Advice for Config - $1400-$1600 price range

Budget:
Ideally, I'd like to spend around $1400-$1600. I do not own a monitor or keyboard (although I do own a mouse and speakers), so this needs to be factored in as well.

Expectations:
I mostly want to play WoW and Starcraft 2 (in other words, not powerhouse games like Crysis 2) at high/maxed settings at 50-60 FPS, 1600/900 res or higher. While I'm on a budget, I also want to make sure that this computer can last for at least a good four years before I need to buy a new one (even if that means playing future games at lower graphics settings).

Usage:
Purely a gaming rig.

Special Needs:
Being able to upgrade in the future would be a nice feature as it would save me money in the long run. However, this feature isn't essential if it would require me to take a large hit in performance now for my budget.

Thanks in advance for your help!


Edited by Tozen - 21 Apr 2011 at 3:20pm

Thanks Zate! I really appreciate your help! Is it worth it to get any of the free "boosts" that DS offers (like the GPU one or the OS one?)

Also, would appreciate feedback from other users just to get a second opinion. It's not every day that I get to make a big purchase like this!

Edited by Tozen - 21 Apr 2011 at 5:05pm

For psu here go with corsair, you know who makes it and it has its own 5 year warranty.



the only res that matters is your monitor's native res, that is what you want to play at.

If the budget can be higher then 1600 that would be great, if not then this:

Here you go Ticket# 527383 --- $1402 (To see this build click here)

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - HAF 922
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 (Intel P67 Chipset) (New B3 Revision) (Does Not Support SLI)
System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (Model: Black Edition WD5002AALX)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua NH-U12P SE Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: FREE: Overclock the processor between 3.6GHz to 3.9GHz
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

the OS boost does nothing to help games/apps speeds at all.

the gpu boost here is mild you will see no difference from it.

this system can't do sli.

down the road add this fan to the side of the 922:

haf 200mm non led fan

When you build a pc you got to go with the important stuff first and the smaller stuff can always be upgraded later.

for example when you are on a budget and we recommend a 1TB or 500GB to you as HDD1, that is because you are suppose to upgrade to a ssd and push that 1TB/500GB HDD to HDD2 for storage, HDD setup should always be like this:

HDD1 = fast small drive: os/apps/games

HDD2 = regular large drive: media/personal/work file storage

in your case, your budget is limited, so I need to stuff as much case/cpu/gpu/psu in there as I can, then I look to HDD and etc, this is because adding/upgrading HDD and such is extremely easy for somebody who has never done it.

Having said that, the 922 has much better air flow, you missed it but I changed the psu also, I'm sure for $30 more you want a brand name psu with a 5 year warranty, vs a god knows who made it psu with a 2 year warranty.

yes the HDD was changed, but as I explained, this hdd is temporary, I would never recommend a 1TB drive for a permanent OS drive, thats just not a good idea.

cache makes a difference but its not a big or a main difference. in this case the 1TB has fast transfer speeds, but money is best spend on better case for better airflow and a more quality psu.

If you notice I didn't add the monitor and etc either, I believe if you take your time you can save more money by shopping around and getting those else where, keep in mind you have to pay extra for shipping anything other than the pc.

One of many reason I like DS is that people like yourself can come and get a config like I posted and build on that down the road to get everything they need.

Edited by DST4ME - 22 Apr 2011 at 2:51am

Great, thanks again to both of you for your help. I'm getting very close to buying. I have just one final reservation that I would ask about.

I notice that the HAF 922 only has 2 USB ports. Is there a way to add extra ones? Forgive me if that's a really dumb question... as I said I'm new to all of this. 2 just seems like a low number for what is supposed to be a powerful computer.

To add to what Qwann said, if you need more usb ports in the front, yes there are ways of adding them, but you need to check with DS and make sure that the mobo has the header to support it.

Edited by DST4ME - 23 Apr 2011 at 8:02pm

If not in the front, you know, there are tons of USB expansions for the back of your case that use PCI slots rather than headers if you're out of em.


Edited by ablahblah - 24 Apr 2011 at 6:59pm