Budget Gaming Rig

[notwasabi]

My initial goal was to spend around $800 but it looks like i'll be pushing over a grand, which is fine.


Case: Antec ATX Mid Tower $54 - should be big enough.
PS: Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W $95 - planning on crossfire and overclocking down the road.
Processor: i5-750 $210 - price/performance=awesome
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P $170 - i figure its nice and cheap, will do the job till next year when all the new stuff comes out.
Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 $95 - cheap
HD: Western Digital 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 32mb Cache $75
Monitor: ASUS 21.5" 2ms LCD HDMI $170 - i havent seen a better deal than this anywhere else, i cant wait for this one.

The OS and dvdrom I have covered. All thats left is the video card. I'm waiting for the 5000 series from ATI later this month, planning on getting the 5850. Powerfull and cheap(er) plus DX11 for windows 7.

That comes to about $870 without the video card.

So what do you guys think? anything I can improve upon? Would greatly appreciate any comments.

 

[untouchable]

thats a budget rig..?

 

[TonyElTigre]

How is that budget? a $400 rig is budget

 

[notwasabi]

Well, yeah actually it is. It's pretty cheap considering how I'll be covered for next gen hardware and games.

 

[PaYbAcK]

All thats left is the video card. I'm waiting for the 5000 series from ATI later this month, planning on getting the 5850. Powerfull and cheap(er) plus DX11 for windows 7.

Anyone have any more info on the 5000 series? How much of an improvement is it?

 

[m00ky]

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

use code EMCHDD10B for 10% off, shipping is already free
Come out to $76.49 for a 1tb 7200, dunno if samsung is that great, though the 10% off code works for all harddrives on newegg i think

 

[Machine]

Fuck the new socket until DDR3/mobo prices come down. It's just not worth it.

4 gigs for $95 is fucking ridiculous.

 

[m00ky]

COOLMAX CU-700B 700W Active Power Supply Retail at ZipZoomfly

700W coolmax PSU (crossfire ready) is only $54.99 at zipzoomfly and comes with a $20.00 mail in rebate

 

[notwasabi]

Anyone have any more info on the 5000 series? How much of an improvement is it?

Fudzilla - Graphics

 

[notwasabi]

COOLMAX CU-700B 700W Active Power Supply Retail at ZipZoomfly

700W coolmax PSU (crossfire ready) is only $54.99 at zipzoomfly and comes with a $20.00 mail in rebate

holy crap, thanks

 

[m00ky]

Circuit city still sells online and has a $20 cash back for purchases over 200 if you pay with paypal. The i5 750 is 209.99, could get it for 190. If you use bing cash back you could get 33% cash back as well, making the processor $158.00 with free shipping. Bing cashback is instant I think, and the $20 cashback from Circuit city would take 6-8 weeks.

 

[m00ky]

That's all I could find off the top of my head, all of these deals are posted on Hot Deals - SlickDeals.net Forums if you want to keep looking. The bing cashback thing I have never used, but people over on the slickdeals forums use it all the time.

 

[m00ky]

If you have a microcenter store near you, you can get the same processor for $179.99 without having to deal with the rebates and cashback crap. Micro Center - Intel Corporation Processors > Private Label Intel Processors

They have the i7-920 listed for 199.99 as well, something top think about though it would require different mobo, of course.

 

[mjoe]

wtf i didn't even know that the LGA 1156 socket was out. 1366 is where it's at.

 

[notwasabi]

If you have a microcenter store near you, you can get the same processor for $179.99 without having to deal with the rebates and cashback crap. Micro Center - Intel Corporation Processors > Private Label Intel Processors

They have the i7-920 listed for 199.99 as well, something top think about though it would require different mobo, of course.

cant find the 920 there for $200... if thats true i would much rather swith to LGA 1366 cause the new intel processors next year will fit right in a x58 mobo

edit: nevermind, found it.

 

[m00ky]

Look in their online catalog, its on the front page of it. As with the other deal, I think you might have to go to the actual store to get the deal. I'm not even sure how to click items in their catalog, keeps switching the page instead of giving more details.
Micro Center Retail Advertised Specials

 

[Raze1]

ddr3 is overpriced for near naught and noticable performance gains from everyday users.

 

[crim`]

just to clarify on the cashback...if its anything like the other stores that it supports, its actually 2 months to get the money back.

 

[krustyy]

This thread is full of contradictions.

1. You don't wait for the newest video card to be released for a "budget" rig. You get the one known for the best bang for your buck
2. The core i7 920 requires a more expensive motherboard, processor, and a third stick of RAM for performance that is pretty much equal to the core i5. There's no need for a 920 any more. You either go i5, or go for an extreme i7 for 10x the price.
3. a $170 motherboard is not a "budget" motherboard.

Case AND power supply $90 (order NOW. It's on sale!)
Newegg.com - Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Computer Cases

cpu - $180
Micro Center - Core i5 750 Processor Boxed

motherboard - $100
Newegg.com - Intel BOXDP55WB LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
It's Intel branded, so it'll probably work fine

RAM - $80
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Desktop Memory

hdd - $70 (Avoid Seagate as the last 3 generations of drives have had problems)
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

DVD burner - $30
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

Video card - $220 (best bang for your buck right now)
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N275UD-896I GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I just saved you over $200, as well as picked out your video card for you. I also included an optical drive, which you're probably going to want to upgrade anyways. Chances are your old one is IDE and switching to a SATA one is just plain nice for such a low price.

 

[untouchable]

that case looks like it'd run really hot.