New Gaming PC for $1500

[Jules]

Hey fellas. Trying to get a idea on what to get for around $1500.

I already have a Mouse, Keyboard and Case (Antec Three hundred).

If you can fit in a case great. If not thats fine. I mostly Play RO2, Crysis, Deus Ex, Black ops, New Vegas, BF3 and a bunch of other games.

If anyone has some advice on what to get that would be great.

 

[Ken g6]

As I said in another thread (to someone else), you're a midrange system builder. [thread=2192841]Pay attention[/thread]!

To that add a monitor. Maybe halve the SSD size and price if you're short on cash.

Edit: If you can drag yourself out to a Micro Center today or tomorrow, you can get an i5 2500K for $150! Plus they might still be offering $80 bundle discounts on certain z68 motherboards.

 

[Arkaign]

Is that your existing rig in your sig? If so, ~$1000 could upgrade it to something truly psychotic really. $200 mobo, $300 cpu, $260 for 2nd 2GB 6950 for Xfire, change on SSD.

If you mean total system? Well, blah.

 

[mfenn]

As I said in another thread (to someone else), you're a midrange system builder. [thread=2192841]Pay attention[/thread]!

To that add a monitor. Maybe halve the SSD size and price if you're short on cash.

Edit: If you can drag yourself out to a Micro Center today or tomorrow, you can get an i5 2500K for $150! Plus they might still be offering $80 bundle discounts on certain z68 motherboards.

:thumbsup: for a new system. However, as Arkaign mentioned, this isn't that much of an upgrade from your existing rig.

 

[Jules]

Thanks for the advice fellas. How about on a $1500 budget?

 

[Ken g6]

Take a look at [thread=2195502]this thread[/thread]. You need a monitor but not a case. Do you need Windows?

 

[lehtv]

^ "No Thread specified"

 

[T_Yamamoto]

you could sell off your i5 and mobo to balance out the new build

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the advice fellas. How about on a $1500 budget?

Is it as an upgrade or a new system?

 

[Jules]

Is it as an upgrade or a new system?

New system. Already have a case, mouse and keyboard. I also got windows.

 

[Jules]

Looking to order tonight if anyone has any input

 

[lehtv]

Alright alright, I'll suggest a build for you, priced from newegg. These are off the top of my head so confirm the pricing and availability for yourself

A $1500 build in Antec 300? That's a low-end case, and its only strong point is that it's robustly built. Please sell it away, and buy a proper case with proper cooling, proper cable management and proper PSU positioning.

Also I'm not sure why you think it's necessary to spend $1500 on a single monitor gaming build - perhaps you were thinking of dual-GPU, or some relatively expensive monitor? I would not recommend dual-GPU, a capable single GPU can handle any game fine on one 1080p monitor.

Mobo Asus P8Z68-V LE $130
CPU 2500K $220 (microcenter in-store $150) + CM 212 Evo $35
GPU Galaxy GTX 570 $280 after rebate
RAM G.Skill ripjaws 1333 2x4gb $45
HDD Samsung F3 1TB 7200rpm $60
SSD Crucial M4 64GB (OS+programs) $95
Sound Asus Xonar DG $30 from microcenter (for headphones)
ODD DVD-RW $20
PSU XFX 650W $60 AR or Corsair HX650 Modular $110 AR
Case Corsair 400R $95 or Fractal Design R3 $100 or Silverstone Raven RV02-BW $150 AR or Coolermaster HAF 932 or HAF X

Subtotal ~ $1000

If you absolutely want a dual-GPU setup (yes it will run everything a bit more smoothly and you don't need to care about settings etc), then I would recommend that you get the Silverstone or HAF case, a Gigabyte Z68X-UD3-B3 board for $160, an XFX or Corsair 850W power supply, then SLI the MSI 560 Ti 2GB $250 each. That would cost you maybe $350 more in total - it's not only the second GPU that costs more.

Monitor ... what are you looking for? Cheap 1080p LED? 120HZ? 27 inch 1080p?

 

[mfenn]

Good build as usual Lehtv. For people who like ugly cases, I would also throw the 922 in the mix as a better value alternative to the 932 or X. Personally, I would get the 400R or R3.

 

[Jules]

Alright alright, I'll suggest a build for you, priced from newegg. These are off the top of my head so confirm the pricing and availability for yourself

A $1500 build in Antec 300? That's a low-end case, and its only strong point is that it's robustly built. Please sell it away, and buy a proper case with proper cooling, proper cable management and proper PSU positioning.

Also I'm not sure why you think it's necessary to spend $1500 on a single monitor gaming build - perhaps you were thinking of dual-GPU, or some relatively expensive monitor? I would not recommend dual-GPU, a capable single GPU can handle any game fine on one 1080p monitor.

Mobo Asus P8Z68-V LE $130
CPU 2500K $220 (microcenter in-store $150) + CM 212 Evo $35
GPU Galaxy GTX 570 $280 after rebate
RAM G.Skill ripjaws 1333 2x4gb $45
HDD Samsung F3 1TB 7200rpm $60
SSD Crucial M4 64GB (OS+programs) $95
Sound Asus Xonar DG $30 from microcenter (for headphones)
ODD DVD-RW $20
PSU XFX 650W $60 AR or Corsair HX650 Modular $110 AR
Case Corsair 400R $95 or Fractal Design R3 $100 or Silverstone Raven RV02-BW $150 AR or Coolermaster HAF 932 or HAF X

Subtotal ~ $1000

If you absolutely want a dual-GPU setup (yes it will run everything a bit more smoothly and you don't need to care about settings etc), then I would recommend that you get the Silverstone or HAF case, a Gigabyte Z68X-UD3-B3 board for $160, an XFX or Corsair 850W power supply, then SLI the MSI 560 Ti 2GB $250 each. That would cost you maybe $350 more in total - it's not only the second GPU that costs more.

Monitor ... what are you looking for? Cheap 1080p LED? 120HZ? 27 inch 1080p?

Thanks!

For a monitor im just looking for something 23inches or bigger and is a decent gaming monitor

 

[lehtv]

Asus VH238H is a popular 1080p LED-backlit choice, it's no frills but does the job for just $160 IIRC. I'd choose between that or the 120hz Asus VG236HE (which costs twice as much but will have a distinctly smoother image and slightly better response times - important if you're into competitive FPS, otherwise not so much).

 

[Jules]

Good build as usual Lehtv. For people who like ugly cases, I would also throw the 922 in the mix as a better value alternative to the 932 or X. Personally, I would get the 400R or R3.

Yeah i like the 400R but the shipping is turning me off

 

[Jules]

Which memory should i buy?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231311

or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231426

 

[lehtv]

The normal Ripjaws is cheaper out of those two, so that one. All G.skill memory is covered by lifetime warranty. You would be fine with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231424 as well (to paraphrase mfenn: "the fancy heat spreaders, they do nothing.")

 

[Jules]

Oh ok, Now the only worry i have is the small SSD, I guess i would install all my steam games on the 1TB.

 

[lehtv]

You can get two 64GB ssd's if you want, install Windows and programs on one, and use the other as a cache for the HDD. Up to you if that's worth $100

 

[Jules]

You can get two 64GB ssd's if you want, install Windows and programs on one, and use the other as a cache for the HDD. Up to you if that's worth $100

Haha i guess not. Thanks for the help. I think ill go with your build. I already have a unlocked 6950 2gb so i should be ok right?

 

[lehtv]

If you've already got a 6950 then yes you're fine GPU wise

Since the last thing I'd want is you to be disappointed with my recommendations, I'll just point out the Asus board doesn't support SLI or crossfire. I don't normally recommend dual-GPU on 1080p, especially since the new GPU generation is about to arrive in a few months. A single 6950 2GB unlocked can run every game there is, certainly not all maxed out at 60fps constant but well enough to make a second GPU pretty bad value for money.

But different people have different requirements. If you want to keep open the option of dual-GPU, get a SLI/Crossfire board e.g. Asrock Z68 Extreme3 for the same price as the Asus board, or Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 for $160. The power supply upgrade (850w) is wiser to make when buying the second GPU, otherwise you'd be paying a lot for just the possibility of SLI/crossfire.

Good luck, tell us how it all turns out when you've finally got all the parts etc

 

[Jules]

Yeah im gonna pass on dual GPU's for now. Seems like the board you recommended got some bad reviews, anything i should worry about? Also im missing a heatsink. I currently have a hyper 212+ but im not sure if i have a bracket for 1155.

 

[lehtv]

Yeah im gonna pass on dual GPU's for now. Seems like the board you recommended got some bad reviews, anything i should worry about?

Do you mean newegg customer reviews? They don't mean much - and besides the vast majority of reviews for this board were 5/5 stars. The bad reviews are usually something along the lines of "was DOA" or "was not what I expected" etc.

Also im missing a heatsink. I currently have a hyper 212+ but im not sure if i have a bracket for 1155.

212+ will have probably come with LGA1156 brackets. LGA1155 uses the exact same mounting holes.

 

[R4in]

+1 for lehtv

He and several others are helping me with a ~$1800 build.

Some points to make it expensive though are im choosing dual monitors but will only run 1 GPU. Also im going with the "ugly" HAF 932 Advanced lol.