If you're building a new computer, what is your budget? Help for locating components

[Dacar92]

Hey guys,

I'd like to get a thread going for folks who want to build a machine, not only to run D3 but also other games, like Skyrim and others. But I'd like to have people link to Newegg and other places to buy the components when people state what their budget is.

Consider that my budget is $800 to $1000. Can you guys help me by linking me to sites and components that will fit this budget?

Caveats: I don't need a huge boot drive. The secondary drive is likely one I already have. Plus an external drive or two that I already have.
I'd really like the i7 processor but would settle for i5 if I have to, so it fits into my budget.

Give me links to an affordable motherboard and ram. PSU would be at least 600W, if not 750.

Graphics cards. What suggestions do you have?

Anyone know where to get decent looking cases without having to spend a fortune on them?

What am I missing? I can skip the sound card for now. I can utilize on board sound for the beginning. Don't need an ethernet card. Using USB wireless adaptor.

Thanks!

[Bowzer]

This Case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

This CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

This Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

This Ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

This SSD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

And this power supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018



PS. I would wait a few months for the new generation of videocards to come down in price / get fleshed out.

With a video card, this should put you at around 1k give or take.

If you opt for the last gen video cards (which will run d3 at max everything with no problems) they should be coming down in price substantially in the next few months also.

[Gkr]

I`m not sure how would it cost for you but I just bought my D3 PC today. I spent something like R$2700 in it (Reais, I`m from brazil), on dollars it would cost you something around 1200~1300, but of course you could get some cheaper parts.
my config was something like this:

H67MA-E35
i5 2500
2x 4gb ddr3 1333mhz
500gb caviar blue
GTX570
520W s12ii seasonic
cm 690 ii

but of course you could get 1x 4gb ram, gtx 560ti, an h61 mobo or something between those lines

[jamesL]

this "build your own" $600 system should play D3 and most other games just fine
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-overclock-performance-gaming,3097.html
it averages 40 frames per second with Crysis - Very High Quality, No AA - 1920 x 1080 resolution

you probably shouldn't have to pay more than $750 to build your own and get a really good system

you could probably buy an i3 instead of the i5 and spend the saved money on a better graphics card
the i7 is overkill

it all depends: most "build you own" budgets do not include keyboard, mouse, monitor or even operating system
is a new monitor included in your budget or are you going to use you current one ?
what is the resolution of your monitor ?

[Karpalo]

For a video card you get good value for money if you pick HD 6950 2 gb card. You can flash it to HD 6970 and save so money there. That's the one i got, haven't upgraded it yet, but there seems to be very detailed instructions available in the internet. Just waiting warranties to run out first.

For processor you should get i5 2500k. When it comes to playing games there is no real difference between i5 and i7.

I built a new rig just before the new year with the following:

i5 2500k
Powercolor HD 6950 2gb
Kingston HyperX Genesis 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 CL9 x 2
Gigabyte z68x-UD3H-B3 motherboard
Super Flower PSU 650w
Antec 300 case
some cheap DVD drive
500 gigs seagate barracuda hard drive

Totaled equal 1000€ with Windows 7. Finland is very expensive country so you could probably take this as a benchmark and upgrade item or two and still be in the bounds of your budget. Perhaps an SSD hd.

Performance wise seems to right on the money. This far has ran everything on ultra settings and haven't touched processor or video card yet. You can milk those quite a bit without upgrading any actual hardware.

[Namik]

Case - Fractal Design Arc Midi (max gpu lenght 47cm, 29cm for SLI/XF):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007

CPU - i5 2500k (no point in i7 for games):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Mobo - AsRock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

RAM - Kingstone 1600MHz cl9:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104246

PSU - OCZ ZT 550W (if you don't plan on buying second graphic card in future):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341050

PSU - Silverstone 750W 80+ Gold (only if you plan on buying second graphic card in future):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256079

GPU - Gigabyte GTX 560ti OC:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363

SSD OCZ Agility 3 60GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725

Overall price: 969.93$ (with 550W psu), 1039.93$ (with 750W psu)

And take i5 2500k ONLY if you know you will OC it. If not, then go with i5 2400.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 (40$ cheaper).

Also, I don't know any other US computer shops, so you probably could find those things cheaper somewhere else.

[Karpalo]

HD 6950 2gb > GTX 560. They are pretty much equal, but as a ace in the sleeve you can mod the HD 6950 to 6970 if you got the 2 gb version.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

[Namik]

You could mod 6950 to 6970, yes. But older versions. For some time now it's impossible. I think only Asus version has the ability, but it's metter of luck. You could buy version that allows it, but also that it doesn't.
Also as far as I know AMD drivers has problems for quite a bit.
I'm not a nVidia fanboi, but currently I don't see any reason to buy 6950 over 560ti unless you care about 1-3 more fps or you think you are lucky enough to get version that allows modding to 6970. And nVidia has Physix which in some games add really nice visual effects. But that's my personal opinion.

[jamesL]

for D3, and most other games, the gtx 560 is all "most" players will need

if you can afford the extra $70 - $100 for a 6950 2 GB, then sure, go for it,

but for $190, the gtx 560 is awesome

gtx 560
starts at $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600030348%20600094002%20600158457&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20560%20%28Fermi%29

gtx 560 Ti
starts at $230 (yeah, some for $210, but most are more)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600030348%20600094002%20600107147&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100

6950 2GB
starts at $260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600083901%20600095873%20600007782&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100

[Dacar92]

Thanks for the ideas guys. Now I just got to get the wife to let loose of the wallet. LOL

[demonslayers]

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=18369145

i hoping to get this but im waiting couple of more months to do this

[Dacar92]

Hey guys,

My son is considering a laptop purchase and would like to play Skyrim and D3 on it. The machine I am considering for him is this:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834157948

I am not really worried about it playing D3, but Skyrim is another story. The Skyrim wiki (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:System_Requirements) shows the graphics card as being able to play on high settings (scroll down to the bottom of the page for mobile cards). On the Newegg site it It looks to be the GDDR5 version of graphics memory. The wiki separates the GDDR3 from the GDDR5 versions of this card. Am I reading this correctly? I just need another opinion since it seems too good to be true for the total cost of this machine. I know this isn't really about D3 but I need your help since you guys are so much smarter than I am on this stuff. I am a bit scared to build a machine. Some of you can do it with your eyes closed.

I appreciate any help in understanding better.

Thanks



EDIT:

while you're at it, what do you guys think about this one for both D3 and Skyrim?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215245

[Tilitoon]

Hey guys,

My son is considering a laptop purchase and would like to play Skyrim and D3 on it. The machine I am considering for him is this:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834157948

I am not really worried about it playing D3, but Skyrim is another story. The Skyrim wiki (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:System_Requirements) shows the graphics card as being able to play on high settings (scroll down to the bottom of the page for mobile cards). On the Newegg site it It looks to be the GDDR5 version of graphics memory. The wiki separates the GDDR3 from the GDDR5 versions of this card. Am I reading this correctly? I just need another opinion since it seems too good to be true for the total cost of this machine. I know this isn't really about D3 but I need your help since you guys are so much smarter than I am on this stuff. I am a bit scared to build a machine. Some of you can do it with your eyes closed.

I appreciate any help in understanding better.

Thanks



EDIT:

while you're at it, what do you guys think about this one for both D3 and Skyrim?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215245


Personally I would stay away from laptops if you are planning on playing Skyrim on it, unless you are either willing to compromise visual quality (set to low) or you are willing to spend ~ $1.5K on it (MSI or Asus gaming notebooks are good choices). As for desktops, you can build one for less than $1K that will allow you to play Skyrim at pretty much max settings with a GTX 560 TI.

(First link to newegg doesn't work)

[Karpalo]

I would say the same thing. Stay away from laptops. Despite all the praises Skyrim is not very demanding game, so if your son wants to play future games (which he will) then you should get him a PC. Acceptable gaming notebooks are dirt expensive and even those can't rival with a PC that's 2/3rds the price.

[MrH]

Do your son a favour and build him a desktop instead, it will be higher spec and much more enjoyable to game on.

[Tilitoon]

So Dacar92, have you made a decision if you are gonna buy a desktop or a laptop ? Did your wife lose her grip on the wallet ? Any more questions ?

[Dacar92]

No, nothing yet. I may not build the desktop. But we are going to buy the Acer model in one of my posts above. It will play current games for him and when the time comes that it is obsolete, well, we'll cross that bridge when the time comes.

[narcotix]

If you are looking for a good site try ncix.com as I was able to build a great PC with the help of users on here for just over $1000 and that encluded them putting it together for me.

[Tilitoon]

If you are looking for a good site try ncix.com as I was able to build a great PC with the help of users on here for just over $1000 and that encluded them putting it together for me.

I would 110% agree with you but I think I'm a little bias :)