Best place to get a pre-built PC

[Tekkan]

Hi,

My hard drive on my PC has suddenly died. My PC is about 6-7 years old so I don't want to just replace the HD and then have another part fail, so I want to get a new PC. Unfortunately I'm not tech savvy enough to build a custom one on my own. I looked at CC and NCIX and Dell.ca. So far NCIX looks like the best bet. I was wondering if there are any better places to get a Gaming PC (without a monitor or OS) for about $800+tax.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[DavidY]

$800 would get you a pretty decent gaming rig. You should post which games you are fond of. Your monitor's rez? Stock or overclocking?

Use this to get specs and pricing on proposed builds.

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/

Good luck.

Dave

[Tekkan]

I think the most graphic intensive game that I am playing now is Skyrim. It ran ok on low settings on my old pc that had a 9800GT. I wouldn't mind being able to run it on medium settings (I don't really want to spend more than 250-300 on the video card). My monitor isn't that great, its a samsung 931bw 1440X900. I'd prefer stock and not to overclock.

I'll try to build a few sample specs with that site. Thanks for the info!

[DavidY]

I think the most graphic intensive game that I am playing now is Skyrim. It ran ok on low settings on my old pc that had a 9800GT. I wouldn't mind being able to run it on medium settings (I don't really want to spend more than 250-300 on the video card). My monitor isn't that great, its a samsung 931bw 1440X900. I'd prefer stock and not to overclock.

I'll try to build a few sample specs with that site. Thanks for the info!

With a graphics card under $250, you should run Skyrim better than medium....probably high or even ultra at 1440x900. I probably would consider an i5-2500 CPU....believe that Skyrim is kinda CPU-heavy.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...mark,3074.html

Dave

[Tekkan]

So this is what I have so far.

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/blJS

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/blJS
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/blJS/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/blJS/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($27.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($27.99 @ Memory Express)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Antec 620W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($85.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $946.71
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

I want to try and get it down to 800. Where should I cut down? CPU? Video card? Do I need a CPU cooler?

I have a sound card and DVD drive that I can reuse from my old PC, so I didn't add those.

[dc200]

Can you get a full tower case instead? They're much easier to work with in my experience. Just my two cents.

[DavidY]

My understanding for non-OCing the CPU is that the stock fan is sufficient. If you are not OCing, just get the cheaper i5-2500, not the i5-2500k (k suffix is for OCing).

The following Rosewill 630 watt PS is $20 cheaper ($65):

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/rose...upply-rg630s12

Review of this PS:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/881

There is probably a cheaper motherboard that would likely meet your needs....others can comment on this further since I typically have a hard time choosing a suitable motherboard....however, I do know that a $160 motherboard would be too much for a $800 PC. Not familiar with nVidia graphics cards.

$950 - $60 CPU cooler - $20 difference for i5-2500 - $20 for PS change = $850 - difference in motherboard....$800 is achievable (8 different brands for Z68 priced between $75 and $103....Z = can overclock CPU, GPU and RAM).

No SSD?

Dave

[sickcars]

I agree with the above, use the stock CPU cooler. Since you are not overclocking you dont need more then stock. Also keep in mind that yuo will want to buy 1-2 more case fans since the antec 300 only comes with the 2 back fans and no intakes. These are the fans I have used for clients in that very same case when I custom built their computer & provide good airflow and very low noise - http://ncix.com/products/?sku=38379&...facture=Noctua

Also a suggestion, you could order all your parts & then bring it to somebody to build it for you at a price. This way you get everything you want & will have all the receipts & still get it built.

[Tekkan]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I reduced the mother board,videocard and removed the cpu cooler. I also changed it to a full tower case instead of the mid sized one. This gets me down to 800. Regarding the SSD, do I need one? I checked the prices and they are significantly more than the non-SSD. Are they worth getting over the non-SSD? Or should I be getting a SSD to install OS on and a non-SSD for other files?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/bn72
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/bn72/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/bn72/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($26.83 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($26.83 @ NCIX)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.79 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 1GB Video Card ($169.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Rosewill 630W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($64.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $793.40
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

Thanks again for all the help.

[DavidY]

CPU performances on Skyrim:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rk,3074-9.html

If you want to add a SSD and stay in the $800 PC budget, you could change to an i3-2120 CPU. This CPU saves $65. 120 GB SSD prices vary from $70+. There are several 4 star rated 120 GB SSD's in the $80-$90 price range.

Another option is to change the HDD and save some $$. If you have a SSD, you probably could go with a 5400 rpm HDD instead (vs. 7200 rpm)....with the OS and main apps on your SSD, your HDD becomes a storage device primarily (speed is not high priority). A smaller HDD (500-750 GB) would also reduce costs.

A post at a Skyrim forum http://www.gameskyrim.com/building-f...g-t231450.html noted the following:

I have an i3-2120 and a GTX 550 Ti - I can run 1080p at ~60fps with all settings at ultra, except AA which I've got turned off but using FXAA. So with the 560Ti being tons better, and the same processor, you should be fine! Pretty much everything else I play runs at max settings too, though obviously this won't last long as the specs are at the low-end of being good...