Jaxor]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0364087

Cheaper motherboard.

Sweet, thanks.

 

[Schmide]

For $75 you could score better memory. Look around.

Edit: There's a Frys in Dallass isn't there?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2184817

 

[lehtv]

If you play games and watch movies mainly with headphones, swap that Xonar DS to a Xonar DG, it comes with an integrated headphone amp.