House mates new build.

[Jungleisgreen]

Posted here in in Sept last year about parts for my first custom build, the feedback was great and i love my machine to bits. Now that i have shown my house mate the joys of gaming - he wants in.

At the most he has $900 to play with; for both build and monitor, we dont need peripherals yet. So far i have:

CPU: i5 2500k - $215
MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 - $169
RAM: Gskill RipJaws 2x2 - $35
GPU: EVGA GTX 560Ti - $269
PSU: Corsair 600 - $88

This too extreme?
Now i havent worked out a case but i think we will go with this screen
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=19716 - Samsung 23 LED $165

As a reference obviously im not looking for him to be able to play BF3 maxed, however i would like it to be able to run D3 smoothly and smash any current valve titles easily.

Thoughts, ideas? cheers guys.

[Treloar]

Don't use Asrock motherboards, go a Gigabyte or ASUS

[steve_rogers42]

Treloar, reasons? everwhere i have read in the last 8 months has rated the ASRock extreme board beforet he gigabyte and asus for that price point... just curious is all...


I would try and secure an extreme3 if you wanted a lower price but the extreme 4 is great value, if your after the gigabyte equivalent it would be the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3...



hmm seems z77 has dropped, but 1st gen, i would give it a few weeks... just means z68 will be cheaper!

2500k only if he's looking to Overclock, a 2400 or a 2500 would suit fine.

considering a work mate is in the D3 Beta and has fine gameplay from what i have seen on a q6600+800GT anything new would be more than ok to run it acceptably. Blizzard know their programming...

a bitfenix shinobi or antec 200/300 should be enough for a case!

[Treloar]

I used to use Asrock boards alot, but after having a bunch die just out of their warranty period peeved me, I hate them now.

But by all means if you want Asrock I wish you all the luck.

Please let us know how long it lasts.

[Jungleisgreen]

Thanks for the feedback steve, i had a little play as the price was still too high and this is what i got



thoughts?

[Treloar]

That motherboard is Sata 2 instead of Sata 3.

You've chosen a Sata 3 HDD so I figured you'de at least want a ASUS P8H77-M LE Motherboard $95

Not that I am recommending that board, but I generally spend $150 - $200 on a motherboard as its the most important part in the PC (at least it is in my eyes).

[Jungleisgreen]

Yeah whoops, took that one from a budget build on whirlpool. There just seems to be a big gap in quality once you drop from that $1000 mark.

EDIT: Okay so i have selected the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-D3 and dropped the GPU to a ASUS GeForce GTX 550 Ti Direct CU 1 GB - Will this card be okay for todays games and possibly play BF3 on low??

[AzzA82]

Should be good, depending on how high smooth he wants bf3 to be
Anyways here
http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/optimal-game-settings/Battlefield-3-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-550-Ti-OPS

Its a little generous with the settings on that page my mate has a similar setup and he runs mid-high settings and no AA just post AA and gets a smooth experience.

[Bluefire]

Just a note, pccg prices do NOT include GST when just looking at page so dont forget to calculate the extra 10% + $100-150 for shipping and insurance.

Just build a 2500k system for my wife using that case, quite impressed few cable ties and the airflow pretty good. Just watch the paint on the HDD mounting bays, if your adding/removing hdd's a lot it will scratch up arround the screws.
As we ended up putting 5x hdds and 1xdvd burner in it I added 1x vantech stealth and 1x thermaltake 120mm off an old box I had laying arround the the 2 front fan bays. Plenty of room and very nice construction for the $65.