$1200 Computer Build

[LancerNC]

1. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?
1,200 at most, excluding shipping

2. Where do you live (Please list if possible town, state, and country)?
menlo park, CA

3. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)? strictly gaming, mainly planetside 2.

4. What parts will you need for the computer? Please list what parts specifically. all of them, minus monitor, keyboard, and mouse

5. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so please say what parts.
no

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer? I have a 21" LCD monitor, im not sure what the best resolution for that is

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
I need to get one, windows preferably


8. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on.
no need for SLi or crossfire, and I really only am building this for ps2, so if it enhances the gameplay, I would like it

9. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?
No


10. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts?
I would like to have it completed by the end of the summer

Any advice or input would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me, I really do appreciate it. :groovy:

[Bags]

CD Drive - $16.50 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244)
Amazon.com: Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Mid Tower Gaming Case CC-9011013-WW: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41E5J6FMauL.@@AMEPARAM@@41E5J6FMauL
^$115^
Hard Drive - $93 ($15 off w/ promo code EMCNDJA23, ends 6/25) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697)
Amazon.com: GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 Windforce OC 2048MB GDDR5 256-bit PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Graphics Card: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RT207kzkL.@@AMEPARAM@@51RT207kzkL
^$400^
Power Supply - $89 after $10 MIR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020)
Amazon.com: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333MHz DIMM PC3-10666 Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xi0A19G9L.@@AMEPARAM@@51xi0A19G9L
^$50^
Motherboard - $110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297)
Amazon.com: Intel Core i5 3550 Processor 3.3 4 BX80637I53550: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bFz8zc3pL.@@AMEPARAM@@51bFz8zc3pL
^$205^
Operating System - $110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986)

Total is $1,075. Shipping probably won't be too much if you go for free super shipping. Sorry about the formatting, the site does it for me.

If you like the build and no one else has any suggestions, I can email you the cart.

Also, the computer case is largely personal preference. I'll list some competing decent cases, but that's the one I have and I rather like it.
NZXT Phantom - $110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068)
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160) - $150
COOLER MASTER HAF XM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119257) - $130
Corsair 400R (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008) - $90 after MIR
Antec DF-85 Black - $120 after $20 MIR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087)
Antec DF-30 - $120 ($10 shipping) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129085)

[Rbstr]

I don't like that motherboard..but we're pricing you into that it because of the 670..which is critical currently (we'll see in like a week with the 660's release)
How about this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297
You get the Z77 that way and better packaging with the full-size. And two PCI slots that can gather dust :)

I prefer reference video cards because I've always found the OC cards to be much louder...and, franky, the half dozen FPS just isn't worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130782
With the EVGA you get a fee 16gb flash drive too :)

How about this ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226184
Lower voltage, same latency, $2 more or just http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096 (because latency hardly matters at all)


I like Lian-Li cases because they're classy and tend to have great build quality:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112304
or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112099

Even the second one has plenty of airflow. 2x 120mm is what I've got and all of my parts are older and have larger TDPs than yours.

[Bags]

I don't like that motherboard..but we're pricing you into that it because of the 670..which is critical currently (we'll see in like a week with the 660's release)
How about this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297
You get the Z77 that way and better packaging with the full-size. And two PCI slots that can gather dust :)

I prefer reference video cards because I've always found the OC cards to be much louder...and, franky, the half dozen FPS just isn't worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130782
With the EVGA you get a fee 16gb flash drive too :)

Thanks for the motherboard recommendation, I'm not very good at picking those out.

And reference 670's are really loud. I'd be amazed if the gigabyte was louder.

[Rbstr]

I'd have a look at this (which basically says EVGA's OC card isn't worth it: The kepler chips adjust clock to hit a power consumption target so it OCs itself to the OC card's level on it's own):
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga/17

When compared to my 570 the 670 is quieter..and the 570 isn't particularly loud.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5153/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-ti-w448-cores-gtx570-on-a-budget/6

But you're right, the gigabyte does seem quieter still, and you get the OC at no additional cost:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_670_Windforce/1.html
I'd go for it.

[Bags]

The only complaints against it seem to be its weight (so if you have a card/something else right below it, they might come into contact via bowing) and driver issues.

I run my fans at custom speed, so they end up at 70% while gaming so that might be why it's so loud. When I let the fans go automatically they don't get very loud, but then the card gets to like 80C versus the 62C my 70% speed keeps it at.

[Goku]

Just so you guys know Newegg charges tax in CA, Amazon doesn't. Best to switch anything over there instead due to the 10% sales tax.

[Bags]

Just so you guys know Newegg charges tax in CA, Amazon doesn't. Best to switch anything over there instead due to the 10% sales tax.

Ahh.

[LancerNC]

thanks a lot guys, I appreciate your input, Ill let you know what I end up deciding on!

[Bags]

Okay, my first post updated with links to amazon where it will save him $$$ with 10% tax, and RBSTR's mobo.