Building a new PC for $1200

[Ibn Saeed]

hello

I have been away from the computer hardware scene for a while, so I am not upto date with the latest in the tech and hardware.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
high performance build for Gaming and Multitasking.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1000 to $1200

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
United Arab Emirates / USA.


4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Nothing specific.


5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Friend does not have a desktop so this will be his first desktop computer.


6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
only a couple


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No overclocking, will run at stock speeds.


8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1980


9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
As soon as possible.


10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.
Think skinned, ready for kitchen sinks.

 

[DominionSeraph]

do you need a monitor with that?

Assuming you do:

Something I put together for someone else.

Win7 would be another $85.

If you don't need a monitor just double up on that video card combo and you'll have SLI GTX 460 and 8GB RAM.

inb4 SSD

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

It would be more helpful to actually include links with a minor description instead of a ? picture ? :hmm:

 

[Ibn Saeed]

do you need a monitor with that?

Assuming you do:

Something I put together for someone else.

Win7 would be another $85.

If you don't need a monitor just double up on that video card combo and you'll have SLI GTX 460 and 8GB RAM.

inb4 SSD

Monitor is also needed, but the budget is seperate for that. So the $1000 - $1200 is for the CPU only.


I would need windows 7 Professional or Ultimate.

 

[mfenn]

Monitor is also needed, but the budget is seperate for that. So the $1000 - $1200 is for the CPU only.


I would need windows 7 Professional or Ultimate.

Win 7 pro is $130 at Newegg I believe. Also, you can probably get a GTX 580 on your budget.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Win 7 pro is $130 at Newegg I believe. Also, you can probably get a GTX 580 on your budget.

is it worth spending money for 580 , compared to the 400 series or even the AMD line of GPUs

 

[betasub]

is it worth spending money for 580 , compared to the 400 series or even the AMD line of GPUs

This depends a lot on the monitor you will be buying. GTX580 is worth it for ultra-resolutions like 2560x1**0 on 30" LCD. The 460/470 cards should handle 1920x1**0 resolutions common on mainstream LCDs; AMD have competitive cards for each.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

This depends a lot on the monitor you will be buying. GTX580 is worth it for ultra-resolutions like 2560x1**0 on 30" LCD. The 460/470 cards should handle 1920x1**0 resolutions common on mainstream LCDs; AMD have competitive cards for each.

Then ill stick with the 400 series. Will these be able to run performance hungry games ?




Which are the AMD's competitive cards to nvidia's 400 series. Are they cheap ?

 

[betasub]

Nvidia's 400 series cards are very well priced, particularly if you are buying in the US. Just check benchmarks on AnandTech's main site to see how well they handle modern, graphics intensive games. AMD's competitive cards are 6850/6870 (or the older 5770/5850/5870 with discounted prices). The Video and HotDeals forums should be able to help you get the best bang-for-buck.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Nvidia's 400 series cards are very well priced, particularly if you are buying in the US. Just check benchmarks on AnandTech's main site to see how well they handle modern, graphics intensive games. AMD's competitive cards are 6850/6870 (or the older 5770/5850/5870 with discounted prices). The Video and HotDeals forums should be able to help you get the best bang-for-buck.

Thanks

I would really like to know the specs, ill find out the best deals on them.

Can someone please list all the specs.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks

I would really like to know the specs, ill find out the best deals on them.

Can someone please list all the specs.

Dude, seriously? Betasub did everything but give you a link (here's a hint, click on the top left corner of this page).

 

[DominionSeraph]

Monitor is also needed, but the budget is seperate for that. So the $1000 - $1200 is for the CPU only.

I would need windows 7 Professional or Ultimate.

Ok.

$1154 after rebates including shipping. (to me, anyway)

SLI 1GB GTX 460 @ PCIe 2.0 16x
8GB RAM
120GB SSD

 

[betasub]

Dude, seriously? Betasub did everything but give you a link (here's a hint, click on the top left corner of this page).

LOL, ok let's link to AT's graphics reviews:
http://www.anandtech.com/tag/gpus

AT's GPU benchmarks:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU/88

And the very useful specs on GPUreview:
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=632&card2=636

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Should i go with SLI config ?

 

[betasub]

Should i go with SLI config ?

Only if it gets you something a single card cannot provide.

At this stage of the market cycle, there is pretty much a good single card option at each major price point.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Should i go with SLI config ?

You said, "High performance rig for gaming." A single 1GB GTX 460 or 6850 a mid-grade gaming rig. There's a nice 5870 that would break you solidly into the "high performance" category (IMO) at $260 after rebate, but here's the comparison.

(2) 1GB GTX 460 + 4GB of RAM (8GB total) = $350 after rebates
(1) 5870 + 8GB RAM = $350 after rebate
(1) 5870 + 4GB RAM (4GB total) = $310 after rebate

The SLI would smoke the 5870.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/181?vs=162

SLI 1GB GTX 460 is GTX 580 performance. The GTX 580 is $500 just by itself.

If all you need is a single GTX 460 then by all means save yourself the $175 and drop down to just one of those combos. But that's a freaking INSANE combo deal. People are paying $240 left and right for a 1GB GTX 460 + 4GB RAM. Here you have it sitting at $175. There is NOTHING in between that I would recommend -- you are looking at adding $60 just to get to the baseline out of combo, and by the time you add another $60-70 on top to get to the next tier of cards for ~25% more performance you might as well spend the extra $30 and get SLI for ~80% more performance.

Updated again due to price changes.

We're now at $1189 shipped after rebates.
Win7 pro went up in price
SSD went up.
PSU went up and went from $25 MIR to $10.
Had to change out the case because it went back up.
The i5 750 dropping by $15 for Cyber Monday helped stop the bleeding, though.

When that GTX 460 combo goes I'm gonna laugh.

 

[betasub]

^ Yeah, that kinda combo deal can "get you something a single card can't"... if there isn't some smokin' deal on single cards

 

[Ibn Saeed]

You said, "High performance rig for gaming." A single 1GB GTX 460 or 6850 a mid-grade gaming rig. There's a nice 5870 that would break you solidly into the "high performance" category (IMO) at $260 after rebate, but here's the comparison.

(2) 1GB GTX 460 + 4GB of RAM (8GB total) = $350 after rebates
(1) 5870 + 8GB RAM = $350 after rebate
(1) 5870 + 4GB RAM (4GB total) = $310 after rebate

The SLI would smoke the 5870.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/181?vs=162

SLI 1GB GTX 460 is GTX 580 performance. The GTX 580 is $500 just by itself.

If all you need is a single GTX 460 then by all means save yourself the $175 and drop down to just one of those combos. But that's a freaking INSANE combo deal. People are paying $240 left and right for a 1GB GTX 460 + 4GB RAM. Here you have it sitting at $175. There is NOTHING in between that I would recommend -- you are looking at adding $60 just to get to the baseline out of combo, and by the time you add another $60-70 on top to get to the next tier of cards for ~25% more performance you might as well spend the extra $30 and get SLI for ~80% more performance.

Updated again due to price changes.

We're now at $1189 shipped after rebates.
Win7 pro went up in price
SSD went up.
PSU went up and went from $25 MIR to $10.
Had to change out the case because it went back up.
The i5 750 dropping by $15 for Cyber Monday helped stop the bleeding, though.

When that GTX 460 combo goes I'm gonna laugh.

So you are suggesting that i save money with the 460 combo = (2) 1GB GTX 460 + 4GB of RAM (8GB total) = $350 after rebates ?

Am i correct in the understanding ?


Moreover, i am of the Core2Duo age, i dont know the difference between i5 and i7 cpu, is there any value to go with i7 instead of i5 ?

 

[DominionSeraph]

So you are suggesting that i save money with the 460 combo = (2) 1GB GTX 460 + 4GB of RAM (8GB total) = $350 after rebates ?

Am i correct in the understanding ?

Yes. It saves you $200 over a GTX 580 and gives you the same performance.

Moreover, i am of the Core2Duo age, i dont know the difference between i5 and i7 cpu, is there any value to go with i7 instead of i5 ?

No difference for gaming. The i7 has some performance advantage in some highly threaded apps due to its hyperthreading, but it's the same quad-core as an i5 underneath. If this was a purly professional photoshop or media encoding rig I'd say go i7. But for gaming and general tasks I wouldn't take that $90 extra out of anything else in my build just to get an i7.

Of course if you wanted to spend $90 extra then the i7 870 would be the next logical thing.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Yes. It saves you $200 over a GTX 580 and gives you the same performance.



No difference for gaming. The i7 has some performance advantage in some highly threaded apps due to its hyperthreading, but it's the same quad-core as an i5 underneath. If this was a purly professional photoshop or media encoding rig I'd say go i7. But for gaming and general tasks I wouldn't take that $90 extra out of anything else in my build just to get an i7.

Of course if you wanted to spend $90 extra then the i7 870 would be the next logical thing.

Thanks for the clarification, ill stick with the i5

 

[DominionSeraph]

Promo code CMC10 saves you $9 on that Corsair PSU.
PM sent.

 

[Athadeus]

At this stage of the market cycle, there is pretty much a good single card option at each major price point.

No. There is not a good single card for perf/$ above ~$160.

I would go as far as to say that the only discrete graphics cards anyone should buy lately are the GTX 460s, 470s, and HD 5850s at the ridiculous prices they have been in US, unless your graphics budget is $800+.

edit: My bad, some people don't have space/power/MB support for dual cards which really invalidates what I said.

 

[mfenn]

One thing to keep in mind when considering SLI/Crossfire (this doesn't get mentioned nearly enough IMHO) is that you absolutely must keep on top of your driver updates. Even then, there are plenty of games where you'll experience no or negative scaling in the first couple of weeks after a game's release. And heaven help you if you want to play some non-AAA title.

Let's not even get into microstutter.

While the GTX 460 combo is a ridiculous deal right now, SLI/Crossfire will never ever beat a single fast GPU for ease of use.

 

[DominionSeraph]

The RAM in the Palit combo just sold out.
Replacement: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.559965

 

[scarfinger68]

I just purchased this SLI set up:

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 ($89, I was concidering the coolermaster storm scout but this was a little bigger with more cooling options.)

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition ($229, a little cheaper than Intel, it is suppose to be stable for overclocking)

ASUS M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI ATX AMD (for the price of $130 I thought this was the best option for SLI.)

(2)ASUS ENGTX460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 ($149 each, 2 of these cards in SLI operate better than a GTX480 and cost around $100 less overall. Guru3d site did a comparison)

SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W GOLD Certified(at $160 this was kind of expensive but I wanted a stable power supply for SLI)

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1333(not the most and not the least but for $119 it seemed like a nice middle ground)

(2)SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB 7200 RPM SATA ( $42.99 each, for me I am upgrading to SATA and plan on running a raid set up)

Windows 7 Home Premium 64($100, I upgraded from XP to windows 7)

This set up is mainly for PC games and internet surfing. With shipping it came in at $1297.

No links. You will have to do some research yourself.

I spent a couple of weeks looking at reviews and stuff and then I still spent more money than I wanted too.

I would suggest looking at the "Holiday computer" article on this website for some great info.

Good Luck,

Joe