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Lucky Tiger13 
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
201 posts
| Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:13 am)
Hey guys,
The last computer I built was my own gaming rig back in 2004 so I understand how easy it is to build but I've fallen behind on the product info. After doing a quick build on Newegg and going strictly off reviews I've compiled a build for my younger brother. He intends on using it strictly for gaming with light browsing on the side.
I've read a few other build threads and taken advice from there but would like your opinion on how to lower the price without sacrificing too much gaming power. I didn't want to cheap out on the gpu, cpu, MB, or power supply so I feel sorta stuck. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Budget is $1300 or lower and he doesn't need a monitor/KB/or mouse.
***UPDATE*** 01/23/13
So today is ordering day, and after a week of reading info and research I have changed some things around. I have already ordered the case and PS.
$99 LIAN LI CASE
$109 SEASONIC 850W GOLD RATED PS
Here is what I have chosen for the remainder of the build
SAMSUNG DVD Burner SATA Model SH-224BB - OEM
$15.99
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$79.99
MSI R7970 Lightning Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX
$489.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
$47.99
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$134.99
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
$229.99
ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
$46.99
Subtotal: $1,045.93
Additional $15 in mail in rebates = $1030.93
Total build will be around $1250
Thoughts?
This post was edited on 1/23 at 7:34 am
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SG_Geaux 
USA Fan
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| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:22 am to Lucky Tiger13)
10000 RPM drive is not worth it. Get a small SSD and a regular 1TB drive.
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polarbehr
LSU Fan
behind gump lines
Member since Sep 2011
6568 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:29 am to SG_Geaux)
Neither is that video card imo
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SG_Geaux
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| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:37 am to polarbehr)
quote:
Neither is that video card imo
Much better off getting a standard hard drive and upgrading the video card.
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Lucky Tiger13
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
201 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:37 am to polarbehr)
I was thinking about a large hd with an SSD but even lower end SSD seem to be around 90 dollars. The performance of the 10k rpm drive wouldnt be worth the 15 dollar difference?
unless I just go standard 7200rpm TB and save almost $100 bucks. The combo of the SSD and HD are basically the same price as the 10k rpm one I have chosen
This post was edited on 1/15 at 10:39 am
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jcole4lsu 
Virginia Fan
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
21949 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:50 am to Lucky Tiger13)
get a 90-140 GB SSD for the OS and a 5400rpm large capacity HDD for storage. thats what i have. its worth it.
also, newegg has a EVGA 660ti 3GB for $299.99 after rebate TODAY
eta: that mobo and cpu are overkill. go 1155 socket, z77 chipset, i53570k
This post was edited on 1/15 at 10:53 am
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Lucky Tiger13
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
201 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:53 am to jcole4lsu)
quote:
also, newegg has a EVGA 660ti 3GB for $299.99 after rebate TODAY
Is the EVGA one supposed to be better than the asus one I have picked for 289.99 with rebate?
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jcole4lsu
Virginia Fan
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
21949 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 10:58 am to Lucky Tiger13)
evga makes the best nvidia graphics cards IMO
asus makes good product though. i have a asus radeon hd 6850
eta: 3gb vram vs 2gb is a no brainer though. buy the evga
This post was edited on 1/15 at 11:01 am
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jcole4lsu
Virginia Fan
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
21949 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 11:05 am to jcole4lsu)
buy this CPU: i5 3570k
and pair it with this board: asus sabertooth z77
and this power supply: SeaSonic X 850
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TulaneTigerFan 
Tulane Fan
Seattle
Member since Sep 2005
32144 posts
Online
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 11:25 am to Lucky Tiger13)
You are wasting some money with that build IMHO. These other guys are giving good advice. Listen to them
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Lucky Tiger13
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
201 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 11:48 am to TulaneTigerFan)
quote:
You are wasting some money with that build IMHO. These other guys are giving good advice. Listen to them
I am, new item list is here
dropped about $200
This post was edited on 1/15 at 11:49 am
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jcole4lsu
Virginia Fan
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
21949 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 12:37 pm to Lucky Tiger13)
you need to make it a public (not private) wish list and link that. or just list the items individually in text form of course
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Lucky Tiger13
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
201 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 12:46 pm to jcole4lsu)
quote:
you need to make it a public (not private) wish list and link that. or just list the items individually in text form of course
Was thinking there would be a problem.
NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower
$69.99
Seagate SV35 Series ST1000VX000 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$89.99
EVGA SuperClocked+ 03G-P4-3663-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$319.99
SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready
$169.99
Kingston HyperX Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
$47.99
ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$243.99
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
$229.99
ASUS Black Blu-ray Burner SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$79.99
Subtotal: $1,251.92
This post was edited on 1/15 at 12:48 pm
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jcole4lsu
Virginia Fan
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
21949 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 12:56 pm to Lucky Tiger13)
thatll work. be careful installing the mobo etc in that case since it has a magnetic door. im sure the magnet is very weak but you still dont want to be rubbing the parts up against it or anything. also should point out that the case only has usb2.0 front ports where as the mobo has a usb3.0 header that will go unused.
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SG_Geaux
USA Fan
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Member since Aug 2004
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| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 1:30 pm to jcole4lsu)
Looks like overkill on the motherboard and power supply. You should be able to get a MB and PSU for less and apply the money to a better graphics card.
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Lucky Tiger13
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2012
201 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 1:40 pm to SG_Geaux)
quote:
Looks like overkill on the motherboard and power supply. You should be able to get a MB and PSU for less and apply the money to a better graphics card.
I don't want any bottleneck issues with the processor. Would a higher end graphics card be worth it with an i5?
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jcole4lsu
Virginia Fan
The Kwisatz Haderach
Member since Nov 2007
21949 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 1:52 pm to Lucky Tiger13)
no games use more than 4 cores - i7s are a waste of money for gaming at this point.
that i5 3570k is pretty much the pinnacle of gaming cpus. you could pair it with a gtx690 or a gtx680 ftw edition if you really wanted to waste some money
eta: you dont need a better vid card unless you are gaming on more than on screen.
oh, and buy the damn SSD!
This post was edited on 1/15 at 1:56 pm
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SG_Geaux
USA Fan
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Member since Aug 2004
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| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 1:53 pm to Lucky Tiger13)
quote:
I don't want any bottleneck issues with the processor. Would a higher end graphics card be worth it with an i5?
I run a GTX 680 with an i5-3570k
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LSU Coyote
Member since Sep 2007
9327 posts
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| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 2:01 pm to SG_Geaux)
I love when ppl purchase great PSUs for new builds.
You can tone it down a bit on that MOBO. There are great Z77 boards in the 150 price range.
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jcole4lsu
Virginia Fan
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Member since Nov 2007
21949 posts
| re: Building a computer for my brother (Updated 1/23/13) (Posted on 1/15/13 at 2:03 pm to LSU Coyote)
quote:
You can tone it down a bit on that MOBO. There are great Z77 boards in the 150 price range.
none of which look as awesome as the sabretooth in a case with a fully see through side panel 
i just realized that case has no cable management at all - wtf.
what is the point of a window without a way to effectively hide the cables? who designs this shit?
ahh hell we need to start from scratch with this poor bastard
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