So I just noticed and read the 2560x1600 mid range budget gaming rig article they posted up online today and there's a lot of stuff that could have gone better and cheaper. I donno if I'm not the only one in this regard.
Here's the link to the article:
LinkyHere's the list with current newegg prices with some minor price differences:
While I think they have a decent setup for under 1600, I just feel like some of the components could be swapped out for better and cheaper items. My biggest issues the expensive power supply and since I'm a deal finder, that same PSU was sold not that long ago for $75. The
Corsair TX750 V2 psu is $85AR,AC(CorsairPSU1) @newegg. Shit, even the nice
PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750 80+ silver is $79AR,AC(PCP1010). Alternatively, you still can get the
OCZ Z series 1000w semi-modular 80+gold psu for $110AR @us.ncix.com.
I'm just shocked that they didn't even budget the cheap
Cooler Master 212+ cpu cooler for $26. At least this would give you some OC headroom than the Intel Stock cooler.
I'm also shocked that they suggested a ddr3 1333 1.65v set of ram. Seriously? You can find 1600 1.5v cas9 ram for the same price or only a few bucks more:
Patriot Signature 8gb(2x4gb) DDR3 1600 cas9 1.5v $37AR
Muskin Silverline 8gb(2x4gb) DDR3 1600 cas9 1.5v $40AR
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8gb(2x4gb) DDR3 1600 cas9 1.5v $50
You can also substitue the lite-on dvd burner drive for the
non-lightscribe version for $6 less. Save a few bucks, eat a happy meal...
And like always, we all know the
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb drives dominate and its still currently cheaper than the WD blue's at their normal price of $60. Uber fast, uber cheap, and pretty damn reliable.
As for the SSD, I wouldn't pay $85 or even a $100+ for only 40gb of 280/270 speed sataII ssd's. That's too many bones for not a lot of space. I would rather spend the few bucks more and get a 120gb sata3 drive when they go on sale. Or even a
60gb Vertex 3 60gb for $90.
And honestly, you really don't need an SSD for gaming, it's a nice addition, but if push comes to shove, its the first thing to scratch off the list. Doesn't help you one damn bit in actual gaming. "What about loading maps continuously in game"? Even then, you won't see any freezing effects in the game when it attempts to pull info from a mechanical hard drive, and most info is small blocks and they are sequential. The system writes more than reads while actually playing.
They seem to find some expensive versions of the 6970 considering I've seen a number of them to be priced around $310-330 mark AR for the past month or so. And personally, I'd look at the cheaper 6950's since they are in the 200-240 price range for normal ones and 230-260 for OC versions, then unlock their dies to become 6970's. Yes, AMD is now laser cutting their dies to prevent the unlock, but the MSi 6950 Twin Frozr II supposedly still can be unlocked, but even if it can't, their components and good aftermarket cooler keeps the gpu cooler under some extreme OC to 6970 lvls. Even two gtx 560 ti's in SLI will meet the goal of playing 2560x1600 res games for $210 a pop.
And I'd spend the extra $30 on the win7 pro oem disc for such a rig. Plus, I would have splurged on the
NZXT Phantom white case. It's only $125 shipped on newegg right now and even MaxPC themselves gave it a 9 and good remarks. Yeah, it doesn't have usb 3.0 up front, the only downside about it.
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