Looking to build a gaming rig, with a budget of $600-$800

[iaacp]

Hey guys! It's been a few years since I've build a rig and I'm pretty out of the technology loop. I am looking to build a PC for gaming mostly, and also programming (but obviously gaming will take most of the resources). I know the specs haven't really been released and people can't know for sure, but I'd like to be able to play Battlefield 3 and Skyrim on max settings. If that is aiming too high, kindly bring me back to earth. I am not a fanboy of any brands, so I am open to nvidia, radeon, intel, amd, whatever. Not interested in overclocking, so I'd rather have stronger base components!

I don't really need to future proof, because usually I don't upgrade individual parts over the years, and instead opt for completely new builds every 3-5 years.

Things I already have:

* Mouse
* Keyboard
* Speakers
* Monitor
* HDD - Western Digital 7200 RPM Blue.
* PSU - Corsair 520w. Will this be enough?


Things I need:

* RAM
* Case - nothing too big, I'm thinking mid atx?
* GPU
* Processor
* Motherboard
* SSD - This is not needed, and would only be purchased if the rig is already awesome and there is money left over in the budget. Also, willing to upgrade from my current HDD to a different HDD if budget permits, but this isn't priority.

Resources available: Newegg, Fry's, Microcenter, any other southern California chains.

Lastly, are any new techs coming out soon, for cards or processors? I can put this off a month or two if needed or suggested.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Theocnoob]

Ya you can do it. A lower end P67 board, 2500K CPU, GTX560Ti graphics card, 8GB DDR3, keep your hard drive, Antec 300 case

If you need a CPU cooler get the Hyper 212 from Cooler master.

AMD is releasing bulldozer. There will be a variant priced similarly to the 2500K in the same performance range I don't know if it'll be better or not.. That's about 40 to 60 days away. At some point also in the year Intel will release 6 core cpus for the current socket but those will be $$. Next year a new socket launches from Intel, which also will be $$. So either get a 2500K based system, or wait and see how good AMD's stuff is next month.

 

[Knufire]

That, but IMO the 6950 is better price/performance over the 560Ti.

You can get the 2500K for pretty cheap at microcenter.

And it's really a shame not to overclock the new Sandy Bridge CPUs, that Hyper212+ will take you close to 5GHz.

 

[iaacp]

That, but IMO the 6950 is better price/performance over the 560Ti.

You can get the 2500K for pretty cheap at microcenter.

And it's really a shame not to overclock the new Sandy Bridge CPUs, that Hyper212+ will take you close to 5GHz.

I'm not completely opposed to it, it's just that every time I say I'm going to do it, I don't. Also, how noticable is the electricity spike that it requires? If I don't keep my comp on 24/7, will I actually see a change in my electric bill?

Anyone mind pointing out a mobo to buy from this deal? SLI/Crossfire is not needed. http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/save40_promo.html

 

[Knufire]

For a budget machine?
ASRock Z68 Pro3 - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0367879
Z68MX-UD2H - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364086

It's barely anything in terms of dollars and cents.

 

[iaacp]

For a budget machine?
ASRock Z68 Pro3 - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0367879
Z68MX-UD2H - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364086

It's barely anything in terms of dollars and cents.

Hmm, those are both micro though. I think I'd prefer a full in case I need the extra space for sound card or something else.

Also, someone recommended (for the price) to get the 2400 over the 2500k. Any have any comments on this? If I'm *not* going to overclock, is this a good idea?

 

[Knufire]

Probably, but not overclocking Sandy Bridge is just slightly stupid.

On a budget level, anything ASUS/Gigabyte/ASRock that fits in your budget is fine.

 

[iaacp]

So is the performance jump to a stock 2400 to a 2500k not that big? Will a stock 2400 be able to run games on ultra?

 

[Cigarsmoker]

Stock 2400 and 2500K is only 2 MHZ so yes not that much different. Any of the modern CPU should play games pretty well, the bottle neck with games is GPU more so than CPU. Even my 955 BE can play any game I throw at it.

Where the 2500K excel is the ability to overclock easily. Considering how easy to OC these days it's kinda dumb not to. Even if you're planning to replace in 3-5 years, it's nice to OC something to 4 GHZ or faster in year 1.5-2.5. You never know maybe you'll need that little bit of extra speed.

 

[Knufire]

4GHz is stock cooler range with the 2500K.

 

[iaacp]

4GHz is stock cooler range with the 2500K.

Really? As in the range with the stock cooler, or that range still runs cool? You guys are convincing me to go with the 2500k if it really is that easy to oc...

Edit: Are the 67 boards best for ocing?

What do you guys think of this board? http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0367878
Is ASRock a good brand? I've heard some of their boards come with a stepping to overclock to 4.8 on a 2500k - but I don't know what the feature is called or if this board has it.

 

[Knufire]

Stock cooler range as in you should be able to OC to 4GHz on the stock cooler with temperatures not out of control.

You can OC on P67 and Z68. Motherboard makes very little difference in OCing Sandy Bridge. Z68 has more features, like the ability to use the onboard video on the chip, the ability to transcode video on the iGPU (makes converting videos MUCH faster), and SSD cacheing, which allows you to use a small, cheap, 20GB SSD to make a large HDD faster. SSD on a budget.

IMO, I'd go Z68 just for the fact that if your video card craps out, you have onboard as a falllback so your computer isn't a dead paperweight.

OCF actually reviewed the Extreme4, it's an excellent mid-range board.

 

[iaacp]

Stock cooler range as in you should be able to OC to 4GHz on the stock cooler with temperatures not out of control.

You can OC on P67 and Z68. Motherboard makes very little difference in OCing Sandy Bridge. Z68 has more features, like the ability to use the onboard video on the chip, the ability to transcode video on the iGPU (makes converting videos MUCH faster), and SSD cacheing, which allows you to use a small, cheap, 20GB SSD to make a large HDD faster. SSD on a budget.

IMO, I'd go Z68 just for the fact that if your video card craps out, you have onboard as a falllback so your computer isn't a dead paperweight.

OCF actually reviewed the Extreme4, it's an excellent mid-range board.

The Z68 sounds like the one to go for then, but unfortunately the only ones that are on sale are micro, or not in my budget. Thinking of going with the Extreme4.