Help with a new budget build

[Jon55]

I've got a buddy looking to do a new budget build. I haven't kept up with the current deals/best parts available, and thank you for your help in advance. His info below:


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Gaming, and watching movies and videos online via net flix, hulu etc. Will also be used for downloading music and with the lego robotis nxt 2.0 kit and labview soft ware.o etc. All around entertainment system game heavy.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$500 to $800. Tax and shipping are not included.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

California (Fry's is nearby, MicroCenter is not however)

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Case, mobo, cpu, ram, hardrive, graphics card, power supply, cd/dvd drive (optional for now), monitor (optional for now ; see 5.)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Usb 1.0 mouse, ps2 keyboard, 17inch lcd monitor (This is borrowed at the moment so I will eventually need a new monitor)

6) Will you be overclocking?

I don't know much about over clocking but would like the option available to me for future use.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? How many monitors do you have?

1 monitor 17inch display lcd (borrowed for now)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

As soon as possible.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.

I'm not to savvy on features but I would like the option for expandability in the future. Do not need on board video. I don't want to have to run into problems with buying more sophisticated upgrades in the future and not being able to use them.

10) Do you already have a reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes, Windows 7 64-bit

 

[Dangman]

Prelim build for ya:
$225 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
$115 - MSI P67A-G43 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
$39 - Kingston Hyper KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$160 - Asus EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 HD 6850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$150 - Western Digital WD10EALX 1TB Hard Drive
$76 - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-620 620W PSU
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
---
Total: $815 shipped.

 

[stateofjermaine]

Danny's builds are always top-notch, so I would consider his very closely, but here is another option, if you don't mind going a step down in terms of CPU performance. I personally think the P2X4 955 is still a great value. You could trade out the graphics for something with a bit more bite, and still break about even. Also note the hard drive in this build is only a 500GB, versus the 1TB in Danny's.

59.99 Cooler Master HAF 912
124.99 AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz
64.99 GIGABYTE AM3+ 760G Micro ATX MB
44.99 Corsair CX430 430W PSU
24.99 4GB G. SKILL DDR3 RAM
114.99 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM
19.99 ASUS 24X DVD Burner
SUBTOTAL 454.93

With more powerful graphics:
199.99 EVGA Superclocked GTX 560 1GB Video Card
TOTAL 654.92

With slightly less powerful graphics:
149.99 ASUS EAH6850 Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card
TOTAL 614.92

 

[Jon55]

Thank you guys. Yeah I'm always on the fence when it comes to these ~$800 builds. The 955 is still a great CPU, but the i5 2500K is so freaking future proof and awesome.

Danny, could I bother you to post your recommended case list?

 

[Dangman]

In terms of hard disk performance, there is a slight performance difference between the SB950 and SB850 southbridge found on most 9xx and 8xx series chipsets respectively. The list is a tad outdated but here it is:
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite Black ATX Case
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance nVidia Edition ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 White ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium Grey ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$140 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$170 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

Oh also note that there other major noticeable differences between TheQuestian's setup and mine:
- Better quality and larger PSU in my list
- Significantly faster hard drive in my list
- Since TheQuestian's parts list are from Newegg.com, add California sales tax to the total of the parts. That will increase the total price of the setup.

 

[Jon55]

Good points Danny- those occurred to me after I made my last post. You don't think that 6850 is going to be too much of a bottleneck? Also, would it be worth waiting till tomorrow to see if there's any new Newegg combo deals? Or do those update on Sundays (today)

 

[Dangman]

Good points Danny- those occurred to me after I made my last post. You don't think that 6850 is going to be too much of a bottleneck?

If the max resolution of that 17" LCD monitor is 1280x1024, then no there won't be a bottleneck. However if he does upgrade to a larger monitor, then it may be a bottleneck depending how big of a monitor he gets.

Also, would it be worth waiting till tomorrow to see if there's any new Newegg combo deals? Or do those update on Sundays (today)

Not really as California sales tax would negate a lot of the savings from Newegg combo deals. In addition, all of the combo deals are usually posted by around this time in a month so there probably won't be new combo deals.

 

[stateofjermaine]

Oh, also note that there other major noticeable differences between TheQuestian's setup and mine:

- Better quality and larger PSU in my list
- Significantly faster hard drive in my list
- Since TheQuestian's parts list are from Newegg.com, add California sales tax to the total of the parts. That will increase the total price of the setup.

Oh, well, I don't know about major!

I do think the build I provided is more on the "GPU-oriented" side of things, whereas Danny's build is better balanced. But in terms of budget gaming builds, I normally try to get high-quality parts for the core hardware, while still saving money for where it will have the greatest impact. Most budget gamers that I've built for just want to play games right now, and aren't too concerned with future upgrades, etc.

That said, if you don't plan on upgrading your monitor, you probably won't have need for a more powerful video card; just something to consider. Oh, and I just used Newegg for their nice organized Wishlists. Of course you should feel free to part it out wherever you can find a deal.

 

[Jon55]

Oh, well, I don't know about major!

I do think the build I provided is more on the "GPU-oriented" side of things, whereas Danny's build is better balanced. But in terms of budget gaming builds, I normally try to get high-quality parts for the core hardware, while still saving money for where it will have the greatest impact. Most budget gamers that I've built for just want to play games right now, and aren't too concerned with future upgrades, etc.

That said, if you don't plan on upgrading your monitor, you probably won't have need for a more powerful video card; just something to consider. Oh, and I just used Newegg for their nice organized Wishlists. Of course you should feel free to part it out wherever you can find a deal.

I do appreciate the help! But he was willing to go the full $800 (I know I said $500 - $800), so he ended up going with a lot of parts from Danny's suggested build list.

 

[stateofjermaine]

I do appreciate the help! But he was willing to go the full $800 (I know I said $500 - $800), so he ended up going with a lot of parts from Danny's suggested build list.

No worries, glad to do it. Danny's the man. Good luck with your build!