I've been thinking of building a new pc over the last couple of months. I want to build up a new system that doesn't have to
be the top of the line "hot rig" but at the same time I want to get at least 2 to 3 years use out of the system. So the question is
what would you guys suggest? I'll be building the system myself.I figure my budget is about 1200 to 1500 max U.S.
Thanks in advance

Kampf

Something to read before spending all that money.

http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/can-a-300-gaming-pc-compare-to-a-3000-one-1071338

I spent about $700 on mine, $900 if you include the new monitor and I couldn't be happier.
Save that money and upgrade the video card in 2 years.
Do some reading at Toms Hardware for components. With that you can pretty much build it on paper and then shop it out.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

I'm looking at building something around the same price in a few weeks.

There are so many options it isn't a simple matter to give options. Read up and do some research and give us some specs to work with.

To give you an idea, you might want an i5 or equivalent quad core system and a proper motherboard to pair it with, the best GPU you can afford (see Tom's HW for best-bang-for-your-buck suggestions), at least 4GB DDR3 RAM -- 8GB DDR3 1600MHz if possible (for OC headroom, plus 8GB is sweet and cheap), a nice CPU cooler compatible with your selection, and a nice hefty reliable PSU -- suggest at least 600W for headroom. You don't want to skimp on PSU as it powers everything on your system. Get Windows 7 64-bit too if you don't have it yet.

I am guessing you can re-use your current monitor, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, and speakers so any money saved there can go towards the CPU or GPU. Don't forget to check if your case has adequate airflow, if not, you might want to get a new case too. An Antec 300 is one of the best cheap cases I've found.

If you have more cash after all this, might want to see about getting a 128GB or greater SSD, for improved speeds.

Hope that helps!

I couldn't help but notice that all three games in the compare-o article were also console games. Makes my build even trickier now as I was going to go all out! Very interesting.

I found the tech radar article to be rather misleading in a number of ways (not least in that they were not actually able to build a rig, even by their own part prices, for 300 pounds!).

In the final analysis, the article can be summarized as "why pay more for what you won't even notice?"
To a certain extent, I agree. There's no point in paying for a CPU/GPU combination that will render @ 140 fps when you can get one for a lot less that will render @ 55 fps as the gaming experience will be indistinguishable. Similarly, I agree that if one is not looking for the differences 4XAA and 8XAA are not that different.
On the other hand, the author's methodology can hardly be termed scientific and his conclusions seem to be written more for entertainment than as real purchasing guidance: "socks were blown off when the truth was revealed! YAY!"
What one doesn't notice on a one-time exposure can quickly become difficult to ignore after a week.

Personally, when reading the article I thought back to my own upgrade (see components in sig) of around the same time last year (wanted a new rig that has to last me 3-4 years). I spent about $1200 all in. My prior rig could be termed to be a $300 rig (E8400+ 4850s in crossfire + the usual assortment of components). Did I notice a performance difference after the upgrade? OH HELL YEAH! from eye candy to load times to game-play smoothness, it was a whole different experience.

Since your build is going to last you the next 3 years, choose your parts with an eye to upgrading potential halfway down the road.

I spent over 2 Gs on mine when i add up all the parts.. lol..

why spend so much on overkill? because in 6 years it wont be overkill.

my old system lasted 6 years, and can still play todays games with no problems, but its age was showing itself as the drivers and software for the critical components were no longer being updated.

Thanks for all the replies guys. So far I'm looking at intel I-5 2500k, asus p8z68 gen3 mb, windows 7 64 bit. I haven't decided on how much memory to get maybe 8 gig ddr3 cosair. I'm kinda up in the air if I want to plop down big money on a evga gtx 580 gpu or if i could find a cheaper nvidia card that would suffice with good performance what do you guys think?

Also it seems that the asus P8z68 has built in sound card anybody have experience with using this particular sound card. I always thought on board anything = crap.

To finish up I'm looking at seagate 1 Tb 7200 rpm sata drive, cosair PS 750 watt,and last but not least any recommendations on a good case?

Here's something else i ran across whilst doing research for my system.If i run my system totally stock and don't overclock it and
have good case cooling wouldn't i be able to just get by using the cpu fan that comes with the chip?

Kampf

Good cases are CoolerMaster HAF models; the 912Plus, 922 or 932Advanced will be good choices. Pick one that suits your budget. I built a donor system in a 912 and found it nice to work with. My own case is a Silverstone FT02B-W, but that's a different budget.

Onboard sound has come a long way and should be fine, so that you can save money on this and put it towards the graphics card. You can always decide to get a soundcard later on. The recommendation of a specific soundcard will depend on the hardware you will be using it with. (Headset, headphones, PC speakers, receiver, home cinema set, etc.)

The i5-2500k asus p8z68 gen3 mb is a great combo I'm super happy with it, as far as onboard sound it works great, I only upgraded to a soundcard recently since I'm a headphones-only user and wanted the headphone amp for music listening.

As far as memory 8GB will be plenty, the only reason to consider 16GB is because memory is really cheap now as future proof insurance, seems hard to believe I paid $210 for 6GB 3 years ago but just $60 for 16GB during black friday.

For video cards it all depends on what type of performance you need, there's good sales now on 580s and 560s since the 680s came out, if you do single monitor gaming you have lots of options, if you plan to do multimonitor then I would go for a 680.

Cases are a very individual preference thing, I tend to like Cooler Master and Corsair cases, the only recommendation is to get one with enough room for cooling in case you want to overclock and cable management options to make it nice to work with, a good one that will last you 5-10 years over various upgrades.

Good luck with your build looks like it will be great.

I recently picked up an Alienware Area 51 Alx off E-Bay for 1299.99 shipped to my door. It has the 580 card and I simply added 12gb of ram and feel I'm good for a few years. Once the graphics catch up the video cards will be down to 150 or so get another run sli and your good for another year. I'm new ONLY to this forum and once I get some pics uploaded I'll show off the rig a friend and I have been putting together. I can post a link to where to get one but like I said don't want to break a rule my first day.

So this is what you get for the price and honestly the video card and the chip by itself would cost more.


Be Well
Mr.Wags

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-500r-mid-tower-case.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009

Ok thanks again for all the input guys.I pulled the trigger on this yesterday and began building this morning.

Specs:

asus z68-v/gen3 mb
I-5 2500 intel cpu
seagate 7200rpm 1 tb hd
Antec high current 750 w 80+ bronze ps (non modular)
gtx580evga
cooler master haf 932 advanced case.
corsair vengence 8 gig mem
Windows 7 64 bit
total system cost minus OS $1412.00 US

Now the bad news. I bought the stuff from a local electronics store here in the Sacramento California region called Fry's .

These guy have somewhat of a bad rep for reselling broken or previously open stuff . They generally are good about letting you

know which boxes have been opened and returned for resale with a small discount. What they suck on is letting you know if parts

are missing on the returned items before they put em on the shelve again. My MB i bought yesterday was one of these "returned and

checked out to be fine" parts. To begin with the where totally out of stock of new unopened p8 z68 mb's in any version ( although

they had the floor demos still hanging there } so i ended up with a lower grade version of a preopened p8 z68 with a slight price

reduction.I did a quick check in the box to make sure i had all the parts as said in manual.

I find out this morning after begining the build that they shorted me a Sata cable and what has me most worried is the plastic

protective cap the covers cpu pins on the MB was missing (kicks self in butt for not noticing in store). Needless to say I'm taking

back the MB today I'm just not going to risk bent pins, I'm kind of pissed they would resell a board in this condition , I mean you

can't even return it for warranty claims with ASUS without that cover,almost like buying a MB without a warranty.


I originally was going to buy everything online From New Egg , but when i priced things out there was really only a couple dollars

here and there difference between both stores. The only reason I went with the brick and mortar store was I felt it easier and faster

to return broken or defective parts there verses mailing stuff back to somewhere. This is the second system I've built using parts

that I bought from fry's and this is the second time I've had problems with preopened MB's with them missing parts. I think I need

to reevaluate who I'm going to shop with next time for my parts.

Again thanks all for taking the time to give input i read the articles and websites you guys posted and learned a bit on the way.


Kampf

Sorry to hear that your build is going to be delayed.
The selection of components looks good.

Between Newegg, Tigerdirect and Amazon (which also lists Tigerdirect) you can just about always find all the best prices with just those sites. All 3 are very good about returns as well, the few times I've had to do so with them.

The egg has always gone out of their way to make any problems I might have go away. Fry's is a great store to shop in for stuff you don't have to have but they are, like you said, not good at marking parts that have been returned as being returned parts.

I don't know if you have a MicroCenter where you are but they have some great prices especially on in store only stuff.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378094

When I build mine I'm going to check amazon, newegg and if I get one built to see what the price difference is between the 2.

Best online store is Newegg - superb customer service and always competitive pricing.

Best brick and mortar store is MicroCenter - you still have the tax but always honest and have some amazing specials especially on Intel CPU prices.

Two cents.

Yeah I do all my computer gear shopping with NewEgg and Amazon, combine their awesome prices and customer support with prime or shoprunner free 2 day shipping and it beats my local Frys 30 miles away :-)

Your build list looks great, hope it goes smooth from here on.

Ouch. NewEgg is also having an Easter sale:

NewEgg promo codes, ending 08 April 2012 11:59PM PDT