$1,000 Budget Build

[Palerion]

I'm making my first desktop and want it to run Planetside 2 at high pretty well. I've got a budget of $1,000.
This is what I have picked out so far. Tell me what you think. I'm concerned about my GPU choice a lot. This specific one apparently runs quite hot.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119239
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130623
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220685
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

And... that's all I got. I don't even know if there are any more parts I need that I haven't listed. Anyway, tell me what you think of this build so far, what is overkill, what is underkill. I'm thinking I should probably get a cheaper tower as $200 doesn't seem very necessary xD. Your help is appreciated :)

[Vancha]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/showthread.php?t=37183

Answer these.

As you say, the case is overkill (by at least $100). I'd recommend the the 3570k over the 2500k. The motherboard's alright considering the free ram, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could knock at least $50 off that. The GPU could probably be better, but that depends on your answers to the questions above.

[Palerion]

I saw the questions. I'm not really getting the point of that, so I'll just tell you what I know:
I want a full tower that is aesthetically appealing and relatively future-proof. I want my CPU and GPU to be able to run this game on high without, for the most part, dropping below 30 fps. I want durable components that won't die on me and won't overheat and damage themselves and/or my motherboard. Pretty straight forward I want a gaming rig that I can upgrade to keep up with the times. I think it can be done fairly easily with $1,000.

PS: It seems quite hard to find a nice FULL tower for $100 less than my current one...

[Vancha]

I saw the questions. I'm not really getting the point of that, so I'll just tell you what I know:
I want a full tower that is aesthetically appealing and relatively future-proof. I want my CPU and GPU to be able to run this game on high without, for the most part, dropping below 30 fps. I want durable components that won't die on me and won't overheat and damage themselves and/or my motherboard. Pretty straight forward I want a gaming rig that I can upgrade to keep up with the times. I think it can be done fairly easily with $1,000.

PS: It seems quite hard to find a nice FULL tower for $100 less than my current one...
Are you planning on having full custom watercooling and 3+ graphics cards? If not, you really don't need a full tower.

The point of those questions is so we know how to spend that $1000. It's so we know what's needed to get the all the things you want.

- Are there any parts being re-used, or is a PSU, SSD, Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard and Headphones part of the 1k?

- If you're using the monitor you have now, what's it's resolution? That decides how many FPS your GPU will get you.

- Do you have Windows? Or is that part of the 1k? Do you want Windows 7 or Windows 8 if it is?

- It costs a lot more to get an SLi/Crossfire capable motherboard, so is that something you want? Do you know the pros/cons to SLi/Crossfire?

[FireWater]

For a budget build, why is your case more expensive than your video card?

Here is my recommendation:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1069078

With This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227807

Under $1000, with a significant improvement over current specs you have.

[Goku]

I saw the questions. I'm not really getting the point of that, so I'll just tell you what I know:
I want a full tower that is aesthetically appealing and relatively future-proof. I want my CPU and GPU to be able to run this game on high without, for the most part, dropping below 30 fps. I want durable components that won't die on me and won't overheat and damage themselves and/or my motherboard. Pretty straight forward I want a gaming rig that I can upgrade to keep up with the times. I think it can be done fairly easily with $1,000.

PS: It seems quite hard to find a nice FULL tower for $100 less than my current one...

I made those questions so I don't have to go through and ask you them again. People here are taking their time looking over this build for you. If you can't take time to answer some questions, well I don't have to look over this.

All those questions Vancha just asked is what you should of already answered. All those are dependent on your system configuration. Saying I have XYZ budget and I want a good computer doesn't help.

[Palerion]

My apologies if I came off a bit testy not wanting to answer the questions. I just have a tendency to be impatient when dealing with technical stuff and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed with all of this right now. Anyway, here are the answers. I didn't find it necessary to give away my exact location though.

1. Are you building this computer yourself or having one built for you (Like HP, Alienware, or even a small shop)?

Building it myself.

2. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?

$1,000 not including shipping, taxes, monitor, keyboard, or mouse.

3. Where do you live (Please list town, state, and country)?

Really don't understand the purpose of this question... South Eastern United States.

4. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)?

Gaming.

5. What parts will you need for the computer? List what parts specifically, saying you need everything will not do.

GPU is my main focus for upgrading; I'd like to get as high quality a GPU as possible wilst being satisfied with the rest of my components.

6. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so say what parts (make and model).

No.

7. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?

1080p. Anything between $150 and $200. The monitor, keyboard, and mouse are not included in my budget.

8. Do you have already have a OS or do you need one? What OS is that?

I believe I have windows 7 home premium already.

9. 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.

USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 GB/s.

10. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?

No.

11. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts?

Before Christmas.

[Goku]

Location is meant to get on deals if you are around a Microcenter (why I ask for city) and to avoid potential taxes on certain websites. Be a waste to put a build together on Newegg to find out you should buy off Amazon to avoid sales tax.

For Windows do you have 32-bit or 64-bit?

[Vancha]

If you're not overclocking, you don't need a K CPU.

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115234)

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157304)

PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095)

RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424)

HDD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)

GPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637)

Case #1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112318) / #2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007) / #3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235035) / #4 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112354) / #5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197) / #6 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008) - Numbered by price. Without overclocking or SLi/Crossfire, I don't see a reason to get anything bigger or more elaborate than these.

After all that, I'd suggest adding a 256GB Samsung 830 (or 840, assuming it turns out it's as ridiculously reliable as the 830).

Edit: Alternatively, you could get this motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138358) instead and get the Silverstone PS07B/PS07W/TJ08-E, Lian Li PC-A04B/PC-A04A or Fractal Design Arc Mini (Newegg seems to have terrible prices for mATX cases, you'll need to get them elsewhere.

You should also order the CPU from Micro Centre (http://www.microcenter.com/product/400664/Core_i5_3470_32GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor).

[Palerion]

I have 64 bit windows. And I'm getting a large and high quality case because my purpose for this machine is for me to upgrade it in the future, and I feel like the large case offers many more expansion possibilities, such as, if my graphics card becomes outdated, SLI. But for now I need to stay within my $1,000 budget.
I guess I need to clarify, I may overclock in the future if I find my hardware to not keep me above 30 fps at all times in a game, but otherwise I see no need. I'm just getting a 2500k in case I need to OC. I've heard great things about the 560ti and bad things about it, so I really need your input on that. Lots of people act like the thing runs planetside 2 flawlessly but I don't know what to think xD

[Vancha]

I have 64 bit windows. And I'm getting a large and high quality case because my purpose for this machine is for me to upgrade it in the future, and I feel like the large case offers many more expansion possibilities, such as, if my graphics card becomes outdated, SLI. But for now I need to stay within my $1,000 budget.
All the cases I linked allow SLi + sound card. Some of them even accommodate 3x SLi.

Have you actually seen a full-size case, or gotten a tape measure and checked the dimensions compared to a mid-tower? These are the reasons to get a full tower...

- A third/fourth GPU.
- Accommodating the thicker radiators available for custom water cooling (especially 360mm)
- An XL-ATX motherboard.

All of which will be forever beyond your needs.

I guess I need to clarify, I may overclock in the future if I find my hardware to not keep me above 30 fps at all times in a game, but otherwise I see no need. I'm just getting a 2500k in case I need to OC. I've heard great things about the 560ti and bad things about it, so I really need your input on that. Lots of people act like the thing runs planetside 2 flawlessly but I don't know what to think xD
The thing is, they're both parts that have been surpassed. There's not much reason to get a 2500k now that the 3570k is out, which has better IPC and power consumption. Arguably the 2500k is better for overclocking, but whatever OC ceiling is lost on the 3570k is made up by the IPC improvement. The 3570k also supports faster GPUs and RAM, since you want something "relatively" future-proof (honestly, future-proofing is a myth. Buying a steady stream of components often works out better than trying to out-run the speed of technological progress).

As for the 560ti, again, it's been surpassed. It's a good card and for someone on a tight budget it'll do fine, but even the 660 (non-ti) beats it and the 570 for $20 more. Since PS2 is CPU-dependant, the 560ti could very well be fine for that, but unless that's the only game you plan on playing with this rig, I don't see any reason to aim so low with a $1k budget.

[Goku]

In regards to the case have you seen the Antec 1100 Super Mid Tower (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129178)? Its $100 and its almost as big as a full tower with good cooling, but doesn't come with the premium cost. Review here (http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/15/antec_eleven_hundred_gaming_case_review/1).

EDIT: Here is another case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068). Its by NZXT and its full tower. Its a budget one keep in mind, but a lot of people do like these.

NO 560 Ti. Stupid to get that when you can get better performing cards in the same pricing bracket. Either a 660 or springs for its older brother 660 Ti.

[Rbstr]

Buying older gear in the name of future-proofing through an overclock at some indeterminate time in the future is a terrible idea.

My rule is to never sacrifice base performance to obtain overclocking or spend money on an overclock that would bump you to better base hardware.

[Palerion]

660 is a very good suggestion. What does bitrate do though? It seems like the 560 ti has a higher bitrate and the 560 ti is a much more popular card. I've seen vids of ps2 and bf3 on like high and ultra with the 560 ti and it seems to run great, not so much of the 660. Also, in terms of a 3570, I've heard of heat issues with them and very little improvement on performance.

[Rbstr]

Bitrate? Like fill rate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillrate)? For texture fill the 660 does 78GT/s and the 560Ti does 52GT/s. The 660 worse for pixel rate..but that's not on wiki so I don't know the numbers.
But fill rates don't really matter these days. Are you cranking up the anti-aliasing to something dumb?
What it comes to is the 560Ti is from the last generation and just isn't as efficient. The 660 is actually a bit lower end (compared to the market position of the 560Ti when it was released), but the chip is part of the new generation.
The 660Ti blows the 560Ti out of the water.

The 3570's heat "issues" are a produce of poor understanding (This applies to Ivy Bridge [IB] as a whole). It puts out less heat (meaning it uses less energy) than a Sandy Bridge (SB) CPU at the same clocks. It's on a smaller, more efficient, process. But because it's smaller it has a higher power density. That means it will run at higher temps.
If you're not overclocking it will not matter. If you are you won't be able to take it as high in clock rate...but remember IB has about a 10% increase in instructions per clock compared to SB, each Hz you gain with the Ivy Bridge CPU is like 1.1x the worth of a hz on the SB

[Palerion]

Very helpful, I appreciate the information a lot :) Turns out I should be able to get everything I want within my budget. At this point, I'm not too worried about going a bit over, so I'm splurging on a 660-ti. I think I'll be fine with a 2500k, I've got a bundle with the cpu and case that saves some cash.
I've changed up my components a bit though:
CPU and Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1075437
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130810
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231548
In my eyes this build looks great, but if you see an error, again, by all means point it out :)
By the way my old memory choice went out of stock. :(

[Goku]

I would change the PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=v9gfGCPOEeK8iwLjBHCCfw0_0_O5K_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16817151087) to this one if you can spend the money on it now. Steal for $100.

[Vancha]

660 is a very good suggestion. What does bitrate do though? It seems like the 560 ti has a higher bitrate and the 560 ti is a much more popular card. I've seen vids of ps2 and bf3 on like high and ultra with the 560 ti and it seems to run great, not so much of the 660. Also, in terms of a 3570, I've heard of heat issues with them and very little improvement on performance.
You sound like you've just come from hwcompare.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_660_Direct_Cu_II/

Real-world performance is what matters. Look up the FPS scores in gaming benchmarks (the 1920x1200 scores are what you need to be concerned with) and you won't find a single instance of the 560ti beating the 660, let alone the 660ti.

The 560ti's more popular because it's been around longer. The 660 (non-ti) was only released in September.

Somehow I missed that this had reached a second page.

[Palerion]

I would change the PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=v9gfGCPOEeK8iwLjBHCCfw0_0_O5K_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16817151087) to this one if you can spend the money on it now. Steal for $100.

What is the difference between this and the one I chose? Other than the fact that it's a bit more expensive? I'm already like 50 bucks over budget if you include mail-in rebates.

BTW I went for the 3570k for CPU as someone had suggested. I appreciate your input; I managed to find a good combo with that CPU and the motherboard I picked out, which pleases me greatly :)

[Vancha]

What is the difference between this and the one I chose? Other than the fact that it's a bit more expensive? I'm already like 50 bucks over budget if you include mail-in rebates.

BTW I went for the 3570k for CPU as someone had suggested. I appreciate your input; I managed to find a good combo with that CPU and the motherboard I picked out, which pleases me greatly :)
I'm guessing the price has changed since he posted, by roughly $50.

[Palerion]

Okay, here's a revised list and, as far as I'm concerned, possible final product. I think you guys knocked out most of the small kinks in the old build and this new build seems pretty great :)
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225
CPU and Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1033223
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130810
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231548

[Rbstr]

You've got broken links from the GPU down. They seem to be the same as ones you posted earlier?

I think for the 660Ti I would go for this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125441
Rather than a factory overclock. The 6xx cards all overclock themselves in order to run at a certain thermal output. So having the better cooler will increase the boost clocks and be quieter.
At least, that's the case with the 670 cards, I haven't paid as much attention to the 660Ti.

[Palerion]

Ah, that sucks. Well they are the same ones as earlier. I'm going with the 660ti EVGA because I really don't like MSI. Their cards seem unreliable in my opinion. But anyway, I think my build's pretty much set. Just gotta order now. I'm not getting a monitor either, gonna HDMI up to my 50 inch tv :) It's gonna be awesome.