Helping a friend build a new rig for $1,500

So my buddy just got his tax return and he's looking to build himself a shiny new rig with the money. The budget right now is $1,500 and he's looking to pretty much get everything included, even a monitor though that isn't a deal breaker. So far he has decided on the i5 2500k Sandy Bridge but beyond that he's pretty open for the build. Just looking to get the most bang for his buck here and I'm still pretty new to the whole building PCs world.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

2500k Cooler master Hyper 212+ Asrock z68 extreme 3 gen 3 8gb DDR3 100$ case 750w psu 1tb HDD + 60gb SSD GTX 680\7970 Windows 7 64bits 23" monitorMonsieurX

[QUOTE="MonsieurX"]2500k Cooler master Hyper 212+ Asrock z68 extreme 3 gen 3 8gb DDR3 100$ case 750w psu 1tb HDD + 60gb SSD GTX 680\7970 Windows 7 64bits 23" monitorObiwan_1O

That's around what I was looking at for him. He's pretty well set not using Xfire or SLI so a single GPU is the way to go. I've been deployed for the last six and a half months so I missed the release of the GTX 600 series and Radeon's 7000 series. Curious how much of a difference there is and which one would be bringing the more level experience to the table. My desktop runs on a 6950 2GB without any issues on any games though my laptop's 560m 3GB held up incredibly well while I was deployed. Haven't been able to find any real major difference between Radeon and NVIDIA so I'm not sure which to go with here.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="Obiwan_1O"]

[QUOTE="MonsieurX"]2500k Cooler master Hyper 212+ Asrock z68 extreme 3 gen 3 8gb DDR3 100$ case 750w psu 1tb HDD + 60gb SSD GTX 680\7970 Windows 7 64bits 23" monitorAlexKidd5000

I'm not sure on what monitor size he's been looking at actually. I just know sometimes you can find some good bundle deals on Newegg but wasn't aware of any specials. Seriously just got back Monday night so I'm still getting caught up on what is all on sale. I did notice RAM prices came way the heck down so might it be worth it to push for 16GB of RAM or is 8 still more than enough along with overkill?

[QUOTE="AlexKidd5000"]

That's around what I was looking at for him. He's pretty well set not using Xfire or SLI so a single GPU is the way to go. I've been deployed for the last six and a half months so I missed the release of the GTX 600 series and Radeon's 7000 series. Curious how much of a difference there is and which one would be bringing the more level experience to the table. My desktop runs on a 6950 2GB without any issues on any games though my laptop's 560m 3GB held up incredibly well while I was deployed. Haven't been able to find any real major difference between Radeon and NVIDIA so I'm not sure which to go with here.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"] +1 this looks like a solid build. I also reccomend newegg for the buying, they have always been good to me wih good prices

kejigoto

I'm not sure on what monitor size he's been looking at actually. I just know sometimes you can find some good bundle deals on Newegg but wasn't aware of any specials. Seriously just got back Monday night so I'm still getting caught up on what is all on sale. I did notice RAM prices came way the heck down so might it be worth it to push for 16GB of RAM or is 8 still more than enough along with overkill?

For the GPU, really you cannot go wrong with either for gaming the nvidia auto overclocks so its benchmarks are a little higher but its ez to overclock AMD too in CCC but I would just go for whichever one he can find a better deal on also factoring in included games cuz dirt 3 and Deus ex are often packaged in and I LOVE both those games. If hes not a techie and hes worried about driver problems Nvidia might be a little safer bet but ive never had any serious problems with AMD in over 2 years of having them. I had Nvidia b4 they do get drivers a little more often and were a little better about new games but I dont regret my AMD cards they have great performance. For the monitor 23 inch is a size i like and tigerdirect actually has great prices some refurbished modes also if he has a micro center near by they have good prices on monitors too. RAM I would only for for 8GB ive actually seen gaming performance drop with up to 16GB, its all neglagable so its really a pointless place to spend money.

2500k Cooler master Hyper 212+ Asrock z68 extreme 3 gen 3 8gb DDR3 100$ case 750w psu 1tb HDD + 60gb SSD GTX 680\7970 Windows 7 64bits 23" monitorMonsieurX

This one, you may have a little money after thou the GTX670 and 7970 are awesomely expensive but awesome non the less.

I just got done building a $1,565 rig for my bro. 2600k (4.2GHz OC), 8GB 1866 DDR3, 240GB intel cherryville SSD and a GTX 580. But yeah 2500k, with GTX 580, standard 7,200 RPM HDD and a 24 inch monitor are all possible.Truth_Hurts_U

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm sleeve CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835103065
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

Monster Cable Model 128202-00 4 ft. Standard THX-Certified THX V100 HDMI Cable
Item #:N82E16882155817
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Black Computer Case
Item #:N82E16811139012
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers
Item #:N82E16824236117
Return Policy:Monitor Standard Return Policy

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813157271
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Item #:N82E16819115072
Return Policy:CPU Replacement Only Return Policy

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Item #:N82E16832116986
Return Policy:Software Standard Return Policy

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 11196-00-40G Video Card
Item #:N82E16814102962
Return Policy:VGA Standard Return Policy

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822136533
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04
Item #:N82E16827106289
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W High Performance Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817139021
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory
Item #:N82E16820233242
Return Policy:Memory Standard Return Policy

So far this is what I've picked out though I'm not 100% set on these parts. Still going back and forth on the GPU but I've loved my 6950 2GB so I'm sure the 7959 3GB will be just as awesome.

This is pretty much coming in right on budget as well. From what I understand he plans on getting an SSD at a later date and right now just wants to get the core rig running. The Hyper 212+ should be more than enough for cooling so I'm doubting that will change much.

Any suggestions on this or any parts I'm getting that are questionable?

Personally, I would go for a slightly cheaper case (~$90 - 100). Also, I'd REALLY suggest getting a modular PSU like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

I would also swap out the 6 GB/s HD for an SSD and a cheaper 3 GB/s HD.

Crucial 128GB SSD $130

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB $110

SLI GTX 560. better and cheaper than GTX 580.

Ivy Bridge is out

you can drop the HDMI cable sapphire always has one come with their cards.

It's a 10% improvement in CPU performance clock for clock over Sandy bridge, while also using less power. Onboard graphics double that of Sandy bridge, And supports PCI-E 3.0, SATAIII and USB 3.0 natively.

ThaT-Masta