Build me a gaming pc

[kilburns8]

Hi all, new here! Recently decided it's time for a new desktop. I'm putting the ps3 to the side and gaming the way its meant to be done. I'm looking to spend under $1,000 for everything. I've read a lot of threads and have decided the core i5 2500k is the way to go. After that I'm all ears, or eyes for that matter. This will be my first complete pc build ever. I was going to get an all inclusive pc, but decided it would be a better learning experience for me to build it on my own. Having said that I would appreciate any and all tips for this build.

 

[mnewsham]

do you need EVERYTHING? keyboard, mouse, speakers, headphones/headset, monitor, OS?

 

[mpthegeneral]

Wow you are doing exactly what I am, although I'm not planning on any heavy gaming. If you want to you can check out my thread for some suggestions. Here's a link: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2177014

 

[kilburns8]

monitor, pc and os. I have a wireless mouse, keyboard, and headset.

 

[kilburns8]

Wow you are doing exactly what I am, although I'm not planning on any heavy gaming. If you want to you can check out my thread for some suggestions. Here's a link: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2177014

lets figure out the best pc for our money then!

 

[mnewsham]

Take mpthegeneral's build (my build ) take out the monitor and use the money towards a better GPU and more RAM. (8GB instead of 4)

 

[mnewsham]

^^^ you will need to use your TV with that setup as i assume you have one from the PS3?

 

[kilburns8]

Take mpthegeneral's build (my build ) take out the monitor and use the money towards a better GPU and more RAM. (8GB instead of 4)

what is a better gpu? I was leaning towards a geforce 560. What are the drawbacks for using a lcd tv as my monitor as opposed to a computer monitor. I would like to use this pc as a media center. music/movies etc in the living room.

 

[mnewsham]

The draw back is usually sharpness, with proper settings it can be dealt with however. What resolution TV do you have?

and a better GPU would be an HD 6950 or GTX 560/570.

 

[kilburns8]

The draw back is usually sharpness, with proper settings it can be dealt with however. What resolution TV do you have?

and a better GPU would be an HD 6950 or GTX 560/570.

I dont know the resolution. its a 42" vizio 1080p. I was actually leaning towards getting a led tv to use with this pc. something smaller around 32". another question for you. I have some external speakers, would i need a sound card or does the mb come with one integrated. sorry if these are dumb questions. just trying to figure all this out before i spend 1k on something that doesnt work. I appreciate your help.

 

[mnewsham]

The motherboard will have integrated audio, however how good are your speakers? Are we talking 400 bucks plus? or less? And your resolution is 1080p (1920x1080), I would use your TV for your monitor and get an HD 6950 GPU.

 

[kilburns8]

The motherboard will have integrated audio, however how good are your speakers? Are we talking 400 bucks plus? or less? And your resolution is 1080p (1920x1080), I would use your TV for your monitor and get an HD 6950 GPU.

damn, that card is out of stock at newegg. the speakers are old, but were once top of the line and still sound amazing. I plan on using a headset for gaming anyway..... I'll just hook the speakers to a receiver. Am i missing anything? I changed the case to the cheaper coolermaster one for $49. you mentioned i should get more ram. should I upgrade to 6gb? if so, how do you feel about gskill ripjaws? ive read good things about them.

 

[mnewsham]

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121437
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231424

 

[kilburns8]

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121437
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231424

wow, really appreciate your help mnewsham! I notice the radeon card said amd on it. is that going to be an issue? also, i need an cd burner correct? anything else i need to run this pc once i get all this stuff put together?

 

[mnewsham]

Nope, if you post up links to everything in your cart though i can run a check for you to make sure everything will work. And AMD owns Radeon so they are the same company.

 

[mpthegeneral]

damn, that card is out of stock at newegg.

From what I've read, you can easily overclock the HD 6850 to outperform the 6950 on most games. That's what I'm doing.

 

[mnewsham]

From what I've read, you can easily overclock the HD 6850 to outperform the 6950 on most games. That's what I'm doing.

Yes but conversely the 6950 OC's to outperform the 6970

 

[kilburns8]

can i overclock the 6950 1gb?

 

[mnewsham]

can i overclock the 6950 1gb?

yes see above post.

 

[kilburns8]

I should be able to run bf3 with this, no? http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view

 

[mnewsham]

you cant share your cart sadly so you will need to provide links to each item or the item name

 

[kilburns8]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152185

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121437

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371016

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231424

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130583

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986

 

[mnewsham]

this motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128520

and if you can afford it then this HSF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835181012

 

[kilburns8]

done. now how am i going to put all this shit together? lol

 

[mnewsham]

Lol, well it is fairly straight forward, just look for a basic guide on the internet, and most of it will apply for your build, anything that you cant find will probably be common sense (if you have to force it then it probably shouldnt go there)