New gaming rig

[xSkyDrAx]

I'm looking into building a new gaming rig. It's been a few years since my last one so I'm not terribly sure of my choices.

So far they are:

Total Price​

1​

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139021
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card

$109.99​

1​

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129042
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
-$11.50 Instant
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate

$58.45​

1​

MSI P67A-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813130571
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant

$114.99​

1​

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Item #: N82E16819115072
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy

$219.99​

1​

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7
Item #: N82E16835103065
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$29.99​

1​

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231314
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy

$51.99​

1​

XFX HD-695X-CNDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #: N82E16814150550
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
$30.00 Mail-in Rebate

$279.99​

Total comes out to be $850 before taxes or so. Any recommendations on bringing down the price without sacraficing the performance?

 

[xBiffx]

Looks solid although I prefered a Z68 board to the P67. I went for SRT is all.

EDIT: Didn't notice the PSU at first, but yes 750W is overkill.

 

[lehtv]

You don't need a 750W PSU. 550W would be just fine, 650W is already more than you need but not overkill.

I recommend this: Seasonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze $70
Or if you demand modular: Seasonic M12II $100 or Corsair TX650M $100 or Seasonic X-650 80+ Gold $140 (tied #1 in the 650W class, along with X660 and Corsair AX650)

Other than that, your choices look excellent. I couldn't really pick better value gaming components myself

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Hm thanks for the recommendation on PSUs. Wierdly enough I was looking at the Corsairs one and this 750 was cheaper than their 650 so I was like why not.

 

[lehtv]

What do you mean? TX650 V2 is $70 after rebate, same price as the seasonic 620W. Also a good choice. Maybe you were looking at HX650 which is higher quality than TX series. BTW HX650 at $110 AR isn't a bad choice by any means, the 7 year warranty is just so nice.

 

[xBiffx]

I went with this PSU in the new system in my sig. Just got it on Monday too. Only $50 after MiR.

 

[lehtv]

That $50 deal on the Antec is very nice indeed. There's really no "wrong" option in the 650W PSUs listed here, it's all about how much you want to spend. With more spending comes better efficiency, better reliability, more silent operation, better warranty and longevity. But even the Antec is probably silent enough, efficient enough, reliable enough etc.

 

[Ken g6]

There are some surprisingly bad comments on the military-class MSI boards. Plus, that's only a P67 anyway. You can get a good Z68 ASRock for less.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Hm is there a basic rundown of the primary differences between P67 and Z68 boards?

 

[Ken g6]

Z68 gets you:
- The onboard GPU. Doesn't matter to you.
- SSD caching. Only matters if you get an SSD and don't install your main programs on it.
- Supposedly, the potential to upgrade to Ivy Bridge. You might like that.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i would go with the ASRock Mobo that Ken posted
its good and reliable

plus its cheap 😀

 

[mfenn]

This:

There are some surprisingly bad comments on the military-class MSI boards. Plus, that's only a P67 anyway. You can get a good Z68 ASRock for less.

and this:

I went with this PSU in the new system in my sig. Just got it on Monday too. Only $50 after MiR.

would be two things that I would change. I'd also get some less expensive RAM like this Mushkin DDR3 1333 8GB kit. The rest looks good to me assuming of course you've already got the drives covered.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Hm good recommendations. This brings the sub to about $807. Does anyone know if there's an expected price break on the 6xxx series when then 7xxx series comes out?

 

[Ken g6]

I'd also get some less expensive RAM like this Mushkin DDR3 1333 8GB kit.

Just to one-up you, there's also 2x this for just $40!

 

[lehtv]

I'd get this for $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428

Better heat spreaders, G.Skill is a great brand, 1600mhz (not that it matters, but hey 😛)

 

[T_Yamamoto]

dont need heatspreaders!

 

[lehtv]

But want 🙁

 

[TheAdvocate]

I dunno about the single fan XFX cards. One fan has to work that much harder (louder) to cool the the GPU. Would probably do MSI TFII or TFIII or Asus DirectCU 6950 instead.

If you're not gaming at a res higher than 1080p, you may wanna checkout the MSI 6950 TFIII 1GB - it is very competitively priced with the higher end GTX 560Ti's.

Finally, I'd spend more on a case, but that's just me. Coolermaster HAF or Corsair 600T or 400R, for exampled. I greatly prefer those to a low to mid range case like that. So much better cable management, etc.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

HAFs have filters 😀

 

[mfenn]

But want 🙁

Let's rip some damn jaws amirite??? :awe:

Regarding the 6950, I have one of the reference models with the blower style cooler and while it does do a good job of keeping the card cool even after unlocking, it is rather loud under load.