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Building a gaming PC


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#1
Phamiltonn82

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So I've been lurking around these boards for a while reading up on some gaming systems that you guys put together. First off, the knowledge and skill that some of you guys possess is awesome it made me want to get back into building PCs. Not to say I'm some kind of guru I'm not I just dabble and it's been quite a while. None the less, you guys are very intelligent and I had a few questions if any of you guys could help me out.

I'm looking to put together a gaming system. I'm by no means rich so I am slightly limited in what I can spend. I would like to be able to play DayZ, which is the main reason I'm building a gaming system, Battlefield 3, you know the new games like those with no problems.

I'm pretty much set on basing this system around the i5 3570k processor priced at $219.99 which seems to be the popular choice for the budget I"m working with.

I thought about pairing it with the SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card which is priced at $309.99

I wanted to know which motherboard I should purchase to maximize the performance of the processor and the graphics card for sweet graphics. Any recommendations would be extremely helpful.

To be honest I'm not even too sure if the processor and video card that I've chosen are compatible with each other or if I picked the best processor and graphics card for my money. So again any help, recommendation, ideas would be great because you guys are way more knowledgeable than I am. Thanks again guys
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#2
phillpower2

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:welcome: Phamiltonn82

Stick with that CPU by all means as it is quality but if you have no plans to overclock go for the i5-3570 and save a few $, you can also save money on the video card without losing performance.

If you would like us to put a list of parts together for you let us know the following, your maximum budget, if you have any parts that you can bring to the build to reduce costs and is it Canadian or US dollars.
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#3
Phamiltonn82

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First off thanks for the reply I really appreciate it.

My main goal is to build the cheapest gaming system which will allow me to play games like Arma II, DayZ, Battlefield and other games with great graphics. I'm big on graphics so that's really important to me.

I'm sort of dead set on the i5 3570k because I do plan on overclocking for added performance. I also planned on getting the SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card it's priced at $309.99. Is there a better video card that I can get for around that price that'll get me better graphics?

I read somewhere that I should get a motherboard that has UEFI? I've been trying to look around to find one thats decently priced.

As far as budget goes I really don't want to surpass the $1000 mark and I'm in the US. The lower I can keep the total amount the better. I just want to be able to play games with sweet graphics.

Thanks again!
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#4
phillpower2

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Right then I can get to work on a list then now I know your budget and that you are in the US, what about items that you may already have such as keyboard, mouse, DVD/CD drive and very importantly a full retail OS disk such as Windows 7 64-bit and product key, if you do not have this your budget will be down to a little over $900.

I know you are keen on an Intel build but keeping in mind the budget you may want to consider and AMD build which will be less expensive while still offering the gaming performance that you are after.

Shipping for the video card put it just over $1000 http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CEyT

Edited by phillpower2, 10 February 2013 - 01:44 PM.
Link added

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#5
Phamiltonn82

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Based off of the days of my research it seems like Intel is just a better all-around processor, so I didn't mind spending a little more on quality. I love the build you put together though thanks a lot. Do you think the Radeon HD 7950 3GB would be any better? It's a little more money which I'm willing to spend on a video card if the outcome is better picture and graphics. The processor is perfect, the memory is what I had in mind, and the PSU is great. Does the case also have a cooler in it?
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#6
phillpower2

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You seemed set on the 7950 or I would have suggested http://www.newegg.co...ID=3938566&SID=

Case Cooling System
1 x 120mm rear
1 x 200mm Red LED front fan
1 x 200mm top fan

You are welcome BTW :thumbsup:
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#7
Phamiltonn82

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Thank you!! I'm sorry about that I've been in this craze to get parts and build this machine that I've lost my manners. I apologize again and do thank you or taking time to help me when you easily could not have. I'm going to be getting parts from your list and start the building process. Thank you again and sorry for the rudeness.
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#8
phillpower2

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No need for any apology as you have in no way been rude, you have been most polite in fact :thumbsup:

If you like you can adapt the PCPartpicker list at the url to include your own ideas and we can take a look at it for you.

To help refresh your memory with the build process a build tutorial provided courtesy of Troy and Artellos respectively http://www.geekstogo...r-own-computer/

Please ask as many questions as you feel that you need to along the way and we will do our best to answer them.

You are welcome BTW :thumbsup:
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#9
Phamiltonn82

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Okay so I think I have my setup here. I'm not sure how to do it the cool way everyone does with the pcparts website but here goes nothing lol.

Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor. (I went with your recommendation and I found it for $189.99 at microcenter!!)

Motherboard: GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard. (I went this one because it was a bundle deal at MicroCenter and I got it for only $94.99!!! I checked on NewEgg and the same board goes for $149.99)

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL (I got this one because I read that 1866 is slightly faster than 1600 and it was only a few bucks more from NewEgg with free shipping so I said why not)

Harddrive: Not too sure with this one. The guy at MicroCenter recommended a Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive 0F13183 - Bare Drive which is a Hitachi and %59.99. I'm not sure how Hitachi is as far as Harddrives go, but I have heard of Seagate which is why I may go with the one you recommended even though it's a little more money wise.

Video Card: Okay so I decided to put more money into this part to get a better picture as far as graphics go and went with the GTX 670 FTW which was $399.99 from MicroCenter. I figured it might be worth it to spend a bit more to get the quality of picture that I want.

Case: To be honest I'm not sure which is the better case for the price out of the one you recommended or a NZXT Crafted Series Phantom 410 Mid Tower ATX Computer Case - Black which was priced at $84.99. Which do you think is better?

Power Supply: I think I might've gotten really lucky here. I happened to check out NewEgg while I was at MicroCenter and noticed that same 850W Consair PSU was priced at $89.99 while the one at MicroCenter was $149.99 so hopefully all works out well there.

I'm going with the optical drive and OS that you recommended. The only think I'm torn on is a monitor. I want a monitor that'll showcase my videocards strength while trying not to spend more than $200 on it. Is that impossible??? And more importantly what do you think of this build????

THanks again for the advice and recommendations
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#10
iammykyl

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While Phillpower2 is out hang-gliding, to save a bit of time.

Please give links to a couple of your parts, go to the webpage of the PSU you found, copy the web address and post in you next reply.
Same for the video card Please.
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#11
Phamiltonn82

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Very cool he was really helpful and it's really appreciated, I hope he has a good time.

As far as the links go here is the link to the GTX 670 FTW I purchased from Microcenter @ http://microcenter.c...Ntt=gtx 670 ftw
489

For the PSU it was the shell shocker deal of the day yesterday and it was a 850w Corsair for $89.99 after a $20 mail in rebate.

I'm not sure if they were good deals or if I got ripped off lol.

Thanks for your help by the way you guys are so awesome and helpful on this site.
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#12
phillpower2

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While Phillpower2 is out hang-gliding,


:rofl:

Nice card and an excellent choice of PSU at a great price Phamiltonn82 :thumbsup:
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